Jan17
Emerge Weekend 2025
Friday, January 17, 2025, 12:00 AM
OUR MINISTRY EXISTS TO HELP STUDENTS ENCOUNTER JESUS AND THRIVE IN THEIR RELATIONSHIP WITH HIM.
We see it as a privilege to help students take Next Steps in their journey with God. We encourage this growth by helping students own Their Faith, find friendship with God, develop Christlike relationships, assist in knowing/using their gifts, and sharing their story.
Our desire within Student Ministry is to engage students at 3 different levels: Weekly, Monthly, and Annually. This is achieved by having weekly services, monthly MOMENTUM, and annual Summer & Winter camps(EMERGE).
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WEEKLY SERVICES:
Our weekly services are split between MIDDLE school & HIGH school.
MIDDLE school services are on Sunday Mornings @ 9:15am and 11am.
HIGH school services are on Sunday Nights @ 6pm.
We are blessed to have a student auditorium where we can invest FULLY into our students. Our services follow a basic structure of hang out time(before service), welcoming/announcements, some games to get students engaged and awake, live worship led by students/leaders, message, and small group time. The biggest chunk of our time is devoted to message and small groups because we believe life change happens in community. This community is fostered by small group leaders that go through a process of interviews, background checks, and consistent spiritual wellness evaluations to ensure that they’re living what they’re leading.
Weekly services are where we see the benefits of monthly and annual events take root and where we see students join God on his mission. We believe that it’s only through building healthy relationships with students and earning the right to be heard in their lives that this process of discipleship can begin. Our end goal is for students to graduate with a solid grasp on who Jesus is, why they need to imitate Him, and how they live it out in the world.
MOMENTUM:
MOMENTUM is our once a month event from 6-8:30pm. They are held in the South Auditorium/South Lobby. Momentum is our monthly “come and see” event. We structure these nights to be high energy and fun, but we always put our best foot forward with what matters most; worship and message. Some of our Momentum nights you may already be familiar with, like the AMAZING RACE or the RidgeStudents RODEO, but the goal here is not just to have fun. Obviously the fun part is purposeful in bringing students in, but our desire is to give them an opportunity to meet with Jesus and respond to Him.
WORSHIP is something that our students are hungry for and something that we believe aids to meeting with Jesus. Our worship band is comprised of some of the most talented leaders from around the state and we’re honored that they give of their time and talents to come and lead our students! We are firm believers in freedom during worship and encourage expressiveness within it.
MESSAGE time is the most important part of the night. This is where we hear from Gods word, wrestle with it, and grow from it. Our goal of message is not for students to just hear it, but to take it and live it out in their hallways, homes, and relationships. (James 1:22) Our messages typically wrap up with a Gospel presentation where we open up for students to receive the promise of eternal life through the blood of Jesus and His resurrection, but we also allow for a time of response. This has been an amazing way we’ve seen God move in our students. Even though we aren’t a “traditional” church, we believe that the altar still has power! We encourage students to kneel or sit before the feet of Jesus, knowing they’re not alone and that others will come alongside to pray with/for them.
EMERGE:
You should probably throw all your preconceived notions of what summer and winter students camps used to be out the window, because EMERGE is different! We have two opportunities for students throughout the year to get away, have a blast, and grow the depth of their relationship with Jesus and other believers. EMERGE SMMR is our week long summer camp and it will be the best week of your students summer! Held at the Summit Bechtel Reserve in Raleigh Co., we aim to offer the best that West Virginia has to offer. This means we’re letting our students experience white water rafting, climbing, repelling, zip lining, and even nature (bears, turkeys, and deer are very active at the Reserve). Our goal is to engage them, mind, body, and soul, in order to point them to the Great Creator and His creation. SMMR is also where worship comes to life and is HIGH energy. Every night is a step deeper into who God has called us to be and how we respond to that calling put on our lives. We accomplish this through qualified and anointed speakers who take our students on a journey to experiencing all that God has for them!
EMERGE WKND is our winter camp that’s a small peek behind the curtain of what SMMR has to offer! WKND is held at Camp Virgil Tate, which allows our students to take a step “back in time” to understand the simple things in life. In contrast to the Reserve, CVT is very basic and adds a new element some students may never have the chance to experience. While WKND is only a 2 night event, we keep all the important stuffat a high level. Worship is still the beacon of the event and where we get to give God his breath back. Messages are the same caliber as well; taking every opportunity we have to point students to Jesus and his calling on our lives.