Casting a vision to reach at-risk youth

A VISION STATEMENT is an organization’s roadmap. City Gospel Mission’s vision statement is: “Jesus Christ transforming Greater Cincinnati through churches.”

As a faith-based non-profit organization, we firmly believe the local church is the path through which we are called to serve Greater Cincinnati.

Before City Gospel Mission merged with CityCure in 2001, CityCure had sought the Lord about how the path of the ministry should be defined. After research, conversation, and prayer, the Lord revealed that the ministry could not function at its full potential without the local church being a significant part of what was happening.

So, in 2003, City Gospel Mission adopted its current Vision statement. Since then, each department has integrated and shaped new initiatives with this purpose in mind.

What does this mean for Youth Mentoring?

We work to establish each of the arms of our ministry through a local church body – some of which have grown to become anchors of our community. When new mentors come alongside us, we first look to establish a partnership with their church body.

This can sometimes be difficult to work through the relationship. In the end, it is about setting up our young people for success on a lifelong journey.

We have finite resources, bandwidth, and age range to impact young people’s lives in our Youth Department. We work tirelessly to ensure the best interaction we can have with our youth.

When the local church forms a bond with a young person, that bond can carry them on a lifelong journey at that church. We are the vehicle to make that happen. We enjoy making these friendships happen and will continue to make them happen. Working through the local church is how it will happen.

For those who have served in any capacity with us at City Gospel Mission, we call on you now to reach out to your churches. We want to partner with them. We want to see Jesus Christ transforming Greater Cincinnati’s youth through churches.

Partner with our youth mentoring program

The City Gospel Mission youth mentoring program is looking for churches to partner with for the upcoming school year. If your church has a calling to minister to Greater Cincinnati’s youth, please email us at youthmentoring@citygospelmission.org to learn how you can make an impact in their lives.

Joe Dixon is the Director of Youth Mentoring at City Gospel Mission. He can be reached at jdixon@citygospelmission.org