(This post was written by Michael Wallace, High School Pastor)

Let’s face it, high school students are HIGHLY RELATIONAL.  Success for a student is usually viewed as some level of social status or peer admiration as opposed to doing a great job in class or completing an assignment on time.  Relationships drive everything about who they are and how they define themselves.

So, how do we use this new understanding to continue to be the church and reach out to students who don’t know God and may be apprehensive about coming to church?  The VIP Experience!  When a student comes to Catalyst for the first time, they become our VIP guest.  A student (not an adult) will host them throughout the night, answering any questions that they may have while making a relational connection with them.

After the Catalyst service ends, the guests are ushered into the VIP Experience where they have a chance to eat some pizza and hang out with student leaders who are intentionally focused on connecting with them. Oh yeah, and the band is invited too!  Not only does this create a “backstage and exclusive” feel to the experience, but it also creates an opportunity for the guest to be around the visual leaders of Catalyst.

Our goal in being so intentional to reach out to our first time guests is simple:  Our students invite friends that don’t know Christ, and our prayer is that they will become more interested in a relationship with Him as they see how much we love them because of Him!  This is just one more way that our high school students are living out the vision of Faith Promise Church.  So, this is YOUR green light to bring out any high school students you know to Catalyst.  We’ve got some great stuff going on just for them!