Student Ministry

When I was a student at Columbia International University, God gave me a vision for ministering to teenagers. It did not include being a saviour to students myself, nor creating students that are full of knowledge, but never use it. Rather, the ultimate vision is a cycle in which students become "reproducers of reproducers", meaning that students become ministers to one another, build relationships that lead to evangelism and discipleship which produces reproductive leaders. The goal is to teach your student to disciple others into discipling roles themselves.

The ultimate desire of the Youth Ministry at ECC is to create a cycle in which students become “reproducers of reproducers,” meaning that students minister to one another, and build relationships that lead to evangelism and discipleship producing new believers and student leaders. Our ministry to teenagers is called “Oxygen” and meets at 5 p.m. on Sundays at the church.

It has been said that 90% of ideas used in youth ministry are not original, and ours is not an original ministry model. Who better to borrow from than our ultimate example, Jesus Christ. He poured His life into twelve guys, eleven of whom went on to be used by God to chart the course of Christianity. Because of the work God did through these faithful men, the whole world is being given the opportunity to hear and respond to the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Paul, while traveling and planting churches, found time to invest in Barnabas, Mark, Timothy, Titus, Philemon, and Silas. These are all familiar names to us. Some assisted Paul on his ministry journeys. Others were used by God to pen His Word, the scriptures that presently teach and exhort us on how to live our lives in today’s world.

This is our vision for the students that God has entrusted to us. Some of our students have followed this example and have gone on to evangelize, disciple, and mentor students in college and beyond. We want to disciple and mentor teens in such a way that they will catch a vision for reproducing themselves into others as well (2 Timothy 2:2).

If you have any questions, feel free to contact Keath Butt at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or at (731)668-4141.

His for the Kids,

Keath Butt