Christianity Explored @ Solon & Chagrin!
Check out this article from the Parkside Insider (a weekly e-mail about life at the church. Sign-up for it here.), as it features a few of our students!
Not too Cool for School
On different mornings at different high schools, groups of teenagers are meeting before class at 7:00 a.m. to study the Bible, pray, and develop relationships with other students. The group that meets is called the Fellowship of Christian Athletes (FCA), “but you don’t have to be an athlete to attend,” explains, Meagan (pronounced MAY-gen) Crowl, 17 who plays on the golf team and is a junior at Solon High School. “It was just easier to keep the name because it was already an existing group,” adds Meagan.
“FCA is a nationwide thing,” notes Andrew Richard, 18 who runs cross-country and track, and is a senior at Solon High School. “I learned about it because my sisters were in it ahead of me, and other people from Parkside encouraged me to go.”
“We have FCA at our school, too,” says Jen Andrews, 16, a junior at Chagrin Falls High School who plays tennis, sings in two choirs, and will be featured as a spoon in Chagrin Falls’ spring musical, Beauty and the Beast. “It’s helpful to have fellowship in a place where you’re not used to being with other Christians.”
Meagan explains that an FCA meeting is “usually half an hour long. At our school, Andrew and Luke [Coan] usually lead a short discussion where we read the Bible and talk about how to apply it to our lives and bring it back to our teams, if we’re on one. We do a devotional and talk about things we can pray about and then we have a short prayer together.” Recently, Pastor Dan Southam, Parkside’s high school youth ministry leader, challenged his youth ministry team leaders to consider taking the seven-part video, Christianity Explored, to their FCA meeting as a way to invite more people to the group.
So far, the effort has been a success. Jen notes that the Chagrin Falls FCA has approximately 12 people come on a regular day. “But when the focus shifted to the video, we had maybe double the people come,” said Jen. “Because we weren’t focused on preparing for the Bible study, we were able to get the word out sooner with more time and that helped.”
“It’s been very simple. Parkside provides us with all the materials we need, so all we need to do is invite our friends,” says Meagan. Garfield Heights and Aurora High Schools are also participating.
“I would say it’s just kind of amazing to me how many people are willing to come if you just ask them,” says Andrew. “It’s really just more of having the courage to talk to them and ask. Not everyone wants to come, but some people are just waiting for an invitation and are willing to come just because it’s something to do.”
Christianity Explored
According to its website, Christianity Explored is “an informal course for people who’d like to investigate Christianity, or just brush up on the basics. It explores who Jesus was, what his aims were, and what it means to follow him.” The program was originally produced in 1995 by notable evangelist, Rico Tice, and is currently being taught in over 5,000 courses in 53 countries. Each brief video asks basic foundational questions about Christianity, such as, who was Jesus Christ? Did Jesus Christ really die? Did He rise again?
“I feel like people think it’s a little less invasive to watch a movie rather than have a discussion or answer questions,” adds Jen. “I invited my friends to come by telling them the video basically answers any question you’ve ever had about religion or Christianity. They were open to it and excited to hear more about it. I’ve had conversations with them before about Christianity, but it didn’t go very deep. This was a new way to bring the topic back up again.”
“The videos get you started thinking about what Christianity actually means instead of what everyone else has already portrayed,” says Meagan. “They end with a question every time that provokes thought, but they don’t say ‘It’s time for you to be a Christian,’ or ’start going to church and fall into this category.’”
Andrew agrees that the delivery of the message has benefits. “I think the video does a good job of explaining stuff and it’s not really up in your face. It just makes you think. It goes through the progression of, ‘If this is true, then it has implications on your life.’ It’s not telling you, ‘You need to do this.’”
Patience and Sincerity
So how do conversations about God and religion come up for today’s super busy, over-scheduled high school students? Andrew’s friends often ask him why he always goes to church. Meagan counsels her friends who may be going through hard times by explaining that she turns to God when things get hard. Jen’s friends find encouragement when she offers to pray for them. “One thing that [Pastor] Dan stresses a lot is investing in people’s lives and listening to them,” says Andrew. “Maybe not even talking about God, but just being a friend to them. They’re more open to listening to what you have to say because they can trust you. Relationships require time and sincerity.”
Gospel Relationships for Gospel Growth
“Parkside’s existing Bible study and LIFE groups could do similar things with the video,” suggests Meagan. “They could have a more casual night where they show the video and each person brings a friend or co-worker. And maybe they don’t call it a Bible study, but just a night for people who have questions about Christianity. I know I’ve enjoyed watching the videos at Student Impact, even though most of us there are believers. It’s been like a wake-up call for us to re-assess our lives and how we’re living them. What do we really believe and why do we believe it? It really asks us to think about it, so I think this study could be an ice breaker for the other groups Parkside has going, too.
For More Information:
- You can learn more about Christianity Explored by visiting their website.
In May, founder of Christianity Explored and evangelist, Rico Tice will be a guest speaker at the Basics 2011 Pastors Conference held at Parkside Church and will be introducing us to the Christianity Explored material during our evening service on May 17.
