A faith they can own.
7th grade through 12th, learning to follow Jesus for themselves and not just because their parents do.
The years between 11 and 18 decide a great deal of what comes after them. A student can grow up in church, know every right answer, and still walk away at nineteen because the faith was always their parents’ and never theirs.
That is the problem our youth ministry exists to address. We are not trying to keep students entertained until they age out. We want them to meet Jesus personally, ask their hardest questions out loud without being shamed for them, and learn to open a Bible on a Tuesday night without anyone telling them to.
“Don’t let anyone despise your youth, but set an example for the believers in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, and in purity.”
Notice that Paul does not tell Timothy to wait his turn. Students are not the church of tomorrow, kept in a side room until they are old enough to matter. They are part of the church now, and we treat them that way: given real responsibility, held to real expectations, and taken seriously when they doubt.
Sunday Mornings
What a Sunday looks like.
Youth meets during the 11:00 service. The rhythm is simple and it does not change much, because students settle in faster when they know what is coming.
Time to land
We start with room to catch up on the week, the wins and the wrecks, before anyone opens a Bible. Nobody learns much from someone they do not trust, so this is not filler before the real thing. It is part of the real thing.
Into the Word
We work through books of the Bible together rather than hopping between topics, so students see how a whole book fits and where it points. Questions are welcome, including the uncomfortable ones.
Sent back out
Students leave with something to actually do with it Monday morning, at a school where following Jesus costs something. Faith that stays in the youth room was never the goal.
Partner Ministry
Mountain Youth Collective, MYC.
Built in the mountains. United in Christ.
Ashe Alliance is one of several churches across Ashe County that together lead Mountain Youth Collective. The conviction behind it is simple: there are more students in this county than any one church will ever reach on its own, and the gospel is bigger than the name on any of our buildings.
MYC is interdenominational and open to every student in the county, whatever church they attend or whether they attend one at all. It runs on two tracks.
ONE gatherings
Large events that bring students together from across the county. Worship, teaching, and a room full of peers who are walking the same road, which matters when your school feels like a lonely place to follow Jesus.
Monthly Bible studies
Smaller and slower. Students work through a book of the Bible and learn the skill of studying it themselves: what it meant to its first readers, then what it means now. The aim is students who can feed themselves for life.
Both tracks are led by pastors and leaders from churches around the county, Pastor Nate among them. If your student is looking for something beyond Sunday, this is the widest door in Ashe County.
See What’s Coming Up at MYC
Room for a generation that needs an anchor.
We currently disciple our students in 168 square feet. That is not a complaint, it is just a fact, and it is one our students feel every week when the room is full.
The expansion takes that to 672 square feet, four times the space, built for the years that decide most of the rest. Not a nicer hangout. Room for more students to hear the gospel and be known by name while they do.
Before your student comes.
What ages can come?
Everyone from 7th grade through high school seniors is welcome in Ashe Alliance Youth. If your student is in 6th grade, they are still in our children’s ministry, and they will move up to youth in the fall.
Do we have to be members to come?
No. We welcome students from all over the county and from any church, or from no church at all. Every student should get the same chance to hear about Jesus and be part of a community that actually knows them.
My student doesn’t know anyone. Will that be awkward?
Honestly, the first week usually is a little. We know that and we plan for it. Our leaders watch for the student standing on the edge of the room, and we open with time to talk for exactly that reason.
If you let us know you are coming through the form below, we will have someone expecting your student by name.
What is the difference between this and MYC?
Ashe Alliance Youth is our Sunday morning ministry, part of the life of this church. Mountain Youth Collective is the county-wide partnership we help lead alongside other churches, with larger ONE gatherings and monthly Bible studies.
Students are welcome at both, and many do exactly that. Neither one requires the other.
Are your leaders background checked?
Yes. Every adult who serves with our students has completed a background check before their first Sunday, the same standard we hold in children’s ministry.
Ashe Alliance youth events and camps are on the church calendar. MYC gatherings and Bible studies are at mountainyouthcollective.com.
Send us your student. We will take their questions seriously and point them to Jesus.
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