Forgive me for the lack of posting in the past several weeks. I have been putting all of my time and energy into getting ready for Transit this past weekend. It was an immense success for our ministry, and I see such a bright future in this ministry. We focused on three relationship over the course of the weekend, spent time in worship and family prayer. So what made the weekend so remarkable?
1. Family – the majority of our incoming 6th graders and their parents made this weekend a priority. Moms, dads and their 6th graders spent time worship together, playing together, sharing together, praying together. We focused on relationships. The Relationship with Christ. The relationship with family. The relationship with friends and mentors.
2. Established Mentors – each of the 6th graders invited 3 or 4 influential adults to join us for a special ceremony on Saturday as we concluded our weekend. The students selected these adults because they have seen them as significant influences on their life up to this point. For the ceremony, the student, parent(s) and mentors sat in a circle. The student began with some of the highlights from their school year and thoughts about moving forward. Then the mentors and parents shared with the student the following 3 things. 1. Share with the student the Godly qualities you see in this student. 2. Then you will give them a charge to follow Christ and remain faithful to Him. 3. What is your hope and prayer for this student as they go through junior high/high school. These mentors were then given a charge to walk with these students through, Jr High, High School, college and life transitions. My dream is these relationship would last forever.
8 We loved you so much that we were delighted to share with you not only the gospel of God but our lives as well, because you had become so dear to us. (1Th 2:8 NIV)
3. Involvement – This weekend involved a lot of our students. Our Student Leadership help with greeting and leading a session by themselves with the 6th graders. Our students in our worship ministry led worship for the weekend and did an amazing job. Students also ran media support for the weekend. David and Michelle along with 3 of our middle song teachers led a round table discussion with the parents. So great to see so many serving.
4. Connections – Entering Jr. High all of these new 6th graders have mentors they are now connected to as well as one of our student leaders. Parents took time to sit and pray with the students. Hopefully this is happening a bunch already but is great to have really intentional and focused times. We also got sevre helpful resources in the hands of parents and student. Each parents went home with The Space Between: A Parent’s Guide to Teenage Development, Shepherding a Child’s Heart, Creating an Intimate Marriage: Rekindle Romance Through Affection, Warmth and Encouragement, 99 Thoughts for Parents of Teenagers. Each Student went home with Surviving Middle School: A Hilarious Guide that Will Help You Avoid Being a Dork.
5. Money – I asked our congregation to help support this weekend. We were given enough money to pay for all of the resources for the students and parents and have a nice catered meal of Friday evening.
Our first Transit weekend was a huge success. I will spend some time later this week processing ways we can improve heading into next year.
This is the transit_blessings parents and mentors received prior to the weekend.
Our Schedule
Schedule: Friday, May 18th
6:00 PM – Worship (Relationship with Christ)
7:00 PM – Dinner
7:45 PM – Parents Session 1
7:45 PM – Students Session 1
8:45 PM – Worship
9:00 PM – Go Home for the evening
Saturday, May 19th
8:30 AM – Breakfast at church
9:00 AM – Worship (Relationship with Family)
9:45 AM – Parents Session 2
9:45 AM – Student Session 2
10:30 AM – Worship & Prayer (Relationship with Friends & Mentors)
11:00 AM – A Rite of Passage
12:00 PM – Go Home
garyalbritton 