Greetings, St. Andrew’s family! Today, I would like to tell you about my role on Session as youth elder. Being seventeen, I can bring and offer the youth perspective to our amazing St. Andrew’s leadership and governance team and advise on matters of outreach and engagement strategies.
Each month, I present a report to Session on a topic of youth spiritual development and connection in their relationship to the church. Since September 2022, I have presented on The Generational Gap, Attracting and Sustaining Youth, my takeaways from the Front Porch college ministry fundraising dinner, Faith Beyond Youth Group and Character Forming, Issues Facing Teens Today, Breaking Barriers and Providing Support, Mobilizing Youth with Evangelism, Common Evangelism Myths, and “The Numbers are Not Your God.”
In addition to offering my thoughts on youth spiritual encouragement and strategies for ministry via these reports, I’m able to view the decisions we make as the Session body from a unique lens and advance our work at St. Andrew’s to foster stronger age-inclusivity and engage and support the younger population.
As a new elder and first-time Session member, I am learning so much about the application of our church mission to practical operations with the hope of maturing as a leader to better serve our faith community. I look forward to continuing in this important role, further equipping myself, and working to improve our future day by day.
Blessings,
Lila