Student Ministries Overview

Explanation of Our Mission

In order that the Kingdom of God will be advanced on the earth and God's will be fulfilled in our world today in our lives, in the lives of our students, and in our city, nation and world The Student Ministries & Activities Department will build upon the foundation of academic Bible preparation to empower, equip and release our students in leadership, ministry and service and release them to change our world today.

In order to accomplish this, the Student Ministries Department will:

• Create, support and operate student leadership, ministry and service teams where the students are given as much ownership as is appropriate for each organization, team and age.
• Employ the services of quality organization sponsors and volunteers whose passions and interests are consistent with the philosophy of the Student Ministries Department.
• Network with other organizations (churches, youth groups, community service, and other nonprofits) in the community and around the world in order to provide ministry to our students, and provide opportunities for ministry, service and leadership.
• Seek to remove obstacles to our students' ability to lead, serve and minister.
• Constantly seek to understand and appreciate current trends in youth culture as they arise to equip our sponsors and students (as well as the rest of the school) in their service, ministry and leadership.

We value:

• Student Led events
• Volunteerism
• Developing individual giftedness
• Teamwork
• Innovation

Bible in Action

Student ministries at CSCS exists to empower, equip, and prepare CSCS High School students to live out their faith in a lifestyle of service, ministry, and leadership today. The activities, training, and intent of the student Ministries Department is to build upon the education, motivation, and passion of our students elementary and middle school educations and to partner with each student's family and church to move our students beyond an intellectual theoretic faith in to a faith of personal ownership that motivates a proactive lifestyle of faith in action.

The Student Ministries & Activities Department exists to go beyond the creation of typical high school social activities by providing an area and platform for students to create their own clubs, organizations, and ministries in order to train them to lead, plan, take initiative, execute, and therefore impact their own world through their own actions.

In order to empower and equip our students to impact their world, the Student Ministries Department employs a student-led model of leadership. The student-led model gives students as much ownership and power to conduct their own activities as possible while still under the umbrella, guidance, and mentorship of adult sponsors. Additionally, the Student Ministries Department provides a unique leadership training program in order to focus on training a select group of student leaders with a mix of student created hands-on activities and practical leadership theory in a setting that is a an crossover between the academic and co-curricular aspects of a high school.

The Student Ministries Department provides student led opportunities for students to participate, grow, be trained and mentored in, and excel while they impact their generation through leadership, ministry, service, missions, and the worship arts.

The Student Ministries Department provides specific hands-on training for students so that they will be prepared to enter into ministry in their local church, colleges, and ministries and organizations around the world. This training is best seen in our unique internship program.

The Student Ministries Department fulfills the "lifelong service" clause of the CSCS Missions Statement. The Student Ministries Department is the extension of the academic Bible Department at CSCS in that is provides a platform to CSCS High School students on which they can put their faith into action while still in high school.

Fulfilling CSCS Mission

Fulfillment of the CSCS Missions Statement and it's expansion phrase by phrase
"CSCS exists to provide an excellent education from a Christ-centered, biblical perspective...

•  The apex of an excellent high school education from a Christ-centered, biblical perspective is excellent Christ-centered, Bible based Bible and theology classes.

• •In the High School, our Bible classes include a core curriculum of Bible knowledge and theology classes that includes surveys of the Old and New Testaments, the foundations for Christian Living, Apologetics, and comparative World Religions. Our elective Bible and theology classes include specific book study classes (Romans, Acts Internship), specific Bible knowledge foci (Creation Science, Middle Eastern cultures, Biblical archeology), reading of classical Christian literature (Christian Classics, Godly Men and Women classes, Ministry Internships), and practical theology classes (Godly Men and Women classes, Ministry Internships).

...for lifelong service."

• •We believe that lifelong service begins with service today by students to their peers and the world they currently live in. we believe that God create "youth" with energy, vision, and passion in order to use that energy, vision, and passion to advance His Kingdom.

• At CSCS, we uniquely emphasize the "lifelong service" aspect of our mission statement through out Student Ministries and Activities Department.

• The Student Ministries and Activities Department (Student Ministries) builds on the foundation of our Bible and theology classes by providing students with opportunities to live out their faith through a variety of activities from the traditional student governments, to constantly renewed list of opportunities as students envision and invent new activities to live practically live out their faith.

• We believe that if students develop a passion for and habits of ministry and service during high school that students will continue with that passion and those habits for the rest of their lives.

• •Through out Student Ministries, students are encourage to voluntarily participate in ministry, envision and lead their own activities under the guidance of highly qualified advisers and mentors, and take the lead in ministering to their peers and the world around them.

• The pinnacle of the "preparing students for lifelong service" is our Student Ministries Internship program. Through this program, student leaders are specifically trained to lead in areas of their calling.

"Colorado Springs Christian Schools is a Christian school dedicated to providing an excellent...spiritual environment"

• An"environment" is not simply a location, but a setting, surroundings, an atmosphere, milieu, and background of a community. A "spiritual environment" is a location, setting, surroundings, atmosphere, milieu, and background of a community that is based on a spiritual reality. The spiritual reality of CSCS is that there is "one God, eternally existing in three persons: Father, Son and Holy Spirit" . It is on this basis that our Bible and theology classes are based and that we live our practical theology through our Student Ministries.

• Our desire is that everywhere on the CSCS campus is a spiritual environment, but specifically, we desire to create an environment that is conducive to the moving of the Spirit of God at specific times in our week and specific locations on our campus.

• Our student chapel teams work to make our chapels a spiritual environment through which our students by the work of the Holy Spirit and through various media of speakers, worship chapels, drama, and video are challenged in their faith, moved to worship God, and motivated to live their lives for Christ.
• Other environments include class retreats, prayse rallies, student prayer groups and Bible studies throughout the week, occasional prayer vigils, leadership retreats, and missions trips, as well as pastoral ministry provided by various students and by our school's Chaplain and Student Ministries Coordinator.
• Our student Commons is a versatile room with an atmosphere designed and run by our student leaders in which students can comfortably relate with each other before and after school, where our student leadership teams meet to plan events, as well as a place where students often conduct prayer vigils, Bible studies, leadership meetings, and nights of worship.

"The school exists to train the mind, develop the moral character, enrich the spiritual lives, and perpetuate growth of Christian ideals in all who come within the sphere of its influence.'

• The leadership, ministry, and service opportunities that Student Ministries provides help student leaders to train their minds in how to put their faith into practice. They do this by

• learning how to develop vision and put it into place;
• pray and seek God for their own lives and for His will in which activities to plan;
• lead themselves and others;
• How to work with supervisors, school administration, and government officials both in Colorado Springs and around the world.

• They develop moral characters as they:

• Work with qualified sponsors and mentors in leading other students and planning their various activities;

• Their spiritual lives are enriched as they:
  • learn to follow the leading of the Spirit in their own lives, the lives of the team members and organizations;
  • Interact with their organization sponsors and mentors who pour into their lives and assist them in their activities and ministries;
  • Minister to their fellow students, people in our community, and around the world.

• •"Christian ideals" are perpetuated in their lives and activities as they learn what it means to put their faith (these ideals) into action as they strive to live as examples, plan activities, and work with other students.
• As our student leaders and those who participate in their activities interact with their fellow students, community members, and others around the world, our students have unique opportunities to show off their belief in Jesus Christ and when necessary talk about it to those who will listen.

"CSCS stands as a witness for Jesus Christ modeled by administration, faculty, parents, and students."

• A witness is someone who gives testimony (often in a court of law) to something that they've experienced and believe to be true.
• Student Ministries is a place where students can experience their faith and in doing so,

• confirm as their own the belief they've inherited from their parents, teachers, and pastors,
• experience their theology and faith in action as they learn to use the gifts and talents that God has given them to lead, minister to others, and service those in need;
• See God at work around them and through them as they participate in His work in our school, community, and world.

"Through a rich offering of academic, spiritual, artistic, and athletic programs, CSCS provides an opportunity for each student to reach his or her maximum spiritual, intellectual, social, and ethical potential."

• The various activities of Student Ministries, both student leaders and student participants have opportunities to "reach his or her maximum spiritual, intellectual, social, and ethical potential.
• Student leaders are stretched in various ways to employ their intellect in planning and running activities, they are challenged as they use their social skills to interact with other students, community members, and people of various cultures.
•  Student leaders come to understand how their faith is ethically lived out as they lead others, interact with authorities, handle money, plan security for events, and are expected to act and react with a moments notice in the various environments of their activities.

"A goal of developing, within each student, mastery of all the basics of learning while establishing thinking and clear communication skills."

• Student Ministries is a place where students have the opportunity to put their thinking and communication skills into action as they envision activities, determine if a vision can be acted on and how to put their visions into action, execute those activities, and evaluate the activities.
• Student leaders need to develop strategies to work with other students, sponsors, administrators, and government officials as they plan their various activities.

"Operating as a Christian community, CSCS emphasizes understanding and responsiveness to the student needs and capabilities from a Christ-centered, biblical perspective."

• Student Ministries provides avenues of understanding student needs by providing environments and events in which students can engage in Christian community. These include:

• Student led or mentor guided Bible studies & accountability groups;
• Class retreats, the Student Leadership Retreat;
• National Day of Prayer activities;
• Prayse rallies;
• Prayer vigils;
• Leadership teams;
• Pastoral ministry by student ministry leaders, ministry sponsors, and the Student Ministries Coordinator.

• Student Ministries is a specific place where students can be understood and respond to the capacity and abilities of individual students as well as groups of students. Our leadership teams provide this opportunity
• Leaders who participate in our Student Ministries Internship program have the opportunity to examine the potential of their gifts and abilities and to strive toward the maximum fulfillment of those gifts and abilities.

"CSCS serves as a training ground for the development of healthy Christian relationships across race, ethnic and gender lines."

• Student Ministries is a place where training in the development of healthy Christian relationships takes place.
• This training is takes place across race and ethnic lines through our emphasis on service, outreach, and missions.

"CSCS seeks to develop the whole person with the knowledge and skills to embrace a lifetime of personal fulfillment, Christian service, and contribution to society."

• Student Ministries is unique to CSCS in that most high schools develop the intellect and physical abilities of a student, but not the spiritual and ministry abilities of a student in a practical way.
• Student Ministries encourages students to embrace their personal fulfillment as a man or women specifically created by God with physical abilities and spiritual gifts in order to serve each other and society in general.
• Student Ministries provides opportunities for students to uses their God-given abilities and giftedness to contribute to society through:
  • National Honor Society: an academic society focused on service and leadership.
  • ACTS (a Call to service): a youth philanthropic program that raises funds and distributes them to local non-profit organizations.
  • Senate Community Service: plans service activities for the student body
  • Worship Arts Program: training students to serve the church and society through leading worship, creating videos, producing environments of worship and creativity, and drama ministry.

"The competencies to act ethically, to care for and serve others, and to practice Christian stewardship of human and natural resources are integrated into the fabric of all CSCS programs."

• Student Ministries trains students and gives them real life opportunities to:
  • act ethically,
    • As they work with other peer leaders, sponsors, administrators, government officials, handle money, care for production equipment, and minister into the lives of other students.
  • care for their peers and others; the school, their peers, those in the community and around the world;
    • Through the ministry opportunities of the Chapel Teams, worship arts teams, the ministries and outreach of Random Ministries, peer mentoring through Bible studies and accountability groups, and the missions program.
  • Serve their peers and others; the school, their peers, those in the community and around the world;
    • By creating wholesome activities that meet the spiritual, emotional, relational, and social needs of their peers, and participation in the various service and outreach activities of Student Ministries (NHS, ACTS, Senate, missions, Worship Arts)
  • practice Christ-centered biblical stewardship of human resources;
    • as they lead each other and minister to each other
  • practice Christ-centered biblical stewardship of natural resources;
    • As they learn to use and care for finances, production equipment, budget for events, borrow facilities, etc.

"Programs and activities help students explore their value and role in society as well as the importance of vocation and service in their lives."

• The programs and activities of the Student Ministries Department are specifically geared to helping students explore their value and role in society and also seeks to build into the lives of our students leaders (directly) and our student body (indirectly) the importance of a life lived in service of the Kingdom of God whether it is one's fulltime vocation or a lifestyle lived through a "secular" vocation.

"Students will be equipped to pursue the post-secondary education of their choosing, preparing them to be knowledgeable Christian participants in our nation and the world."

• Student Ministries equips our students to live in the post-secondary world by providing them with opportunities to make their faith their own and not rely on their parents, teachers, or pastors' faith.
• Student Ministries equips ours students for their post-secondary lives by engaging them in faith activities of ministry, leadership, and service now while they are in high school which motivates them to continue to participate in such activities after high school.
• Students who participate in Student Ministries are often more likely to pursue Kingdom service after high school because they have learned to live out their faith and to rely on God and to develop a personal relationship with Him. It is this reliance and faith that combined with that which they get at home and a church creates a stable transition into the post-secondary world.

"CSCS, in an effort to reflect the community, strives to maintain a student body that represents social, economic, ethnic and academic diversity. Race, color, national and ethnic origin shall never be a barrier to admission at CSCS."