Journey to Adulthood
Wednesday Journeys
The Journey to Adulthood is a complete youth ministry program of spiritual formation for 6th - 12th grades. It uses Bible studies, prayer, rites of passage, outreach ministries and both serious and playful activities to underscore its core principles: 1) Manhood and womanhood are free gifts from God, and 2) Adulthood must be earned.
There are three two-year segments of the program:
Rite-13: The first two years (6th & 7th or 7th & 8th graders) that focus on celebrating the individuality of each young person and their creative potential. The Rite-13 liturgy (A celebration of Manhood and Womanhood) is the community expression of this and a rite of passage form childhood towards adulthood .
J2A: The middle portion of the program (8th & 9th or 9th and 10th graders), engages youth with the skills and critical thinking involved in adulthood. The youth plan and embark on a pilgrimage together at the end of this segment. This experience is often the spiritual highlight of their youth.
YAC: This is a mentor-based program that helps older teens (11th and 12th graders) discern and carry out a ministry within their church or in the larger community. Vocation and development of a personal credo are also emphasized. A final rite of passage sends them out into the world as ambassadors of Christ.
J2A is based on the principles of relational youth ministry. It assumes that at least two or three adults (of both genders) will be leaders for each of the three groups and that these leaders will only serve for two years before taking a "break." This engages many more adults in building relationships with youth and providing positive role models for them. The traditional youth ministry model of a single youth "guru" (paid or volunteer) depends on the personality of that individual -- and when he/she leaves, the youth program often collapses. J2A is designed to engage lots of adults in nurturing the youth of your congregation and community. It is designed to bring young people into full participation in the life of the congregation so they actually ARE the church of today instead of the church of the future!
Journeys meets every Wednesday from 6:30 -- 8:30 pm. This is a shared ministry with other local Episcopal Churches, and we rotate the meeting place between St. Martha's (Aug 27 -- Nov 19), Holy Spirit Bellevue (Dec 3 -- Feb 25), and St. Luke's Plattesmouth (Mar 4 -- May 20). This excellent program in bringing our young adults closer to the church by strengthening their relationships and their faith. This year St. Martin of Tours has been invited to be a part of Journey to Adulthood.
This opening gathering will be Wed., August 27th, 6:30 pm, at St. Martha's, 780 Pinnacle Drive in Papillion, just off 72nd Street and 1/4 mile North of Cornhusker. A meal will be served, and details on how the program works will be shared. The meeting will end at 8:30 pm.