INTERACT

I've been heading up CITY NORTH YOUTH since the beginning of the year.  One thing I really wanted to do this year was take the youth group to the next step of its ministry potential.  In previous years it's been a great initial step in introducing teenagers to City North Baptist, but it had more of a 'babysitting' or 'entertainment/Christian fun' kind of appeal.

Now I know that a youth group at a mid sized suburban church is not going to be able to compete with the entertainment opportunities the secular society has for teens these days.  We're not going to put on big shows, loud music, sport stars and the stereotypical attractions teens find exciting these days.  I also think that when churches try to match that kind of level, they just end up looking lame... the Christian teens then grow up with this corny and warped sense of what 'fun' is and get hammered when they reach the real world.

So I've gone the complete opposite way.  I wanted to keep the activities and events as simple as possible, but the key for where I wanted CITY NORTH YOUTH to go was INTERACT.

If the teens interact with each other in a genuine way, and if corporately and individually they interact with God at youth group then it will turn into a community of young believers, or seekers, who are relating to each other in a way teens don't get anywhere else.  The community itself then becomes the attraction as teens yearn for that connection which the world does not offer.

Our mission this year has to become a 'Christ Centred, Servant Hearted, Outward Focused Youth Community' and it has been encouraging to see how the group is living out that mission and become more connected with each other, the wider Church and their own community circles.

It has taken a long time to morph the culture of the youth group, and that is a continuing process.  Yet we now have two INTERACT nights a term, these are nights where we interact with God in three different ways.  Through listening to his Word, through sharing with each other in study and through responding in worship.   We focus on the ideas of being Christ-centred, Servant-hearted, Outward focused and community, and I have to say that these nights aren't the best attended, and there has been some hit and miss finding the right balance of speaking, group time and music, but the encouraging thing is to see key members of the youth taking ownership of the nights and wanting to put their input to share with the rest of the group.   The numbers may drop a bit on INTERACT nights, but I think it's those nights where we see the real heart of the group.

Our next INTERACT night is this coming Friday and one of the senior boys has taken it upon himself to organise a youth band for the worship time.  I'm really looking forward to it.