Hello from the FGS Team!

Parents, we believe the middle school and high school years are crucial in the life of every child, and we want to do our best to partner with you through this season. One way we do that is by keeping you in the loop about all that is happening in our FGS ministry. In this newsletter, you will find a look at recent events, an update on what is currently happening on Sundays, and some things to know in the coming weeks.

Christmas United Night: On Sunday, December 15, FGS Middle and High School celebrated our annual Christmas United Night! We loved seeing all the Christmas outfits and tacky sweaters as we ate from the food trucks, drank hot chocolate, and played games together! We finished the night with a Christmas message and singing Christmas songs. Another great end to the year for FGS!

• FGS Middle: Middle School meets Sunday mornings at 9 and 11 AM in the Student Building! Small groups happen during each service, and all new students will be placed in a small group! As the new year starts, many of us take it as a chance to reset and refocus. In our new FGS Middle School series, we'll be talking about what it looks like to set our focus and hope on Jesus as the anchor of our life. He is unmovable, unshakable, and the firm foundation on which we are meant to build our lives for the new year upon us and far beyond. 
• FGS High: High School meets Sunday nights from 6-8 PM in the Student Building! Small groups happen before service from 5-6 PM. These small groups are optional, but highly encouraged. Students wishing to join a small group should show up by 5 PM on a Sunday night! In January, FGS High School will begin a new series called Encounter. In this series, we'll be exploring some radical stories in the Gospel accounts of Jesus' most powerful and personal encounters with people where life change and transformation takes place. These inspired stories tend to spark in us a deep heart longing for our own experiences and encounters with Jesus. Our aim and application in this series is for our students to walk away inspired to seek their own transformational encounters with Jesus on a daily basis. 
• FGS Online: For our middle and high students at home, we offer our weekly service online on YouTube. This online service will be a livestream of our first hour middle school service at 9 AM on Sunday mornings. Our high school students at home can watch the livestream of the main FG service at 11 AM and keep up with our current high school series by listening to the FG Students Podcast or watching the message on our YouTube channel later in the week.

• FGS Summer Mission Trips: Applications are open for our two FGS summer mission trips from November 1 through January 15! Our Lexington, SC trip is open for all current 7th-10th graders to apply, and our Costa Rica trip is open for all current 11th-12th graders to apply. Even if your student applied for one of these trips last year, please complete the application again! These trips are not “first come first serve.” In January, the student team will go through the applications and build teams for the trips.
• MS Sky Zone: FGS invites all of our Middle School students and their friends to join us for our annual trip to an indoor trampoline park! FGS Middle will be at Sky Zone Greenville on Wednesday, January 8 from 6:30-8 PM! Check-in will start at 6:00 PM, and we will jump from 6:30-8 PM. The cost is $10 per person at the door. Bring a friend and come jump with us! No registration is required, but visit the website to complete the waiver and find the address.
• HS Bonfire: FGS invites all High School students to join us and kick the new year off the right way with a chill night of food, fun, and fellowship! Our Annual High School Bonfire will be on Friday, January 24 from 6-8 PM. It will be a casual night of warming up by a bonfire, cooking s’mores and hotdogs, and laughing together as we jump back into the swing of the school year. Register online for this free event to receive the address.
• Next Gen Stepping-In Class: On Sunday, January 26 at 11 AM, we will have another Next Gen Stepping-In Class. Stepping-In is a fun and interactive 60-minute class that will help your student understand what baptism is, discover exactly what the Bible says about it, and build their confidence in sharing their faith with others. Students will need to attend this class before participating in Next Gen Baptism. This class is offered 3 Sundays a year during our regular service times. Register your student online now!
• FGS United Night: On Sunday night, February 2 from 5:00-8:00 PM, FGS invites all of our Middle and High School students to our first United Night of 2025! This is a special time to gather the entire student ministry, both middle school and high school, to laugh, worship, learn, and unite together to grow our individual relationships with God. Students can feel free to invite friends to this event! We will be in Auditorium 1, and there will be free pizza! HS small groups will not meet.
• Understanding Your Student: Join us on Sunday, February 2 from 5:00-8:00 PM for a glimpse into student ministry followed by Understanding Your Student—open to all parents of Middle or High School students. From 5:00-6:15 PM, parents have the opportunity to spend some time at the FGS United Night and get to know their students’ small group leaders, talk with other parents, and eat some pizza in the courtyard. Following that, parents will join Next Gen Pastor Matt Densky and Student Pastor Dallas Greenaway from 6:15-8:00 PM for some intentional collaboration time with other parents in the Student Auditorium located in Building B (second level). Childcare is available for Birth-Grade 5 upon registration. Parents, please register yourselves online here.
• No HS on Feb 9: FGS High School will not meet for small groups or programming on the night of Sunday, February 9. We know many of our students and leaders enjoy hosting and attending Super Bowl parties, and we want to encourage our students to spend time with family and friends!
• MS Girls Night: We are inviting all of our Middle School girls to a special girls-only event with FGS on Friday, February 21 from 5:30-8:30 PM! We will be getting together for a movie and game night at FG complete with pizza, popcorn, soda, and candy. This will be a fun night as we spend some time getting to know each other, watching a fun movie, and playing games together. We can't wait to spend some time building deeper relationships between our Middle School girls and their small group leaders! Please register online for this free event. Movie title coming soon!
• MS Guys Night: If you are a Middle School boy and enjoy playing games with your friends, then FGS would like to invite you to a fun guys-only game night at FG on Friday, February 21 from 5:30-8:30 PM! We will be playing video games and board games while eating pizza and snacks and having fun with other middle school boys and leaders. Make sure to register online for this free event!

• Books for Parents: “Faith for Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in Digital Babylon” by David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock gives parents insight on how to raise the next generation with a resilient faith. “Raising Worry-Free Girls: Helping Your Daughter Feel Braver, Stronger, and Smarter in an Anxious World” by Sissy Goff is a great resource for parents of daughters struggling with anxiety and worry. This book helps parents understand what contributes to anxiety and worry and how to empower their daughter to overcome those fears. 
• Parent Podcast: FG has launched our parent podcast, Parenting for a Change, with Next Gen Pastor, Matt Densky, and Executive Pastor, Rob Marks. How do we parent our kids well in the midst of all kinds of change? How do we change as parents so that, in turn, our kids change for the better? Our hope and prayer is that parents would grow in their own faith in Christ and then pass on that kind of authentic faith to the next generation. This first series of podcasts will break down 5 principles of what it looks like to pass on our faith. Listen on Spotify or the FG Website!
• The Culture Translator: This is a weekly email from a group who focuses on helping parents navigate the changing culture and news that keeps coming at us at a rapid pace. Each Friday they send an email that takes five minutes to read but keys you in on three major culture/news happenings along with questions to discuss with your students. A lot of us on staff have subscribed and have found it very insightful. We hope this helps you stay in the cultural loop and gives you strategic ways to keep speaking into the lives of your children!
• FG Students Podcast: Each week, we upload our Middle School and High School Sunday messages to our FG Students Podcast. This is a great resource for parents wanting to have further conversations with their students about what they are learning on Sundays! If your student misses a week, they can also go back and listen to past messages. Our podcast is available on Apple Podcasts or on the FG Students page of our website under Resources.
• FGS YouTube Channel: Here you can find videos from FG Students including Middle and High School messages, FGS vision, training for small group leaders, volunteer highlight videos, and insights on adolescent culture.

If you ever have any questions about our ministry or about navigating life with a middle schooler or high schooler, feel free to reach out to the student staff at students@fellowshipgreenville.org.

The FGS Team