Youth are suspicious...so our world says. Surely you have heard it said: "children can be a challenge, but just wait until they become teenagers; then the real trouble hits!" We can all agree that adolescence presents major challenges for both teens and their parents, but thankfully Jesus speaks a new word. He doesn't merely see our youth as his broken image, but people ready to be re-created and re-formed into the image of Christ and His fullness. He sees their cocooning as an opportunity! What hope! The church gets to influence youth in a way that points them to Christ and pushes them to make an impact on their schools, city and world!

With God's view in mind here are some of the things we want to be about:

We want our youth to know God more deeply through Christ and his Word.
We want them to be a vital part of the family of God. Students are encouraged to seek God in Sunday gatherings and to be a part of the larger family of God. If students are not a part of the larger body of Christ until they are 18 they probably won't start then. Youth group is only a supplemental encouragement to the spiritual lives of our youth. Parents and the church as a whole are the primary people created to befriend and lead our youth.

We want youth to be intimately connected to other youth who follow God.
Students are encouraged to move from examining God on Sunday gatherings to growing in God's word and experience Christian friendships at youth group. Youth group consists of listening to God through Scripture, multimedia, guest speakers and panel discussions. We also try to break into smaller groups at youth group in order to share struggles and talk about exactly what it means to know God.

We want the youth to make God known to our families, to our community, and to our world.
We desire that all of our youth move from experiencing Christian friendship to expressing their faith in tangible ways. We have regular events and trips in order for the youth to invite other students into the community of Christ. Also, time is dedicated each year to feeding the poor, helping around our local community, loving the elderly, and helping others who are in need.

RV TEENS wants to help youth become who they are meant to be by being incarnational (meeting youth where they are), transformational (introducing them to the person and work of Jesus), and integrational (helping them see they are part of a larger family: the church).

For more information, please contact Pastor Matt at matt@rivervalleyyc.org.