Senior High Youth

The Senior High Youth program at Nativity is for Grades 9 and up and includes Sunday School, an active Youth Group, and participation in Worship.

Sunday School

The curriculum teaches the Senior High youth to be Christians and how to worship. It connects their faith with everyday life and gives them the opportunity to explore their beliefs and ask questions about their faith.

Senior High Youth Group

This is where the Senior High youth build friendships and fellowship in Christ. There are adult-supervised retreats to camps including UCC's Dunkirk, NY Conference Center. There are volunteer opportunities, including an annual fundraiser Halloween Pumpkin Patch on Nativity's front lawn, volunteer work days with Habitat for Humanity and an annual "Sleepout for the Homeless" to assist those in need. Nativity's Senior High Youth also participate in supervised mission trips to assist with projects outside of Western New York. Past mission destinations have included Cleveland OH, Philadelphia PA, Boston MA, Sawyer MI, Geneva Point NH and Puerto Rico.

Role in the Church

At Nativity, we feel it is important for the Senior High youth to participate in Worship, and also to work with, and get to know, the adults of the church. Our young people are seen, and heard!

And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. (Genesis 1:3)

Our youth community exists to SHARE Christ's light with all people, to ACCEPT each other as God's children, to SERVE those in need despite their beliefs, to BUILD relationships with God and each other, and to be a GUIDING light for youth on their faith journey.

Share

The first part of our mission is to SHARE Christ's light with all people. We realize that being a teenager is tough, and being a teenager without Christ's light is even tougher. Our goal is to bring a contemporary message of Christianity to today's youth and be a light in the darkness of today's world.

Accept

The second part of our mission is to ACCEPT each other as God's children. As an open and affirming church, it is our goal to welcome everyone no matter where they are on life's journey. We will be like a lighthouse bringing ships to safety in this stormy world.

Serve

We will SERVE those in need despite their beliefs. It is our thought that those in need are the ones who are in the darkest abyss. We will not let a person's beliefs determine whether we help light that darkness. We will passionately engage ourselves locally and globally in social action, service, missions and let our light shine for the whole world to see.

Build

We will BUILD relationships with God and each other. Our mission is to show that Christians can have fun and that you are not missing out on life by being Christian.

Guide

We will be a GUIDING light for today's youth on their faith journey. Youth will learn to seek the answers to the questions they have about their faith in a safe and loving environment. In doing so, youth will understand God's relevance to them today and grow to be tomorrow's Christian leaders.