Immanuel Lutheran Church Needs Statement

Mission of Immanuel
We are called by God to WELCOME all God’s children to be NURTURED in the spirit and become TRANSFORMED in the word to TRANSFORM the world and SUPPORT the body of CHRIST. The core values which lead the church are therefore: Welcome, Nurture, Transform, and Support.

Vision of Immanuel
“To be a lighthouse and spiritual center in the Chandler Park Community, reaching out so that all are welcome on the journey of giving praise and service to Jesus Christ”.

Mission of Immanuel’s Youth Ministries
To encourage strong, spiritual, respectful, responsible leaders with a hopeful and productive future.

The Vision of Immanuel’s Youth Ministries
To guide our youth in developing a personal relationship with Jesus, led by the Holy Spirit, through worship, prayer, education, and committed adult disciples.

Program Description
Immanuel Lutheran Church considers youth a high priority, therefore making a concerted effort to reach out and provide many support and programming opportunities for them. We have several youth ministries, which include Confirmation, Rites of Passage, Summer Youth Program, Pray and Play Basketball League, Youth Choir, Dance and Mime Ministry, S.T.E.P Ministry, After-School Program, and the S.H.A.P.E. Mentoring Ministry.

S.H.A.P.E. Ministry
S.H.A.P.E is an acronym for Strengthen, Heal, Act, Pray, and Educate. Each and every ministry and relationship that the youth develop within the church and community should somehow positively S.H.A.P.E their faith, S.H.A.P.E their thinking, and S.H.A.P.E their actions. The S.H.A.P.E ministry is the root from which the youth of the congregation and community will grow spiritually, academically, and socially. The mission of the program is to encourage strong spiritual, respectful, and responsible leaders with a hopeful and productive future.

S.T.E.P. Ministry
The goal of this ministry is to provide younger children in grades K – 5 the opportunity to step up to the God-given greatness within them through adult support, teaching, encouragement and preparation. Meets every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month.

Confirmation
The goals of the confirmation class are (1) To educate and elevate youth by teaching about the Christian faith and how to apply that faith to day to day living, and (2) to have youth articulate the basics of the faith, especially understanding the means of grace, personal and communal relationship with Jesus Christ and how to understand the Holy Bible. The Confirmation Class is comprised of 6th 7th and 8th graders from both Immanuel and Salem Lutheran Churches. The class meets every 1st and 3rd Friday of the month and is taught by the Pastors of both churches.

Rites of Passage
Mission: To develop powerful African-American men and women through cultural awareness and an identity rooted in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.

Purpose: To provide youth with a strong foundation on which they can build their lives as they embark on adulthood.

Rites of Passage meets every 1st and 3rd Friday, having discussions and activities focusing on self-esteem, education/college and career, sexuality and abstinence, financial responsibility, and cultural awareness. Currently there are 25 high school youth that participate in this ministry.

Summer Youth Program
The goal of the Summer Program is two-fold: 1. To provide quality employment opportunities for the youth of our congregations and community in order to combat the opportunity to be involved with negative influences during the summer months. The high school/college aged youth are instrumental in the facilitation of the program. 2. provide enriching activities for youth, in addition to providing a safe, family and Christian-centered environment to which parents can entrust their children. Last summer the program employed 15 high school/college aged youth and served 120 child participants, in grades K – 8 and their parents.

The program includes reading classes, arts and crafts, music, outdoor recreation, weekly water park visits and field trips, arts/interest classes (mime, fashion, sports, drama, cheerleading), and free lunches provided by the city of Detroit.

Pray and Play Basketball League
The Detroit Pray and Play Basketball League is a faith-based, sports activity that provides the youth within a church community an opportunity to grow spiritually while providing them with the opportunity to participate in organized sports. Through a unique combination of prayer, bible study, and competitive basketball, the Pray and Play League has been serving the Detroit Community since 2000. The league is made up of teams developed from the youth ministries of participating churches who compete against each other in basketball while also receiving mentoring and spiritual guidance from volunteers and church leaders.

Youth Choir
The mission of the youth choir is to be a conduit through which young people can sing praises to the Lord and minister to the Lord’s people in a way that is unique to them. The youth choir rehearses every Thursday at 6 p.m. and has children ranging from Kindergarten to post high. The youth choir dynamically leads Sunday worship 1 – 2 times per month.

Dance and Mime Ministry
Mission: To give glory, honor and praise to God utilizing dance and the art of mime, and to enhance children’s spirituality through education, increasing self-esteem, and developing mutual respect for adults and one another. The ministry meets every Tuesday evening at 6:15 p.m.

S.H.A.P.E. MINISTRY
The shape ministry has specific financial needs to allow these programs to continue. Click here to see the exact needs of the S.H.A.P.E. Ministry