Youth Group Schedule:

WYGT – Weekly Youth Group Team meets every Wednesday night at the church at 7:00 pm

Sunday School – Middle School and High School kids meet every Sunday at 9:15 am for Sunday School

MYGT – Monthly Youth Group Team meets once a month for fellowship and/or service projects

Youth Group at Redeemer

An Overview
“To establish a caring community, a Christian church for post-Christian times incorporates every member into Bible studies and other groups where individual needs can be met and each minister to others.” Phil Ryken’s sentiments resonate with the Youth Ministry at Redeemer. The Youth Group exists as one small group meeting within the church that extends out of the over-arching philosophy of ministry set by the elders. In other words, youth group is an extension of the corporate means of grace, which remain central to Redeemer, that allows opportunity for God’s word to be taught and applied to the specific issues and struggles faced by our teens in North Texas at Redeemer Presbyterian Church. The need and value of this small group gathering of young adults can be illustrated through the following factors:

Historical:
Teenagers are relatively new. What I mean to say is, “teenagers” have only been perceived as a distinct demographic for around a century. Considering thousands of years of history that precedes the genesis of “teens” in our culture, Thomas Hine, author of “The Rise and Fall of the American Teenager”, notes that the term “teenager” was not part of popular usage until post-World War II America. Earlier views of teenagers emphasized qualities of young adulthood, quite unlike the “noble savage in blue jeans” which pervades current popular culture. Hine traces the rise of our current view and treatment of teenagers to the Great Depression, when jobs were scarce and young people had a significant amount of time on their hands. Hine uses a historical approach as opposed to a psychological approach in examining the changing role of the teenager in American society, suggesting that “our current culture expects different things of teenagers, and our perceptions need to be adjusted accordingly.” These historical factors begin to inform a robust ministry to the teens of Redeemer, yet current cultural factors enhance the ministry efforts further.

Cultural:
Christian Smith, professor at the University of North Carolina, published a monumental work through Oxford describing the spiritual status of teenagers in our modern American culture. Smith interviews thousands of teens throughout the country with various religious backgrounds. Smith concludes that regardless of religious upbringing, American teens display an uncanny uniformity in their worldview which Smith calls “Therapeutic Moralistic Deism”. By this, Smith means all teens view God as their divine butler. God exists somewhere, unnoticed by us, but if times of difficulty arise, God is then accessible to one and all in order to assist them in their time of need. This over-arching worldview permeates cross-culture, socio-economic and religious boundaries. Whether Jewish, Muslim, Mormon or Christian, this Therapeutic Moralistic Deism reigns in the hearts and minds of much of the youth in our North American context. In addition, Bryan Chapel, president of Covenant Seminary, comments in the PCA’s Strategic Plan that many of the youth within congregations of the PCA are leaving the church once in college. This predominantly takes place during the late teens and early twenties. Chapel’s address can be viewed through the following link:

http://jesusandt-rav.blogspot.com/2010/04/bryan-chapell-im-confused.html

Finally, the unique context of North Texas also significantly weighs on our young adults. Redeemer Presbyterian Church finds itself nestled on the borders of four wealthy municipalities, Allen, Plano, Frisco and McKinney; while the church is located in the affluent neighborhoods of Craig Ranch sub-development. This speaks volumes regarding the culture within which Redeemer seeks to minister to our youth.

Ecclesiastical:
To begin to positively affirm how Redeemer seeks to remedy these negative influences and factors affecting our teens, an inspection of the role and authority of the church must be considered. Redeemer Presbyterian Church seeks to minister in a way that is rooted in Scripture and informed by historic Reformed confessional teaching that is applied to the unique stresses, temptations, and struggles that teens from our congregation face. This effort is overseen by the Session of the church, typically taught by an ordained minister of God’s Word, and pursued in conjunction with the parents, seeking to assist and compliment their efforts in raising kingdom disciples that leave Redeemer, not simply to survive, but rooted in the truth and capable of impacting the lives of others for the sake of gospel. Redeemer’s desire as a church is to provide sound Biblical teaching that applies pertinently to the lives of our youth. This is unique for the youth of Redeemer. Football, soccer, band camps, and other extra-curricular activities, while good to pursue, fail to educate and equip our youth to understand and embrace the truth of God’s Word.

Covenantal:
The youth ministry of Redeemer seeks, by the authority of Christ’s Church, to compliment the role of parents in teaching and training the hearts and worldviews of our youth.

Links for Parents and Teens:

http://ccef.org/dazzle-your-teen

Audio:
http://www.marshillaudio.org/resources/topic_detail.asp?ID=503

Video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2rpUtsvCIJs

Articles: David Powlison, Journal of Biblical Counseling, vol. 23, No 3, 2005, pg. 2-6.

Books:
The Disappearance of Childhood – Neil Postman
Age of Opportunity – Paul Tripp
Soul Searching – Christian Smith
Freaks, Geeks and Cool Kids – Murray Milner Jr.
Real Sex – Lauren Winner