A discipleship opportunity for young people to find relevance in spiritual habits that are essential to every believer’s faith, and to help them grow as apprentices of Jesus and leaders within their communities.
Interested in attending Essentials?
Let us know and we will keep you informed when registration goes live.
How it works
Essentials is broken down into six modules. Twice a year, fall and spring, we host students on Saturday afternoons for five weeks and dive into each of the Essential Habits. Essentials’ participants will be split into stages with others their own age, exploring the featured Habit in a way that is practical for their life. Students can choose to complete all modules sequentially, or selectively attend a few over the years. Participants are given a journal that will help them in their journey of growing the habit into their daily rhythms. By enrolling in each habit, students will be able to develop a well-rounded understanding of who they are and how to engage in their faith.
We are committed to our young people and believe you are never too young to start your discipleship journey. To ensure that they are engaged with the content at a level appropriate for their age, we have created three different stages with different depths of learning to welcome students from grades 3-12.
I went into [Essentials] like, ‘I can already read the Bible.’ But when we started doing some of the activities I realized I didn’t know how to, or at least not very well, and it was interesting to learn all the ways to really pull out and learn about scripture.
Kayven C.
What are the essential habits?
Scripture
Scripture, or the Bible, is a foundational part of our faith journey. It helps us learn who we are, how we’re called to live, and most importantly connects us with Jesus. The goal of this habit is to help our young people learn how to read, understand, engage with, and be transformed by Scripture as it becomes something that is incorporated into their daily life.
Prayer
Prayer is simply a conversation with God. It’s a space where we worship, give thanks, bring our doubts, seek direction, pray for others, and listen as we connect with Jesus. In this habit, our young people will learn that coming to God in prayer should always be our first response and that He longs to be in relationship with us. We’ll explore how to pray, what to pray for, why it can be hard, and the role prayer can play in seeing God work today.
Leadership
Leadership can sometimes be a big and scary idea, but it does not have to be. This habit is all about helping young people discover who they are, how God has uniquely created and designed them, and how each one of them can be a leader. We will also explore what it looks like to live and lead like Jesus, the one who gives us the best example of what leadership looks like.
Mission
Mission is all about exploring how God desires His people to live actively and building a habit of living life on purpose. We want to help our young people learn that they are God’s Plan A to reach their friends and the world, and that following Jesus is all about being someone who is willing to serve others with the love that Jesus has for all of us.
Community
Community is what we were designed for. Our young people will learn that they do not have to journey alone, that Jesus invites us to belong with Him and with His people, and that we all have something to contribute as we do life together. We’ll also explore what it would like to create spaces where people will know that they are loved and valued regardless of who they are.
Worship
Worship is about loving God with all our heart, soul, and mind. In this habit, our young people will learn about the many ways we can worship God. The goal is to explore that at its core, worship is all about loving God during every moment of every day and that it’s about developing a habit where God is the top priority of our life.
Essentials gave me helpful knowledge and motivation to dive deeper into God’s word.
Jonas E.
Partner with us
Did someone make a positive impact on you during your teens? Whatever your stage of life, our youth need mature followers of Jesus willing to be mentors and leaders. We encourage you to consider checking out what being a leader at KAC Youth could look like for you.
Questions? Ask me!
CODY BARENDREGT
Youth & Young Adults Pastor
