The Teen Years

I was thinking back to my teen years growing up in the church and I was fortunate to have a young Christian couple who were willing to invest in the few youth we had. We brought friends and it grew to a dozen or so kids at its peak.

While the group was quite simple in activities, the consistency of Dave and Melissa Nolet bore witness through the years and made a real difference in my life. Having adults, beyond my parents, who cared about me and took an interest in me carried such an impact, enabling my faith to continue to grow through those turbulent high school years. 

Over the past two years I’ve had an awareness of our congregation’s increasing need to address the needs of families with teens. Last November we partnered with Hope mission to run a weekly youth group through the end of March. We maintained a monthly meeting to retain some connection up til June. We did not find a person to carry the initiative forward.

During that time the board and I recognized the importance of intentionally pursuing someone who would engage with the youth of our church and reach out to the youth in our community. We decided to create a part time position for 10 hours per week that would allow us to build a consistent program for teens to attend. A place where healthy relationships can be built, the love of Jesus modelled and the Word of God taught. 

In our search we came across someone with youth ministry experience, but who also has a broader set of gifts beyond that and an expanding call to ministry. The Board has called Jennifer Seida to serve part time in the role of Associate Pastor. Her first assignment will be to initiate our ministry to youth when she starts in mid-October.

We are excited to welcome Jennifer and Roy, Emmy, Maddie, Arthur, and William to our congregation. Please do your best to welcome them.

In Christ,
Pastor Nathan