Journey

Journey Purpose Statement:

Journey exists to teach students God’s Word.  We offer an assortment of biblical lessons that are age-appropriate and relevant to the felt needs of our student ministry.  They provide students with an opportunity to hang out with one another, engage in the content of the lesson with one another, and some serve the student ministry as a whole.  We aim to show students how to take biblical truth, study it, and apply it to their lives in their unique contexts.

Journey Philosophy and Explanation:

During Journey about 30 minutes is devoted to teaching a biblical lesson to students in 7th through 12th grade.  Often lessons are done in a series on a particular topic that concerns and is applicable to teenagers today.  We also address different doctrines and go through books of Scripture at a time.

Students are taught what Scripture has to say on any particular topic and how they can apply that biblical knowledge to their everyday lives.

Topics are chosen by the Minister to Students and are generally based on the “felt needs” of the student body.

We also devote about 30 minutes to small group discussion time.  Students meet in loosely formed small groups with an adult leader to discuss the lesson.  Questions are given to the small group leader that are designed to help students engage with, apply, and retain the main points of the lesson.

Small groups vary greatly during Journey.  Adult small group leaders can be the same or different week to week.  Composition of the group may be different each week as well.  Generally, small groups are divided by age and gender of the student.

Students generally show up to Journey 30 minutes to an hour ahead of time to enjoy fellowship with one another.  They are welcome to eat (meals not provided) in our building, play games, use the basketball court, or play video games to just spend time with one another.

Some students serve during Journey.  We use students to welcome and greet other students, to run our graphics and audio for the service, and students comprise about 50% of our worship band.