Over the past year, the leadership team at Parkside has been praying, thinking, and talking about how to best care for high school students and encourage growth in faith. One of the observations we have made is that a large majority of students attend Student Body (our high school-specific Sunday class) and then go home, without ever engaging in the larger church context. An even larger number of students have never considered how God has gifted them to serve the church. Our desire is that students and adults alike would get connected at Parkside through worship, relationships, and service.

Past experience shows us that students who participate in worship with their families and engage in the life of the church as a whole are far more likely to pursue involvement in a local church during their college-age years. With construction taking place around the building we no longer have the space to meet as a high school group. This means that the opportunity exists to carry out what we believe about students’ involvement in the life of the church as a whole. As the pastors and elders have reflected upon this, we have determined that Student Body will not resume come September. For a season of time, we hope to investigate further the benefit of creating a context for students to participate more fully in church life. We are eager to see how God uses the gifts that the students have and we believe that it will benefit them and the church body greatly to have them join in worship corporately and engage in service and fellowship on a Sunday.

As we begin this transition, here are a few ways you can partner with us:

• Attend one service together as a family and then encourage your student to find a place to use their talents and strengths in service or engage in fellowship. Explore many such places for service, growth, and fellowship (e.g. greeting, joining a Life group, helping in a children’s class, serving in the nursery) at www.parksidechurch.com/connect.

• Encourage conversations about sermons on the ride home or during Sunday lunch. (e.g. “What did you learn that was new about God, yourself, God’s people?”, “How do we think about applying a sermon like that today?”, “I can’t always remember everything, what one thing do you want to take away from that sermon?”)

• Welcome students who take the opportunity to serve or join a Life group. Please be in prayer that God will use this change for the good of many students, growing them in godliness.

Please be in prayer that God will use this change for the good of many students, growing them in godliness.