Middle School Youth Shop for Angel Tree Gifts

Posted: December 3, 2009 by Pam Coghlan

At Christ Church, we want all of our members to worship, grow, and serve (Pick 3!). You will find this simple, biblical model undergirds all of our ministries and everything that we do as a church. As we train up disciples in our Children and Youth Ministries we want to make sure that these core values are passed on to the next generation of christians in our midst. This was on display this past Wednesday night when our Middle School Youth Group took the opportunity to serve together. In fact, 87 Middle School students and 22 of the High School Teen Helpers that mentor them every week, along with a dedicated team of adult volunteers and our wonderful Youth Ministry staff went Angel Tree shopping together! Our students contributed financially and then personally selected gifts for 67 people, ranging from ages 3 to 83. This will be a huge blessing for those receiving gifts and was a blessing to our students, as well.

More than the number or gifts purchased and participants involved, I know that Pam Coghlan, our Youth Ministry Director, was struck by the care and compassion of these young followers of Jesus. Our students were on a mission to make sure that each person received what was on their list and even went above and beyond to supplement the gifts with additional items. For example, what good is a new waffle iron without some Bisquick and syrup to go along with it?

Great things are afoot in our Youth Ministry and it is wonderful to see such enthusiastic service from our middle school students. Our high school students have a full morning ahead of them this Sunday as they worship and grow together at the 9:15 hour and then serve by going Angel Tree shopping at 11:00. Then they’ll return to the church to wrap the Christmas gifts and have lunch together. If you have a student in middle or high school, I hope you will let us partner with you to raise them as a follower of Jesus through our Youth Ministry Department and the leadership of Pam and her team.