Youth
What we are on about
For both Junior and Senior Youth, we meet for one reason: We believe that since Jesus is alive, He has the power to restore our broken relationship with God. We reckon that’s about the best thing in the world! And because the Bible is our access point to God and His Son Jesus, we are pretty serious about getting to know it better so we can live lives that honour and please our great God.
For the regulars, we want to do this by:
- weekly fellowship (meet together around God’s word);
- constant discipleship (growing in our faith); and
- evangelism (telling others about Jesus with our lips and through our lives).
And if this is all new to you, we would love to have you along so you can experience this for the first time!
What is a Christian?
A Christian is someone who has put their trust in Jesus to bring peace between him or her and God. Christians believe that 2000 years ago, Jesus stood in their place to receive what their rebellion against God deserved, death. Now they are free to live life the way God intended – under His rule and in obedience to His word. Christians aren’t perfect, but because they now belong to God, they can choose to say no to the old life of sin. At Junior and Senior Youth we encourage each other to do this week by week!
Junior Youth
If you’re in Grades 8 to 9, Junior Youth is where you want to be. Come and join us on Sunday morning as we discover what being a Christian is all about, from the Bible. With all the games, singing, skits, prayer and fun, you’ll never look back!
Sunday Morning / Room 4 Children’s Centre (top floor) / 10am-11:15am (while all the big people are in church)
Senior Youth
Senior Youth is for the business end of high school. Anyone in Grade 10 to 12 is welcome! We meet to get to know God and to encourage each other to take Him seriously in everything we do. There is always time to talk and share as we look to His word, the Bible, to light the way.
Sunday Evening / Room 4 Children’s Centre (top floor) / 5:30pm – 7pm / Why not come over to church with us afterwards?
Small Groups
While Sunday is the time for our big group meetings, Fridays are small group night. Our small groups are the engine room of Youth at St James. They help make the big group nice and cosy. The groups are separate for guys and girls, and organized around your grade (for example, Grade 8 boys, Grade 11 girls, and so on). The same people who lead youth on Sundays run the small groups on Fridays. Wanna know when and where your groups meet? Drop us an email and we’ll hook you up!
Cutting Edge Youth Rallies
Once a term, we get together with youth groups from all over for a Cutting Edge Youth Rally. It’s like Junior or Senior Youth on a Sunday except it’s big. Really big. I’m talking like 400 people big. And it is a great time. Check out What’s Coming Up to find out when the next one is on!
Camps
Everyone gets the chance to go on 4 camps a year.
Summer Camp for JY is at Rocklands Adventure Centre (with the baboons) and Summer camp for SY is down at Water's Edge in Simonstown (with the penguins). These camps normally pop up in February and March, but check out What’s Coming Up for the latest.
Winter Camp is usually in September (even though it’s not usually that cold). Again there is one for JY and one for SY. The SY camp is locked in for Wortelgat out past Stanford. It has achieved legend status. It’s hard for me to express it in words. Actually, there are tears of joy making my keyboard slippery. Just make sure you are there.
We also join other churches for a mid year Mission Camp, called 'GO'. A group of all ages go on a week-long camp to Hermanus, to share the gospel with different groups of people in that area. They run a Holiday Club for the children and a Coffee Bar for the teenagers. This camp is a great opportunity to ‘Go’ and tell people about the good news of Jesus! If you're nervous, don’t worry, there is plenty of training before they cut you loose! To get a camp form, speak to your leader.
We finish the year with a bang as we head out for Crossword! After a decade of youth groups making the December exodus to Stellenbosch, chances are you will know someone who has been before. So don’t miss the boat! It could change your life.
Parent Spot
Dear Parents,
Thanks for stopping by!
It’s important to us that you know that in both our youth groups we seek to work in partnership with families. Primary responsibility for the kids at St James Youth has been entrusted to you, their parents. What we can offer are 2 great groups where the good news of Jesus Christ can be communicated in a way relevant for teenagers by well trained leaders. We hope this will be a great assistance to you in your task.
We are always keen to be available for you whenever we can. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us through the contact details if there is any information you require, questions you have, or help you need.
The easiest way for us to stay in touch is via email. If you don't recieve emails from us make sure you drop us a line.
Meet the team
Junior Youth and Senior Youth are the high school arm of St James Church Kenilworth. Scott Tubman (Youth Minister), along with Stephanie Haupt (Assistant Youth Minister) lead both youth groups. But they are surrounded by a super team of 20 leaders who help lead the Sunday meetings and Friday small groups each week to make sure everyone is looked after.
Scott Tubman
Age: 34
Family: Married to Hayley. Ben is 4, Jemma is 2
Fav music: Counting Crows, Coldplay, Lucky Dube, John Mayer, Jason Mraz
I love to watch: House, West Wing, The Waratah's play super 14
Stephanie Haupt
Age: 24
Fav music: EasThe Arrows, Casting Crowns, Goldfish
I love to watch: The Big Bag Theory, Lost
Confirmation
Here is some ‘must know’ info about confirmation at St James. Please contact us if you have any questions.
To be confirmed at St James you must:
Be in grade 11 (or older). Why?
Confirmation is a public confession of faith which is done before God and your church family. It is therefore not to be entered into lightly and our experience is that grade 11 is the earliest that you can make that decision responsibly.
Have been attending Youth (or Young Adults) at St James for at least 6 months. Why?
Confirmation is a local church family event, therefore we confirm teenagers who have made St James their spiritual home. When you are confirmed you make a promise to continue in bible reading, prayer and fellowship, and we as a local church make a promise to encourage and support you in this endeavour. We can only do this if you are a regular here at St James.
Be a Christian. Why?
Getting confirmed doesn’t make you a Christian. It is a public declaration of the fact that you have already asked Jesus to forgive your sins and are seeking to live under His rule. To make the confirmation vows without first being truly converted is to deceive the St James family, to deceive yourself, and (far more seriously) to lie to God.
Confirmation and baptism
Confirmation is so called because it is the opportunity to ‘confirm’ the promises made on your behalf at your infant baptism. In other words, you can now re affirm those promises made by your parents and claim them publicly as your own.
If you were not baptised as an infant, then instead of getting confirmed, adult baptism is for you. You can’t really confirm promises that were never made over you as an infant, and since getting baptized as an adult is your public confession of faith it would be redundant to be baptised and then confirmed in the same evening.
