Reset Student Movement Youth Events are Back!

200 students came together for a powerful night The Reset Student Movement was thrilled to gather with students from 5 Upstate New York churches last Friday, July 30th! Our local network of youth pastors brought 200 students to Grace Point Church in Vestal, NY for games, worship, and a powerful message. LFC’s Pastor Jackson Garrell preached on community while encouraging the students to deepen their connections with God and each other. After the message, 50 students chose to stay in the church auditorium to pray with leaders. Students’ lives were changed as they accepted Jesus as their Lord and Savior. Many students prayed together while opening up and supporting each other. A couple of students even shared their recent battles with suicidal thoughts, giving leaders the opportunity to support them and guide them towards the help they need. We were blown away as we watched God move so powerfully through this event, the message, the youth pastors, and the Reset community that has become a support system for so many students. Thank you to all of the churches, pastors, hosts, and volunteers who contributed to such a wonderful event.  The movement is just beginning As with every Reset Student Movement …

For Ministry Resources Expands Free Youth Ministry Curriculum

We’ve launched a new youth ministry curriculum We are proud to announce the launch of our second annual youth ministry curriculum through For Ministry Resources. Our curriculum includes monthly sermon series scripts, small group Bible studies, devotionals, and graphics for an entire year of student ministry. This is a complete and holistic strategy that will help youth pastors grow their groups while focusing on what matters most — their students. Youth pastors are amazing leaders with a calling that shapes our next generation of leaders following Christ. They’re mentoring students through formative years, creating communities where teenagers are cared for, and leading the next generation to glorify Christ. What’s less visible is the youth pastor’s many roles behind the scenes. In the small to mid-sized churches that we work with, youth pastors are expected to wear many hats. For Ministry Resources’ free youth ministry curriculum empowers youth pastors to lead well while focusing on discipling their students. For Ministry Resources’ Free Library Contains 150 Resources With the addition of these 12 new youth series, For Ministry Resources’ free resource library now contains 24 complete youth series that could resource a church’s student ministry at no cost for two whole years. …

LFC circles Virtual Bible Study Takes Off!

The Equestrian Circle Grows to 70 Members Three months after launching our LFC circles platform for virtual Bible study groups, the Equestrian Circle has grown to include 70 members from across the US and Canada! Every Tuesday evening, members of the horse show jumping community come together for a virtual Bible study message and discussion. While many believers in the horse world have joined this group to find other Christians within the industry, we’re also thrilled to be welcoming people who are simply searching for community and new to faith. Connected by a common interest in the showjumping sport, everyone can find a caring and supportive community in the Equestrian Circle. How to join the Equestrian Circle The Equestrian Circle meets every Tuesday evening at 6pm EST. You can watch the 15-minute live-streamed Bible study in the LFC circles App, or online at circles.online.church. After the message, you can join other members of the equestrian industry on zoom for discussion groups that are divided for students, young adults, and adults. Start your own Circle! The Equestrian Circle’s reach and impact has inspired us to expand LFC circles. We will be launching additional circles to host virtual Bible study groups for …

Introducing our new App: LFC circles

The LFC Circles App is live! Our team is excited to announce the launch of our very first app, LFC circles! This app will serve as a platform for hosting virtual Bible study groups for niche communities. Over the past year, we’ve been helping ministry leaders adapt to the coronavirus pandemic by reaching their communities online. This revealed some incredible advantages to doing ministry digitally. LFC circles’ virtual Bible study groups will be implemented in communities that are highly active and on-the-go, providing people with a platform where they can consistently find community and Christ-centered encouragement. What is a circle? A circle is a group of people who are connected by common interests. LFC circles bring like-minded people together for weekly Bible studies and encouraging small group discussions to help them grow closer to God and their community. All of our circles are also provided with a Chaplain who offers free and confidential one-on-one support. You can digitally meet with your Chaplain/Life Coach on a regular basis, or whenever you are seeking guidance. Is there a circle for me? LFC circles is launching with Bible studies for three interest groups: Equestrians Business Leaders (Men) Ministry Leaders The Equestrian Circle will …

LFC Makes Free Youth Ministry Curriculum Available

A year’s worth of free youth ministry curriculum is now available through LFC’s Partner Ministry, For Ministry Resources! Youth Pastors are integral leaders in every community. They’re mentoring students through formative years, creating communities where teenagers are welcomed and cared for, and leading the next generation to follow and glorify Christ. What’s less visible is the youth pastor’s many roles behind the scenes. In the small to mid-sized churches that we work with, youth pastors are also managing social media, coordinating volunteers, programming music and games, communicating with parents, cleaning the youth group space in the church, fundraising, planning events, and doing “other tasks as needed” (it shows up on almost every youth ministry job description). This year, many youth pastors also took on tech roles as their churches adapted to digital discipleship and online experiences during COVID closures. Not only are youth pastors juggling all these responsibilities with their most important task of discipling students, they’re usually doing it on one of the church’s smallest budget line-items. Youth pastors are amazing leaders with a calling that influences our next generation of community leaders. That’s why we believe no youth leader should be limited by their budget or bandwidth. We …

Digital Youth Event Brings Students Together

The Reset Student Movement took to Instagram and YouTube Live to help students reconnect to God and each other during this season of social distancing. Our April Youth Workers Lunch with the Reset leadership team looked different than usual. Instead of meeting at a diner, we were meeting in a Zoom room. News had just broke that the timeline for social distancing was being extended, schools were remaining closed, and our youth events were being canceled. We agreed that something had to be done to show our students they weren’t alone. In just two weeks, Reset partner pastors worked with our team to plan, promote, and produce Reset Remote — a five-night youth event held completely online. From April 15th-19th, Reset Remote reached over 1,000 views from middle and high school students. Youth pastors from eleven different churches invited their students to participate in the live stream games and sermon sessions. Our “Alone Together” theme was communicated in every segment as students were encouraged to stay connected to their youth leaders and friends during these challenging times. Students shared their takeaways from Reset Remote on Instagram stating: “Even when it feels like no one is there, I am never alone,” …

LFC COVID-19 UPDATE

The LFC network is praying for everyone impacted by the recent COVID-19 outbreak and taking immediate action to empower ministry leaders in your community. As the United States implements more precautionary measures to contain the Coronavirus, we are praying for the individuals, families, ministries, businesses, and communities impacted by this pandemic. Student Evangelistic Events Scheduled for March are Postponed In response to recent school closures and the suggestion to limit large gatherings, LFC partner ministries have made the difficult decision to cancel an upcoming student evangelistic event in Upstate New York. We’ve been working on the coordination and programming for ReCharge, a student event that was set to bring around 50 youth groups together in five locations throughout Upstate NY this month. While we will no longer be gathering physically, all of our Reset Student Movement parters are meeting over the next few days to make digital discipleship available to every student that was planning on attending one of these events. Free Digital Discipleship Resources are Made Available to All Youth Workers In addition to equipping our network of more than 75 youth ministries involved in the Reset Student Movement, we are making a library of free digital discipleship resources …

Read a Student’s Story from Reset Retreat

We recently held the first Reset Student Movement event of 2020 in Susquehanna, Pennsylvania and we have so much to celebrate! 200 students from seven local churches came together for an entire weekend of community, campfires, fun in the snow, worship, sermons, and discussion groups. Over 100 students stayed after the concluding message to pray with a leader over pain they’ve been processing and three students came forward to dedicate their lives to Jesus. One student shared a particularly heartfelt message on social media after her time at Reset Retreat, writing: “I have a nerve tumor in my mouth/jaw area that is going to be removed. The surgery comes with a lot of potential nerve complications that could impair my speech and eating abilities. I have been so scared, and now I’m just counting down the days to surgery, which I have been dreading the most. I went into the Reset Winter Retreat expecting to live it up with my friends. I was in no way focused on what would happen spiritually because I had not really been close to God much before this weekend. I would like to thank Jackson Garrell for his message on Saturday night about pain. …

For Ministry Resources to Attend National Youth Workers Convention

For Ministry Resources will be representing Leaders Following Christ at the National Youth Workers Convention in Tampa, FL from November 21-24. This is the 50th consecutive year Youth Specialties has hosted a convention for youth workers across America and more than 4,300 ministry leaders are expected to attend. FMR will have the opportunity to connect with thousands of pastors and church communicators to discuss the FMR Resource Library, CIRCLES discipleship curriculum, and the Reset Student Movement events. If you are planning to attend the NYWC, be sure to visit us at the For Ministry Resources vendor booth!