Welcome to the youth ministry team portion of the FPC Owensboro website.  This part of the website is dedicated to the youth ministry of FPC.  Navigate around, look over our activities and if you have any questions, feel free to contact us!  Thanks for checking us out.

Of Most Importance

Community.  This is the one word that all of our youth seem to have on their lips these days.  It is something that we all long for and we search for in our everyday lives, yet, it is something that we rarely find.  Here at youth group, or yoof group, we strive to make Christ the center of our community and provide as many opportunities we can we encounter Him.  Our gathering times derive from that we see of the disciples and Christ in the Gospel stories and in the book of Acts.  "They devoted themselves to the apostle’s teachings, teaching and fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer."  Acts 2.42 (NRSV)  It is our hope of gathering together weekly and often, laughing and crying, hoping and doubting, singing and praying, that we may reach a true community, where authenticity is present and all are welcomed.  Come, join us in our upper room where the couches are comfy and the atmosphere is warm, where the only thing we ask of you is to simply be YOU!

How we do Youth Ministry

We recognize that we are because He was (I AM) and so we make all aspects of our youth ministry targeted towards God.  Contemplative would be a word that would best describe the way we do ministry here.  We find it important to be aware of the workings of the Creator in our lives and how God is creating daily for us.  Remembering our baptism and how we are claimed by God and encounter Christ through the Eucharist, we find all our needs met when we come together.  Once you come, you are a part of our family and we begin to consider you one of us.  Practicing presence is key to the way we do ministry.  Not only is our focus on the presence of Christ but the presence of one another.  When we come together, one of the first things we do is recognize those who are not here with us, and then we simply lift their names up to God in prayer, making us mindful of those who are absent and the incompleteness we then are because of this.  Everyone here at FPC is needed for our ministry to be unified.  For we are told that there are a variety of gifts but the same Spirit (1 Cor. 12) and so discovering, maturing and utilizing our gifts for the maturation and edification of the body is what our youth group wants.

Our philosophy, style, purpose, or whatever term you want to use to describe what shapes our ministry is that which shapes the PC (USA):  the Six Great Ends of the Church. 

• the proclamation of the gospel for the salvation of humankind
• the shelter, nurture, and spiritual fellowship of the children of God
• the maintenance of divine worship
• the preservation of the truth
• the promotion of social righteousness
• the exhibition of the Kingdom of Heaven to the world (Book of Order, G-1.0200)

It is through service projects, worship services, play and other leisure activities, gatherings around a common meal, prayer and time set aside for spiritual formation that we encounter these great pillars in our ministry.  Although these are the foundation for the way we do ministry, we are open and flexible with fulfilling these Great Ends.  Our hope is that above all things and through all things, no matter where we are at or who we are with, God will be encountered and changes will occur in our lives.

Radically Living

"And he said to them, "Follow me, and I will make you fish for people."  Immediately they left their nets and followed him.  Matthew 3.18 (NRSV)  It is these very words and other instances we see in the gospels that we approach the spiritual formation here at yoof group.  Discipleship, becoming a disciple, it all has to do with following the Way, which is Jesus.  Yet we understand that our faith and the journey that it is does not come from one single moment, rather it is in fact a journey.  Those first disciples whom Jesus called followed him for 3 years before they "got it" and so our discipleship process takes the same speed, that of an ox, gradually growing over time, all the while leaving space for questions, fears, doubts, uncertainties and times of celebration. 

However, this does not mean we desensitize the message of the Gospel and the cost of discipleship.  We encourage living the radical life of Christ, to take up their crosses daily and to step out and make a difference.  Together as a unified yoof group, we are beginning to take these strides together and to demonstrate the love of Christ to those outside our church.  Holy huddles and cliques we stray away from for here at FPC our yoof group accepts and welcomes all people of all ages, sex and race.  Our hope is that as we strive for community and this radical lifestyle Christ calls us to live, we will be Christ to those we encounter.  Love, that is our goal, our drive and our focus, that we love one another and love those who are different from us. 

The Final Word

Above all things, we want youth to come to FPC and be who they are.  We hope to provide an opportunity for youth to live into their belovedness and to embrace God's love for them.  Our facilities provide numerous ways our youth can come and be themselves, outdoor basketball hoop, a youth room with comfy couches, TV, big screen, movie playing abilities, video games, ping-pong table and foos ball table, and other general parts of our church provide the perfect place for youth of all ages to come and find rest, sanctuary! 

Whether you'll be here at our next gathering times or you simply stopped by and checked us out online, our prayer for you is that God will keep you and bless you, that God will let his light shine brightly into yours, that you may come to know the peace of Christ in your everyday journeys, that you will encounter the love of Christ in all people and that no matter where we find ourselves or where we go, we can never journey outside your loving care! 

May the peace of Christ be with you this day, now and forever.

Contact

If you have any questions, you can contact Adam, the YD, at his office phone:  270-684-1467 or via email:  youthdirector@firstpresbyterianowensboro.com.  Thank you again for visiting and an updated schedule of events will be posted on our blog so please, take some time to venture off into the blogging world!

See more of what we are all about by visiting our blog.