The Shire is Devonshire's youth ministry that serves students who are in grades 6 through 12.  The Shire is a place for middle and high school students to come and grow in their love Lord.

To find out more on meeting and the latest updates at the Shire you can click here.

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Below you can find our philosophy by which we approach working with our young people and their families.

WHY WE DO WHAT WE DO

The Bible. The Bible is central and foundational to our approach to ministry.  We want our kids to grow in their knowledge of the World and be Gospel-centered. We believe that what God has to say to us in the Bible is true, powerful, and transforming. (2 Timothy 3:16)

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO

1.  Build Them Into Christ. The gospel of Jesus Christ is our central message (1 Cor. 15:3) and our motive for all we do (2 Cor. 5:15). This means that the preaching of God’s Word holds a central place in the life of our youth ministry. Thus, to build teens into Christ must include building them into His Word. So, the first commitment of our philosophy of ministry is to build teens into Christ, to do all in our power to help them know Jesus Christ, love Him, and live for Him. Nothing is more important than one’s relationship with Christ.

2.       Build Them Into Their Parents. Ours is a culture that has radically eroded the role of parents in teenage lives. It has been said that today’s children are getting older younger. That is, teens are claiming for themselves—and culture is driving them towards—increased independence from parental authority and guidance at ever younger ages. The best thing our youth ministry can do for the teen is to build them into their parents (if the parents are Christians; if not, our approach will be different). This means we might ask parents to attend youth meetings, retreats, missions trips, and other events with their teens. We further seek to create as many opportunities as possible to equip parents to evangelize and/or disciple their teens, and we are regularly on the lookout to create opportunities to promote interaction and fellowship between parents and teens.  

3.       Build Them Into the Church Community. While parents bear primary responsibility for parenting their children, there is a day on the horizon when teens will move out of the house, and a parent’s formal responsibility for their kids will end (though in a God-glorifying relationship, the interaction and influence will continue). Our hope and prayer is that these young adults will be functioning and fruitful members of the local church by this time. All our efforts are being poured into preparing them for this.

HOW ARE WE GOING TO DO IT

From September to May, the youth ministry meets regularly on Wednesday night from 6:45 p.m. to 8:15 p.m. Typically, our meeting schedule for the month will look like this:

FIRST WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH: Large Group Gathering.
On this evening, the middle and high school age groups will meet together for a time mainly consisting of worship through singing and a time of teaching from the Word.

SECOND & FOURTH WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH: Small Group Meetings. 
On this evening, the middle and high school age groups will be split up and meet in a smaller setting focusing on developing community.  The smaller group settings will be a place where they can develop relationships with other students their age and have conversation led by an adult leader related to the topic set forth at the Large Group Gathering for the month.

THIRD WEDNESDAY OF THE MONTH: Service. 
On this evening, middle and high school groups come together for the evening to participate in a service project that has been designated for the month.