Pearce Senior Banquet

One of the traditions at Pearce is the annual banquet for graduating seniors and their families. It is a time to celebrate the students, their families and the many people who have made deposits in their spiritual growth all these years. This is the sixth and final one for Greg as youth pastor and what a way to go out!! It was the largest one in our time here and Captain Bob said it was the largest one in his time and that is going back a ways! There were 22 seniors with their families for a group of more than 75.
This was a unique class of kids, the kind you dream and hope for. It was the first class in Greg's 17 years of teen ministry that he saw through all the way from 7th -12th grade. They are an incredible group of young people. They are tight but not clickish, they are deeply rooted in their faith and they are a wonderful model of what God calls his church to be. You can see their servant hearts at work daily. They are mature beyond their years. They come from loving families. Many of those families are not from Pearce. It was such a testament to how God has worked in and through Greg and these kids that they reached out beyond themselves to love others. A mother of one of the young men introduced herself to me and was so grateful that Greg had walked beside her son these last few years. She said Greg had a deep impact on her son and his spiritual journey. They were grateful to be included in this time despite not being attenders of Pearce.
This year was different than previous years. The kids played a huge role in the evening. They requested to speak, two of them sharing about the mark left on them by their friends, family, youth leaders and Greg. I am going to request a copy of what Andrea shared. She used the Acts 2 model of the church to talk about the youth group. They humble me, they are so brave and strong. They requested to sing. Greg has been working with several of the kids to form a teen worship band and they have been playing for retreats and Wednesday night youth group. They played guitar and sang several of their favorite worship songs. I found this so wonderful since the first two years of ministry Greg could not pay the kids to sing. At one point they stopped because it was so frustrating. I love that they have come to embrace worship in such a wonderful way.
They introduced every senior and they shared their plans for the next year. We have two foreign exchange students that are returning home to the Czech Republic. They were a joy to have and we know the seeds of faith planted here will grow and spread as they live a world away. We have someone spending a year in Romania as a missionary. We have a young man attending Bible school with the goal of becoming a pastor. We have students attending college in CA, PA, OH, MA and NY. We are so excited to hear about their journeys in the world. They have been well equipped and are ready!! (the parents on the other hand I am not so sure about, there is great sadness to see their children leave the nest!!)
At the end of the evening they asked to lay hands on our family and pray for us. What a precious time! What a precious people!
It seemed that no one wanted to go home, no one wanted this time to end. We were there past 10 pm. Poor Josh and Kaleb were slow to rise this morning. It was a bittersweet time for me and many people there last night. You could not have planned a better time to bring Greg's ministry here to a close. Yet, I am saddened that the events and decisions made by our church have brought this end about. I am saddened that they did not know how wide and deep the teen ministry at Pearce is because if they did, they would not have settled for any less than the best.
Greg shared last night that it has been a privilege to serve the teens and families of Pearce, and it has. We pray God continues to bless the socks off these kids and that they will continue to grow into the men and women God desires them to be.
You can click on any of the photos to get a bigger view if you'd like.