Youth Staff
Our Goals
- Help children trust Jesus Christ as Savior, and submit to Him
- Teach them how to apply the Word to their daily lives
- Help children discover their God-given potential through Christ-like attitudes, servanthood, and discipline
- Instruct, encourage, and help guide them into freely worshipping and praising our Lord Jesus Christ
- By the time children are 12 years of age, our goal is that he/she will have learned the following:
- Understand and experience God’s everlasting love
- The importance of having a personal relationship with Jesus
- Know how to comprehend and apply Scriptures to their lives
- Experience daily intimacy with God
- Have an awareness of their personal calling/purpose
- Experience the presence of God through Praise and Worship
Vision
Our purpose is to REACH non-believing students (evangelism), CONNECT students with other Christians (fellowship), to help them GROW in their faith (discipleship), and challenge them to grow to DISCOVER the needs of others (service), and HONOR God with their lives (worship).
As a student, you may be asking yourself, what does that all mean? Well, it means everything we do (special events, weekly gatherings, even just hanging out) has a purpose. It means that the songs we sing, the stuff we do, the things we study, and the way we invite you and your friends into our community…it all points to Jesus. He makes all the difference! All this adds up to a life that is far better than you could have ever imagined!
Groups
So what does this look like for us? Let’s break it down and look at each element of the vision:
Reach
Many teenagers in our community don’t go to church anywhere or don’t have faith that makes a real difference in their lives. What is our strategy for reaching these students with the Good News of Jesus? YOU! That’s right! YOU! We want to partner with you by providing tools and cool church experiences. Ultimately, it’s up to you to invite them to come along. It’s also up to you to share your faith.
Connect
Friends are so important, but we’re called to something more than that. Imagine having friendships on a much deeper level than what you’re probably used to. Friends who know the real you and still invite you to things, friends who care about your journey with God, friends who encourage you, rather than judge you. These are Jesus-centered friendships. We offer many opportunities with gatherings, small groups, and events to build these deep meaningful relationships.
Grow
A relationship with Jesus Christ should never be boring, stagnant, or stale. Instead, it should be vibrant, and exciting; as a result growing! We want to help grow your faith and understanding and commitment to Jesus.
Discover
Take a look around. You don’t have to look very hard to notice that we live in a world that is broken and need people that can make a difference. That’s why we offer opportunities for you to get involved in serving others. From service projects, to mission trip experiences, that will help get you started, we want to see you become passionate about loving others in real, tangible ways.
Honor
One of our goals is to help you live a life that honors God; after all, that’s what it means to worship! Honoring God through choices, attitudes, lifestyle, and how we live our day-to-day lives are the ultimate acts of worship. Virtually everything we do helps you live a life that brings honor to God.
Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.
– (Psalm 90:12)
Youth Church Staff
Dee Samuel
Liturgical Dance Ministry
Eydie “Dee” Samuel holds a Bachelors in Health Care and a Masters is Business Management. She has been the Co-Director of the Youth Ministry of Emmanuel since 2011. Dee has an enormous heart for children; as she sees works endlessly to help them understand why it’s important to have a relationship with Christ. Dee is married to Youth Pastor, Rev. Jack Samuel and together they are raising 4 children; Sierra, Cambria, Xavion, and Amaya.
Worship Service Times
Emmanuel’s Children’s Church ministers to EMBC’s newest (and shortest) members in a safe and spiritually enriching environment. Children’s Church sign-in is between 7:30 and 8:20 am, and 10:30 to 11:30 am.
Church School
Our Church School begins at 9:30 am, with classes for all ages taught by gifted and well-prepared instructors, which lead our youth to God through adventures in His Holy Word.
Check-In
eKids use an automated check in and digital paging system in order to ensure a safe environment before, during, and after service. When children are signed in, parents are given one pager per family that is used for emergencies. Pagers must be presented when signing children out.
Our Curriculum
eKids use an automated check in and digital paging system in order to ensure a safe environment before, during, and after service. When children are signed in, parents are given one pager per family that is used for emergencies. Pagers must be presented when signing children out.
Limitations
Children cannot attend eKids Children’s Church if they are:
- too young (under 3 years of age)
- not potty trained
- not feeling well
- asleep when they arrive
- do not participate or are disruptive
Age Groups
Programs are custom-tailored for the following age groups:
Preschool Children 3-5
Our desire is to create an atmosphere where children can openly and genuinely experience the presence of God through worship, lessons, games, and crafts. Each classroom will feature lessons geared just for this age. Our staff of dedicated teachers encourages an introduction to Christ and His principles.
Early Elementary: 6-8
Our commitment is to help you as parents lead your children into daily intimacy with God. We do not want to simply tell your children about God’s Love, but we want them to experience firsthand how much He loves them. We are also committed to helping you equip your child to study and to apply the word of God to their daily lives. We want to see your child put the Word of God into action and make it come alive in their lives and in their hearts!
Late Elementary/Preteens: 9-12
At this level, we are teaching more in-depth and challenging Biblical truths. We promote healthy discussions, which stress personal application of the truths taught. Our goal is to minister to the spiritual needs of our children through a Christ-like attitude and servant hood. Our goal for this age group is for them to reach young adulthood and decide to follow Christ. We prepare them to accept Christ as their Savior and how to apply the teachings of Christ in their daily lives. We establish a healthy future, which is essential to their spiritual walk. We want the children’s faith to grow through studying and learning of the greatness of God as well as understanding their need for salvation.
Future"E": 13-18
The curriculum for this age group challenges teenagers with truths that have the power to transform their own lives as well as enable them to more fully explain God’s great story to their friends.
Jesus placed a great value in children, using them throughout scripture to illustrate the Kingdom of Heaven. Futur”E” is designed to bring Emmanuel’s teenagers into an intimate and enduring relationship with Jesus Christ. We provide a firm foundation and arc of covering which equip them to face life’s challenges and emerge as strong leaders, strong parents, and effective Christians.
These objectives are accomplished through divine teachings and activities designed to develop spiritual aptitudes, talents and gifts. We employ the nationally acclaimed core curriculum, “Life in 6 Words: The Gospel Explored” is simple, yet profound. Our teens may know the Gospel backwards and forwards, but have they wrestled with the deeper truths that are represented by the acrostic message?
Life in 6 Words
The Gospel Explored dives into the theology of the gospel message, unpacking core terms and concepts every follower of Jesus needs to grasp to understand fully the Good News:
God
created us to be with Him
Our
sins separate us from God
Sins
cannot be removed by good deeds
Paying
the price for sin, Jesus died and rose again
Everyone
who trusts in Him alone, has eternal life
Life
with Jesus starts now and lasts forever
Graduation
We conduct an annual graduation ceremony for all of our youth transitioning to the next higher class level. Each classroom has a color representing the level of relationship and growth in God!
Youth Sunday
Our youth will join with the adults of Emmanuel each 4th Sunday so we can Worship our God as a family and expose the youth to formal Church worship and praise! Each 4th Sunday we recognize and share the blessings that God places upon our youth. Exemplarily accomplishments such as academic, community service, and athletic achievement are a few examples. Please share your stories with us at ekids@godiswithus.org.
Other Youth Ministries
Vacant
Girl Scouts
Emmanuel’s Girl Scouts Ministry offers girls opportunities to learn new skills, promotes an understanding of individual, cultural, religious, and ethnic differences. The Girls Scouts Ministry encourages girls to reexamine their ideals as they mature, and helps develop concern for the community. The goal of Girl Scouts is provide an environment in which girls discover the fun, friendship, and power of girls together. Through a myriad of enriching experiences, such as extraordinary field trips, sports skill-building clinics, community service projects, cultural exchanges, and environmental stewardships, girls grow courageous and strong. Girl Scouting helps girls develop their full individual potential; relate to others with increasing understanding, skill, and respect; develop values to guide their actions and provide the foundation for sound decision-making; and contribute to the improvement of society through their abilities, leadership skills, and cooperation with others.
Felton Crawley
Boy/Cub Scouts
The Boy Scouts of America (of which the Cub Scouts are part) is one of the nation’s largest and most prominent values-based youth development organizations. The BSA provides a program for young people that builds character, trains them in the responsibilities of participating citizenship, and develops personal fitness. This ministry helps build the future leaders of this country by combining educational activities and lifelong values with fun. The BSA believes — and, through over a century of experience, knows — that helping youth is a key to building a more conscientious, responsible, and productive society.
Vacant
Youth Usher
Ushers are servants that are doorkeepers in the House of God and guard it at all times during the service. They prepare the Church and see that it is in proper condition for the worship services. It is up to the ushers to keep order, to help create a spirit of worship, reverence, and friendliness in and about the church. Further, ushers are the representatives of the church to the people who come to worship there. Visitors receive their first impression of the church from the ushers. That impression may be the deciding factor in making a visitor a regular worshipper, or of causing him to go elsewhere of winning or losing a soul to Christ and the church.