September 20, 2002

"But do you want to know, O foolish man, that faith without works is dead?" James 2:20 (NKJ)

The Four Circles: Ideas for Creating a Well Rounded Youth Program for all ages

Programming can be difficult. There is a constant struggle to keep things both fun and purposeful. Good youth programs take it a step further and balance the four circles into their program. The circles of a balanced program are Worship, Fellowship, Service and Witness. These circles are interlinked. Making sure that you have activities in each of the circles will help you in running a well-rounded youth program.

Worship (Liturgia)
Worship is so much more than showing up for Liturgy on Sunday. It is being an active participant? not just in the Liturgy but the whole cycle of worship. It is praying in church but also praying at home, school and work. To encourage and educate young people and their families about worship, try some of the following activities:

Birth to Preschool
Make a photo book of people the child loves and wants to remember in their prayers. At night, they can pull out their book and say "God watch over?" you can teach them to sing "Lord Have Mercy" after each person they pray for. At the end, ask if there is anyone else they want to pray for. For very young children, hold them in your lap as you both look through the prayer book and you say the prayers. As they grow, they will join in.

Kindergarten through 2nd grade
Teach them several hymns. Send home each hymn as you are working on it and ask parents to make it part of their nighttime prayers.

3rd through 6th grade
Make Prosoforo to offer to God (See http://www.goarch.org/en/archdiocese/departments/youth/youthworkers/sessions
/joy_prosforo.asp ). Don't forget to send the recipe and instructions home with the family so they can make it another time.

Junior High School
Make personal prayer books. Bring in prayer books and service books. Have them spend time looking for prayers they want and copy them into a prayer book of them own. Create a template with certain morning and evening prayers and let them add their favorite Psalms, Hymns and Prayers.

High School
Read and discuss the book Living the Liturgy by Stanley Harakas

Young Adults
During Lent, have young adults gather together every Friday for Salutations to the Theotokos. Teach them to chant the service. Have a Lenten meal and a lecture afterwards

Fellowship (Koinonia)
Fellowship is so much more than coffee and donuts after church. It is how we as Orthodox Christians integrate our faith with our daily lives. We are called to gather together with Christian love in times of joy and sorrow. Here are activities that promote fellowship among your youth groups:

Birth to Preschool
Have an outing to a local park or indoor play space with the children and their parents.

Kindergarten through 2nd grade
Take them Christmas Caroling to a senior citizen home. Have them make cards or small homemade ornaments to give to the people they sing for.

3rd through 6th grade
Hold a big brother and sister night. Plan a joint activity with the teenagers and partner the young people up. Make sure you meet with the teenagers first to let them know their responsibilities being a big brother or sister. You can just have them be big brothers or sisters for one activity or you can carry it out through the whole year having occasional activities.

Junior High School
Meet at a local amusement park or indoor activity place. Break them into small groups and give them a list for a scavenger hunt. Give them a set time and place to meet back.

High School
Plan an activity with the youth group of the near by Orthodox Church (bowling, rafting, skiing?). After the activity, set up a chat room that is open only at specific times and monitored by clergy. Have online get togethers and discussions.

Young Adults
Plan a weekend escape. Get a group together and go out of town. Make sure wherever you go there is a local Orthodox Church for you to attend on Sunday. Call them before hand to see if they have any young adults that might want to join you in your weekend activities.

Service (Diakonia)
Christ came to serve, not to be served. Young people are urged to do the same. Therefore, we can honor and glorify God by loving and serving humanity in His name. Young people should use their God-given gifts to serve for the glory of God. Below are activities that revolve around serving God.

Birth to Preschool
Make get well cards for people who are sick in the community. Remember they don't have to look perfect? just made with the little ones love! You can write the words in for them.

Kindergarten through 2nd grade
Have them help plant flower on the church grounds. Get them a little pot with a flower to take home. Talk about the parable of the sower.

3rd through 6th grade
Organize a drive for a foreign country that has a need. Coordinate with OCMC (http://www.ocmc.org/) to determine the best way to help. Have the young people learn about the country and people they are helping.

Junior High School
With the guidance of your priest, coordinate a church clean up day.

High School
Put together Thanksgiving Baskets to be distributed to those in need. Your priest can determine the best way for these to be distributed.

Young Adults
Walk for a cause. Get a group together and have a walk a thon to raise money for a ministry of the church (OCMC, IOCC, OCF, etc?) or a community agency.

Witness (Martyria)
We are witnesses to our faith when we live our Orthodox faith at every moment of the day. We should strive to exemplify the faith in word in deed. Through this witness, Christ shines in all that we do to the world around us. This can be a difficult concept for many people to grasp. We should begin educating young people about being witness their faith at a young age.

Birth to Preschool
Teach them how to do their Cross. Also, teach them when and why we do our Cross.

Kindergarten through 2nd grade
Teach them the story of the Virgin Mary and how she was a witness of the faith through her obedience. Read the book: The Story of Mary the Mother of God by Dorrie Papademetriou (to order contact: http://www.hchc.edu/bookstore/)

3rd through 6th grade
Have them learn about their patron saint and how their saint was a witness of the faith. Have them share about their saint with each other.

Junior High School
Have the young people write a newspaper article on a service project they did. Ask them to tie it into how they are witnessing their faith. Get it published in the church bulletin or local paper.

High School
Split them into small groups and give each group a challenge to their faith and have them decide as a group how to handle it. (For example: you do your Cross before eating your lunch and someone asks why, someone asks you if your saved, you see a fellow classmate being picked on?) Once they discuss it in small groups have them present their decision to the whole group.

Young Adults
Start a Pan-Orthodox book club with your parish priest and the other local Orthodox clergy. Meet at a local coffee house monthly to discuss.