On any given Tuesday night, you’ll find upwards of 125 high school students gathered at the Eastern Hills Community Christian Reformed Church in Aurora, Colo.
They are there to worship at The Well, but they’re finding much more than worship. The Well is a youth church service that is run in part by the young people attending. It is a ministry reaching out to many youths in the Aurora area, not just Eastern Hills kids.
Kendal Hommes, the senior high youth pastor, sees it as much more than a youth group. “For the most part, our kids are either Eastern Hills kids or they’re kids who don’t go to church somewhere else. Their families are unchurched. They’ve ended up at the Well either through a friend, Young Life, or Campus Life. We’re offering them a place to put kids into . . . as they’re searching or want to become Christians.”
Hommes says the strength of The Well is its leadership. “The driving force is that our adult leaders are so relationally oriented. They’re constantly in contact with students. They’re constantly calling them, checking in with them, making sure things are going well,” he said. Youth leaders use social networking to maintain that contact, whether by phone, e-mail, Facebook, or texting.
Over the course of a school year, more than 300 different kids come into contact with The Well.
About the Author
Sarah Boonstra is the Banner's regional news correspondent for classes Rocky Mountain and Yellowstone.
