We affirm and celebrate the priority of the local church in the discipleship of believers. Believers (and students) grow in Christ not as atomized individuals but as participating members of local churches in fellowship with other Christians. Aside from the gospel, we believe that the most important thing we can teach your teen is the imperative of the local church for a flourishing, vibrant, and fruitful life with Christ.
Youth leaders (older members of the church) will disciple students.
Our mission statement intentionally identifies the friendships formed between church members and youth as the substance of our ministry activity. Members promise to disciple students during child dedications and baptisms. Youth ministry therefore grows out of cornerstone practices of the church. Furthermore, church members have an opportunity to maximally interweave their lives with those of youth. Discipleship requires the robust sharing of life afforded in a local church.
Within the church, the gathering for public worship is the highest priority for students' discipleship.
The local church is imperative for the discipleship of children and adults alike. Only in public worship are the ordinary means of grace (preaching, prayer, sacraments, and fellowship) practiced and administered in their fullness. God uses these ordinary means to convert and build up his saints of all ages. The most important hour in the life of a Christian disciple is the Lord’s day gathering of the entire church. Parents should prioritize attending gathered worship with their children. Sunday school and serving in various capacities are always secondary to gathered worship.
The sacraments are for youth who maintain a credible profession of faith, just as much as for adults.
Parents and youth leaders should shepherd their teens toward baptism. Shepherding does not work against a young person’s independently “owning” his faith; it actually provides opportunities to assess whether a teen is taking the gospel seriously for him- or herself. Parents and youth leaders should regularly pray for their child’s/student’s salvation, even within earshot of that child or student. Teens who have been baptized should be present to receive the Lord’s Supper at every opportunity. Hence, they must attend public worship. Teens’ participation in the sacraments (or lack thereof) offer manifold opportunities for discipleship and spiritual conversation.
