PictureYOKE at Carpenters Middle School.

YOKE is passionate about partnering with local churches and engaging them in our ministry. Our goal is to have at least one church in every community that partners with YOKE at their local middle school. We certainly want our YOKE kids and their families to have a local connection that will outlast the middle school years. Local churches serve as vital resources of financial support and volunteers for our ministry, but YOKE has a lot to offer them as well and is committed to partnerships that are mutually beneficial.

YOKE offers local churches an established connection with local schools, and a program with a track record of success. YOKE trains an emerging generation of church leaders and offers them hands-on experience in ministry. In addition, YOKE looks for opportunities to partner with local churches in reaching their communities, providing training, resources, and personnel for VBS programs, back-to-school bashes, and youth outreach events throughout our 5-county service area.

Dotson Memorial Baptist Church in Blount County partners with YOKE at Carpenters Middle School by providing both volunteers and financial support.

“It has been an incredible blessing for us to be involved with YOKE,” says Jim Cummings, senior pastor at the church. “Above all else we recognized it as a wide open door to come face to face with middle school students and to be able to take the gospel directly to them.”

Last year when their youth pastor, who was serving as the YOKE team leader at Carpenters, accepted another position outside of the area, others from the church stepped right in to keep the club going. In fact, the church had seen such value in their partnership with YOKE that they decided to add it to the job description for their next youth pastor.

“We’ve seen a great response at the school, averaging close to 30 per week at club,” says Pastor Cummings. “Now we send one of our church buses to bring students to our midweek youth worship service where we serve them a hot meal and invest further in their spiritual lives. It’s not unusual for us to have 15 students from Carpenters to be a part of that. The greatest thing of all has been to see one young man named Casey come to know Jesus! YOKE is a ministry that we are fully committed to continuing at Dotson.”

Click here to see how YOKE is transforming the ministry of an inner city church in Knoxville.
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For more information about how YOKE can impact your church’s local ministry, give us a call at (865) 522-6907 or write to jonathan@yokeyouth.com.