Summer Events 2016

Encounter Monthly Newsletter: May 2016

Puzzle Room Fundraiser

Encounter Monthly Newsletter: March 2016

New in 2016

This year has been a year of big changes in our Student Ministries. With the launch of our new vision to Build Relationships, Share Christ, and Grow Together we set out to answer the question, “What does this mean for our student ministry at this time?” We continued with our normal programs until the summer when we decided to reach out to the families of the Church to host youth gatherings throughout the summer, this allowed us as a youth ministry team to meet and begin to prepare for the first phase of changes that would be enacted in the Fall. The first change we made was we stopped hosting our traditional youth group program and in its place began both Jr and Sr High Connect Groups (in line with the Grow Together element of our vision). These connect groups are being held at the homes of some of our youth ministry students. We wanted to see our students connect with others in the group and connect with God through these groups and we have begun to see just that. We are also letting the students plan our evangelical events and have several in the works for this year (Sharing Christ). To mark our transition into this new season we also changed our ministries name from CRAZE to Encounter. We also tried something new, gathering the youth leaders, and a hand full of students to plan our conversation topics for the entire year.

Looking ahead to the new year we are going to be refining our connect groups moving more toward being intentional with out time being more consistent with incorporating worship and accountability into our time together. We will also be launching two new special events that will happen once a quarter. The first being our Fusion Events which will be fun nights out, either at the church or another location, for the purpose of Building Relationships with pre-Christians in our student’s spheres of influence.  The second special events we will be launching are our Deeper Life Nights for the Purpose of Growing Together, these will be nights dedicated to worship and showing our students the many different ways we can worship our God. We will also be taking a group of students to LIFE 2016 this summer which we are very excited about.

In our accountability groups (guys and girls separate) we will be using S.O.A.P. as an outline for our conversations. "S" stand for Scripture, this is when our groups will discuss what they have been reading throughout the week in God's Word. This will also be a time when conversations connected to that's night devotional-lesson will happen. "O" stands for Outreach, here students and leaders will be encouraged to build relationships with pre-Christians in their lives and share christ with them. "A" stands for accountability, here students will be encouraged to share their struggles and things which they want to be held accountable to. Note to parents these times will be held in confidence unless something that is shared involves harm coming to someone or we have a students permission to share with someone outside the group. "P" stands for prayer, this is when we will lift each other and what we discussed up to God in prayer together. 

More to come on the Fusion Events and Deeper life nights in the next couple weeks. Looking forward t a great year in 2016. 

Syracuse Tour 2015

This Friday, October 2, is the Syracuse Tour at Destiny USA. This is a very exciting event and we are in a really unique situation this year as it falls right in the middle of our Missions Conference. We will be meeting at the church at 8:30pm where we will hear a little bit from our visiting international workers, have some pre-event snacks, talk about the night ahead and play some games together. Around 9:30pm we will leave for Destiny USA where we will spend the rest of the night going from site to site. Whether its 5Wits or Wonderworks we will have plenty to do through out the night. We will then return to the church around 6:30am. Make sure you have your updated health forms and payment the night of the event. It is $35 for each student. If you invite a friend who has never been to youth group you and your friend you invite only have to pay $17.50 each instead of the normal $35. It’s going to be a great night, rest up, stock up on energy drinks and candy, and get ready for a great all-nighter.

What Remains of Summer

Summer is slipping away from us, autumn and the start of the new school year are right around the corner! This summer has been great we have had many successful youth events and there are still more to come. Below you will find a list of the remaining events this summer:

Beach Day: August 5^th, 8:30am-5pm

We will be meeting up at Fair Haven beach for a day of sun and swimming. We encourage families to come on out. If you and your family will be joining us please let me (Pastor Tyler) know. If you are interested in bringing a snack or refreshment that is welcome. If your child would like to attend, but needs a ride, that can be arranged by emailing at pastortyler@fultonalliance.org.

Burdick’s Picnic: August 9^th, 2:00pm-5:00pm

We will me invading Tim and Janet Burdick’s home with cars full of teenagers for a picnic and water games.

Seabreeze: August 19^th, 9:30am-5:00pm

We will be making our annual trip to Seabreeze. The trip will cost $20 per student (this will be for admission, gas, and group snacks). Reserve your spot in a car today by letting me know that you are planning on attending. Payment will be collected the day of the trip.

Pizza Night: August 28^th, 7-9pm

We will be meeting up at Pastor J and Karen’s home for a night of fun, games, and yes pizza.

Looking Ahead to the Fall

I am very excited for this upcoming school year. We are making some very positive changes to the way that we minister to and through out teens. I would just like to point out a few big changes coming up this fall, more information will be making it’s way to parents and students in the next few weeks.

A New Vision: We as a church have a vision that was discerned after much time in prayer and is directly inspired by God’s commands to His Church it is, “We will build relationships, share Christ, and grow together as we walk the bridges of Fulton”. Everything (and that means everything) we do will either work towards the realization of this vision or it will not be done. This means that many things may have to change if they do not help accomplish the commands that God has given to His church.

A New Ministry Approach and Format: With this in mind and over two years of involvement in and observation of our youth programs it has becomes clear that we are not intentionally fulfilling our vision within the teen community of Fulton. Thankfully, we are not compelled to hold onto our programs as idols, and when the containers for ministry are no longer viable we are excited to try something new. What does this look like for our youth ministry.

·      IT MEANS… age-group specific programs to better minister to youth in our church and reach out to youth in our community.

·      IT MEANS… a movement towards smaller and more intimate times of conversation and worship.

·      IT MEANS…taking steps to build a community where the faith of our students can grow and be practiced.

·      IT MEANS…being more visible and accessible to the lost teens in our community.

With our new approach to and format of our youth ministry we will have a new name.

A New Name. We will be announcing our new name this month that will help us mark our transition to a new season of ministry.

New Teams. I have also asked a group of parents to come around me to support our students through fundraising, advising, and prayer. I am also developing a Teen Leadership Council (or TLC) that will consist of sr. high students who are ready and willing to take a more active role in the ministry, my hope is that by the New Year we will be ready to open this team up to any sr. high student to apply to be apart of it.

I know that change can be scary, but as I look at this list of things that are in the works and will be implemented in the fall I get very excited for what God is going to be doing through our community as we build relationships, share Christ, and grow together as a team.

I’m sure there are many questions and would be happy to answer all of them, please feel free to contact me or set up a meeting with me at anytime, you can do this by emailing me at pastortyler@fultonalliance.org. But I would also ask for patience as myself and the youth leaders develop these changes and communicate them to you all.