7th-12th Grade

Katie Strickland

Children & Youth Minister

Katie has grown up at Fleming Island UMC.  After being formed by both the children's and youth programs herself, she now helps lead the next generation of Fleming Islanders as they grow in their spiritual journey. Katie and Dusten have two children: Henry who's in preschool and Addie who's an active toddler. They also have a dog named Tater.

Katie wants to help students find their place in the church now, believing that they have as much to give as the adults do. She helps every student who wishes find ways to use their gifts, and is seeking ways to disciple them through relationship building and mentorship. It's her goal for students to learn the joy of asking questions and discovering the Biblical truths.

Our Program

Our youth ministry has gone through some changes since COVID. Currently, we're in a rebuilding stage.  What that means is we are able to adapt experiences that meets the needs of every student.  We are currently building a new program with a three-fold approach for growth through for your student through Fellowship, Mentorship and Service.

Learning, Growth, and Fellowship

Confirmation: Fall 2024

This fall, we're inviting our 7th through 12th graders for a 5-week confirmation series called Christianity Deconstructed. Pastor Faith will be leading a study that will break down the Apostles Creed, which summarizes what we believe as Christians. At the end, she'll explain what it means to make a profession of faith and invite the students to participate on October 13th in worship.

For other fellowship opportunities, please check out our Upcoming Events below.

Mentorship

If you have a teen and are interested in connecting them with a mentor,  please fill out the Student Ministry Connection form and Pastor Faith will meet with you. We'll talk about what interests your student, how we can connect them with an adult from within our church for mentoring, and do so within a safe space for discipleship. We also want our students to feel they are valued, so we'll talk about how we can use their passions to connect them into the body of the church.

Service

Serving others is one way we are able to show Jesus' love to others.  We believe that service can be done at any age and encourage our Students to participate with our church's mission and outreach events whenever possible.  As a bonus, it will help fulfill their community service requirements for school! We have multiple ways students can be active participants in our church and earn community service hours, including helping out with children's during summer VBS, volunteering in the office, serving in worship, and many other places that may interest them. Contact Val in the church office for more information.

Upcoming Student Events

Recent Student Ministry News

14 Stronger
October 17th, 2024
If you were to ask me what I love most about ministry, I wouldn’t hesitate. Baptizing new believers and teaching the faith, especially in moments like confirmation, brings me the deepest joy. This past Sunday, we had the privilege of witnessing the fruits of our church’s faithful work, and it was incredible While I don’t always think of membership as the primary fruit, I have to say, the conversat...
Transforming Spiritual Futures
July 2nd, 2024
Many may ask, "What's the point of confirmation?" or "Isn't that a Catholic thing?" If I had to choose one thing that you found a way for your teenager to do, it would be confirmation. It's so important for the spiritual development because it helps them understand what's different about Christianity from all the other belief systems in our world. As our students go through the important process o...
Breakfast for Fellowship of Christian Athletes
October 12th, 2023
Did you know that the Fellowship of Christian Athletes is the ONLY faith-based organization at Fleming Island High School? Fellowship of Christian Athletes or FCA is a student-led interdenominational Christian ministry with a goal of seeing the world transformed through Jesus Christ. Each week between 40-70 students come together......
FIUMC Students & VBS
August 10th, 2023
As you may imagine putting on Vacation Bible School takes many volunteers.  This year we had 46 volunteers.  Thirteen of our amazing volunteers were students in grades 7th through 12th grade and we couldn't do VBS without them.  They bring a level of energy and excitement that most of us adults just can't match.  I know the kids and the adult volunteers appreciated them spending the week with us....
October in the Bag
November 10th, 2022
October was a busy month, but we have so many things to celebrate. Many know this, but I wasn't in favor of doing the pumpkin patch this year. Why? Because I was worried it would over-tax our congregation's time. Why am I telling you this? Because I was wrong and I'm glad to be wrong.I'm a firm believer in sharing my opinion and then stepping back. The church council rallied together to bring the ...

Student Ministry Connection

Parent's Info:

Student's Info:

Other Info:

Please enter any information regarding when you'd like to get together, information about your student, and so forth. We look forward to helping your student connect.

Adult & Youth Policies

We have strict policies regarding any person under the age of 18 being alone with an adult they aren't related to. Because are youth program is currently not in a formal format, we'll work directly with each family to work out an arrangement that ensures we do not violate these policies. Every person who volunteers in our church with children or youth are background checked and trained. These policies are in place to ensure the ongoing safety of those who volunteer and our minors, so the church is always a safe place. We appreciate your flexibility if we have to be a little creative to ensure we have proper adult ratios for your student's meeting with their spiritual mentor.

Parent Consent Forms