Luke’s Leaders Program provides youth with leadership skills

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The Luke’s Leaders Program of St. Luke’s United Methodist Church (UMC), 100 W. 86^th St., Indianapolis, is honoring its middle school students of Washington Township (Marion County) with a recognition ceremony and celebration luncheon on Sunday, March 23.

The students’ accomplishments will be recognized at the 11 a.m. worship service at the North Indy Campus, followed by a free celebration luncheon at noon. Each student will receive a certificate and gift from the Luke’s Leaders Program. The students and their families are all invited to participate in the event.

The current school year has been an exciting one for the Luke’s Leader Program. Over 80 students have participated in the program that includes community service projects, learning about leadership and developing leadership and communication skills.

The Youth in Government group, comprised of eighth graders, continues to amaze and impress all who know these students. One student, Jeremiah Simms, received the Social Justice award presented by the Washington Township School Board for his work in writing legislation in the Luke’s Leaders Youth in Government Program. The entire group was also recognized by the Washington Township School Board.

“The well-established and well-respected organizations in our community provide curricula specifically designed for helping middle school students develop leadership skills,” Luke’s Leaders Program President Thomas Lange said. “Developing leadership skills is not linear, and the pace is not the same for any two students. It is truly a beautiful thing to hear our students discuss current topics of interest with passion and understanding. Every week, we see the middle school students developing confidence, self-esteem and communication skills (even listening!). They are a joy to be with, and we are blessed to be on this leadership journey with them.”

Luke’s Leaders is a weekly, after-school leadership development initiative developed by the Outreach and Justice Ministry of St. Luke’s UMC in Indianapolis. Middle school is a very stressful time for students ages 10 to 14, and Luke’s Leaders was created to step into this gap to help positively impact the lives of the students, fuel their personal growth and positively develop their character.

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Since 2018, the Luke’s Leaders Program has developed a strong relationship with Washington Township Schools in Marion County to provide every young person the opportunity to become a leader and make a positive impact in their community. The program is dedicated to nurturing and empowering youth to become the next generation of changemakers. Luke’s Leaders contracts with a variety of community partners, such as the YMCA of Greater Indianapolis, Peace Learning Center, and the Center for Leadership Development to bring this leadership development programming to the students of Washington Township. Through the collaboration with its partners, can bring a validated, professionally delivered program to these students.

St. Luke’s UMC is an open, affirming, inclusive, anti-racist Methodist church. St. Luke’s embraces diversity in age, gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, and life experience.

The church has many opportunities for its members to volunteer in local, national and global outreach projects. St. Luke’s has also hosted CDF Freedom School at the church for 80 Washington Township students, grades K-8, during the summers. The church encourages its members to be difference-makers in the world by using their unique gifts to impact others in the community. The Luke’s Leaders Program is an extension of this principle to make an impact in the lives of people in the local community.

Learn more about St. Lukes and all of the programs offered at stlukesumc.com. To learn more about Luke’s Leaders specifically, visit lukesleaders.com. You can see just what Luke’s Leaders is all about by watching this video.