Making a real difference...

Our church used to have 6-8 kids serving as acolytes and coming to an occasional pizza party or field trip. Now we have at last 25 teenagers in church every Sunday morning and lots of them actively involved in the life of the congregation. We recently had a couple of Smith College students come to church who were very pleased to see we had J2A....they talked about how much it meant to them and how it still influences how they think and live. (St. John's Episcopal Church, Northampton, MA)

This is a very common story of a J2A congregation. An added benefit of this ministry is that it often serves as a catalyst for congregational renewal. Parents are drawn into greater particiation. Youth leaders learn skills and develop a commitment to ministry that they use in other ministries when they rotate off of being leaders. Others in the congregation pick up on the energy and the ministries of the youth. So J2A is much, much more than just a way to inform or entertain our youth -- it is a way of being the church that engages everyone in ministry!