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Pizza and Bible Studies Draw Jamestown Students
JAMESTOWN, NY (August 30, 2005) - When students turn to local middle and high
schools this fall, they will meet their new teachers, get their new
books and figure out their new schedules. They'll also have the chance
to meet new friends, and reconnect with old ones, during conversations
over Bibles and pizzas during their lunch hour.
An ecumenical ministry started by two Covenant pastors several years ago
now holds lunchtime fellowship groups at five high schools and two
middle schools, says Daniel Soderberg, youth pastor at First Covenant
Church who helped start the fellowship groups. Anywhere from 300-350
attend the groups, he adds.
"We order lots and lots of pizza," Soderberg says. Students each
contribute a dollar to offset the cost.
Soderberg says students come the first time for the pizza but come back
for something deeper. "A lot of students have come to Christ," he says.
Those students often begin attending a local church with their friends
in the fellowship group. The youth pastors do not invite any of the
students to a church, but the students can invite one another, Soderberg
says. He adds, "If a kid has a church home (already), it's hands off."
Students lead the groups, with local youth pastors attending as
volunteer advisors and occasionally serving as guest speakers. The youth
pastors hold meetings several times a month off school grounds to teach
skills for the student leaders.
"I think our student leaders are growing tremendously," says Daniel
Nikolich, who helped start the ministry but now is the pastor at Pilgrim
Covenant Church in South Plainfield, New Jersey.
"What I have found to be true is let them plan it and then their friends
will come," Nikolich adds. "It truly helps them develop Christian
leadership skills."
The students arrange speakers, who often are their pastors. Any student
can request that their pastor speak, Soderberg says.
As many as 15 churches are involved in the program. Denominations
involved range from Assembly of God to Catholic. "It's been great for
church unity," says Soderberg.
Soderberg acknowledges there have been some bumps in the road when it
comes to ecumenism and worship styles, but people have had to learn to
work together. Some students were opposed to the Christian rock music
other students were listening to. And some Protestant youth pastors,
student and parents were concerned that a Roman Catholic priest was
going to speak. "We had to say to them, 'Look, for the larger, broader
issue of being on campus, we are going to be non-sectarian.'"
The meetings are able to be held in the schools because of the "open
access" law in New York that says if any group is allowed to meet during
the lunch periods, then others including religious groups also must be
given the right as long as no one is forced to attend.
The weekly meetings rotate through the ACTS acronym: Accountability,
Challenge, Testimony and Service. During the service week, students do
something on campus to benefit others, whether it be helping to clean or
giving gifts to the staff, says Soderberg.
The first meetings were held in 2001 during one lunch hour at one
school. More students wanted to participate, and the number of schools
continues to grow.
"The amazing thing is we really didn't go looking for new schools,"
Nikolich says. "They came to us. It really became a grassroots movement."
"I would say this will become more common because schools are desperate
for any support they can get," Nikolich says. "I also think they see the
value of faith-based groups. It's a win-win situation."
The group also has been able to attract assembly speakers who speak
during the day without mentioning religious faith, but who are able to
invite students to a Christian event that evening.
Last year 1,600 students attended an evening with Reggie Dabbs, a
motivational speaker and evangelist, who had spoken earlier in the day
at a school assembly. Soderberg recalls the principal saying, "This is
the best assembly we've had, bar none."
That night, Dabbs told the students they need to love themselves as God
loves them. "The kids were hungry," Soderberg says. "More than 200 kids
came forward."
Dabbs was born to an unwed teenage mother and subsequently lived in a
foster home before that family adopted him after the fourth grade. He
has spoken to high school groups across the country. Dabbs uses humor to
talk to students about drugs, alcohol, suicide and other issues,
Soderberg says. He gets in kids faces and tells them that he never
smoked a cigarette, never did drugs, never drank alcohol, because he
chooses not to. He assures them that they can make the same kinds of
choices. The group also helped bring in Pam Stenzel, who has spoken
internationally on abstinence.
Nikolich advises youth pastors to start slow if they want to replicate
the program in their area, but he does encourage others to try. "I think
youth ministry is going through a transition right now," he says. "Now,
I think youth ministers have to have the mind of a missionary. We need
to look for ways to connect with the community."
Copyright © 2008 The Evangelical Covenant Church. |
