I wanted to tell you a little about what we do at Gorman for 7-12 graders and why this is a ministry worth investing in. I have been in youth ministry for almost 7 years now and I have seen too much ministry that means little for students. At Gorman, we are committed to excellence in youth ministry, which means short term and long term lasting benefits for our youth. Vision
At Gorman Baptist Churc
h, our vision for middle and high schoolers revolves around the theme of the church as a whole. Loving others to Christ
Caring for others in Christ
Sharing our faith for Christ
Our vision is simple and powerful: Love students no matter their background, family life, ethnicity or gender; and care for them. Our goal is to see middle and high school students become mature in the faith and to see them live their lives in a loving and respectful way so that the whole world might know Christ’s love through them. We want to share our faith for Christ. Our mission is that all middle and high school students in our community would hear and respond to the Gospel in a positive way. The story of Jesus Christ is the foundation of what we do and we strive to form a biblical foundation in the lives of our students. Strategy
We accomplish our mission and vision in four stages:
Stage 1: Relationship Building
We have several events each quarter that encourage students to engage with one another and to build positive relationships. We have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to bullying and we desire to create a fun, stimulating environment for our middle and high schoolers. Here’s the great part: parents and families are always welcome to join us during any event! Stage 2: Teaching the Basics
What is prayer? Is fasting required? Why did Jesus die? What is evangelism? Our Sunday School curriculum is designed by us and answers different questions concerning the basics of the faith every Sunday morning before church service. After spending any amount of time in our ministry at all, students will learn and hopefully put into practice the basics of the Christian faith. Stage 3: Teaching the Whole Bible
Here at Gorman, our students study one book of the Bible every month on average. This ensures that after being in the ministry for 6 years (7-12 grade), each one will be familiar with virtually the entire Bible, which is our guide to life. This will help them as they seek to impact their communities and the world for Christ; not to mention it will also instill within them leadership qualities that will help them in any arena of life! On Sunday nights we have a simple Bible study (set up like a late night television show) to accomplish this. On Wednesday nights we have a youth service and at the end students break off into groups and talk about what they have learned. Stage 4: Outreach
Every month we do at least one community engagement event. This allows our students to lead and serve in a very real way, putting into practice everything that they have learned. We also have an in-home outreach agenda and partner with schools in our very own community. We also have a leadership class for our seniors in their last semester, which will help integrate them into life beyond high school whether they plan on further education and/or pursuing a career.
