What is the Joint Youth Ministry? The Joint Youth Ministry consists of three churches. Eight years ago, three churches in the area got together and hired a youth director, Lisa Jacobs, to run a program for all the youth combined. Every youth event is done together with all three churches participating as one group. Each church does have its own Sunday School and church service on Sunday morning, but every other thing regarding youth events are done together. The youth group rotateseach month to a different host church. It's awesome!
Who leads it? Lisa Jacobs. Lisa graduated from Westmont college in 2002 with a degree in Religious Studies and an emphasis in Urban Ministry. She absolutely loves working with young people and feels like she has been called to youth ministry since she was in high school. We also have 18 consistent adult youth leaders and other support from parents and church members.
CJ Baker is the Associate Youth Program Director. He has been in this role for almost two years, after a year of volunteering as a small group leader. He loves teens and is great at leading games, asking tough questions and talking about cars and sports!
Where do they meet? Look on our Calendar/Newsletter to see where we are each month. Then look under "How do I get to the Churches" to find out where we are!
Can my youth bring friends? Every single time! We would love it if they brought friends. About 30% of our youth group is made up with youth who don't attend any of the three churches and just ended up coming as a friend of someone else. Those teens are just as much a part of the youth group as those who attend one of the three chuches.
Does the Joint Youth Ministry cost anything?- It depends. Lisa and CJ, as well as their administrative assistant Christinas salary is paid for by pledges from the our three church congreations. We also have a designated program budget for some events, supplies, bibles, books, rental cars, trips and more as well as a profession development budget for continuing education for CJ and Lisa, one one one lunches with students, books for leaders etc. However, none of this covers costs of parties, weekend retreats, mission trips, camps etc. All those things get paid for by two major youth group fundraisers (JYM Walk-a-thon in October and the
Evening in the..." auction, show and dinner in the spring. We never turn a teen or family away for lack of financial means and do our best to help finance a trip or event for a family who requests it. Your teen will never be turned away due to financial hardship. We trust God to provide us with the resources we need to continue to do effective ministry. So far it has worked wonderfully!
Is it safe? As safe as teenagers can be!. We have an appropriate ratio of adults to youth during activites, medical forms onsite with the staff and first aid kits ready to go. All of our youth staff and volunteers are screened, interviewed and background checked. No teens are allowed to drive on any event and any driver is 5 years older than the teens they serving/driving/leading. We also make sure to make youth events a place of emotional safety. The youth can share their struggles, their passions and their needs in an environment of care and compassion. We are not afriad to refer teens to needed resources if their issues are things we are not qualified to help with.