CrossOver: Defined

Well hey, let's continue walking through the programs that we have at HYPE Youth Ministries; let's take a look at CrossOver.

Now, I've never really decided whether it's CrossOver Youth Group, or CrossOver group... or what. Usually, we just say, "CrossOver." In short, CrossOver is out Middle Group program.

CrossOver was created to fill a gap we had in our ministry process (did you know process is a word I think about a lot in ministry? It's important). Originally, we had just HYPE Youth Group, and our Middle School and High School students just mingled together. But we saw a good group of Middle School students coming out of Merrill Bible Church, and at the time, the majority of our students in HYPE were 16 or 17 year old kids dealing with a slew of rough issues. I wanted to be able to address those issues - real life stuff - in an honest and straightforward way, but I also wanted to be incredibly sensitive to the 6th grade students we would be inheriting over the next few years. So CrossOver was born.

The name is indicative of the program in two senses: Firstly, we desperately desire that the cross of Christ be central to everything we do. But secondly, we also see it as a time of transition - moving from little autonomy to greater autonomy. Middle schools ask a lot of questions, and are learning a ton - this is a place to aid that transition and transformation. It's CrossOver. (Secretly, I also wanted a program name that was not an acronym. I think that's just so over-used and tired!)

CrossOver is finishing up its second year of existence, and is itself going to enter into a period of transition this summer. Our summer programming suspends both HYPE and CrossOver, and we blend groups into a single, low-programed weekly event called DEEP. When CrossOver is re-launched in September, it'll look a little different.

Primarily, I see us focusing on two veins in CrossOver: one is youth-group identity and dependency. If we can build identity into the youth program from the Middle School forward, we aid students greatly as they head into the more "free-spirited" ago of Middle School and High School. As student's grow, and increasingly hear the message, "You are who you are," "Believe in yourself," and "Do what you want to do," (all messages of self-sufficiency and self-defined righteousness), if we can ingrain the contrary attitude, "The church is where I'm provided accountability, unconditional support and love, and encouragement of know God deeper," then we set students up fantastically for success in life.

But secondly, we also want to view CrossOver as an entry-level point for the youth ministry. We have fantastic CrossOver students. We have fantastic CrossOver leaders. And Middle School students are often a little more open to new events, experiences and activities than some of their older, more set-in-their-ways High School brethren. We will definitely be doing High School and Middle School outreach, but CrossOver should have a high outreach factor for us.

In many ways, the goals of HYPE and CrossOver are the same: community, accountability and discipleship. There needs to be a ton of horizontal accountability and learning - CrossOver students teaching CrossOver students. But there also needs to be vertical learning and accountability as well - HYPE students (older and wiser?) teaching and training and encouraging CrossOver students.

And that's where Core comes in. And we'll talk about that next. Stay tuned.