Connecting Teens to Christ
Led by Pastor Matt

Our goal for our teens is to “not be conformed to the pattern of the world, but transformed.” Our desire is to connect teens to Christ and His Church in their teen years, so when they go out into the world they will be ready to live out their faith.

We offer a variety of programs and training opportunities for teens in grades 7-12. We invite you and your teen to visit us on Sunday or Wednesday night to get a better sense of what we are about.

 

Facebook Permission Form
Ministry Purpose
We want every teen who engages with our youth ministry to:

Know the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior.
Grow into committed disciples of Jesus Christ.
Show spiritual leadership in their church, school, and home.
Go into the world, making disciples in their sphere of influence.

Discipleship Hour
Sunday Mornings, 9 - 10 am

Sundays are a time when our youth ministry comes together to learn and explore God’s Word. Here is where students learn how to apply God’s Word to their daily lives.

Summer we are joining the adults for a series from "Missionary."

Adult Discipleship Hour
Youth Group
Wednesdays, 6 - 8 pm

Wednesday nights are full of worship, fellowship, and applicational Bible study. Our youth group wraps up each meeting with small group discussion and prayer.

We invited you and your friends to join us!

Cultivating Servant Leaders (CSL)
Discipleship Program

Many of our teens also have the ability to serve on Sundays and Wednesdays during the year. Through this opportunity, teens work side-by-side with adult leaders in the Awana program, Sunday School classes for kids, nursery, worship team and technology to develop leadership skills.

In an effort to expand the opportunities currently available to our teens and to make the current opportunities more available, we are looking to develop a broader ministry training paradigm.Good

Servants are always leaders; and the best leaders are first good servants. 


Cultivating: The idea of cultivation brings with it intentionality, sweat equity, and time investment along with an involved personal relationship. Such is the picture in a farming sense as we think of plowing and sowing, watering and weeding, and harvesting. Yet, on the other hand, there is another force at play: the force that causes the plant to grow. We see this used as an example of the kingdom of God in Matthew 13, Mark 4, and Luke 9 among other places.

As we consider our teens (and truly, every member of Grace!) we recognize the need for this kind of work. We plow and sow by sharing the word of God with those who have not come to know Him yet. We water and weed by encouraging in positive ways as well as rebuking or correcting in what often may feel like negative ways, and in so doing we facilitate their sanctification. The harvest could speak to their salvation, but in a greater sense it speaks to their fruitfulness as reproducing (the flower or fruit is the potential for new plants that also bring forth flowers and fruit). In this case, as we consider the growth of our teens, we are speaking of the
work of the Spirit of God within their hearts.


Servant: Jesus Christ, the One whom we seek to emulate, was Himself a servant. He both spoke (Matthew 20, Mark 10, and Luke 19) and lived (Philippians 2) this truth. The title of 'servant' speaks not so much to what a person does, but to the way in which he goes about it. To this point we need only look to the Servant Songs of Isaiah (Chapters 42, 49, 50, 52, & 53). We as Christians are called to serve God and righteousness and not self, sin, or other men (Romans 6, Galatians 1, 2, & 4, 1 Timothy 4, Titus 3, 2 Peter 2).

We desire our teens to minister alongside the rest of our membership at Grace. We want them to live out their identity as a δοῦλοσ or 'bond-slave' of Christ. While the world has promised freedom, it never meets expectations. We want to show our students the freedom that comes from offering yourself as a slave to God (and others!). We want to teach them the skills to be able to serve well, and also guide their hearts and attitudes to be pleasing to God.


Leaders: The best leaders did not focus their time on becoming leaders. Likewise, a Christian cannot lead well if His greatest goal in life is to become a leader. Such was not the model of our Lord; rather, He made a point not to be well known (Mark 1, 3, 5, 7, 8, & 9). Similar to servanthood, leadership is not determined by a man's position but by his heart. So then, we are not trying to turn followers into leaders. Our goal is to train these students in the way of Christ's servant-leadership, so that when they find themselves leading others they do so in a God- honoring way.

There are a host of different qualities or traits that could have been considered to be trademarks of good leadership. In our case, we will use the following four characteristics exemplified by Christ to set the standard of good Christian leadership. 1) Leaders love. Christian leaders must love and care for those they lead (Mark 10). 2) Leaders labor. A leader will never be trusted to lead if he does not first prove himself work (John 5). 3) Leaders listen. A leader's greatest tool is his ears. Those he leads will trust him more and understand him better, and he will have greater understanding in where they need to go next (Mark 8; John 21). 4) Leaders lead. This may be rather obvious but is necessary to mention. Direction, purpose, hope, and strategy all flow from good leadership (Luke 12; Acts 1.8). We will teach our teens both by word and example to follow after Christ as they have the opportunity to lead others.


All of the various types of ministry exposure made possible through Cultivating Servant Leaders will seek to promote such things in the lives of our teens. There will be no set overarching structure but only a set of guidelines and expectations set forth in the CSL Commitment Form, so that the ministry leader will have freedom to shape the opportunity to best suit the needs and growth of the student.

A student in the CSL program will have the opportunity to serve in a variety of ministries alongside current leaders who will mentor the student by providing training and discipleship so that he or she might be better equipped to serve and lead both inside and outside the context of the local church. Each student who participates will commit to help for a certain period of time.


Within the CSL program, a ‘ministry leader’ is one who oversees the student’s ministry. Ideally, men and women of GBC will be seeking out people they can disciple or mentor to perform their ministry. When it comes to training teenagers in ministry, the CSL program is designed to give structure to the discipleship process and provide accountability to both the student and ministry leader. Each student is to fill out a CSL Commitment Form and turn it in to the ministry leader who will be working with them. The ministry leader will then review the form and turn it in to the church office to be kept on record.


What To Expect: Throughout the duration of the CSL program, the ministry leader will be
responsible for (1) communicating with the student, (2) training the student in the ministry or arranging for
training, (3) scheduling when the student will be involved in the ministry, (4) providing feedback (both positive and corrective) on the student’s ministry, and (5) encouraging the student’s sanctification by showing the student the spiritual impact of the ministry. Each of these is a natural part of mentoring. At the end of the student’s time being involved in that ministry, the student is to write a brief (2 paragraph) reflection on the ministry opportunity. The ministry leader should review this reflection with the student and parents (formally or informally) to provide feedback. Remember, the purpose is to cultivate servant leaders!

There are two ways to get involved since this program might look different between students

  1. Ask! Find the leader of a ministry that is interesting and a good fit for your student's gifts, abilities, and interest. 
  2. Respond! Some students are approached by ministries to be a part of a servant leadership role within that ministry. 

Not sure where to start? talk with Pastor Matt for more details.

You will find the CSL Commitment form here

Summer Trips
Skyview Ranch

We alternate between mission trips and adventure trips for our summer trips. In recent years our teens have been to Skyview Ranch (hands-on assistance), Baltimore (helping with a church plant), West Virginia (rafting), and Canada (adventure trip).

This summer we participated in daily service trips to support Skyview Ranch! 

Stay tuned for an announcement about our upcoming 2026 trip.

Check out pictures from our Skyview Ranch trip!

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