Youth Newsletter - Spring 2023

Northeast Youth Ministry Summit

Jake Bier, Youth Director

During the second week of March, I had the opportunity to join around 130 other youth leaders for training and fellowship at the Northeast Youth Ministry Summit in Ligonier PA. The event was hosted by Reformed Youth Ministries (RYM) and the Center for Parent & Youth Understanding (CPYU), two ministries which are dedicated to equipping churches to make disciples. Walt Mueller, a longtime friend of SLPC, is the head of CPYU and played a major part in the conference.

The theme for the week was “Biblical Hope for Anxious Hearts”, and the main sessions were taught by Julie Lowe, an experienced counselor from the Christian Counseling & Education Foundation. In her sessions, Julie shared wisdom from her own counseling situations and personal experience with anxiety about how to minister to teens who are struggling with mental health issues. Students are facing significant challenges at earlier and earlier ages, and these sessions showed me how the gospel can minister to anxious hearts.

In addition to the main teaching sessions, I attended several seminars throughout the week that touched on everything from “teaching God’s design for sex and marriage” to “how to make the most out of small groups.” These seminars equipped me to better serve our youth. I am excited to pass on what I’ve learned to our volunteers and to implement a few new strategies in order to help our students in their walk with Jesus.

The conference was jam-packed with helpful information and ideas, way more than I have space for here. If you’d like to hear more, feel free to ask me! Thank you for your continued prayers and support as our team continues to minister to the SLPC Youth. God is doing great things in Gen-Z, and I know that He’s at work here too!