Youth & Young Adults 2023-24

A Message From Next Gen Pastor Christina:
For those who don't know me, my name is Christina Embree, one of the pastors at Open Door, and for the upcoming year, I have the honor of leading the youth and young adults of Open Door Church and Plowshares Home Churches.

A little bit about me - I am passionate about discipleship for the next generation, especially connecting them to adults who love God and others. I hold degrees in children's, youth, and family ministry as well as a spiritual formation, but my heart is really in the local expression of godly discipling communities. I am looking forward to hosting our youth and young adults gathering at my home this year.

So, what is the plan for the year?  I'm so glad you asked!

We are in the process of rebuilding and restructuring our youth ministry in response to changing needs and the expressed desire of our youth. Last year, during one of our youth groups, a young lady shared "I am so grateful to have a place to come and talk about these things with people who love God."  We realized that our young people have the opportunity to "do" a lot but finding a place to work out complex issues, express doubts, and simply be in a safe place with others can be harder to find. We want to create that space. 

Our Goal:  To provide a time and space for our youth in middle school through young adulthood to gather for community, learning, and fun together. 

How will we do this?

First, through an opportunity to Worship:  Twice a month, we will gather for home church where we will worship, eat dinner, pray, and learn together.  We are excited to be using the Current curriculum, Seeking Peace Together, this year. You can learn more about it here: https://shinecurriculum.com/current/. We would love to have youth and young adults help in leading worship, preparing the meal, and leading discussions - Contact me to find out more about these opportunities!

Our Youth Home Church gatherings will take place on 1st & 3rd Wednesdays* from 6:30-8 pm at 3518 Ramsgate Ct. Lexington, starting on September 6, 2023. 

Second, we know that for young people, faith is often expressed in action. We desire to give every youth and young adult a place to live out their faith through Service. Each quarter the youth will have a chance to actively serve our community in some way through an outreach with a local ministry partner. Additionally, each 4th Saturday, one of our youth (Julia Jones) will lead a Neighborhood Clean-Up at Open Door Church that all are welcome to participate in. 

Third, we know that our youth love to just hang out with each other. We've planned a "Just for Fun" Activity for each quarter (see infographic attached) including our ever-popular annual Ice Skating trip to Triangle Park. 

We have many more plans for the future including a community meal, missions trips, and more but for now, we are wanting to start here, with opportunities to worship, service, and just have fun together. 

Our youth and young adults face unique challenges in this ever-changing world. The best thing we can do is offer them the unchanging foundation of grace and peace found in Christ. That is, as always, our ultimate goal - to point them to Jesus. 

Frequently Asked Questions

1. Transportation - We are unable to provide transportation at this time, however, Marissa may be able to take youth home to Wilmore if needed. Please contact her directly to arrange that. If any of the licensed drivers on this email are willing and able to offer rides, please let me know. 

2. Timing - We will try to keep our time together to one hour, with a half hour at the end for snacking, hanging out, etc. We will eat our meal as we discuss our Bible Study. 

3. Teaching-  Seeking Peace Together explores God’s shalom in worship and faith formation classes. The Hebrew word shalom means “peace,” and it signifies all of life being complete, healthy, and whole. This broad vision of shalom is divided into four sections: Peace with God (weeks 1–3), Peace Within (weeks 4–6), Peace with Others (weeks 7–10), and Peace with Creation (weeks 11–13). You can find out more information about this curriculum and the publisher Shine here: https://shinecurriculum.com/current/ One thing I really like about this curriculum is that it offers something for ALL ages which means we will be sending things home for our parents/caregivers to use as well. And if you have younger siblings, let us know and we can get those materials to them. 

About Our Youth & Young Adults

Our Youth & Young Adults ministry connects youth in 6th grade through 30 years of age in community, learning, and fun together with a heart towards establishing intergenerational relationships that lead to lifelong discipleship,

We do this in three ways:

Home Church: Each month the youth will gather for an activity and a time of learning together. We use the Shine: Current curriculum each time we gather for our lesson and discussion! We also have special events like our Fall Kickoff, our Christmas party, an End of School Celebration, and our various summer activities!

Quarterly Service Activities: Each quarter the youth will have a chance to actively serve our community in some way through an outreach activity in addition to their monthly gathering. This includes our summer missions trips; in 2019, we sent a group of 8 to Chattanooga, TN with Youthworks and in 2018, we spent two days in Lexington working with 4 different nonprofits around the city. We emphasize that Christ is already at work in the world and we have the opportunity to join His mission no matter where we are! Dt. 31:8 “It is the Lord who goes before you.”

Weekly: In our Home Churches and the weekly Gathering, we welcome all ages to attend and participate. We especially encourage our Home Church Shepherds to find ways to utilize the emerging gifts of our young people in active roles within the service including Scripture