Dear Parents,
During COVID-19 restrictions, we have all learned to be more flexible of necessity. It has been difficult for me as our youth pastor to throw most advanced planning out the window and hold the rest very loosely. I expect most of you can identify. This is not how I am wired, yet I have found the opportunity to trust God more and the freedom to rethink what is best for teen ministry to be life-giving.
The first-string youth leaders at Cherrydale are parents. COVID times teach us this – in bold. If you are struggling to disciple your teen/s, I am here as your disciple-making coach. Please feel free to contact me any time. We have around 25 adult youth leaders committed to backing up “the parent team”. We are here to journey with you during these years when additional voices speaking God’s truths to your teens is critical, especially when you are wondering if they are listening to you or not. Our ministry programming is designed to add Cherrydale youth leader discipleship influence to your teen’s life.
Our Parent Update Email
Our weekly parent update email is the number one way for you to know what youth ministry “can do” week-to-week. Please register your student with our youth ministry if you would like to receive these updates. Youth ministry emails go to the address listed in your teen’s email address slot in Circle. If your student is registered but you are not receiving our parent updates, please email us and we will help troubleshoot with you. You might find it helpful to separate family faith emails by creating a “[email protected]” type email address. Also, double-check to make sure your email filter is not dropping our emails into your junk email folder.
Youth Ministry Website COVID Qualifier
As you click on different pages of our youth ministry website, you may see dated pre-COVID information. For parents searching for a church to join, we have left information that will give you a better idea of the scope of our youth ministry. For example, even though some of our service projects may not happen the same way or our mission trip to Ecuador may need to be postponed, it is still helpful to see the kinds of ministries we do and plan to return to in the future.
For the foreseeable future, we plan to do:
- A hybrid in-person and Zoom Youth Group on Wednesday nights
- Teen service opportunities
- Teen discipleship opportunities on Sunday mornings
- Periodic events that will meet primarily outside.
At the top of the respective sections of our web pages, you will see a summary of the plan “we are holding to loosely” for each of our youth ministry areas.
May God be with you and help us all to have His heart for the next generation,
