downSHIFT
Our downSHIFT Bible Studies are designed to intentionally slow down and dig into God's word. These studies are a little more "quiet and secluded" in a sense because they are designed for the student who wants to go deeper into the Bible.  During the school year we'll have a couple of different "sessions" of downSHIFT, typically following Fall Camp and the Winter Retreat.  During each session we'll offer a downSHIFT AM (before school at 7:30am) and a downSHIFT PM (before SHIFT at 5:30pm).  Each session typically lasts 4-6 weeks.

The Wire -- Middle School Sunday School  

The Wire is the name of our middle school (6th -8th grade) "Sunday School" worship service Sunday mornings at 9:30am.  This hour long service is split between a time of worship led by one of our student-led worship bands and a time of Biblical teaching taught by one of our staff.  We typically take a Biblical book or character and pick it apart over the span of a month or so and apply the lessons learned to the everyday lives of middle school students living in the 21st century.  We want students to understand God's Word on a deeper level and how it relates to us today.  During the summer (from the end of May through early August) we have a combined middle school and high school worship service at 11:00am only.  Come join us as we go deeper in our faith!!!!

Bi-Monthly Service Project

Every other month SHIFT offers a special service project on a Saturday morning where our students can get out and serve Christ by serving others.  Space is limited so be sure to sign up a couple of weeks in advance once we announce it. 

Fresh Start "Confirmation" Class

We do Confirmation a little differently at Sugarloaf UMC.  Our class is called "Fresh Start" and is a 6 week (5 weeks of classes and 1 weekend retreat) condensed, intensive class for students who are either in 7th or 8th grade.  Our goal with Fresh Start is to not only help students make an informed decision regarding Christ, but to set them up for a life-long journey with Christ.  We don't see Confirmation as a graduation ceremony or finish line, but as a commissioning service and starting line.  We want their decisions to follow Christ to be real and authentic, not some rubber stamp.  So we've designed our class around that idea.  During class we'll tackle a different major tenet of the Christian faith each week.  We'll teach for half an hour and then break up into smaller groups to talk about each issue more indepth.  Students are required to attend Fresh Start at 11:00am, but are also required to attend "the Wire" middle school worship service at 9:30am, as well as SHIFT on Wednesday nights.  We also have a daily journal as we read through "the Case for Christ" together.  Students are also required to attend SHIFT's Winter Retreat (February 4-6).  Students are allowed to miss 1 Sunday morning and 1 Wednesday evening.  Any more than that and they've missed 40% of the content of the class.  In 2011 we'll kick off Confirmation on Sunday, January 23.  The Confirmation Service will be held on Saturday, March 5 at 5:00pm followed by recognition the following morning, March 6th during both church services.  Registration for Confirmation will begin in December.  We'll have a special parents meeting to go over all of the details between services on Sunday, December 5th.

Mission Trips

In Summer of 2011, we will have 2 different "level 1" mission trip opportunities for students currently in 6th or 7th grade.  The first trip will be to Mobile, Alabama from June 6-11 and the second trip will be to Nashville, Tennessee from June 20-25.  Both of these trips will be with an organization called "FUGE".  Students who are currently in the 8th grade will have 3 different "level 2" mission trip opportunities.  The first is to New Orleans with NOBTS (New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary) May 29-June 4.  The second is to Chicago with the Center for Student Missions June 4-12.  The third is to Tijuana Mexico with Amor ministries June 4-11.  We'll have our parent informational meetings for the mission trips on both Wednesday, November 10 and Thursday, November 11.  The same information will be given out at both meetings.

Retreats & Other Stuff

SHIFT offers 2 weekend retreats per year:  Fall Camp in September and Winter Retreat in February.  We also have the All-Nighter in November, various concerts throughout the year, the 30 Hour Famine in March, as well as other activites during the summer.  Stay tuned for more details throughout the year regarding these speical events!

 

 

 

ALTÆR
High School Ministry (9th-12th Grade)

There are two ways to spell ALTÆR, altar and alter. Each has a distinct meaning. The altar is a place where you offer something to God. In this case, "ourselves", as it says in Romans 12:1. There is also the spelling alter, which means to change. When we offer ourselves to God at his altar, he transforms us from the inside out, as it says in Romans 12:2.  In other words, if we altar ourselves, God will alter us!

 

ALTÆR meets weekly on Thursday nights from 6:30-8:15pm. During our meetings we have a time set aside for hanging out and making new friends, games, skits and walk-on characters, videos, small groups, student testimonies, worship, and a relevant lesson.  Our teaching time on Thursday nights is topical, which means we teach on issues that high school students are dealing with based on a Biblical perspective.  Issues such as dating, friends, sex, alcohol, parents, the future, self esteem, etc.  Afterwards we head out to dinner together at a local fast-food place for a further time of fellowship and building relationships.  We typically rotate through Chic-Fil-A on Satellite, Moe's on Sugarloaf, Zaxby's off of Lawrenceville-Suwanee Rd., and 5 Guys on Old Peachtree. 

SLAM -- Student Life A.M.

Mission Trips

This coming summer we'll be offering six different mission trip opportunities for high school students.  We'll have three "level 2" trips for any high school students.  This year we're heading to New Orleans (May 29-June 4), Chicago (June 4-12) or Tijuana Mexico (June 4-11).  We'll also be offering two "level 3" trips for students currently in 10th grade or higher who have been on a level 2 trip.  This year we're heading to Costa Rica and the Czech Republic (mid-July).  Finally we'll be offering one "level 4" trip for students currently in 11th grade or higher with previous level 3 experience.  This year we'll be ministering in South Africa in mid to late July  Don't miss the parents informational meetings on November 10 or 11 from 7:00-8:00pm.

Other Events
ALTÆR also offers many other special events, weekend retreats, trips and mission projects. Typically, we have at least one large event a month and one local mission project a month. We also have our Fall Break Road Trip in October and Winter Camp in January, as well as the 30 Hour Famine in March. During the summer we'll also be heading to Orange Beach for a week of summer camp. Click on "student events" for more details.