Teen Ministry Enters Second Year

Anita Baird Jones, Celebrate Recovery and

The Landing facilitator at Knights Creek Church at Scio,

displays materials used as part of a

teenage ministry that is starting its second full year to

assist students in overcoming hurts, hangups, habits and destructive behaviors that can lead to downward spirals in life.

SCIO – It started with a struggling teenager who happened to show up at Knights Creek Church here one Saturday night to see what Celebrate Recovery | Celebrate Victory was all about.  She liked a quickly modified version of the adult ministry and brought friends.

Today, The Landing, a companion Celebrate Recovery ministry for teen students, is entering its second full year of outreach to Allegany County youth who are struggling with any type of hurt, habit, hangup or destructive behavior that can generate a downward spiral in their young lives.

Although there reportedly are more Celebrate Recovery groups per population in Allegany County than any other county in the state and two of only six in jails and prisons, there only is the one site for The Landing.

Knights Creek wants to see that change, with churches in every population center in the county not only hosting Celebrate Recovery and The Landing, but Celebration Place for children, creating a full family ministry for those who are struggling with life issues.  More groups also are needed due to participants often having transportation issues or finding it helpful to attend more than one session a week.

Anita Baird Jones, who with her husband, Casey, facilitates Celebrate Recovery at Knights Creek and is part of a Celebrate Recovery Inside team that works with inmates at Allegany County Jail, coordinates the The Landing's female students group.

She notes the recent county youth survey of sixth through 12^th grade Allegany County students found a significant percentage feeling sad or depressed most days, or having cut or burned themselves, been bullied in the past 30 days, or developed a suicide plan within the past year.

“These are frightening statistics,” she said, “and demonstrate the critical need for more awareness and action on the part of parents, caregivers and other adults to help overcome these issues.”

She said The Landing provides a safe environment where teens can discuss common, everyday fears which sometimes seem overwhelming, and learn coping skills from teachings and testimonies of other students.

During the past two months, Jones noted, the group has heard video stories from three teen members of a family, whose father is a pastor and whose mother struggled with eating disorders.  Each child experienced their own situations, including family moves to new homes, differently and hid their hurts from parents and siblings.

“When one member of a family is hurting from negative physical, mental/emotional or spiritual health impacts, everyone is affected and also hurts,” Jones said, adding that these traumas can have life-long negative impacts unless they are mitigated.

“We see this at the jail,” she said, noting that many adverse experiences that lead to incarceration can be traced back to unresolved traumas  inmates experienced as a child, including loneliness, bullying, death of a parent or one or more other loved ones, separation or divorce of parents, poverty, general family dysfunction, moves in which friends and family members are left behind, and more.

This also has led the Joneses to facilitate Help Grieving Children for adults, a single session presented at Knights Creek Church, Allegany County Jail and other county locations, to help create understanding of the different ways children grieve all types of losses at different ages, and differently than adults.  During these presentations, Jones said, adults oftentimes recognize that they, themselves, have never fully grieved losses from the past.

The Landing and Celebrate Recovery | Celebrate Victory, both without charge, are available from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Saturdays at Knights Creek Church at 2987 Knights Creek Road (County Road 9).  Free refreshments also are available at 6:45 p.m.

The sessions include music, alternating-week teachings and testimonies, and gender-specific small groups.  Age-related parallel tracks are presented for adults and teens so both are able to discuss common topics during the week if they choose.  This format can lead to better generational and family relationships.

Adult Celebrate Recovery gatherings also are available from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursdays at both Yorks Corners Mennonite Church, 3350 County Road 29, Wellsville, contact gene@yorkscorners.org or (585) 593-3287, and Houghton Wesleyan Church, 9712 State Route 19, contact catmo57@hotmail.com or (585) 567-8162.

Additional information; on all the Celebrate Landing components for adults, teens, children and inmates, including how churches in the county can become involved, is available at www.facebook.com/CelebrateRecoveryAlleganyCounty, www.ppaccentral.org, or from the Joneses at bps61@msn.com or (484) 435-0503.