COTS Sr Youth is for youth grades 9–12. We get together every Friday night and do stuff that we think is fun: bowling, ultimate Frisbee, big screen movies, world championship dodgeball – you get the idea. We always take a few minutes to explore how a piece of the Bible applies to the life of a living, breathing teenager.  

We’d love for you to give our youth ministry a try, and Saturday Nights is a great place to do just that. We usually start and end at the church, 7:00 pm – 11:00pm.  Be sure to bring a Youth Medical Waiver signed by your parent/guardian with you – just in case!

 

COTS Jr Youth is for youth grades 6-8. It works the same way as the Sr Youth. It’s a great way to have a lot of fun in a place where youth can feel accepted at a time in life where that isn’t always the case.

Check out the COTS Jr Youth for Friday Nights from 7:00 pm – 9:00 pm. We meet in Room 097, which is down the stairs when you enter the carport entrance of the church.  Be sure to bring a Youth Medical Waiver signed by your parent/guardian with you – just in case!

On the fourth Saturday of each month, instead of Friday or Saturday Nights, the COTS Youth do a service project here in the Cleveland area. Last year we were blessed to serve with several organizations including:  2100 Lakeside Men's Shelter; Heights Emergency Food Bank; Calvary Hunger Center; New Avenues to Independence; Center for Families  and Children; Souper Bowl of Caring; Cleveland Walk for Hunger; Tri-City Consortium on Aging; Cookies for Kairos Prison Ministry; and West Side Community House.

Sprockets is where youth in grades 9-12 can experience relationships that enable spiritual growth. There are several small groups that get together twice a month wherever they’d like. Each group consists of 5-8 single-gender, mixed-grade youth and 2 adults. Half the time is spent catching up on the highlights and challenges of being a teen today, and the other half is spent talking about topics relevant to teens, our faith, and the Bible. Download the Sprockets brochure right here.

This is the greatest week of the year, and probably the most important part of the COTS Youth ministry. Every summer, youth entering grades 8 and up, along with several awesome youth leaders, dedicate a week to working on the homes of those who are either physically or financially unable to do the work themselves. Nothing transforms lives like serving the Lord 24/7. The homeowners' lives are impacted as they ask the question why a bunch of “kids” are having a great time sweating it out in the heat while they build wheelchair ramps, roof or paint houses, or clean up the yard. The answer? It’s great serving the Lord! Experiencing the joy of living solely for God is what changes our lives forever. We’ve traveled to southern Ohio several times with Jackson Area Ministries, and in 2008 worked with the United Methodist Relief Center in Mt. Pleasant, SC.

Ask our youth what their favorite 2 or 3 events are each year, and almost every one will list the Jr or Sr Youth Retreat. We spend the weekend at one of the East Ohio Methodist Camps, usually Camp Asbury, and have a blast playing flag football or hiking around or just enjoying the break from the city. But that’s not the main reason we’re there, and it’s not the main reason the youth love the retreats. We learn God’s love for us by diving into some aspect of our faith and figuring it out together. We all come home changed, sometimes a little, sometimes a lot, but always closer to God.

Every other year we offer a retreat for grades 5-6 called Created by God and one called The Real Quest for grades 9-12. Both retreats seek to help us put our sexuality in a faith context, and challenges the youth to make their relationship with God a priority in their decision-making about sexuality now and in the long term. In spite of the intimidating subject, both parents (who participate in Created by God) and youth have said that the retreats are helpful and meaningful.

Youth Sunday School is 11:00am-12:00pm on (you guessed it!) Sunday. There's a class for 6th & 7th graders, a class for 8th graders, and a class for the 9th-12 graders. The lessons are relevant to youth of today and the leaders are fantastic.

Youth Sunday

Once a year our Jr and Sr Youth plan and lead all three Sunday morning worship services. This includes everything from selecting the scripture, deciding what the worship space looks/smells/sounds like, to how the message is delivered.

Acolyte Ministry

Youth in grades 5-12 assist in our traditional worship service by lighting the candles representing the complete humanity and divinity of Jesus Christ, by carrying the Bible and Cross to the front of the sanctuary, and by helping with Communion and Baptism. Those on the roster acolyte 3-4 times per year.

Confirmation Class

Being confirmed into the church means that a youth or adult is making the decision to proclaim Christ as their Savior and is choosing to become a full member. To prepare for this important life event, youth spend several weeks learning about our Christian faith, the Church sacraments, and the history, organization, and teaching of the United Methodist Church. Every youth in the Confirmation Class has an adult mentor who walks with the youth in his or her Confirmation journey.

Scouting

Church of the Saviour hosts both Cub Scout and Girl Scout troops at our church.

• God and Me is a curriculum for younger scouts that emphasizes developing a personal relationship with Jesus. Scouts meet five times with clergy to discuss the wonder of creation in the image of God, the gift of Jesus Christ, the role of prayer in our lives, and how scouts should care for others because God cares for them.
• God and Family is a seven-session program designed for older elementary students. It discusses our role in our biological family and our place in the family of God. Scouts explore both family and spiritual heritage, their gifts and talents, the meaning of unconditional love and appropriate responses to God's love.

Please contact the church office for further information.