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Youth Ministry @ Christmas
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| Former National Youth Coordinator Duncan McLeod reflects on the traditions we celebrate at Christmas and how they are linked to the ministry we do with young people. |
Christmas and Christian youth ministry make a great combination. Most youth groups break up a few weeks before Christmas Day itself. But that doesn’t mean that we stop exploring the deeper meanings of Christmas.
Close to Home connections
Here’s a chance to empower families to celebrate together – to build a culture of fun, support and spiritual growth. Even those who rarely talk about Jesus have an opening to explore faith in a non-threatening way over Christmas. Providing inspiring and youth-friendly approaches to worship on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day will give these families a kick-start for fresh conversations.
Earthy connections
Sentimental Christmas cards and carols often suggest that Jesus’ birth was a lovely time. The reality for Jesus and his family was in fact a very uncomfortable experience. Long distance travel, less-than-budget accommodation and child birth don’t sound easy to me. Here’s a time to remind each other that God connects us with the ordinary and hard grind parts of our lives. In the middle of our complicated lives, God reminds us that peace, love and joy are there waiting to be found and expressed again!
Universal, international connections
At Christmas we are reminded that the whole world has been changed by the arrival of Jesus. It’s a great time to learn from the rich traditions of Christians in other cultures. At www.christmas.com there’s a page dedicated to worldviews. Oddly enough, you’ll only find the New Zealand connections by clicking on Australia!
Update From Duncan
I’ve been living on the Gold Coast of Australia (just south of Brisbane) with my family since the beginning of 2001. I spent a year as Youth and Families Minister at Robina Surfers Paradise Uniting Church. I’m now in a 5 year position as Mission Consultant for the Queensland Synod of the Uniting Church in Australia. My responsibilities include equipping congregations in their mission, encouraging the development of contemporary approaches to worship and Christian education, and birthing a ‘Church planting’ movement. Ennis and I and our three children are members of a team planting a new Uniting Church on the north Gold Coast (near MovieWorld).
You can find out more by looking at my family website www.users.bigpond.com/duncanmacl
church website www.ucaqld.com.au
and work website www.missionconsultants.ucaqld.com.au
Webpages
There are a mountain of Christmas websites of varying interest and quality. Most are American, and most are red (like a fire engine), full of Santas, and exhorting you to buy, buy, buy… Amongst the frenzy however, there are some with good thoughts and ideas to get your brain ticking. Here are a few to get your started:
CHRISTIAN http://www.christmasincyberspace.com/ To quote their intro: ‘Welcome to Christmas in Cyberspace. No Santas here! Just the Good News!’
http://www.rockies.net/~spirit/sermons/christmaspage.html This website is huge – with loads of links to everything from Christmas sermons to games and puzzle pages to reflections for Epiphany
www.christmas.com This site’s got a mix of everything – Christian stuff and… other stuff.
www.newadvent.org/cathen/03724b.htm For the long version of how Christians came to celebrate Christmas on the 25th of December
www.holidays.net/christmas For another version…
GENERAL
www.howstuffworks.com/christmas Answers over 30 questions about where different Christmas traditions have come from
www.centrinet.com/christmas/sflinks.htm Has heaps of links to different Christmas sites
MOVIES
http://www.auburn.edu/~vestmon/christmas_movie.html
CLIPART
www.holiday-clipart.com/xmas There’s heaps of Christmas clipart sites on the web – here’s one to get you started
10 Top Ideas to Celebrate Christmas and the New Year
Idea #1 Do a Christmas mailout with special goodies and personalised messages to make your youth feel special Idea #2 Combine the festive feed with fundraising – Have your youth cook a dinner/lunch for your congregation. Get everyone working together as a team – and build stronger links with other members of the congregation. Idea #3 Put together a year book with stories, pictures, poems, prayers, memories etc from the year – a good project for those who aren’t sitting exams to get stuck into Idea #4 Run a Quiz night with questions from events, bible studies and anything else you can think of that’s happened throughout the year Idea #5 Don’t let the Sunday School be the only ones to dress up and take to the stage. Go for gold. Put on a show. Idea #6 Go to the beach. Take the barby, a volley ball, lots of food, sunscreen, glasses… and spend some quality time chilling with your youth group. Idea #7 Decide on something you’re going to GIVE as a group to your church – help the Sunday School with their Christmas play, do a mini working bee, go carol singing with the church choir (they’ll love you for it!) Idea #8 Decide on something you’re going to GIVE as a group to your community – pick up rubbish at the local beach or park or go and give blood as a group Idea #9 Do new year’s resolutions as individuals and as a group then put them in a time capsule to be opened the following year. Idea #10 Enjoy the Christmas holiday season - it only happens once a year!
Real Life Christmas Stories - Christmas Dinner
At St Columba we have a long-standing tradition when it comes to end-of-year celebrations. On a Friday night in the middle of December we hold our annual youth group Christmas dinner. Every Christmas dinner has its own unique flavour but there are some timeless elements that never change. We always eat, have entertainment and celebrate the graduation of our fourth form students, who are moving up to the senior youth programme. The theme, decorations, food and entertainment all vary and reflect where we’re at as a youth group and church.
Last year’s event was extra special because it was our final Christmas dinner in that place. In July of this year we relocated to a brand new building, farewelling our 33 year-old red brick church home. The dinner was named “Nostalgia Night” and it allowed us to take a trip down memory lane, thinking about the significance of this building in each of our lives. Admittedly the nostalgic element was of more benefit for the leaders (many of whom had grown up in the youth group) than for the kids (who didn’t have such a long history in that place). Still, the Christmas dinner was an opportunity for us to celebrate, youth-style, the metamorphosis of our church.
The Christmas dinner is a successful concept because it accomplishes a number of important tasks. It requires the leadership team to work together (Together Everyone Achieves More) in putting on this event. We have small groups of leaders working on different areas – food, decorations, entertainment and advertising – which creates a strong sense of ownership. Also it provides an important “rite of passage” for our fourth form students, who graduate from Fusion (our youth programme for Form 1-4s) with public recognition and a certificate. It’s a great way to bring all the youth together. And it’s a unique opportunity to focus our young people’s attention on the true meaning of Christmas.
Emily Prentice
As youth worker at St Columba, Botany Downs, Emily oversees the ministry to youth aged 12-29 and has a big vision to see youth discover and live out their God given potential.
Real Life New Year Story - Summer Harvest
Imagine up to one thousand young people seeing in the New Year on a beautiful New Zealand beach, and you’re probably thinking of the drunken hordes that descend annually all over the country. We use this holiday to show the young people of our area that there is a better way to enjoy New Year’s at an event called Summer Harvest.
Youth For Christ organises this outreach camp, so the only work you have to do is to convince your group to go. Call your local YFC office for more details or check out the website summerharvest.co.nz. This event is full of activity: worship, challenging speakers, sports, bands, arts & crafts, DJ’s, beaches, yummy food, excellent people, a rockin’ New Year’s Eve party, and did I say a beautiful beach? This year Ian Grant and The Lads are confirmed guests.
Over the years, Summer Harvest has impacted our ministry in three ways. Firstly, many of the young people we work with have made a serious spiritual commitment during the camp. These new Christians and re-dedicated bunch are amping with passion for God when they return to Auckland. This is a really easy position to start your new year from as they are all just raring to go.
Secondly, your group grows as new people from your area get put in touch with your group through YFC. As a leader during camp, you and your group members have probably met many of these kids anyway. Make sure the YFC office knows about your work, so they can pass on information to you.
Thirdly, Summer Harvest provides a fabulous opportunity for your young leaders to share their faith in a supportive environment. This experience often boosts their confidence and gives them valuable tools for future use back in your normal group activities. Summer Harvest operates small groups each evening called “Cluster Groups”. Your leaders can apply to lead these groups, which are supported by the area “Camp Parents”.
This outreach is so productive, sometimes all year it feels like you’re just waiting for it to arrive. Last summer when a few of our “ruffians” were being counseled on an altar call…..I tell you I fully felt on earth a glimpse of how the angels must feel when they rejoice in heaven. This is what it’s all about!
Emily Wotton has been involved in youth ministry with YFC and Christian City Church for a number of years. Currently she is youth worker at St Helier’s Presbyterian in Auckland.