Youth

The youth at Knox are a vital part of our congregation. We take seriously our commitment to nurture faith so that our teens will begin to live out in their own lives what it means to follow Jesus today.

We do not have a youth group, but rather a youth ministry. We encourage mentoring and positive leadership training. Each year we are blessed to have teams of adults offer their leadership in the various areas of our youth ministry. Our Leading with Care Policy is important for the health and safety of everyone.

JUNIOR HIGH

• Junior High aged youth ( grades 7 and 8 ) meet together during the 10 a.m. Sunday morning worship. From time to time they get together for fellowship events and trips at other times.

HIGH SCHOOL

• Sunday Morning – Senior High meets during the 10am worship service on the second to fourth (or fifth) Sundays of every month. On the first Sunday of each month they stay in worship for communion. Youth find meaning for their lives through the scriptures and current topics.

• Thursday Night – LOGOS is a mid-week ministry for school aged children from grades 1 to high school that runs from mid-September to mid-April. It is designed to nurture children, youth and their families into a lifetime of Christian discipleship through interactive ministry. Teens are a vital part of our Logos program and they participate fully in the recreation/craft time, dinner and family time, worship and music, and bible study.

• Confirmation – It is a wonderful thing to see our young people step forward to confirm the vows that were taken at their baptism. Confirmation Classes are opportunities for our teens to ask questions, learn more about their church, and how to grow in faith and discipleship. The classes take place in the spring.

• Music and the Praise Band –At Knox, we encourage youth to share their musical talent in worship, talent nights, and concerts. The Praise Band (vocalists and instruments) practice on Tuesday evenings and lead the praise and music in worship on a regular basis.

• 40 Hour Volunteering – Knox supports the 40 hr. volunteer requirements implemented by the school board for high school graduation. There are many opportunities at the church; from helping with church school and/or children’s programs, painting, gardening, and office help.

• Fund Raising – The youth have participated in selling pumpkins, poinsettias and raking, as well as, hot dog and soup lunches, walk/bike/skate a thons, preparing and hosting annual pancake suppers and assisting with Good Friday breakfasts. The youth have raised funds for our local Food Bank, classroom supplies and school tuition for students abroad through Presbyterian World Service and Development, as well as, supporting programs addressing food insecurity. They have also supported First Nations ministries and local youth shelters.

• Mission Trips – In the last few years, mission awareness for our teens has included participating in our own youth mission trips. Teams have travelled to Winnipeg, Manitoba to volunteer at Anishinabe Fellowship Centre and Flora House (Winnipeg Inner City Mission) which are centres for First Nation children, youth and adults. Our teens have helped to run children’s programs, painted, cleaned, gardened, donated and set up computer labs and created a playground.

• PYPS and Canada Youth – Knox encourages participation in Presbytery and Synod events sponsored by the Presbyterian Young Peoples’ Society. These take the form of camping events, concerts, retreats, conferences and worship. Canada Youth is a national five-day residential event at Brock University in St. Catharines where youth, young adults, and youth leaders from across Canada come together as one community to live, worship, and play in a Christ-centred community. Knox regularly sends a delegation to this amazing event.

• Youth in Mission – Youth In Mission (YIM) is a program of The Presbyterian Church in Canada for people 16-30 years. Knox Church supports and encourages our young adults to volunteer with YIM. In recent years our youth have volunteered with YIM in Taiwan, Romania, Ukraine, Hungary, Croatia, Malawi, Scotland, and the Middle East.

• Camping Ministry – Summer Church Camp is a wonderful place for our youth to develop leadership skills and grow in fellowship and faith. We regularly have many teens from our church attending Cairn (Glen Mhor and Iona), and Kintail camps as Leaders-in-Training, as Counselors and as Program Staff.