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The easiest place for your son or daughter to get involved is at their age-level Youth Group. Casual and non-threatening, these programs have great amounts of interaction between youth and youth, as well as youth and adults. Friends are always welcome! Oftentimes it’s easier to join a new group when you bring someone you know. We love to meet new friends!
If your son or daughter is visiting for the first time, call ahead and let us know! While we do everything we can to notice new faces, we need your help to do our best.
Finally, like any new experience, some youth may need a few weeks to feel a part of the group. Stick with it and let us know what we can do.
To keep up with our activities, watch for the youth monthly newsletter, special mailings, phone calls and the youth bulletin boards found by the youth office for event pictures and sign-up sheets. Watch the “Youth Alert” in the weekly bulletin.
1. Realize that Peace only supplements the Christian nurture you provide as a parent. Your godly attention to and nurture or your child far outweighs what we can provide in a few hours a week.
2. Choose you child’s involvement carefully. Peace provides lots to do – choose programs that meet your son or daughter’s specific needs.
3. Model the importance of Jesus Christ in your life. To be honest, you have no right to expect your child to be more involved in the Christian life than you. Adults need God at least as much as kids.
4. Volunteer to help. We love to have parents join us! Parents are an important part of our youth program… that takes youth ministry. Please join us as your schedule allows. Parents will often drive, help with food, lead discussions, and supervise. Opportunities for involvement range from a few hours once in a while to yearlong commitments to teach a class or to serve on a committee. We provide training and support for the job God calls you to do.
Peace Youth Ministries
Grades 6-12
What dreams do you have for your child? What do you hope for him or her right now – and ten, twenty, even fifty years from now? We spend enormous energy ensuring our child’s success in school, sports, social life, health and work. What puts all other life achievements in perspective, however, is a person’s relationship with God. To paraphrase Jesus, “What good is it for our children to succeed in every other area of life, if in the end they fail toward God? (See Matt. 16:24-26).
Peace Youth Ministries helps sixth through twelfth graders grow in a life-changing relationship with God. We hope that with you, your son or daughter will mature through: Worship, Bible Study, Sports, Servant Events, Outreach, Retreats, and Youth Gatherings – areas, which help, outline our ministry.
Senior High Youth is for youth grades 9-12.
Junior High Youth is for youth in grades 6-8. Some events include sixth grade and will be publicized specifically to include 6-8th graders.
Worship is the focal point of our Christian growth experience at Peace Lutheran. Youth of all ages need to worship with their parents in church at least twice a month. They will catch the importance of worship by the family’s faithful attendance. A special youth service is
held on Sunday nights at 7PM.
Our number one priority for Peace Youth is Bible Study. Our Sunday Morning Youth Bible Class is held at the Youth House at 9:30AM. On Sunday night our youth from grades 6-12 meet in small groups/teams with an adult guide. Our purpose is to grow disciples, encourage in-depth life application, build relationships, share faith stories, and offer ongoing support. We encourage Sunday night participation to bring the youth together in community. We follow our Sunday night Bible study with Worship at 7PM.
Public School Confirmation is offered for 6-8th graders on Wednesday evenings from 6-8 PM. During Advent and Lent our time is 6-8:30 PM with a break for worship. Both public and day school students participate in our Confirmation Banquet on Palm Sunday at 5 PM. Confirmation is usually the third Sunday in May.
During the months of November-February Peace
participates in a Lutheran Church Basketball League.
All high school youth, both guys and girls, are invited to participate. We also have a spring/summer
softball league where both junior high and senior high
Youth can participate.
Peace Youth participate in a number of Christian Youth Gatherings. Every third year we participation the LCMS National Youth Gathering. This is a spiritual mountain top experience for all who participate. Financial support for such an event comes from the youth member and their
family, the church, and fundraising opportunities.
Following the National Youth Gathering Summer, Peace participates in the Michigan District Youth Gathering on Mackinac Island. The cost of this gathering is covered in the same manner as the National Youth Gathering. Other
Weekend youth gatherings are part of our yearly events.
They include Joy Amidst Traversity, in Traverse City,
Junior High and Senior High Tool Time Tech at
Concordia, Ann Arbor, Impact at Trinity, Utica, and
Acquire the Fire, a non-denominational youth gathering
held in the state of Michigan every year to name a few. Every summer, early in August, we participate in the Michigan District Junior High Youth Gathering. Each of these has a tremendous potential for increasing the faith-walk of those youth that attend.
Spiritual Retreats are presented every fall, winter, and spring for 6-8th graders. These give the kids an opportunity to be in God’s beautiful creation. They reinforce relationship building and community among the youth and also allow opportunities for Bible Study and growth. It also gives a mentoring opportunity for our Senior High Youth to build relationships with junior high youth as the senior high provide leadership at the retreats. We also offer outreach retreats each year to allow youth to invite their non-churched friends.
Every third summer our main events are servant events. This provides our youth with the chance to build their faith by serving others. It is open to all youth entering grade seven and older. Both junior high and Senior high are encouraged to serve in our summer VBS program and local servant projects.
A unique opportunity for high school youth to mentor junior high youth and lead junior high youth events is our “God Squad.” Youth’s covenant to one year of service. Special training events are held throughout the year.
Bible study opportunities are available for college age students. Scheduled meeting times vary depending on participants schedules. Many college students also participate as small group leaders in the Youth Bible studies.
Circuit Dances are provided a few times throughout the year. These are meant for Christian fellowship for both junior and senior high youth.
Detroit Lions will at times provide tickets for a home game in the fall. This gives youth a chance to attend a game at a very reduced rate. These tickets are based on availability.
Cedar Point Amusement Park is our destination one-day in June. We travel by chartered bus down to Sandusky, Ohio.
Ski trips, local or away, are sometimes planned by parent groups. These are great opportunities for building Christian Community. They depend entirely on the interest of youth and their parents.
Friday Night Youth House Parties are held for JUNIOR high, seventh and eighth graders following home basketball games during the girls and boys basketball season. They run until 10:30 PM.
Lock-ins are circuit events that are hosted for junior and senior high members. They are great events for inviting unchurched friends or other friends from outside Peace’s church family.
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