Youth Group Report

Dear Beloved Union Church Congregation,
Union Church serves our community here in Berea in many important ways. I feel one of the most important ways that we can, and do, serve this community is by creating space for local youth to come and be together in a safe place; to learn, serve, support each other, and receive support from us during the tumultuous times that are their teenage years.
I have been a youth director with this church for 7 years now, and together, we have been serving our teen youth group well. I believe what we do is working. Word has spread. And this year, our youth group has grown substantially as a result. On Wednesday nights over the fall, we have had around 30 teens coming for youth group, where as in the spring, we had around 16. I think these numbers speak for themselves in terms of our success in making Union Church a place youth want to come.
Currently, we serve these teens in the following ways and more:

• Weekly gatherings on Wednesday nights after Wednesday Night Live supper where we host meaningful programing for the youth
• Monthly weekend outings for fun/fellowship in addition to fundraisers and service activities throughout the year
• Summer camps/trips – this year we did one mission trip and one fun trip
• We individually council and support youth and their families
• We conduct fundraisers and service activities throughout the year
• Special programs such as Confirmation and Our Whole Lives, a healthy and holistic look at sex and sexuality
• A yearly church service that is meaningful and powerful for youth and congregation alike

Inevitably, with success and growth comes new challenges that we must respond to in order to maintain the level of support we currently offer the youth group. Funding, transportation, diverse and engaging programming, and space for our activities will all need to expand in order for us to meet the group’s needs. All of these aspects are important, but perhaps the most important need I can see is in regards to staffing, and the church’s overall capacity to build and maintain its programming.
We all have keenly felt the departure of our beloved Associate Pastor Rev. Rachel. She served in so many capacities throughout the church, and losing her has left many gaps. Rev. Rachel was key in building the capacity of the youth group as well. She supported me in many ways, meeting with me weekly to help plan, to lend emotional support, and to help me connect our mission to the rest of the church. She supported the Youth Group in many other ways as well including volunteer coordination, and individual counseling of youth group members.
Rev. Rachel also helped us create a youth group assistant position and we were able to hire Maggie Park back in the spring who has been a wonderful addition to our staff. But between Maggie and I, we are paid for 14 hours per week of service, and to complete all that must be done in that time, we need support. Rev. Kent has been a tremendous support to us this fall, but his capacity is understandably limited because of all the other ways that he serves this church. As such, an associate pastor or similar position would go a long way in providing the support that our youth program, and other programs throughout the church, really needs.
In order for this to happen, we as a congregation must step up our giving to meet the needs of new growth. We must support the church’s capacity to do all of the wonderfully programing that we have done in the past while meeting the new needs of the future. I hope you will consider ways that you can help make this happen. Let’s rise to the occasion as we always do.
Thank you for your continued support,
Christopher McKenzie, Youth Director
Reasons our youth group is special:

1. We strive to create and foster a non-judging, non-bullying environment for teens to be together and socialize
2. Our youth are exceptional young people who care about each other, and this world we live in
3. Our youth come from diverse backgrounds and circumstances
4. We have a large number of youth that identify as LGBTQIA
5. We have a strong contingent of homeschoolers
6. Our teens come from as far away as Richmond, KY to participate
7. We welcome and support teens who have depression, anxiety, and learning/social disabilities
8. We welcome and support teens who are socially disadvantage for a variety of reasons
9. We are not afraid to tackle big issues; we often discuss social justice issues, problems we see in our community and world, and how to create a better world for ourselves and others