The Youth Ministry program that includes Rite 13, J2A and YAC.
Good Shepherd has adopted a six-year program for youth ministry called Journey to Adulthood. There are three sections to the program: Rite 13, J2A and YAC, and each lasts two years so the same group of teens stays together until they graduate from high school This stability of group dynamics helps create safe, sacred space where the group members can learn to trust themselves and each other as they grow in faith.
| Rite 13 |
The first two years of the program is called RITE 13, a name that comes from a liturgical rite of passage we celebrate with young people around their 13th birthday. This rite is loosely based on the Jewish bar/bat mitzvah tradition and is a way for the entire congregation to celebrate the unique gifts God has given us, celebrating our creative potential, and learning to interact as a community of faith.
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J2A
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The second segment is J2A is an acronym for Journey to Adulthood. The reason this segment has the same name as the entire program is that the bulk of the work gets done in these two years, building on the foundation of the Rite 13 experience. During these years, teens learn and practice six basic skills of adulthood: active listening, negotiation, assertion, research and information management, partnership and leadership. The end of the second year of the J2A segment is marked by the group designing and going on a Holy Pilgrimage.
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YAC
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The last two years of the Journey to Adulthood program are called YAC, Young Adults in the Church. YAC students are encouraged to accept more adult responsibilities and to contribute their time, talent and treasure in ways that support the ongoing work of the church. Teens write a personal credo of beliefs and rely on their trusted group of peers as they explore their faith more deeply and struggle with the details of transitioning from teenager to young adult in today's world.
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The Journey to Adulthood experience incorporates much learning and laughter, but it takes our young people seriously and gives them real work to do. The program is based on the key concept that "Manhood and Womanhood are gifts from God, but Adulthood must be earned." It encourages teens to explore the four areas of self: spirituality, sexuality and society, and learn to connect their faith to all areas of life. It is our hope that this program fosters an environment of wholeness and authenticity, and helps teens develop a life-changing relationship with the God who created them.
The journey has the potential to transform not just the youth program, but the entire church. The program uses the collective wisdom of adults in the congregation to beckon young people into responsible, faithful adulthood. It calls the entire congregation into a deeper relationship with their young people and it calls each one of us, whatever our age, to think about the gifts we have been given. When we find ways to use our gifts to be God's presence in the world, we can ALL be changed in very powerful ways.
