Let's start with the basics...

Connection Church has a "Teen Connection" - something different than what most churches call a "youth group."

By this we mean that it isn't our desire to create a separate program to churn out squeeky clean kids who become good citizens and nice church folk. Rather, we believe God's vision for the emerging generation is much bigger and more significant than that... something different is needed.

"Discipleship requires a huge investment of time. Most of us don't have the time. Or we chose not to take the time. Or our current models of ministry don't allow us the time... if we want to see the church survive, we need to rethink youth ministry. What does that mean? I don't have a clue.

But my hunch is that if we want to see young people have a faith that lasts, then we have to completely change the way we do youth ministry in America. I wonder if any of us has the courage to try."

- Youth ministry guru Mike Yaconelli, from "The Failure Of Youth Ministry"

We believe this generation is worth the time and attention of the whole Church. We're dedicated to students and working on something relational with them... something more organic and interactive in order to create a lasting faith in Jesus Christ and His Church.

• We start with prayer, praying with teens to help them understand God's plan for their lives.
• We invite teens to actively participate in Sunday gatherings and ministry teams so that after they graduate they're used to this connection (and maintain it as young adults).
• We plan monthly events where students, parents, and mentors connect with each other over issues they're facing during these years.
• We listen to what's on students' hearts through regular get-togethers that foster peer support, mentoring, and important biblical insights.

Like we said, though, we're working on it. We don't have this all down pat and relationships can be complicated... but we're committed to the effort.

Perhaps it might be easier to create something a bit more predictable and entertaining to send kids to, but we genuinely love kids and desire to give them something more than that. We still like having fun and often do when we're hanging out with teens... but our end goal is more about helping students know, live, share, and own their faith in Jesus Christ.

In other words, we won't waste time building a program when we could instead spend that time building a Christ-follower.

Any God-sized dream must begin with God. Our lead pastor and his good friends at Christian Endeavor developed a way to pursue this called "Pray21" - use these materials to begin a relationship with a student that over the course of 21 days will change you, him/her, and the future of the Church!

Another resource that is out there for teens is "The Miracles of Jesus," a 30-Day devotional for students written by our lead pastor Tony Myles and published by SonLife. By exploring the amazing miracles of Jesus, teens can discover how He wants to transform their lives! Through prayer, reading, response, insight, and reflection, this book leads students through oustanding miracles in the Gospels in practical ways. Click here if interested.

For Teen Connection trips requiring parental permission,
download the release form HERE.