Welcome

Since this is the first blog and several people weren’t able to come out for the Parent Meeting back in September, I will spend most of my energies filling you in about the way our youth ministry runs. We'll take a closer look at my thoughts behind everything I do as the minister to students at Norway, the volunteer system that is a part of our ministry, and some of the more important events we do together in our ministry.

The most important information about our youth ministry I can pass on to you is our mission statement. It reads: “The Norway Avenue student ministry exists to help students build relationships with God, other students, and mature Christians as we help each other establish our place in God’s kingdom.”

This mission statement is based on the words of Christ in Matthew 22: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: Love your neighbor as yourself. All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.”

I believe very strongly that a large part of the abundant life God has promised to His believers centers around relationships. I believe that is why God planned for us to be born into families, instilled a natural attraction between a man and a woman, instills a natural feeling of unconditional love inside most parents, and gives us an undeniable sense of fulfillment when we help others. I believe that is why most people remember their days of college and high school so fondly and, on some occasions, even pine for those days...these are the times in life when many people build their closest relationships.

It's also true that our world has done much to make us lose trust in relationships. Hatred. Abuse. Violence. Gossip. Broken trust. Rape. Some of us have much more to overcome than others. But the fact remains that we are called to live in relationship. And when we start loving others, we begin to come alive.

Ideally, everything I plan, every visit I make, and every action of the adult volunteers (Life Guards) is done while we think about deepening our relationship with God and others. Because this is one of our most highly regarded goals, we constantly refer back to this statement, and if our plans don’t meet the standard they are scrapped.

Needless to say, there are many hours of thought, prayer, and deliberation that go into our scheduling and planning of curriculum. I am also constantly assessing the direction of our ministry and the students involved in it as I consider the opinions of church leadership, Life Guards, parents, students, and my friends in youth ministry.

It is through this process that I have set the current direction and routine of our student ministry. The most integral part of what we do is our Wednesday night program, which is called Wednesday Nite Worship (WNW) until further notice (also read: "until Jon thinks of a better name). On Wednesday nights our students are challenged to truly express themselves through worshiping God through song. They are also given a message that guides them to examine something about their place in the kingdom of God. We often close with what I call the "Big Challenge," which calls our students to do at least one thing during the following week that will help put into practice the principles they learned during the lesson.

Sunday nights are on a semi-regular schedule. Normally the first two Sunday nights of each month are our Upper Room Bible study, which is just a deeper study on topics we discuss on Wednesday nights. The third Sunday is usually Breakout Sunday. On Breakout Sundays we go somewhere in the Tri-state area and have fun together. These locations range from the bowling alley, to the movie theater, to the home of a church member. Our fourth Sunday is usually reserved for prayer of some kind. Recently, we've been splitting our group by gender and praying some specific prayers about personal struggles. However, our prayer time will likely find a little more variation in the near future. When there is a fifth Sunday, we will decide what to do with that time as the month approaches. Please check youth calendars and church bulletins to stay updated on the true youth ministry schedule.

We also do various other events throughout the year, including mission trips, camping trips, Master in the Mountains, Party of 5, church camp, lock-ins, game nights, Winterfest, the58conference, and service projects along with several others. My plans are generally set at least three months in advance. These plans rarely change with the exception of our Sunday night events. However, of all the things we do together as a student ministry, I would say the most important are WNW, mission trips, and church camp.

Now that you know how things run (for the most part), I welcome you to get involved or get your students involved in our ministry. Please call me (304-525-3302) with any questions.

Christ's servant in ministry,

Jon Thomas
Norway Avenue Church of Christ
Minister to Students