Hello Students & Parents!
Welcome to week 2 of our “FirstCovGR Student News” email! This is a weekly newsletter sent out on Mondays that contains middle and high school events for the week, information about our leaders, resources to use at home, and more! Our vision for FirstCov Student News is that it would contain all information regarding student ministry. This way, we won’t clutter your inbox with tons of emails and everything is in one spot! Continue reading below for more details about upcoming events.
LEADER SPOTLIGHT
Our BLAZE and RADIATE leaders make all the difference! For the next few weeks, we would like to highlight our leaders for you. Our leader spotlight this week contains Jon Bennett and Melissa Bezara. We are so glad they are on our team and wanted to share about themselves and why they love our student ministry! Click on the “Meet our Leaders” PDF to read their full bio!
BLAZE (MIDDLE SCHOOL)
What is BLAZE? BLAZE is a community of 6th-8th graders that meet every Wednesday evening at FirstCov. We gather to seek God and to be changed by him. We will focus on the word of God through the reading and teaching of scripture, prayer, worship, service, small groups, and some super fun games!
Our Fall Kick-Off is THIS Wednesday, September 13! Take a look at the details:
- WHO? Middle schoolers (6th-8th graders) and their friends are invited!
- WHAT? BLAZE Fall Kick-Off! We are super excited to celebrate the start of fall with a big game night at church. Students should join us for pizza, big games, and a night of fun! We will play some icebreaker games, introduce our small groups for the year, and play some body body. Come have fun with us!
- WHERE? In the Youth Room at FirstCovGR
- WHEN? NEXT Wednesday, September 10 from 6-8pm
Next Wednesday, September 20, BLAZE will be heading to AJ’s Family Fun Center for a night of fun and community building! Wristbands are $15 which includes unlimited go-karts, bumper boats, and mini golf. The bus will be leaving FirstCovGR at 5:30p and arriving back at 8:00p. We will have pizza for our students to eat as they arrive!
Sunday morning programming is about to begin! We are super pumped to pour into our 6th-8th graders each week. This year, we are offering two different classes on Sunday mornings. They will both be from 9:00-10:15a. Take a look below for the descriptions.
- ABIDE 67: 6th & 7th graders are invited to join us, starting on Sunday, Sept. 24, for snacks, games, and scripture. Our main focus will be to build community, practice spiritual devotion, and learn what it means to abide in the presence of God. We will meet in room 112. Contact Lauren Abrell with any questions.
- Confirmation: 8th graders are invited to join our confirmation and discipleship class. We will walk through the Bible and explore God’s word together through large and small group discussions and activities. There will be a student and parent meeting Sunday, September 17 at 9a in room 109. Contact Michelle Ludge with any questions.
RADIATE (HIGH SCHOOL)
What is RADIATE? RADIATE is a community of 9th-12th graders who gather to seek God and to be changed by him. We will focus on the word of God through the reading and teaching of scripture, prayer, worship, small groups, and some super fun games! We meet every Sunday evening at FirstCovGR.
Thank you to all who came out to our Fall Kick-Off last night! We had a BLAST playing This OR That with everyone! Come back THIS Sunday, September 17 for a regular youth group night. Look below for more details:
- WHO? High schoolers (9th-12th graders) and their friends!
- WHAT? RADIATE youth group night! Join us for dinner, hype games, and a preview of what the year will look like. This will include an intro of our teaching theme and time in your life group! #staycurious
- WHERE? We will meet in the Youth Room at FirstCovGR
- WHEN? THIS SUNDAY, September 17 from 6-8pm
Starting Sunday, September 24, high schoolers are invited to join us for Life in 4-D! We will meet from 9-10:15a in room 224. Come eat some donuts and dive into the Bible with us!
- What is 4-D? High school students are invited to join us at 9a on Sunday mornings for the 4-Ds (donuts, delve, discuss, and die). Come eat some donuts, discuss scripture/teaching topics, discuss how your story fits into the greater story, and learn how to die to yourself/the world. We will meet in room 224.
SUPPORT
Are you in a sport, band, choir, school musical, and/or something else that we can cheer you on at? Send us your schedules! Our leaders would love to come and support you! Send any schedules/details to Lauren Abrell at (630)750-6458 OR
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REGISTRATION/WAIVER
Please note that you must have a FirstCovGR Student Registration/Waiver for the 2023-24 school year submitted in order to participate in FirstCovGR's student ministry events. Please fill out one form per student. (Form: https://bit.ly/3eFU4vZ)
PARENTS/GUARDIANS
We are super excited to walk alongside you, your student, and your family this year! We believe that what we do in student ministry is important when it comes alongside what you already do at home. In order to bridge the gap between home and church, the two must not only encourage one another, but they must work together. We hope to use this section of our newsletter to provide you with resources to use at home as well as to share opportunities to get involved at church with your student(s). Our student ministry team is very excited about partnering with you!
Resources:
- Our team loves the resources that Orange provides. Orange is a curriculum that provides a comprehensive approach to family ministry. They breakdown teaching in a way that meets each student’s interests, preferred learning method, and more. It equips ministries to meet students where they are at. Check out their PARENT PAGE for more information! https://theparentcue.org/
Opportunities:
- We are looking for parents, ministry teams, and other volunteers to provide dinner on certain Sunday nights for our High School youth group! Fill out THIS link to sign up or pass it along to others. We could not do it without you!
- We are also looking for parents, ministry teams, and other volunteers to host OR or provide a meal for our Middle School Bro/Gal Nights. If you are interested, please fill out THIS link. We appreciate your gift of hospitality!
STAY CONNECTED
- Our fall calendars are here! Click on the MS PDF & HS PDF to look at what events we have going on this fall.
- Join our Facebook group: FirstCovGR Youth Group. We often post about upcoming Middle and High School events, post ETAs when we have group outings, and upload lots of pictures to this page!
- Follow us on Instagram @firstcovgr_ms & @firstcovgr_sh
- Check out our High School LinkTree: https://linktr.ee/firstcovgr_hs
- Want to find out more about our student ministry? Click HERE to visit our website!
QUESTIONS?
Our team would love to connect with you! If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please do not hesitate to reach out to Josh, Michelle, or Lauren via phone call, text, email, or office visit. We are looking forward to partnering with you this year!
Woohoo, you made it to the end! Thank you for reading and being diligent will all the details! We are looking forward to an AWESOME school year with you. See you all so soon!
Praying for you always,
Josh Hinken |
| Pastor of High School & Young Adults
Michelle Ludge |
| Middle School & Children’s Ministry Team Director
Lauren Abrell |
| Youth Ministry Assistant