Our mission is to glorify God by exposing students (7th-12th grade) to the transforming power of scripture and the Gospel in partnership with parents and the teaching of our elders. We aim to create a culture of discipleship that fosters a growing knowledge of and love for God. We desire our students to develop a love for the church and for their lives to become increasingly more Christ-like as they grow toward adulthood.
As a ministry we value:
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The Gospel – we do not assume it. We are driven by it. We want gospel thinking to pervade all areas of student lives and of the ministry.
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Scripture – everything is based upon it. We want students to see the sufficiency and centrality of scripture in all aspects of their lives.
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The Local Church – we don’t want to be an island. We want students to value and understand both membership and baptism, to see a believer’s role/position in the larger body of Christ. We love the church and want students to grow and share in that love for the bride of Christ.
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Fruit of the Spirit – we expect fruit to be evident and growing - demonstrating gospel transformation in students professing belief in Christ.
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Discipleship – culture of discipleship – consequential conversations only happen where relationships have first been established.
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God / Christ – we want to make Him known and our students to become more like Him.
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Parents – ministry to parents. Support, not a replacement. In addition to – not instead of.
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Serving – we desire the students to be others-focused. We push them to zealously serve others within the church and outside of the church.
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Sufficiency of Christ - we want students to see that Christ and Scripture are sufficient in all matters everyday.
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Unity – we want students to see their unity in Christ instead of unity in temporal commonalities that change with time.
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Desire – we want desperately for the students to independently desire the things of God – separate from us, separate from parents.
A more complete summary of our approach to student ministry can be found here in our Philosophy of Ministry document.
Weekly Gatherings
On Sunday mornings we dig into God's Word with the student in mind at 9:00am. We cycle through a rotatation of 9 classes every 3 years in an effort to equip students with a biblical worldview and to understand and apply the whole of God's Word.
- Year 1 (2025)
- Jan-May – Systematic Theology
- Jun-Aug – Singleness and Dating
- Sept-Dec – Forerunners of the Faith
- Year 2 (2026)
- Jan-May – Old Testament Survey
- Jun-Aug – Biblical Manhood and Womanhood
- Sept-Dec – Sermon Study
- Year 3 (2024)
- Jan-May – New Testament Survey
- Jun-Aug – 9 Marks of a Healthy Church
- Sept-Dec – Biblical Counseling
Wednesday evenings we meet in the Student Center at 6:30pm. We start with a brief game, then we have a time of singing, a time of expositional preaching, and we conclude with small group discipleship. Audio from our Wednesday evening gatherings and special events can be found on our podcast.
Events
To view details about our upcoming events, sign up or pay online check out our GSM Events page. Also be sure to sign up to receive our Remind texts by sending a text to 81010 with the text message: @swbcgsm to join.
Contact
If you would like more information about Student Ministries, contact us at studentleaders@swbcls.org. Also, be sure to check out our facebook page for up to date info on upcoming events and current studies. We also post about our upcoming events on our Instagram page, so follow us @SummitWoodsGSM.