Four Marblehead churches have joined together to build an active Christian youth program that will begin this fall with a series of events open to middle and high school youth in the community. Lay leaders from Clifton Lutheran Church, Old North Church (United Church of Christ), St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church, and St. Michael’s Episcopal Church have formed a leadership board that is currently seeking a full-time youth minister for the Marblehead Youth Cooperative Ministry (MYCM).
Each of the churches will offer a special youth event within the next few months as they await the new leader.
“We want to empower youth to grow their faith and explore life questions as they enjoy activities, events, and outreach,” Betsey Halbert of Old North Church said.
The first event, Hope for Haiti, took place on Sunday, Sept. 24, at Clifton Lutheran Church, located at 150 Humphrey St. Youth from the different parishes had the chance to get to know each other while they learned about the history of Haiti, watched a video, interacted via video conference with a person in Haiti, and cooked some Haitian food. Board member Kara Bixby of Clifton Lutheran said that the church has partnered with a nonprofit in Haiti for many years and that the youth event included a discussion of how to help the people of Haiti.
Future events will include a Halloween/All Saints party at St. Andrew’s on Oct. 22 at 6 p.m., Christmas tree lighting and caroling at St. Michael’s in late November, a gift-giving outreach opportunity in December, and a labyrinth experience at Old North in January.
The Rev. Clyde Elledge of St. Andrew’s proposed the collaboration to clergy at the other churches, and received an enthusiastic response. The churches then formed a board of lay leaders to create the model and begin the search for a full-time youth minister.
“Our goal is to build a community among the churches and to create an engaging, inclusive, progressive Christian youth program,” Kelly Stevens, a board member and a parishioner of St. Michael’s, said.
Peg Howard of St. Andrew’s added, “We have so many beliefs and values in common. It makes sense to collaborate and bring young people together.”
Other board members include Richard Thibedeau, Roy Martin, and Heather Martin of Old North Church; Bill Walker and Marika Fields of Clifton Lutheran; Amy Shanahan and David Westbrook of St. Andrew’s; and Sarah Hunter and Alex Stark of St. Michael’s.
Youth events are open to any interested youth in grades five through 12. The group may later divide into separate sections for middle school and high school.