Look and see who God Calls young people to be!!

A gathering for young groups, individual young people and those interested in, or with responsibility for youth ministry in congregations, presbyteries, or synods.

1. Consider what we are doing in youth ministry in our congregations, presbyteries and/or synods.

2. Learn about the basics of the Presbyterian Youth Connection and the Five Intentions of Youth Ministry.

3. Look at what we are doing in relation to Belonging, Identity, and Leadership through Bible Study, and learn how God calls young people to ministry.

4. Plan next steps for our youth ministry.

1. Invite young people, their leaders and others interested in youth ministry to gather for a time of reflection and looking ahead. (Remember that PYC is a partnership ministry, youth and adults together).

2. Gather/copy resources and prepare meeting space.

(this opening activity would be great with music played in the background, consider the New Song CD’s!!)

1. As participants gather welcome them and ask them to fill in the graffiti sheets which are either hung on the wall or laid out on a table. Each sheet should be headed with the following question and include one are of ministry

1. If the group is large enough, divide into small groups.

2. Have small groups read the “Info Sheet” box entitled “B.L.I.”

As denomination leaders were preparing to introduce a new youth ministry program, Belonging, Leadership and Identity were found to be primary things that young people need to experience in their faith communities.

Give each group one of these three categories to consider. Direct them to go and look at the sheets posted around the room, noting the marking activities which fit into their category, using their letter (B, L, or I) as a mark.

3. With the whole group, take a look at the sheets on the wall and answer these questions:

• How well balanced are the “B, L, I” activities?
• How well do they encourage belonging, leadership, and identity?
• Where are we doing a really good job—in what parts of the church’s life are we totally involved?
• What “B, L, I” needs are we meeting well?
• Where are the gaps? Consider this in light of places for involvement and in experiences relating to “B, L, I”
  (keep your notes for later!)

a. How is the young person in the Bible story called? (By God, another individual or circumstances?)
b. What role was he/she asked to play?
c. Imagine: how was that role important to the life of the faith community?
d. Retell the story to the whole group by creating a paraphrase, acting it out, drawing a picture, or other creative way. After you “share,” explain the answers to your questions. At the end of this activity pray a short prayer thanking God for these “calls’ received and the importance of every call. You may want to invite a young person to pray this prayer.

1. Before your session begins prepare a large piece of butcher paper (or sheet, or fabric) by writing out the Mission Statement for PYC in the center.

2. Have plates of different colors of finger paint.

3. Tell the people present that you are going to close by affirming the mission statement. Have the group stand, holding hands, and pray the mission statement by reading it together or out loud.

4. As a sing of your commitment to following the leadership of the Holy Spirit in your youth ministry, have each person place his or her hand print on the paper in a circle around the mission statement. (use finger paint!!!).

5. Close with an additional prayer or prayers for your continuing ministry with young people.

One of the most exciting things about the PYC vision is that it can be embraced by the congregation and inform the way the congregation is in ministry with all of its young people. This commissioning service is designed to celebrate that commitment.

Step One: If you went through the (“Doing the connection thing”) piece, you should have a banner with the hand prints of all the youth and adults that were present during that program. If you have it, display that banner in the sanctuary or in the place where you are celebrating this commissioning service, so that everyone can see it. If not you might like to look at the piece and make one. Also, prepare three candles of different colors (you can choose the colors of the logo in the packet) and place them on a table in front of the congregation/assembly.

Optional Resource:
PYC Call to Worship
Response to each line: God, it is good to be here!

Gracious God, you have placed people of all ages in your community of faith!
(response)
We are filled with Holy Spirit that gifts us with energy and grace and possibility!
(response)
We know that we are your children…and that we belong to you!
(response)
As followers of Jesus, help us understand more deeply your call to us.
(response)
And enable us to share that call with others, inviting them to walk with Christ in love and service.
(response)
AMEN.

Step Two: Have one adult and two youth carry newsprint sheets with the words “identity”, “belonging” and “leadership” to the front of the assembly/congregation. Then have a youth explain the words in their relationship with the Presbyterian Youth Connection. You can find this information in the packet and in the “Doing the Connection Thing” piece.

Step Three: Use this litany to affirm the congregation’s commitment to youth ministry and to providing for the needs of young people in their church, their community and in the world.

Person with the “identity” sheet
If the church does not provide a sense of identity, who will?

Congregation
We are surrounded by so many voices, telling us what to do, what to buy, what to be…
We need a clear sense of God’s will for us,
And to feel and see ourselves as his/her children…

Identity
(Lighting the candle) Be our light, oh God, as we try to provide a sense of identity in our youth ministry.

Person with the “leadership” sheet
If the church does not provide opportunities for leadership, who will?

Congregation
There are too many wanderers in the world,
People without a sense of hope or of a safe home,
We need to welcome them for who they are and what they bring,
Giving them the feeling and the knowledge that they really belong.

Belonging
(Lighting the candle) Be our light, oh God, as we try to provide a sense of belonging in our ministry.

Step Four
Lead the congregation in singing a song about call and commitment. You can choose on that your congregation is familiar with. Some suggestions for songs or hymns are:
“Here I am Lord”
“Be thou my vision”
“Light the fire”
“Servant Song”

Step Five
Finish the commissioning service by reading the last part of the vision statement for the Presbyterian Youth Connection, and inviting those members of the congregation, youth and adults, who wish to, to place their hand prints in the banner as a way to confirm their commitment to youth ministry in your church. This can happen after the worship service/assembly is over and outside of the sanctuary.

WE HAVE A VISION OF YOUTH MINISTRY IN THE CHURCH!
Where each young person is called to be a disciple of Jesus Christ and is helped to grow in a dynamic, genuine and meaningful faith;
Where young people are involved throughout the church’s like and are able to take risks in a supportive community without fear of rejection;

Where young people are educated within their congregations
and in institutions both secular and sacred,
and are supported in their quest for truth and knowledge in all disciplines;
Where youth and adults together as partners create a community
which celebrates diversity and cherishes each other’s gifts,
Where youth are challenged and enabled to respond to God’s call to wholeness in their lives and in the world, and
Where young people discover and claim over and over again the Good News of God’s redeeming and sustaining love.

Your Youth Ministry Network!

Foundational Thoughts

What do young people need from the church?

Belonging
Young people finding home and place in the Church that is theirs today!
Welcoming them for who they are and what they bring to the faith community NOW!

Leadership
Exploring and testing the gifts given to us as God’s children.
Learning to succeed and fail and try again supported by the Spirit, walking beside others who share this life of faith!

Identity
Understanding who we are as we grow—in Jesus Christ!
Learning to trust the awesome Love of God that created us, calls us, and nurtures us each day, as we live faith alone and with ALL of God’s children.

What is Presbyterian Youth Ministry based upon?
The five intentions of the Presbyterian Youth Connection

• To call young people to be disciples of Jesus Christ.
• To respond to the needs and the interests of young people.
• To work together, youth and adults, in partnership.
• To be connected to the whole church, community, and the world.
• To include all young people, reaching out, and inviting them to belong to the community of faith.

Okay! As a next step you might consider:
(perhaps send these home with folks to think about)

• Present PYC to the Session in order to include the leaders of the church in this new vision of partnership and ministry.
• Consider making the Presbyterian Youth Connection a priority in your congregation/presbytery/synod. Use the Commissioning service as a part of the way to do that…perhaps during a PYC Sunday.
• Commit to the “growing edges” of youth ministry in your setting, by being open to the new directions for youth ministry encouraged through the Five Intentions…The “Getting Connected” PYC Congregational guide can be a wonderful help with this!
• Start using the PYC logo, name, resources, etc. so that others recognize the “connection.”
• Set up a group to take a hard look at the breadth of your youth ministry in light of the five intentions and think about how to engage the broader congregation in this holistic approach to young people.

Don’t forget to keep in mind the needs of Belonging, Identity and Leadership!