Last week, Pastor JD and several college students from our body participated in a College Retreat hosted by Flint Hills Church. This retreat was called Anchored in Hope and focused on how the truth of God’s Word provides a firm foundation for all of life. We enjoyed digging deeper into Scripture, worshipping together, and enjoying fellowship and fun on the retreat.

We encourage our college students to attend events like this retreat that are specifically oriented to their stage of life, but we also encourage them to participate in the life of the church body as a whole. In Titus 2:2-6, Paul describes how older men and women in the body of Christ should pour into younger men and women, so we invite our young men and women in college to receive the benefit of discipleship from older saints in our church. One way college students can do this is through our small groups, where people of all ages gather together in someone’s home to apply God’s Word to their lives and to open their lives to one another. Another avenue is our men’s and women’s ministries, which give the opportunity for those of the same gender to gather together and pursue deeper relationships. We also provide an opportunity for college students to be paired with host families in our church so that they can get to know people in our body more deeply, as well as have a home-cooked meal every now and then.

Though understand that college is often a transitional time in someone’s life and college students are often only in town for a few years, we encourage people to get involved as much as possible while they are here. This can look like participating in the discipleship ministries described above, but it can also look like pursuing membership at Redemption Hill and finding ways to serve the body. College students are able to help in our youth ministry, join in our children’s Sunday School classes, or help out in areas like our worship or AV teams. As Paul commends Timothy in 1 Timothy 4:12, “Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.” A believer doesn’t need to be out of college to begin participating in the life of the body, and we are grateful for the many students who have served and are serving our church.

If you’d like to learn more about the opportunities for college students, please click the appropriate link below.

College Ministry