Youth & Family Events

F.I.R.E. - Faith In  Real Experiences

“Redeemer Lutheran Youth; Burning for Jesus Christ”

We are all tired of the same old fundraisers and the unending number of them! Comments such as “I am tired of fundraisers, can’t I just give $100 and be done with it?” or “I would like to support the youth, but I don’t know any of them and I don’t see any of them around doing much.” and “Don’t the youth have any personal responsibility for participating in earning their way to events?” are quite common. In addition, we as the church should be doing fundraising a bit differently from other organizations. Yes, we need to raise funds, but we should be doing so while providing real life, faith building opportunities, encouraging healthy, multi-generational relationships, serving others, and setting good examples of what it means to be a member of the “Body of Christ.” The church also has the opportunity to reinforce the teaching of personal responsibility to our youth.

So, what is F.I.R.E.? Our congregation and community members will provide jobs (lawn raking/mowing, window washing, babysitting, grocery shopping, snow shoveling, etc.) for our youth to experience, all the while establishing relationships. F.I.R.E. department youth will also have many other opportunities to be the “Body of Christ” as we grow together in Bible Study, mission trips, and other “real experience” faith building opportunities.

How will this work? Congregational and community members can sign up on the job sheet indicating the task(s) they are requesting to be done and one of our F.I.R.E. captains (adult members of our youth committee) will contact you to arrange a time for  F.I.R.E. youth to accomplish it. The job sheet will be passed around during worship.

What is asked of you when you utilize this service? We ask that you provide a fair wage for the job being done, that you spend some time with the youth providing the service, and that you commit to keeping the youth in your prayers. When the job is done, the youth will leave a card with their name and information on it so that you might continue in prayer and relationship building.

Where does the money go?   All money earned by youth serving on the F.I.R.E. department is put into their individual youth account at Redeemer Lutheran Church to pay for upcoming faith building experiences such as the ELCA National Youth Gathering. No money goes directly into the pockets of the youth.

A letter will soon be sent to all students/parents in grades 7-10 inviting each youth to become a member of Redeemer Lutheran Youth’s F.I.R.E. department.  At the bottom of the invitation will be a response form for the youth and parents to sign and send back to the church indicating their willingness to be part of F.I.R.E. and commitment to taking personal responsibility for doing so.