Student Ministries

Renee Gerkens, Interim Director

We will provide a place for students to BELONG;
teach them what we BELIEVE;
and see them BECOME Christ followers.

For anyone at Central who has not been in the Student Ministries loop, here is your update...

This year has been a great year. God has been at work in wonderful ways in Student Ministries here at Central Presbyterian Church. The first part of the year was great as usual with students bringing friends to events and growing in their relationship with Christ. Middle school and high school students in small groups continued growing as communities of faith. We ended the program year with some sad news that our long time Director of Student Ministries, Bill Pitts, would be leaving over the summer and moving on to Grace Fellowship Church.

As leaders and students as well as parents gathered together to do what we could until we found a new director, one thing became very clear. God had big plans and people wanted to be part of it all. Student ministries was going from approximately one hundred man hours of staff down to forty-five man hours of staff. Things would have to change and they did, but only slightly due to the dedication of so many people. God began calling people to help in different ways, in ways they had never helped before. One of the big pieces of the ministry that would have to go with the man hour loss was the "Snack Shack," a little snack shop the students have really enjoyed. One family came to me and said that this was a great thing, not only for their kids, but for the friends that their kids bring; so they took on the "Snack Shack."

Students started coming by after school and helping in any way they could, stuffing envelopes, cleaning up the stage, making phone calls, making copies, watching the poor interim's baby; you name it, they came prepared to help. We, in Student Ministries, have always said that we are not a ministry TO students but a ministry OF students. This year, that became very evident.