RMCC Youth Ministry Mission:
To shepherd the youth of RMCC into greater love for God and greater love for others

Philosophy of Ministry:
The teen years are a unique period of life! Questions like, "Who am I?" "Who is God?" and "Where do I fit in God's plan?" are at the forefront for most teens. As such, these years propose a unique opportunity for spiritual growth. RMCC seeks to foster this growth so that when our teens graduate from High School, they can say, "I love the Lord as my Savior and King, and I want to make him known!".

To this end, we shape everything we do around four core values: Worship, Teaching, Nurture, and Reaching. Worship is emphasized not only through singing together, but as a life-style.  We want to worship the Lord with our whole lives in thought, word, and deed. Teaching of God's word is done on relevant topics with a view toward application, with the conviction that scripture is sufficient for our every need. Nurture-knowing and loving God means knowing and loving one another. We seek to nurture deeper friendships with one another through social events and times of fellowship. Reaching out to those outside the church is emphasized in our teaching and planned through special outreach events.

Highlights of Our Youth Ministry Include:

Wednesday Night Youth Group
The backbone of RMCC's youth ministry is our weekly Wednesday night youth group for Jr. High and High School students. This is a time of worship (led by our student band), teaching, small groups, and fellowship. Every other month, we hold a "Dinner and Testimony" night, where we gather in someone's home, eat dinner together, and listen to an adult from our church body give their testimony of God's grace in their life.

One-on-one Discipleship
Our conviction is that the gospel takes its firmest root in the soil of relationships. Thus, there are many opportunities at RMCC for students to be mentored: by our youth pastor, college mentors, and adults who truly care for our youth and desire to see them grow in their love for Christ and his people.

Winter Retreat
Each January our Jr. High and High School students head up to the mountains of Yellowstone Alliance Adventure camp near Bozeman for a weekend of winter fun and challenging teaching & reflection on the significance of Christ.

Summer Peacemaker Clubs
As an outreach service to the Billings community, RMCC puts on a five-day club called Peacemaker Clubs every other summer. Peacemaker Clubs are outdoor "Vacation Bible School" type programs that reach children ages 5-10 (and some adults!) for the gospel by demonstrating biblical peacemaking through puppets, songs, crafts, and games. Even more exciting: this ministry is conducted by RMCC's Jr. High and High School students!

Summer Youth Leadership Conference
Every other year, we take several High School students to Glorieta, New Mexico for a week-long youth leadership conference called Youth Excelling in Leadership, aka YXL. This is a week packed with worship, teaching, fellowship, and team-based leadership activities. The goal of YXL is "to help high school students identify, assess, and develop their God-given leadership qualities to the glory of Christ and for the good of their congregations." YXL website

Our mission to shepherd our youth into greater love for God and others succeeds through five distinct goals:

Savoring the Savior:
Lots of students know about God. They might even say that they believe in God or have faith in God. Yet they cannot relate to the Apostle Paul when he says, “I consider everything a loss compared to the surpassing greatness of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord” (Phil. 3:8). We want young people to experience the joy of being in relationship with Christ their Savior.

Connected in the Church:
We want our young people to see themselves as current vital members of and contributors to God’s household, to use their gifts to serve in the church, and to form relationships with people of all ages in the congregation.  
 
Skilled with Scripture:
Unfortunately, many who grow up in the church never learn the significance of the Bible's teachings for their daily lives. We want our young people to be skilled in rightly interpreting God’s Word, and then apply it to every area of life from a biblical world and life view. (2 Cor. 10:4-6; 2 Tim. 3:16-17).
 
Harmony in the Home:
One of the best ways the church can minister to its young people is by coming along-side of parents and encouraging them in their parenting task. We want to help parents to “bring [their children] up in the training and instruction of the Lord” and to help young people to “obey their parents in the Lord” (Eph. 6:1,3). Further, we want to equip families to respond to conflict in a biblical way as we seek to teach the gospel-truths of peacemaking.
 
Mobilized for Ministry:
 Many people think of youth ministry as entertainment. However, our goal at RMCC is not to entertain our young people. Instead, we strive to equip them to be ministers of God’s grace in its various forms (Eph. 4:12; 1 Pet. 4:10). We call on our young people to serve the church and the community by using their God-given gifts. Young people are attracted to this kind of authentic ministry verses superficial entertainment.