Thanks for stopping by!

We're so glad you've stopped by and genuinely hope you find this information helpful in understanding what we do, why we do it and how your teenager in any grade 6 –12 could get more involved. And because what we call things is very important in communicating meaning, it all starts with our name: Shift.

In order to emphasize the ongoing, inside-out change that takes place in the life of someone who truly enters into a relationship with God through faith in Jesus Christ, we call the Student Ministry “Shift.” It’s a reminder that as a student who begins following Jesus opens up more and more of their life over time to Him, He’ll begin changing things in them: Shift_destiny, Shift_attitude, Shift_purpose, Shift_accountability, Shift_convictions, Shift_choices, Shift_priorities, Shift_community, Shift_responsibility, etc. And we want to partner with Him in that process!

Purpose of SHIFT

The purpose of Shift is to glorify God as we REACH students not yet trusting Jesus and CONNECT them with others following Him, helping each to GROW in their faith, SERVE in their ministry and HONOR God with their lives. These five action words help keep us “on track” in all we do.

Our Planned Values

We also use the word “TRANSFORM” to illustrate our planned values, the things we feel so strongly about that they influence the way we think and act as we do ministry:

Teenage leaders (Indicating student involvement, support and ownership)
Relationships (Healthy and positive Adult/Student and Student/Student relationships)
Acceptance (A place where everyone is warmly welcomed and embraced)
New people (Wanting to impact the lives of more and more students)
Spiritual growth (Becoming fully-devoted followers of Jesus)
Fun (Laughter, celebration, excitement, a positive and enthusiastic environment)
Outstanding effort (Not perfection, but important enough to be done very well)
Real care (Genuine and sincere respect, love and intimacy)
Making improvements (Devoted to continual review, evaluation and positive change).

Our Programs

When most people think of youth ministry, they think of programs. Ours exist only to fulfill our purpose, reach our various audiences and express our values. Programs for the 2005/2006 school year include the following:

AMDiscovery (9:15–10:45 a.m. Sunday, Youth Ministry Center)
“AMDiscovery” is Sunday School with a new twist and the best place to start your son or daughter's involvement with Shift! High School students come together to worship and study the Bible in a fun, challenging and welcoming environment. AMDiscovery starts with a large-group gathering of worship singing, video, drama, storytelling, games, performing arts and more. Following a compelling and student-relevant presentation from God's Word, students then move into small groups of others their same age and gender for an application-oriented discussion.

Diverge (9:15–10:45 a.m. Sunday, Ministry Center Gym)
Diverge is Sunday School with a new twist and the best place to start your involvement with Shift! Middle School students come together to worship and study the Bible in a fun, challenging and welcoming environment. Diverge starts with a large-group gathering of worship singing, video, drama, storytelling, games, performing arts and more. Following a compelling and student-relevant presentation from God's Word, students then move into small groups of others their same age and gender for an application-oriented discussion.

CREW (7–8:30 p.m. every other Wednesday)
In order to give students a place to deeply connect with a few Christ-following friends and adult caregivers, a “CREW” is a group of about 15 students which meets to find support from teens and adult hosts and leaders and to grow closer to God through Bible study, prayer and life-on-life sharing in same-gender small groups of 4 or 5 students.

Youth Choir
(5:30–6:45 p.m. Sunday, Church Sanctuary)
This group is for students in grades 9 through 12 and exists to develop and appreciate the instrumental and vocal talents God has given them. They sing occasionally during morning worship and occasionally present musical productions through the year.

Youth Praise Team
The Praise Team is for auditioned teens who desire to lead their peers in worship through music. We sing the latest in modern worship during AMDiscovery each Sunday morning.

High School H.A.B.I.T.S. & Middle School Growing University
(Self-directed resources done at home) “H.A.B.I.T.S.” are resources to help move spiritually maturing High School students towards Christlikeness. They are to be used by the student on their own and at their own pace. They are intended to help establish the habits of a daily “quiet time” with God, accountability to and with another follower of Jesus, Bible memorization, involvement with the whole church family and not just the Student Ministry, financial giving and the personal study of Scripture. “Growing University” is a collection of self-paced, easy-to-use studies to help Middle School students better understand and apply the spiritual disciplines of studying Scripture, having a daily “quiet time” with God, financial giving and telling their friends about Jesus. Both of these resource sets are intended to help students develop personal spiritual discipline of their own.

High School Base Classes (Held periodically at the Youth Ministry Center)
Base classes are foundational classes offered at the church to help introduce students to the ministry of both Shift and Otterbein Church, and to help them move forward in their spiritual journey. We currently offer three different age-appropriate Base Classes for High School students. Class 101 introduces students to the salvation offered through faith in Jesus Christ, the ministry of Otterbein Church through an overview of the beliefs of the church, finances, organizational structure, and the church’s philosophical approach to ministry, and Shift’s strategy for fulfilling our purpose. Class 201 is an introduction to the spiritual disciplines necessary for growth in the life of a follower of Jesus. Those habits include prayer, Bible study, giving and connection with other believers. Students must attend Class 101 before attending Class 201. Class 301 is designed to help students determine their God-given SHAPE (spiritual gifts, heart or passion, abilities, personality and experiences) and how that unique SHAPE prepares them to serve in ministry. Following the class, our Director of Student Ministries, Pastor Craig Schuler meets with each participant individually to discuss with the student where they might best serve in ministry at Otterbein Church. Students must attend Class 101 and 201 before attending Class 301.

Student Ministry Leadership Training (Summer)
Applications are received for this program from students moving into grades 8–12 who would like to understand and discover their unique place of service within our Student Ministry. The program includes Scripture memorization, Bible study, weekly gatherings, reading assignments, an opening team-building event, a closing celebration event and more. In addition to these ongoing, regularly scheduled offerings, we also occasionally hold events for a specific and intentional purpose, such as concerts, movies, get-togethers, trips, amusements, spiritual growth emphasis, service activities and more. We typically announce these special activities on Sunday mornings at AMDiscovery.

Our Hope for Your Family

We sincerely hope that your family will be greatly encouraged in your spiritual journey through your involvement in these Student Ministry programs! Our Director of Student Ministries, Pastor Craig Schuler, always welcomes your questions or comments at (717)762-7147 x234 or craig@otterbeinchurch.org

Links

The Internet has become a great resource for investigating anything and everything related to youth culture. Since the Internet is an important part of the lives of teens, parents need to be aware of what's out there on the Web. In addition, the Internet provides many great informational resources on a variety of topics for those who are raising teenagers.

Please note: Inclusion of a website in our links section does not necessarily imply Shift's endorsement of the site's content.

Some have been chosen because we've found them to contain useful insight and/or analysis into today's youth culture. Several of these sites are not Christian websites and therefore the material contained on them may be offensive to some. Shift is not responsible for any of the content found on these links.

1. Center for Parent/Youth Understanding
http://www.cpyu.org
A Christ-centered organization committed to building strong families by serving to bridge the cultural-generational gap between parents and teenagers. CPYU helps parents, youth workers, educators and others understand teenagers and their culture so that they will be better equipped to help children and teens navigate the challenging world of adolescence. The site for incredibly helpful “Links!”

2. Screen It!
http://www.screenit.com/index1
Movie reviews specifically for parents needing insight into today's latest offerings. The MPAA rating (G, PG, PG-13, etc.) is a start, but offers just a one-line, generalized description of the "offending" material. Screen It! is an unbiased, easy to use, heavily detailed and complete look at the movies your kids might see, rent or buy. Detailed content, including a summarized rating of quantity and degree, is listed in the categories of ALCOHOL/DRUGS, BLOOD/GORE, DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE, FRIGHTENING/TENSE SCENES, GUNS/WEAPONS, IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR, JUMP SCENES (scenes that will make you and/or your child jump), MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE), MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE), PROFANITY, SEX/NUDITY, SMOKING, TENSE FAMILY SCENES, TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT and VIOLENCE.

3. Understanding Your Teenager
http://www.uyt.com
Founded by youth ministry guru Wayne Rice, the Understanding Your Teenager organization conducts lively and informative parenting seminars across North America. The UYT site features information on these seminars, a helpful online bookstore and parenting tips.

4. realFamilies.com
http://www.realfamilies.com
Christian parenting advice from Dr. Kevin Leman and Dr. Jay Passavant. The site includes parenting tips and information categorized by age of children, along with resources for marriage.

5. National Center for Fathering
http://www.fathers.com
A great site for Dads! Fathers can find practical fathering tips, research on fathering, information on the fathering movement, humor, and an online version of Today's Father magazine.

6. Parents. The Anti-Drug
http://www.theantidrug.com
A helpful site designed to equip parents to understand, prevent and respond to the epidemic of adolescent substance abuse in our country. The site includes news, advice, drug information and treatment suggestions.

7. Center for Sports Parenting
http://www.sportsparenting.org/csp
A web-based program that provides parents with guidance and answers to questions and issues related to youth and sport. CSP seeks to help all those involved with youth sports deal with the growing pressures associated with kids and competition in our culture.

8. Parent Soup
http://www.parentsoup.com
This is perhaps the most extensive parenting site on the net. Updated daily, it offers tips, tools, chats, news, message boards, reviews and more on all things parenting.

9. Bully Free
http://www.bullyfree.com
Bully Free is a site committed to preventing and stopping bullying in all environments (i.e., schools, workplaces, etc.). Their goal is to promote the Golden Rule everywhere. Great site for parents, educators, and youth workers striving to create bully free environments.

10. Day of Purity
http://www.lc.org/dayofpurity.htm
Day of purity is striving to promote purity in mind and actions especially among today's youth. This website encourages youth to partake in the national day of purity where they can take a stand and make a public demonstration of their commitment to remain sexually pure, in mind and actions, until marriage.

11. Internet Movie Database
http://www.imdb.com
Everything you could possibly ever want to know about over 140,000 different movies. It includes plot summaries, ratings, reviews, links, and a search engine to guide you through an overwhelming amount of information.

12. The Ultimate Band List
http://www.ubl.com
This is the ultimate source for an overwhelming wealth of information on bands, radio stations, record labels, music news and more.

13. Al Menconi Ministries
http://www.almenconi.com
Al Menconi's mission is to educate and equip parents, leaders and youth to consider the values communicated in their entertainment.  The site contains reviews of music and video games as well as articles on the entertainment industry.

14. MTV Online
http://www.MTV.com
The trail-blazing24-hour music channel continues to blaze trails with this cutting-edge web site. Do you want to know more about today's pop culture? This is the place to find music charts, MTV news, and information on a variety of social issues.

15. Parents Television Council
http://www.parentstv.org
A project of the Media Research Center, the PTC’s mission is “to bring America’s demand for values-driven television programming to the entertainment industry.” The site includes up-to-date suggestions for family-friendly viewing, suggestions on how to influence television programming, a family guide to prime time television, and lots of research and analysis.