Youth House Rock
Greetings Fellow Believers,
My name is Michael Appel and I am thankful to be your new Director of Youth & Family Ministries at
Faith Lutheran Church. Before the merge, I was a regular member and elder at Prince of Peace. Over the
past year or so, I have been seeking ways that I could better use my time and further contribute to the
Church and her Mission. So when Pastor Buckman approached me about this position, I felt immediately
that this was what I was looking for. It’s been a long road of meetings and paperwork, but we are finally
ready to begin. I will be writing a short newsletter piece each month to share insight and updates on our
Youth Ministry.
Currently, I teach high school math and science at Cristo Rey St. Martin College Prep in Waukegan. The students there have been amazing and I feel blessed every day working there. My main purpose in filling this position is to apply what I’ve learned from seven plus years of teaching teenagers to the Church and her youth. My original degree was actually in physics at the University of Notre Dame and then I got my Master’s in Education from Concordia University Chicago. So while I greatly enjoyed unraveling the secrets of the universe and understanding God’s creation, I enjoy even more sharing that knowledge and passion with others.
However, secular knowledge is useless without a firm foundation in God’s Word. True insight into the
creation can only come from knowing its Creator. That is my goal for our youth, their families, and the
congregation as a whole – to deepen our knowledge and understanding of God, His nature, His creation,
and His plan for us. And while I will be working hard teaching the children and youth, as any teacher will
tell you, education begins in the home. So I am also asking for your help going forward. We will all need
to work together to build a proper foundation for our young ones. We will all need to educate ourselves
and learn more as we go along – for their sake as well as our own. It’s a harsh world out there, fully
committed to attacking our faith at every opportunity. And we will all crumble if we build on sinking
sand. Let us commit together to building instead on the one true foundation, on Christ, the solid rock, I
stand.