At Northaven United Methodist Church, our youth ministry is committed to grow disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.  We believe that the youth and young adults of our community possess the unique perspective to help meaningfully aid in the transformation of our church, our Dallas community, and world.  Unlike other youth ministries that seek to entertain kids, Northaven’s youth ministry is a more organic model that seeks to foster youth leadership skills while nurturing a deeper level of spiritual commitment.  Further, Northaven's youth ministry is committed to being an open community of faith for youth in grades 6 through 12.  We strive to be an inclusive of all persons regardless of race, sexual orientation or economic status.  Given the “commuter” nature of Northaven, we have youth from high schools and junior highs, both public and private, from across DFW.  This provides a fun atmosphere where the typical teen hierarchy from any one school has no place.

Sunday School

The Sunday School class for grades 7-12 meets every Sunday morning from 9:30-10:30 a.m.   This class is currently taught by the youth minister and uses the Disciple Youth curriculum through which we are exploring the entire Bible in some detail starting with Genesis.  We are now in the Gospels.  The Disciple Youth curriculum also provides a framework for our youth to explore bible passages daily as part of their own devotional practices.  Once a month we also use a video as part of the curriculum that brings thoughts from some of the best theologians and biblical interpreters regarding the specific book we are studying that month.

 
Confirmation Class

Confirmation at Northaven UMC occurs during the 6th grade. We meet during the Sunday School Hour.  It is a wonderful time of exploring our church history, our common faith and our spirituality. Each participant is assigned a mentor, offering her/him another person of Faith with whom they can discuss their spiritual journey.  Confirmation culminates in May with a celebration of Confirmation during a worship service, where the confirmands are welcomed as full professing members on their own right into Northaven.  For years where there have not been enough six graders for a separate class, we have utilized a more informal time on Sunday evenings.

United Methodist Youth Fellowship (UMYF)

UMYF meets every Sunday night from 5:00 - 7:00 PM.  UMYF is the core of our youth ministry.  To meet the spiritual needs of today’s youth, our organic program seeks to provide at least one completely social event each month to build trust and respect amongst our individual youth so they can feel safe opening up and discussing deeper, more personal spiritual concerns and prayer requests.  These events include bowling, laser tag, whirlyball, swim parties, movie nights, Super Bowl parties, trips to Six Flags, and similar activities.  Thanks to the generosity of the church budget and individual member’s donations, we are able to provide these activities for free or for a minimal charge of $5. 

Secondly, each month we try to sponsor a mission or service project for our youth during UMYF.  This can include being involved at the Wesley Rankin Center in West Dallas or Promise House—a shelter for run away youth, gleaning or helping in community gardens, working at the North Texas Food Bank, volunteering at the Dallas Audubon Center, participating in the 30-Hour Famine, visiting congregation members in local nursing homes, or serving Thanksgiving Dinner to Christ’s Foundry UMC—a Hispanic mission congregation for which Northaven serves as a supporting congregation.  Additionally, we also participate in fundraising and planning for our own summer mission trip to help minimize the costs to mission trip participants.  Our mission and service projects seek to help our youth find the place where God’s call on their lives lead them to find joy and peace using their specific gifts to further God’s love and justice.

In our remaining time each month, we combine fun games with group discussions of important spiritual issues for youth.  Some of our recent units have included dealing with stress and relationships, doing personality tests and learning what spiritual disciplines may help each unique individual be open to the presence of God in their lives, discussing how our Christian commitments call us to work for justice and peace in the world, and specific units on prayer and discernment for youth.  Our discussion groups can involve watching videos or listening to music to help us better understand how to open ourselves to the presence of God in our lives and the world around us.  These UMYF sessions seek to provide practical spiritual advice for living in our complex and fast changing contemporary world.

The highlight of our youth program each year is our summer mission trip.  Every summer, the youth of Northaven embark on a weeklong mission trip.  Given the size of our group, sometimes we have separate junior high and senior high mission trips, while other years we participate in a combined trip.   These trips have involved doing hurricane repair and renovation work along the Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas Gulf Coast in the wake of Hurricanes Katrina, Rita, and Ike.  Our youth have also been in mission with the people of the San Marcos Community Center where they helped complete home repair and renovation project for lower income families.  Other mission trips in the past have involved hosting VBS and other day-time activities for children in South Houston neighborhoods.

 
Camps and Retreats

Northaven Youth also attend the annual Mid-Winter Retreat at the Bridgeport Camping and Conference Center hosted by the North Texas Annual Conference of the United Methodist Church.   We also host various retreats throughout the year, including a back to school retreat as well as occasionally partnering with other churches to host programs, such as a sex and sexuality education program, or for crazy fun events like lock-ins.  We also help connect our youth with potential summer camps they may wish to attend.

Northaven Youth Are Central to the Life of Our Church

Not only do the youth have their own set of activities, but our youth are intentionally involved with the larger Northaven Congregation.  The youth regularly assist in worship, help as communion servers, lead the entire worship service once a year during youth Sunday, and are actively engaged in helping the music ministry through their instrumental and vocal talents.  Additionally, youth are involved in helping teach Vacation Bible School.  Northaven Youth also hosted the first Shrove Tuesday Pancake Dinner on Fat Tuesday as well as Northaven’s first Easter breakfast following our Easter Sunrise Service.   

For More Information

For information about our Youth Ministry, please contact Mary Clair Lowrance.