What is the ministry model for SHIFT Students?

In our overall model of ministry, we focus on three words: Connect, Grow, and Serve. From those three words, we get the structure for our ministry as it is laid out now. Wednesday nights are the area to Connect. It is a large group setting of 7th-12th grade students that come together for fellowship, worship, and teaching. LIFEgroups are the area to Grow. They are  groups of eight to twelve students divided up by gender and age. This allows for students to wrestle with the topics being taught on Wednesdays in a smaller group so they are able to really open up and dig deeper. The purpose of LIFEgroups is for students to  come together for encouragement and accountability while doing life together. Sundays are the area to Serve. The idea is to have students serving both on campus and off campus and to have them put their faith into action.

What opportunities do you have for students on Sunday mornings?

On Sunday mornings, we want each of our students to both attend a service and to serve a service at CCV.  We encourage our students to attend a main service with their families in order to Connect to CCV as a whole (see ministry model above for the need to Connect).  In regards to our programming for SHIFT Students, our primary focus on Sunday mornings is to find ways for students to Serve both on and off campus.  We have a group of leaders and students called the Action Team that coordinates weekly service projects.  In addition to the Action Team, we have been encouraging students to get involved in various ministries throughout CCV.  Some of the ministries that our students are currently involved in includes KidZone, Parking Ministry, The Valley Café, Ushers, and Bumper Bags.  Finally, we have a couple of areas in which students are able to Grow on Sunday mornings.  The first option is a 7th grade ONLY Bible study at the 10am service in the Upper Room.  This allows a smooth transition from coming out of KidZone and becoming part of our SHIFT Students ministry.  The second option is that we have several LIFEgroups that meet on campus after the 11:30 service.  A third option is available during the summer; we have a couple three week seminars on different topics (e.g. apologetics, Christianity 101, etc.).  Because we want to focus on giving students the opportunities to both attend a service and to serve a service on Sunday mornings, we only offer the seminars during summer when LIFEgroups aren’t meeting.  Through this structure, we are able to give opportunities for each area of our ministry model (Connect, Grow, and Serve) on Sundays, and thus, we are able to provide a microcosm of our ministry for those who cannot be involved throughout the week!

What opportunities do you have for students at Lone Hill on Sunday mornings?

We have recognized that although there are many opportunities to continue to serve on the main campus, there are also many opportunities for us to serve over at Lone Hill. We are going to be encouraging students to play a bigger role at the Lone Hill services and to make that campus their home on Sundays. We would love to have students show up before the 10:00 service to help set up for their service. This would be the Serve area on Sundays. Secondly, we are going to offer LIFEgroups for both guys and girls in the classrooms  during the  10:00 service. We have multiple classrooms available to us, which is a huge blessing because as more students become part of Lone Hill, we will need to add more groups. This is an awesome opportunity for the Grow aspect of our ministry to take place on Sundays. Finally, we would all attend the 11:30 Lone Hill service together as a ministry. We would love to have the students’ families attend with us, but we understand not everybody will be able to. However, being able to attend that service and hang out with other students would fulfill the Connect area of the ministry. We are hoping that by providing each are of Connect, Grow, and Serve on the Lone Hill campus, we will be able to allow students who are busy throughout the week to feel like they have a church home on Sundays.

Are Parents allowed to attend a Wednesday Night?

Absolutely! Parents are definitely welcome to come on Wednesday nights! There are actually two different ways in which parents can attend. The first option is that you are welcome to sit in the Worship Center and to experience the service firsthand. The second option will also allow you to experience the service, but instead of being in the Worship Center, you can watch the service via video in The Valley Café. This provides a great opportunity for you to grab dinner and listen to the live feed of what is going on in the service. This is an especially good option if you would like to know what is happening in service without feeling like you are stepping on your children’s toes by being in the same room as them. Whichever option you decide, please know that we would love for you to take us up on this invitation and we hope to see you on a Wednesday night in the near future!