YOUTH: High School Faith Builder Program

 The High School Faith Builder Program

The Faith Builder Program is, in many ways, an extension of confirmation. It continues through high school and hopefully instills in youth a desire to always keep learning and seeking God's truth in the Word. It needs to be planned ahead so everyone knows what they're going to do as a group. 

Below is a chart of a program I would create that includes the 7th and 8th grade confirmation years. This can be done on Wednesdays or during Sunday School hour. It's very interactive and may not take the whole year, which means you can still have time to study other topics. Students should be able to work together and choose project themes. Timelines, and work groups should be discussed, but approved by the leader. These classes are intended to be fun, engaging, and educational.

Year/ Grade	Study	Service/Leadership	Project
7th	Catechism MS Bible Reading Plan Year 1 (Old Testament)	In-church Service Out-of-Church Service	Faith Journey Poster (Talk to family members about faith.)
8th	Catechism MS Bible Reading Plan Year 2 (New Testament)	In-church Service Out-of-Church Service	Reflection Paper
9th	Worship Education Worship Music Study   - Hymn Studies   - Contemporary Music Studies   - Camp Music LCMS & Social Issues: Where do we stand?	In-Church Service Out-of-Church Service Work with junior students to develop a worship service.	Worship Music Project   (Music reflecting beliefs) Evaluate Adult Bible Studies (using an evaluation tool)
10th	HS Bible Reading Plan Year 1 (Old Testament) Discipleship 101	Sit in on various boards or committees. See what interests them.	Work with Sunday School children on an Old Testament Story presentation.
11th	HS Bible Reading Plan Year 2 (New Testament) Discipleship 201	Leadership – participate on a board or committee	Plan & Organize a Worship Service (work with peers).
12th	Surprised by Joy by C.S. Lewis Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis The Screwtape Letters by C.S. Lewis	Leadership – Plan and organize an event at church.	Use a creative way to share their beliefs: create a video, write a book, use creative drama, write a song, etc. These should be shared with the congregation on or around graduate recognition Sunday. (Previous post)

REMEMBER - everything kids do together is fun because 

they're doing it together!  Let friends work with friends!

• Service within the congregation - Students need to transition into adult roles by starting to take an active part in the congregation though ushering, reading Scripture, being Sunday School teacher aids, doing yard work or working on the facility, working or participating on a board and/or being a part of a "ladies" group or larger church ministry of some kind. This should include multi-generational activities. If they have an idea of their own about how they can serve, perhaps starting a homework club, have them propose it at a board meeting.
• Service outside of the congregation - This could begin at any time and should not be something they do with a large youth group but could be done with one or two friends. We want them to live lives of service and understand that it doesn't have to happen within and "event" or "mission trip." They can volunteer to visit nursing homes, clean their grandma's home or garage, help an older person in their neighborhood, volunteer to take care of a younger person for somebody, stay after school to help a teacher, read to younger kids, etc. 
• Organize an event. Students should organize (with a few friends) a church event. The older kids should take the key leadership roles while the younger kids learn from them. The key to this working is not to let adults take over and do it for them. 
• Visit adult Bible studies. Students can do an evaluation of some kind that includes questions about the content and asks their opinion of what was discussed. They need to feel absolutely welcome and encouraged to attend and ask any questions they might have. Some older adults may have difficulty with this, but it's an important step in the transition into adult participation in the congregation. 
• I believe... - Students can work together to create a document of their beliefs. It can be a video, book, creative drama, song, etc., but should be in their own words. (This document may help.) The goal of every Christian is not just to be concerned about their own relationship with God, but to be able to share the gospel with others.
• Develop Worship Service - After learning about worship, students organize and lead a worship service. It should contain all appropriate elements, a theme, appropriate music, a message about what they believe with specific teachable moments for the congregation, etc. They'll need guidance from the pastor and be given structure. These documents might help:  worship table of parts, blank worship table of parts, biblical history of worship, and worship service planning outline. 

The Faith Builder Program is intended to be both fun and challenging! 

It is not intended to be a huge chore!

The Send Off
Send-Off Sunday is also graduate recognition Sunday. Imagine what they will have learned and how much fun they will have being creative while developing their belief system. Imagine how much they will feel a part of the congregation after serving in the congregation, participating on boards, and being welcome in adult Bible study. On this day, the seniors will share their projects (video, book, skit, song, etc.) with the congregation. Depending on the size of the group it can be done during worship or afterward with a potluck. Please be sure to have families come up and put their hands on their kids as you pray for them.  Have the other students in the group write and say the prayer.