Looking Forward

I am truly thankful for the opportunity to be your Student Pastor. Bret, Stuart, many volunteers and others have made our student ministry what it is today by their faithfulness to the Word of God and their love for others. We will continue to build upon this foundation, striving to exalt God, engage the culture, and enrich the Christ-follower by:

• Equipping and encouraging parents, particularly fathers, to disciple their children (Deut. 6:1-9, Eph. 6:4) • Teaching students biblical truth and a biblical worldview (1 Tim. 3:15)
• Equipping students to apply the gospel to different aspects of their lives (Phil. 1:27)
• Helping students engage in biblical community with one another (Acts 2:42-47)
• Equipping students to share Christ with others (Mat. 28:18-20)
• Praying for the Holy Spirit to regenerate the hearts of students through the proclamation of the gospel (Rom. 1:16-17) • Training students to serve the church as Christ has (Mk. 10:43-45)
• Maintaining a safe and protective environment for all

We expect to continue to witness God’s faithfulness as we prayerfully seek the transformation of students, homes, and schools by the power of the gospel.

Logan Talamas
We expect to continue to witness God’s faithfulness as we prayerfully seek the transformation of students, homes, and schools by the power of the gospel.

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John's May Article:

Back in the summer of 1976 our country was celebrating it’s bi-centennial. As a kid going into the eighth grade, I was celebrating summer by hauling hay and working with my dad. Sundays, however, were when we went to church as a family. Sunday school then worship, then back for training union in the afternoon and finally, Sunday evening church. I really looked forward to Sundays. No joke!


That summer the big news at church was that we were going to hire a young man full-time to serve our youth group. His name was Ed Wright, but we called him Eddie. Eddie took us to camp, teased us, encouraged us, came to our sporting events, befriended us, influenced us. When I got to High School, we gathered on Wednesday evenings in an upper room at the church. We would sit on the floor and were instructed to open our Bibles. We were challenged by Eddie each week to read it for ourselves chapter by chapter, line by line. We were shown the beauty and power of God’s word. I accepted Eddie’s challenge to read the Bible from cover to cover as a senior in high school. I would read a chapter a day, nearly every day. Now, there are 1,189 chapters in the Bible so this was going to take me awhile! That commitment carried me into my college years. God’s word was there when my heart was cold and far from Him. It was there when my life looked more like that of an unbeliever than a believer. More from pride than desire for truth, I finally finished reading the Bible from cover to cover. In spite of myself, God’s word bore down into my heart. It’s convicting power, its promise of life, its exaltation of Jesus and God’s grace worked to bring me to the end of myself. God’s word!


I want our students to have the same type of relationship with Bret, Logan, and Kristene, that I have with Ed. Forty years later he is still my friend and still impacting my life. Second, I’m so glad that our Student Ministry pastors have that same commitment to God’s word that Eddie had. My desire is that our students will receive God’s word and be transformed by it for the glory of God and his eternal kingdom. Pray for our Student leaders. Thank God for them and encourage them. We may never see the fruit of their ministry, but then again, we might. Thanks Ed.


-John Free