In my role as Student Ministry Pastor, I have been thrilled to see the progress among our volunteer team and students in being disciples and equipping disciples. We have begun calling every volunteer a “coach” because we are coaching students to be disciples and helping them to become the ones who also equip other disciples! While I am transitioning out of Student Ministry, I am proud of the relationships and investments our entire team is making, and I am confident they will continue to be great disciples who equip yet more disciples in our schools and communities.
Our purpose is to be disciples and equip disciples.
Our Ministry Coaches help equip students to be disciples by first and foremost having real relationships with them and holding them accountable to participating personally in student ministry. Like never before, when someone is missing, we do our best to follow up and make sure they are okay. We have a system of identifying where students are at in their spiritual journey so that we can bring them along in their journeys with spiritual growth helps and practical ways to serve and exercise their faith together. All of this is so that we might see students learn God's Word and do the work of the ministry alongside us. We are coaching them to be and equip disciples.
Meanwhile, we continue to teach our students practical bible lessons on a weekly basis, and we maximize every opportunity for relational connection and spiritual growth. Whether worship nights or fellowship on holidays off from school, we are deepening relationships and guiding these students. We feel that we are on the frontlines working with laser focus for young disciples in grades six to twelve!
Scripturally Rooted.
Relationally Committed.
Sacrificially Minded.
Missionally Driven.
While our Student Ministry team strives to exhibit every value, we have most tangibly demonstrated our values of being Scripturally Rooted and Relationally Committed.
Without a doubt, we are Scripturally Rooted together! God's Word, through the leading of His Holy Spirit, changes lives. That’s why our student ministry gathers around God's Word and then discusses it in small groups; everything else comes secondary. We have a great curriculum at the center that keeps us focused on God’s Word and moving forward together.
That said, we are also Relationally Committed. We were created for human relationships! And we have seen so much growth in our relational connection. Even social media has been a great tool to draw people into relationships with one another. We desire to see this ministry hum with a constant buzz of relational connection. Plus, it’s been so fun to do!
Next year, we want to strengthen our value of being missionally driven. As we desire to see students discipled well, we want to always be moving them on their journey of spiritual growth. This will always include exercising our faith by doing. We are already identifying more ways for students to be able to serve and engage classmates, friends, and others in our community. Mature students will be missionary driven, and we want to help them get there.
Life Change:
the result of being disciples and equipping disciples together
Over the last year, we have been able to welcome several new students. It has been really cool to see these folks come to Student Ministry for the first time and start to grow into the group. A few even gave their lives to Jesus and quickly began attending on Sunday mornings, walking regularly with us, and we’re excited to see what God has for them next!
Just recently we hosted our neighbors at our annual Trunk or Treat event. A couple of our regular students, Sam and Shea worked together to come up with a cool design to distribute "The Good News." They went above and beyond to be a witness to our community.
TGP, our students are not spectators. They are pursuing Jesus and putting forth the effort to say, "Come and See" that the lost may be found and the broken be saved. We have disciples on the move in our church!
What does engagement look like?
Over the course of the year, we taught 42 unique Bible lessons for students. We hosted 4 Special Events in the Spring, 8 in the summer, and 4 in the Fall and Winter. We had 22 students join in for Snow Camp and 28 for WOL Camp.
But here’s what’s grabbing our attention:
While we average 60 students in our Student Gatherings, we have about 275 Students and counting in our Student Ministry database. We see an incredible reach that our students have through their schools, sports, and other relationships. Can you imagine the impact as we equip our students to be everyday disciples and everyday missionaries toward them?
(We also sent out 11 graduates from Student Ministry who will be disciples far beyond our local community!)