Teens Encounter Christ
Last month
I got on my soapbox and talked about the value and importance of camping
ministry when it comes to enriching and enhancing the faith of our youth.
This month I want to draw your attention to yet another opportunity to enrich
and challenge the faith of our young adults through a ministry referred to
as Teens Encounter Christ (TEC). TEC is a three-day weekend centered on God’s
grace. It provides teenagers the opportunity to examine ways of living out
their faith in relationships to others, it is time for renewal and strengthening
of that faith, and it challenges and equips one to center their life on Christ.
The focus of the entire weekend is based on John 12:24
which reads, “Unless a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies, it remains
alone. But if it dies, it bears much fruit.”
The weekend begins on Saturday, which is a day of personal
reflection as the youth participate in Ash Wednesday, Lent, Stations of
the Cross and Good Friday services. Sunday is a joyous celebration of Easter
including an Easter Eucharist service. Monday is a day of sharing and building
on a true sense of community, preparing to go home and sharing Christ with
the people around them.
The entire weekend is peer ministry led; teens ministering
to teens. Adult advisors and pastors also take an active part in leading
the weekend. The weekend centers around nine talks, seven given by youth
who have attended a previous weekend and two by pastors. Following each talk,
small groups discuss the talk and each table then prepares a poster or skit
or other activity depicting the thoughts they heard presented in the talk.
In addition to the talks and various worship opportunities, the weekend
includes music and singing, food and fellowship, a time of laughter and
a time for prayer.
Each TEC weekend is open to youth in 9th grade through
the first year after graduation. A limited number of youth are accepted
for each weekend and this number is dependant on the amount of people the
hosting church can hold.
One of the reasons I am mentioning this is because over
the years I have been fortunate enough to work on seven of these weekends
and each time I am amazed at the faith filled transitions that take place
in the lives of the youth involved. I am also bringing this to your attention
because there will be a TEC weekend on June 28-30 at Our Redeemer Lutheran
in Pine City and I would love to see some of our high school youth participate
in this wonderful opportunity. If you know one or two of our Zion Youtheran
who might find value in this sort of grace centered experience, mention
it to them, keep them in your prayers and let’s allow the Holy Spirit to
do the rest. For more information, please talk to me and I would love to
tell you more.
