Grace Church of Sahuarita Student Ministry
Hey Parents! Welcome to the landing page for all-things “Wednesday Night Middle School”.
We have an exciting announcement! After lots of prayer, conversations, wise counsel, and even more prayer, we have decided to move our Middle School youth programming from Sunday morning to Wednesday night.
Who | Middle school students (6th-8th grade)
When | Our first Wednesday Night will be August 7, 2024. Group will be from 6:30-8pm.
Where | We will continue to meet in “The Garage” at Grace Church of Sahuarita.
Now we recognize that this may be a complete shock, and I’m sure there a plenty of questions. The purpose of this page is to help answer as many questions as I can. And of course, if you still have questions at the end, feel free to reach out to me via email with the button below.
Missional Alignment
The mission for our Middle School Ministry consists of three main goals. For middle school students to find Christian community, for them to be discipled, and for non-believing students to hear about Jesus for the first time.
With this in mind, I had to ask myself, “is this mission currently being accomplished in our current format?”. And in short, the answer was no. Sunday morning was not the ideal space or time for building community. Sunday morning was not the ideal space for leaders to disciple students. But most clearly, Sunday morning was the worst time for non-believing students to hear about Jesus for the first time, simply because Sunday morning was not the ideal time for students to invite their friends.
Because of this, it became clear that Sunday morning was hindering our mission and something needed to be adjusted.
How does Wednesday night accomplish our mission?
First, Wednesday night is an easier and more natural time than Sunday morning for students to bring their friends, believers and non-believers, to youth group.
Studies have found that most people have an established worldview by 9th grade. That means middle school is the most important time in a persons life, and makes it that much more important that we are specifically telling non-believing teens about Jesus. But if we want non-believing students to hear about Jesus for the first time, we need them at youth group. And the reality is, it’s hard to get a non-believing friend to youth group when it’s on Sunday morning. Wednesday night offers more opportunities than a Sunday morning to get friends to youth group.
Second, Wednesday night gives us an opportunity to create a space specifically created for middle school students.
Sunday morning is a wonderful time to be a Grace Church! It’s one of the most life-giving experiences to get to be surrounded with fellow believers and being encouraged together. But, because of how vibrant Sunday morning is here at Grace, we just simply don’t have any extra space, leaving our middle school room as the only space available for an extremely vocal, energetic, and occasionally wild group of teens. Wednesday night helps that a ton. The Kids building will be reserved for Middle School group on a Wednesday night, therefore we can open the garage door to open up the space. We can use E1 for a classic game of dodgeball. We can set up 9-square specifically for middle school students. And our small groups no longer will have to meet outdoors, but can meet in the various rooms in the Kids building, which takes us to the third thing.
Third, Wednesday night offers a better atmosphere for real, genuine conversation, leading to better discipleship.
Imagine your a 7th grade boy trying to share about your life and ask deep questions in your small group while the 7th grade girls small group is literally sitting 10 feet behind you, and the 6th grade boys are 5 feet to your left. Well, currently, that is the only way we can run small groups due to the space constraints on a Sunday morning. This makes having in-depth conversation extremely difficult, which makes authenticity even more difficult. On a Wednesday night, we will have almost every room available for small groups, meaning each small group can have their own space, leaving better opportunities for honest conversation and real discipleship moments.
““Children begin forming their worldview between 15 and 18 months of age and by the age of 13, it’s almost entirely formed. And for the majority of people, research shows, it is unlikely to change much, if at all, over the remainder of their lives.””
Ways you can maximize this change
We know that this will be an adjustment. But we are also really excited about some unique potentials Wednesday night will offer. Here are just a few ways you can maximize this Wednesday night change!
Use this as an opportunity to get more of your middle schooler’s friends to youth group! Maybe have them over after school, and then they can all come to youth group together.
If you’re a mom, come to the Bible study! It is a great chance to get to know more moms. And just like middle schoolers are encouraged by christian community, you can be as well.
Start teaching your middle schooler the importance of attending church together. Middle school is the perfect time to introduce them to the larger service, and beginning to train them up in this way!
Frequently Asked Questions
We know there will be questions. Below we have listed some questions we expect some of you may have. If you have a question not answered below (or you just want more info), feel free to reach out to Nate at nhellum@gcsahuarita.org.
Will there be anything else on sunday morning for middle schoolers?
We are encouraging our middle schoolers, and their families, to sit together in service. We cannot underestimate the benefit of having your middle schooler in the corporate worship service with you. It is one thing that many of our middle schoolers are missing, and I think there is a huge benefit to having them sit with you.
Will I have to bring them and pick them up on Wednesday?
Not necessarily. We understand one of the biggest drawbacks will be that this just adds “one more thing” to a potentially, already busy schedule. For this reason, one of the things we wanted to do to help with that is offer something for the moms. If you’re a mom, and you already have to drop off your middle schooler, we will have a woman’s Bible study on Wednesday night, during Middle school group. That way you could bring your middle schooler and instead of leaving and coming back, just stick around and spend time with other woman studying God’s Word.
Did we look into other times?
We did! We investigated numerous different options to try and figure out which would be the best option. After all of our research, discussions, and prayer, it was Wednesday night that emerged as the clear choice.
will we keep apologetics still on sunday morning for middle school?
Absolutely! That will still be happening on Sunday mornings. We will update everyone as we get closer to the Fall as to what service and what room we will be doing it for 2024-25.
Does this mean my Christian middle schooler will be interacting with more unbelievers?
We have a high value on safety, and would never do something that would unnecessarily put your teen at risk. That being said, will your middle schooler be interacting with more unbelievers? I sure hope so! There are so many teens out there looking for something thats missing in their lives. And WE HAVE THE ANSWER! But the best place for those teens to hear it is in a place like this. We want this to be a place where students can invite their non-believing friends, and we want this to be a place where believing students can experience their peers believing in Jesus.
In Matthew 9:10-12, we read, “Then it happened that as Jesus was reclining at the table in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and began dining with Jesus and His disciples. 11 And when the Pharisees saw this, they said to His disciples, ‘Why is your Teacher eating with the tax collectors and sinners?’ 12 But when Jesus heard this, He said, ‘It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.’”
Notice that the tax collectors and sinners were drawn to Jesus. It says, “as Jesus was reclining… many tax collectors and sinners began dining with Him”. This further explains Jesus’s response to the Pharisees who question why Jesus would do this. Because when a sick person seeks out a doctor, a good doctor acts in compassion. Here, we see tax collectors and sinners actively seeking out Jesus, and Jesus acting in compassion towards those who seek Him. Unfortunately, the Pharisees were so stuck in their own pride that they lacked the compassion God calls us to. Instead of rejoicing in sinners seeking salvation, they complain that Jesus is even associating with people, in their eyes, so lowly. And in our own arrogance, there are a lot of people seeking something better than this world offers them, yet we can be tempted to look upon them as the “tax collectors and sinners” of our society. Instead, we want to have the heart like Jesus. We want to have compassion for them. As a ministry, we might have moments where students come and “sit at our table” that we normally don’t sit with, and it may even make us uncomfortable. But I pray that our student ministry points those people toward Jesus, and that our compassion draws students in, just like in Matthew 9:10-12. And that means we are not just willing, but excited for those students to come and join us!