I developed this plan for reaching and teaching teenagers for Christ at the last church where I served as Student Pastor. This was provided to parents to explain to them how I desired their children to grow deeper in their faith. I also used this to challenge students to examine where there were as disciples.

1. SPIRITUAL
GROWTH
PLAYBOOK
EBC
Student
Ministry

2. The point of this “Playbook” is to help you understand how the Student Ministry
of Emmanuel Baptist Church attempts to put our Purpose Statement into
practice. We deeply desire to see students come to faith in Christ and to grow
into Christian maturity before graduating from the twelfth grade. The following
pages contain our plan to move a student from total detachment from church and
Christ to an intimate relationship with a Savior they desire to serve.
Purpose Statement of EBC Student Ministry
Emmanuel Student Ministry exists to empower students to become
mature believers as together they worship Almighty God, serve with
Christ-like compassion, and share His truth with all they encounter.
The following formula will give you the Who, What, and
How behind our student ministry programs.
(Formula: potential audience + prime purpose = program)
Using that formula, here is an overview of our Primary
Programs used to move students toward Christian Maturity:
WHO
are we trying to reach?
Potential Audience
WHAT
is our purpose?
Primary Purpose
HOW
will we attempt to do this?
Primary Program
Community Evangelism E-Teams
Crowd Worship EDGE
Congregation Fellowship Life Groups
Committed Discipleship SUBMERGE
Core Ministry Leadership Teams
Now that you have a general overview of our Primary
Programs, let’s define the terms used in the chart above…

3. Defining Potential Audiences:
Community students are committed to not attending
church – they are living apart from Christ.
Crowd students are committed to attending our
church – they are hearing about Christ.
Congregation students are committed to Life Group
attendance – they have a relationship with Christ and
with other Christians.
Committed Students are committed to spiritual habits –
they are growing in Christ.
Core students are committed to doing ministry – they
are serving because of their relationship with Christ.
Defining Primary Purposes:
Evangelism is sharing the good news of Jesus Christ
with those who don’t yet have a personal relationship
with Him.
Worship is celebrating God’s presence and honoring
Him with our lifestyle.
Fellowship happens when Christian students are
known, cared for, held accountable, and encouraged in
their spiritual journey.
Discipleship is the building up or strengthening of
believers in their quest to be like Christ.
Ministry is meeting needs with the love of Christ.

4. Defining Primary Programs:
E-Teams are comprised of students who are passionate
about the primary purpose of Evangelism in hopes of
reaching Community students. These teams commit to
pray for those on their campus who don’t know Jesus as
their Savior. The ultimate goal is to pursue relationships
with those they are praying for in hopes of starting
spiritual conversations with them and sharing Christ.
The EDGE is our mid-week youth gathering that focuses
on fulfilling the primary purpose of Worship for our
students. During an EDGE night, students express praise
through songs, interact through games and activities,
and are taught how to honor God by conforming their
lives to His Word through preaching and small groups. It
is here that a Crowd student experiences Christians
worshiping around him/her and is provided with an
opportunity to accept Christ and join a Life Group.
Life Groups are designed to allow Congregation
students the opportunity to grow with other believers as
they Fellowship by examining Scripture together,
praying for each other, and by holding each other
accountable in their Christian walk. Each Life Group is
led by a mature Christian adult who serves as both
teacher and mentor.
SUBMERGE is our comprehensive Discipleship program
used to give Committed students a way to take personal
responsibility for maturing in their Christian walk.
Students are provided with various discipleship courses,
invited to intense weekend training sessions, and are
taught spiritual H.A.B.I.T.S. (see appendix A) to take
them to a deeper level with Christ.

5. Defining Primary Programs Continued:
Leadership Teams provide Core students an
opportunity to use their spiritual gifts and S.H.A.P.E.
(see appendix B) to lead in Ministry among their peers.
These students live out the truth that all Christians
should be involved in serving others for God’s glory.
Student Leaders agree to be involved with an E-Team,
be active in a Life Group, exercise spiritual H.A.B.I.T.S.
and commit to live by a list of lifestyle expectations.
The five primary programs of our Student Ministry
are laid out below in a progressive order around a
baseball diamond. This diagram may help you visualize
the movement we desire to see in the lives of students.
E-TEAMS
EDGE
LIFE GROUPS
SUBMERGE
LEADERSHIP
Community
Crowd
CongregationCommitted
Core

6. Appendix A
Students will be encouraged to develop spiritual H.A.B.I.T.S. to
allow them to take discipleship to a personal level. Training and tools
will be provided for each letter based on the acronym below.
Hang time with God
Accountability with another believer
Bible memorization
Involvement with the church body
Tithing commitment
Study Scripture
Appendix B
An evaluation tool known as S.H.A.P.E. is provided to those
students desiring to be in a leadership role. This tool uses each of the
five letters in the acronym to help students determine where God may
be leading them to serve. The letters are defined below:
Spiritual Gifts
Heart
Abilities
Personality
Experience