Youth & Family Ministry
What We Offer
In addition to the information found in the other tabs on the youth & family ministry landing page (What We Advocate, Calendar, Resources, Safeguarding, Youth Events, Forms, etc...), The Director of Youth and Family Ministry is available to come to your area to provide education and training on the following topics. So, grab a few neighboring congregations and let's create a memorable experience.
Safeguarding: Let's start with safeguarding. It is a huge topic that needs to be addressed in every congregation. Gary is well versed on the basics of what your congregation needs to do in order to comply with the State of Ohio Ordinances as you strive to develop a safe environment for your youth, volunteers, and congregation. Checkout the safeguarding tab.
Creating a Healthy Youth Ministry Culture Within Your Congregation: A 90 minute foundational presentation designed to aid a church folks in creating a healthy youth & family ministry culture within your congregation. Once a healthy culture has been created then intergenerational relationships will flourish and programming becomes far more effective.
Faith Webbing: A 90 minute active learning experience that delves deep into understanding the concept of Faith Webbing. The vision being to wrap our children and youth in a web of faith so loving and caring that they will know God and always want to be a part of a local congregation.
Next Steps: Developing a Ministry Plan for the Children & Youth in your Congregation: A workshop designed to lead congregations into developing a step by step action plan specifically for their situation.
Outcome-Based Youth Ministry: Design your youth ministry to young people starting with defining the end result. What do you want your children and youth to be equipped to do by the time they graduate High School? (Know how to have a quiet time, learn a method of Bible Study, give a devotion, say table grace, pray out loud, know how to use a concordance, etc...This experience will give your parents and volunteers the ideas and skills to create personal ministry plans for their children. The length of the session can vary.
Faith Advances: The Director of Youth & Family Minuistry has designed over thirty Faith Skills that can be built into young people. A Faith Advance is an opportunity for youth, parents, and other congregational adults to have shared experiences that impart Faith Skills to young people, ease youth & adults into discussing important topics and lay a foundation for future teachable moments.
Networking: Checkout the Training Networking tab for how we go about connecting our Synod congregations in youth & family ministry.
Service: Young people so very much want to be an asset to the faith. Help them to be the hands of Jesus in a broken world. This experience will help your congregation to define meaningful service projects that will excite, energize, and draw your young people into life long congregational service.
Ideas for Catechism Programs: A two-hour workshop designed to discuss ideas and methodologies pertaining to helping congregations develop a vibrant Catechism Program.
A Model for Family Ministry: A workshop of both practical ideas on involving the entire family in church functions as well as learning how to equip parents to pass on their faith to their children.
Active Learning Ideas for Bible Passages: Need ideas? This experience will give you as many good ideas for helping children and youth to experience the Bible as you can handle at one time. The length of this experience can be tailored to the group.
Teaching by Learning Style: Teachers have a dominant teaching style. Learners have a dominant learning style. Help teach and pass on the faith to the next generation by understanding and then teaching to the various learning styles.
Hosting a 1st-3rd Grade Event, a 4th-6th Grade Event, or an Adult Training Session: The Synod looks to offer events for younger children each year. Our goal is to offer several events around the Synod so that travel can be kept reasonable. If your congregation would like to host an event contact Gary through the Synod Office.
Website: Check out the youth & family portion of the website for more information including a summary of what we advocate, a calendar of events, information on safe guarding, and examples of forms and best practices manuals.
Email Distribution List: A Synod Youth & Family Ministry email distribution list has been complied for updates on what's happening in the Synod in youth & family ministry. Send an email to (gpecuch@southernohiosynod.org) to join.
Facebook Page: A Synod Youth & Family Ministry Facebook page has been created to help those interested in our favorite topic to connect with each other. To join send an email to Gary and he will get you connected with the group gpecuch@southernohiosynod.org).
