Discipleship Ministry Team

Purpose

The purpose of the Discipleship Ministry Team is to educate God’s people, helping them to become more like Christ in their thoughts, feelings and actions thus allowing them to become mature people in Christ. This ministry team shall be responsible for ensuring a comprehensive Discipleship (education) program for all ages.

The Discipleship Team

The Discipleship Team at Christ the King is made up of the Pastor, Youth Director, and several lay volunteers. The team works together to recruit education leaders and develop education curriculum for our Sunday School, Confirmation, Senior High, and Adult Education programs. These programs help support the spiritual and social growth of our congregation members. In addition, the Discipleship Team plans summer programming opportunities for our children and youth including Vacation Bible School, Summer BLAST, camps, and mission trips.

Sunday School

The Sunday school program at Christ the King is for students in preschool through fifth grade. During Sunday school, children explore the Bible stories through reading, drama, games, art, music, and storytelling. Our education hour lasts from 10:15-11:00 am on Sunday mornings. More Information

Our teachers currently use Augsburg’s SPARK curriculum which allows teachers and children to open up their Bibles every week and immerse themselves in Scripture. We begin each Sunday with a Sunday school opening. We gather together in the sanctuary to sing songs, hear the story, hear announcements, and pray before we head off to different rotation stations.

We are currently using the rotation method, which focuses on a different story for a series of weeks. The children learn about the stories by going to a different station each week. The different stations may include music, cooking, science, Bible skills and games, art, video, or creative drama. During Advent, Sunday school children prepare a Christmas program that is performed during a worship service on a Sunday before Christmas. This experience allows children to sing, dress up, rehearse, and perform in front of their parents and the congregation.

Our Sunday school program also offers many family events during the year, including Rally Day and our final Sunday school celebration in May. This program relies on the wonderful volunteers who give their time and make this a great experience for the children in our congregation.

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Confirmation

The confirmation education program at Christ the King involves our sixth, seventh, and eighth grade students. Our program prepares our eighth graders to affirm their baptism in May. Confirmation meets weekly on Wednesday evenings from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
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We use a three-year curriculum called “Re: Form now” which focuses one year of teaching on the Old Testament, the New Testament, and Martin Luther’s Small Catechism. Class time involves a large-group presentation and small group time with adult guides. Once a month, one or both parents are asked to join their child for Confirmation family class, which addresses topics like body image, values, goals, and reflecting on modern culture.

Each fall there is a retreat opportunity for our confirmation students. Last year, our confirmation students spent a day at Ox Lake on the high and low ropes course. The students learned to cooperate, work together, and overcome fears.

During the winter, both confirmation and senior high students go on a retreat together to Big Sandy Camp near McGregor, MN. This is a great opportunity for our high school students to be leaders and plan activities and games for our confirmation students. We spend the weekend learning, playing broomball, tubing, watching movies, and spending time together.

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Senior High

The senior high program at Christ the King is for students in ninth through twelfth grade. Senior high meets on Wednesday nights from 6:30 to 8:00 pm. The time is spent looking deeper into Scripture, discussing life’s questions, sharing conversation with one another, and having fun. In July 2013, the senior and junior high will be doing a mission trip to Philadelphia as part of a YouthWorks project. This will be an invigorating trip for students and chaperones alike! More Information

Senior high youth also do service projects during the year. This includes serving at the family shelter in November, assembling care packages for college students, and collecting food for the White Bear Lake food shelf.

Each fall there is a retreat opportunity for our senior high students. Last year, our senior high students went to Camp Castaway over MEA. We joined with over 400 youth from across the Twin Cities for a weekend of singing, games, prayer, discussion, and fun.

During the winter, both confirmation and senior high students go on a retreat together to Big Sandy Camp near McGregor, MN. This is a great opportunity for our high school students to be leaders and plan activities and games for our confirmation students. We spend the weekend learning, playing broomball, tubing, watching movies, and spending time together. The winter retreat is a much-loved tradition!

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Summer Opportunities

Our summer programming at Christ the King offers many opportunities for our youth to learn, grow, and serve!

Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp
Lake Wapogasset Lutheran Bible Camp offers many different opportunities for our youth! See below for the many different opportunities available. For more information on these programs, please visit www.campwapo.org.

Seeds

Seeds weekend at Wapo is an action-packed weekend for those who have completed grades 2-3. More Information

The weekend begins with Friday registration at 7:00pm and concludes with worship at 1:00pm on Sunday. Families and friends are welcome to attend the closing worship. Knowing that this may be your child's first camp experience or even their first time away from home, counselors will spend every moment with these campers. They provide a safe and caring environment filled with music, Bible study, campfires, crafts, water activities, and tons of games.

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Youth Camp

Youth Camp is for youth who have completed grades 4-9. Over three-hundred youth attend each session. More Information

The week begins with Sunday registration from 3:00-5:00pm and concludes with closing worship on the following Friday at 1:00pm. Each day includes Bible study, chapel, cabin activities, free time, field games, and campfire.

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TIM Team (Teens in Mission)

TIM Team is a week-long leadership development opportunity for those who have completed grades 10-12. More Information

The seven-day experience starts with registration on Friday at 7:00pm at Ox Lake and concludes with closing worship at 1:00 at Camp Wapo. TIM teamers commit to one year of service as leaders in their home congregations working primarily with younger youth. TIM Teamers will spend time at both Ox Lake and Wapo during week. TIM Teamers will have lodging at Ox Lake, as well as experiencing the Low / High Ropes Challenge Course. During the week, much of each day is spent at Wapo interfacing and participating as leaders amongst the younger youth from their congregation.

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Journey of the Cross

Journey of the Cross is a five day experience for those who have completed grade 7.
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Campers build community on our low and high ropes challenge course, bike on the scenic Gandy Dancer Trail, rock climb at Interstate Park, canoe down the St. Croix River, and horseback ride at Ox Lake. These challenges are connected to our Faith journeys and embrace the life-long challenge to take up our cross and follow Jesus wherever he leads. Campers are asked to bring their own bike and helmet.

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Summer BLAST

Summer BLAST stands for Believers Learning and Serving Together. The week is an incredible ecumenical experience for 6th-8th grade “blasters” and 9th-12th grade leaders and junior leaders. Join several area churches for community service projects in the morning and fun in the afternoon. It’s a wonderful chance to meet new friends, help the community, and have a lot of fun.

Senior High Trip

The senior high trip varies from summer to summer. The past four high school summers trips included:

July, 2013 will be making a mission trip through YouthWorks to Philadelphia, PA.

July, 2011 they went to Wilderness Canoe Base north of Grand Marais, MN for a 4 day canoe trip. They traveled through rapids, made several portages and came back alive and well.

2010, 10+ high school'ers traveled to Logan, West Virginia on a mission trip through Youthworks. Here they spent a week having fun with elementary age kids doing all sorts of games and relationship building experiences.

2009, the group went to Wilderness Canoe Base north of Grand Marais, MN for a mission trip. The kids planted 1,500 trees on the island across from the main camp, cleaned up and worked on a stretch of trail, removed rocks and dirt from another new trail and then enjoyed the island with a sauna and splash in the lake.

2008, they traveled to Puerto Rico on another Youthworks mission trip. The trip was spent in a fabulous house along the beach with days helping local children and mission projects.

VBS

Vacation Bible School at Christ the King takes place during the summer. 3-year-olds through 5th graders spend one week learning Bible stories, doing crafts, storytelling, and making new friends. Adult and youth leaders assist with activities, decorations, and planning. Contact the office for more information as times may vary during the summer months.

Adult Education

Christ the King provides Adult Education opportunities in various forms throughout the year. From September through May, intermittent topical and Bible studies are offered on Sunday mornings following worship. We also offer congregation-wide book studies each year (this past winter we studied Rob Bell’s book Velvet Elvis as a congregation). Christ the King also has an active Small Group Ministry where people come together to learn, study and enjoy fellowship. Please contact Pastor Jennifer with any questions.

Leadership Information

Team Leader		Laura Gorton
Sunday School, VBS & High school Youth group		Laura Gorton
Vacation Bible School		staff
Confirmation Pastor		Jennifer Hackbarth

Meeting Time

No set time, please contact the church office.

CHRIST THE KING

LUTHERAN CHURCH

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