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YOUTH MINISTRY

Archdiocesan
Mission Statement for Youth Ministry
Living the Orthodox Faith In Christ
Through Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship

STATEMENT OF PURPOSE

We believe that the Goal of Orthodox Christian Youth Ministry is the integration of each young person fully into the total life of the Church. We believe that Orthodox Christians must commit themselves to living the Orthodox Faith daily. Worship, Witness, Service and Fellowship are the natural expressions of that commitment. We define them as follows:

• WORSHIP - For Orthodox Christians, corporate worship is the sacramental expression of and participation in Holy Tradition, and is the indispensable foundation of youth ministry at all levels. Upon this foundation, we must cultivate a daily personal prayer life and reading of Holy Scripture.

• WITNESS - Christ calls us to be His witness in the world. We must enable our youth to express their faith for themselves and to others in order to be true witnesses to Christ and the Orthodox Faith.

• SERVICE - Christ came not to be served, but to serve. We need to move our youth to do the same. We honor and glorify God by loving and serving mankind in the name of Jesus Christ, using our God-given gifts and talents.

• FELLOWSHIP - The Holy Trinity is the perfect model of fellowship; the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit share perfect communion and exist in perfect love as a community. By gathering together in fellowship, and by showing love for one another in Christ, we emulate the life of the Holy Trinity in our daily life.

Our ultimate goal must be to see that our youth grow to love Christ and His Church and to pursue a righteous way of life.

Our movement integrates the Camping Program, Teen SOYO, and Campus Ministry - programs designed to meet the needs of varying age groups. We will attain these goals by training youth ministers, both clergy and lay, to serve at all levels, and by developing and providing relevant resource materials. v

Posted on the Antiochian Orthodox Christian Archdiocese
of North America website, March 25, 1999