Welcome to St. Mark’s Youth Group!
Here at St. Mark’s we love youth and are convinced that youth are not the future of the church, but are very much the present church. That is why we are a community that is dedicated to providing a place for youth to meet Christ and come to know Him personally. We believe there is no greater force in the world than the love and grace of God as shown to us through the life and death of Jesus Christ. It is the responsibility of the Church to teach our young disciples about this life-giving grace. The youth of St Mark’s are learning to read God’s word and form relationships with God—through Christ—and others. Our ministry seeks to grow and learn within the walls of the church, and take what we have learned and go into the world and serve others in Christ’s love.
St Mark’s youth ministry has been named “The Shipyard” in reference to John Shedd’s quote, “A ship stays safe in the harbor, but that is not what ships are meant for.” A young Christian is safe in the church—but that is not what Christians are meant for. Our youth ministry is dedicated to teaching our young Christian brothers and sisters about God’s grace so they may “set sail” to their schools, work-places, sports teams and other areas of their lives empowered to share the love of Christ with others. The Shipyard is also a place where the youth of St. Mark’s are encouraged to step out of their comfort zone in order to serve in Christ’s name (Matt 25:40).
Our youth ministry seeks to offer a variety of channels each month in which our youth can encounter the life-giving God. Through fellowship, service and Christian study our young people can find a community to call their own in which they can grow together in their knowledge and love of the Triune God.
If you would like to receive a bi-monthly e-newsletter detailing all of our upcoming activities, please me and I’ll make sure that you do!
Grace & Peace,
Erin
Each month, the events of our ministry contain elements of fellowship, service, and study. Please read on to see examples of just some of the good times we've had together.
Come out and join us!
FELLOWSHIP:
The Lord would speak to Moses face to face, as a man speaks with his friend. – Exodus 33:11 – From the very beginning, we were all made for friendships. We just aren't complete
without them. The Lord can use our friendships to show us love, support and strength. That is why we provide events every month for purpose of encouraging new and growing friendships.
Fellowship events we have done in the past include: Water-Balloon Volleyball tournaments; Sports challenges with neighboring churches; trips to Busch Gardens or King’s Dominion;
Board Game Nights; Christian Concerts; and Lock-ins like our ever-popular annual Video Game Olympics complete with gold, silver and broze medals!
SERVICE:
You were called to be free. But do not use your freedom to indulge the sinful nature; rather, serve one another in love. – Galatians 5:13 Young people today have so
many choices for how to spend their time. A disciples of Christ, we are free people. We believe that a large part of this freedom comes from the blessing of serving others.
Because we desire to encourage an attitude of service among our Youth, we offer them every opportunity to give back to the community around them. Some of the ways our Youth
have served in the past include: Making meals at the Ronald McDonald House; Serving dinner at the Roanoke Rescue Mission; Cooking and delivering meals for those in need of encouragement within
our church family; Doing yard work for the elderly or ailing; Collecting food for local food banks; Educating others on issues of genocide such as that in the Darfur region of Sudan; Helping with home repair and children’s ministries
through annual summer mission trips for both Junior and Senior High Youth.
STUDY:
They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to the fellowship, and to the breaking of bread and to prayer. – Acts 2:42 Before we can live into who
we are called to be, we must learn who we are called to be and we must come to a deeper understanding of the One who calls us. Every week we give our Youth an opportunity to
learn about the One who offers the Good News, or Gospel to us. That Good News is that in Jesus Christ, we are offered NEW LIFE EVERY DAY. In receiving that offering, we can
experience the Resurrection blessing of Christ, today, tomorrow and every day on into eternity with our Creator. Sunday mornings from 9:45-10:45, the "Journey" class meets
downstairs in our Youth Room. This class is often used for our Confirmation track as it helps to educate our Youth in the basics of the heritage of Christianity and what it means
to claim the name Christian. Each Wednesday afternoon we offer a time of fellowship followed by a basic bible or topic study from 4:15-6:00pm also in the Youth Room. And for
those Youth who are looking for a more in-depth study of our faith, we offer a small group ministry specifically geared for young people that meets weekly in the home of
one of our church members.
