We try very hard to embrace ourselves as we are in the teenage stages of life. Although this is more difficult than can be imagined, the strides we make to do so can bring us much balance as we begin the transition into adulthood. Translated: It is hard being a teenager but we do the best we can.

In our strivings to make sense of our lives in the midst of hormonal, emotional, and physical change we are trying to acknowledge that there are strange things happening to us and that we all go through it together. Very few of us bypass this struggle. Translated: Being a teenager can be confusing, or maybe better stated, excruciating, but we all experience it.

With these few things said, now we throw God into our teenage chaos. How can God help me? What can God do that I cannot do myself? Isn't God something people made up to feel better about the question, "Why are we here?" These, and many more questions, arise in our lives, whether a child, a teenager, or an adult. What we attempt to do is have conversations about these kinds of questions. In doing so, we talk about the history of God's interaction with the world, namely, humanity, which we find in the Hebrew Scriptures (Old Testament), in the New Testament and in the life of Jesus, and the history of the Church.

Throughout the year we emphasize themes that encompass, at least in part, the questions and considerations that come about as a result of experiencing our lives, both individually and collectively.

For our Sunday morning Bible study we utilize a curriculum produced by Smyth and Helwys entitled "Intersection." We meet together collectively before breaking up into Mid-High (6th-8th grade) and Senior High (9th-12th grade) for Bible study. On Wednesday evenings we emphasize themes (more topical in nature) which at times can span from a few weeks to several weeks before we begin a new theme/topic. For both Sunday morning Bible study and Wednesday evening we attempt to use interactive methods of teaching that requires participation (physical, mental, and verbal) from teenagers.

We also attempt to motivate teenagers to think about and consider God by means of a discipleship weekend (Disciple Now!) which takes place the weekend before Thanksgiving, a Mid-Winter Retreat which takes place each January on Martin Luther King Jr. weekend, an every other year Missions emphasis weekend, and a week long summer camp.

Of course, thrown in the mix of all of this, we spend much time together doing things such as; watching movies, bowling, sharing meals together, and much more to create camaraderie in our midst.

May we embrace ourselves and others as we do these things together. May we work toward seeing our peers as equals regardless of social constructs that tell us otherwise. May we try to see God and not pressure ourselves to know what we do not know. For we all are different and learn differently, but we are all the same in that we are trying to make sense of life.