What is NextGen Ministry?
Children’s Ministry + Youth Ministry combined to create a brand new vision for the ministries of this church in 2021.
Up until Fall of 2021 we have run these ministries as a completely separate entity, but had both meet on the same night. The idea behind the re-brand is to really hit home that our ministries for school aged students is all done right here with the same mission.
The Youth Group has been run as its own group separate from the Children’s Ministry – the students often get annoyed when “lumped together” with the kid’s ministry. And there has been some confusion of when “Youth Group” actually starts. By re-branding, we can call the entire ministry one title, and be able to create classes by age. Instead of feeling separate, it all feels together still!
So how does that look?
NextGen Youth Worship!
NextGen Kids
The NextGen Kids Ministry will have a focus for students in Kindergarten to 3rd Grade. Each Fall we begin all of our NextGen groups back on Wednesday Nights for the school year! Starting in September (September 4th) right after Labor Day. K-3rd Grade will meet from 5:30-7:00pm each Wednesday evening.
This group will get to rotate between 4 different areas of ministry each week:
- Music – Kids will take 15 mins each week to learn a familiar church favorite song. This is something that has been missed in the kids ministry for a few years and we are ready to teach some favorites like Jesus Loves Me, Days of Elijah, B-I-B-L-E!
- Meal – We offer a meal on Wednesday Nights for all students!
- Activity – either games or crafts depending on the week.
- Lesson – Explore The Bible with us! Stay tuned for the topics to be covered next year in NextGen!
NextGen Ministries conclude on the first week of May. We will have an end of the year celebration!
NextGen Middle School
The next group we have is designed for our 4th-6th Grade students. This group faces the toughest task of going from a “Kid’s Ministry” mindset to a “Youth Ministry” mindset. With NextGen, we are creating ways to transition for the stereotypical kid’s ministry to youth ministry. One of the toughest ages to teach in the church is 6th Grade. That is our big transition year where a lot of maturing happens.
NextGen Middle will meet on Wednesday Nights from 5:30-7:00 starting after Labor Day! They will be rotating between the following stations:
- Meal – We offer a meal on Wednesday Nights to all students!
- Activity – either games or crafts depending on the week.
- Lesson – This group is continuing a series called FORGED: Faith Refined for PreTeens. Stay tuned for topics to be covered in the coming school year.
NextGen Ministries conclude on the first week of May. We will have an end of the year celebration!
NextGen Junior High
7th-8th Grade will meet on Wednesday Nights from 5:30-7:00 starting September 4th.
This a great place to start out your faith journey many of the students here are coming from little to no Christian education background. This is as much about learning the stories, as learning about yourself and how Jesus is a part of your lives.
This group will also follow a rotation schedule each night:
- Meal – We are offering a meal on Wednesday Nights this year!
- Activity – either games or crafts depending on the week.
- Lesson – This group has concluded the first half of the book of Acts. With a focus on our Mission from Jesus, the start of the Church and Transformation through the Gospel. We will continue on in Acts and finish up this school year! Stay tuned for more info on the topics for next school year!
Junior High Youth Group will actually finish on the second week of May. We will have an end of the year celebration that night!
NextGen High School
The Senior High Youth Group is designed for High School aged students. This group works to expand on the basics they learned as Junior High Students in a way that brings the whole thing home for them. We do a lot more group discussion and encourage students to talk to one another about God and how He works in their lives. This group is a little more serious, but doesn’t lack in fun! Most of these students are here because they want to have a relationship with God, we hope to help guide them to a strong and healthy relationship with Him. We make a point of tying activities (or as Michelle might say: activitays!) to each lesson, making the experience memorable.
We have made the decision to try something new with this group this year (2024/25 School Year) – We will meet on Sunday mornings from 10:30-12:00. This is right after our church worship service. Students are invited to attend worship together (9:30-10:30) if they wish to. Otherwise, they can come at 10:30 and grab breakfast (Fellowship Hall) before we begin our youth group lesson or activity!
If we have any resources for these students, they will be found below!
Timber-lee
For over 25 years Downs UMC has taken high school students on a trip in the winter time to enhance their relationship with God. Camp Timber-Lee; located near East Troy, Wisconsin, is a memorable place full of activities and deep spiritual discussions. Prior to Covid – we had averaged taking 40 students from the Tri-Valley community to TL. We have a fantastic group of students who take the time out of their busy school schedules to spend a weekend with God, in a way that feels special. We leave after school on Friday afternoon and return home Sunday evening.
Every year there is a guest speaker who will share experiences in scripture and tell stories to the students in Chapel sessions (4 sessions throughout the weekend). Each session is connected to a point in scripture and a theme is followed throughout the weekend. Sessions are for the whole group, usually 5-10 total church groups from around the Midwest. After each session, groups are sent to small group discussions where each individual church group gets a chance to dive deeper into the session message. These breakouts are a great way to encourage conversation between the students about how God works in their lives.
This trip offers a lot of fun and neat activities for the students as well: there is a small rec center with ping pong, carpet ball and a snack booth. The students can go tubing, tobogganing, cross country skiing, zip-lining, horseback riding, among other cool things. There is also a pretty sweet nature center, that offers students a chance to get up-close and personal with some of the wildlife and offers a really cool Creation Walk experience that takes students through the beginning of the book of Genesis and how God created everything!
Oh, and there’s a little thing called Broom-ball that we have some fun with as well (we had a pretty solid run of 10 straight years winning the Broom-ball Championship – go check out the full shelf of trophies on display in Kyle’s Office).
Registration for Timber-Lee 2025 is OPEN! Contact Kyle for more information.
Registration Forms are here! Download and print – fill out and return to the church office!
Resources!
Want to know more about our curriculum? Visit the links below!