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"Hip Club" Helps Minnesota Church Reach Youth
BROOKLYN PARK, MN (July 9, 2003) - Nearly three years ago Redeemer Covenant
Church youth leaders were meeting kids from the neighborhood but
couldn't plug them into their regular ministries.
Thanks to Hip Club, that's no longer a problem. Under Mark Ellingson and
Tim Nelson, Hip (Holy Individual People) Club has provided the
predominantly-white Redeemer Covenant Church with a unique way to get to
know their African-American neighbors.
Nelson says that the grassroots ministry attracts about 150
middle-school kids – many unchurched - for events that are usually held
on the last Friday of every month. Parents of children from the church
and college student volunteers assist Ellingson and Nelson with the
program. The church also has regular church youth programming that
attracts about 80 junior and senior highers.
Hip Club started when youth leaders became acquainted with some junior
highers hanging around church one summer, said Nelson. Since then, the
Friday group has enlisted the help of Randy Washington, a worker from a
local parachurch ministry, as a primary speaker. The program's goal is
to connect area kids to the church's Sunday programming and it seems to
be working, as a handful of children have attended church from the
neighborhood and some families have begun attending church recently.
"Some of these kids are from some pretty hard families," Nelson said of
the Hip Club group. "Some live with their grandparents, some live with
others. But God loves kids of every color. And the church is very
positive (about Hip Club), they back it a lot."
Nelson said that the some of the students from the Redeemer youth group
have become involved in Hip Club, and that students from a weekly Awana
club have expressed interest in joining in as well.
To find out more about Hip Club or other youth ministry activities at
Redeemer Covenant, call Nelson at 763-561-8769.
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
