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May '25
Student Ministry – May 2025
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May '25
This May is setting up to be a first for me. For the last 20+ years I have celebrated graduating Seniors. Over the years I have honored and acknowledged some graduates I knew extremely well, and some I knew only marginally.
A few years ago, I had a shift in mindset and started to truly find ways to celebrate and honor the families. I wanted what we do as a church to be a blessing for them and, unfortunately, I hadn’t always taken that mindset.
This year, for the first time in my life, I’m celebrating a group of graduates that includes one who lives in my own house.
We have a great group of kids we are going to recognize and celebrate on May 18th, and I hope you’ll join us! We have 17 graduates on our list this year. Some have been with us for the long haul, and some are relatively new faces. But all of them are deeply loved and I’m excited to get to recognize them.
Will you join me in praying for these kids and their families this month? I’m going to be praying for the following things:
- Pray for the celebrations and finishing of a chapter – to celebrate well, and to finish well.
- Pray for decisions about next steps. Not every student knows for sure what comes next, and that’s okay.
- Pray for families. Pray parents, siblings, and extended family can make the most of the time they have.
- Pray for rest. A senior year can be hectic, over-scheduled, and tiring.
- Pray for a continued commitment to Christ. Above all else, pray our seniors stay committed and on track with their faith in the years to come.
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Mar '25
Student Ministry – March 2025
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Mar '25
by Wes Henson
Can you think of some of the “mountaintop experiences” in your spiritual life? These are times where you experience God in a new or fresh way. Maybe camp was a big one for you growing up. Maybe it was a retreat, or a revival. One of mine, strangely enough, was a puppet show when I was in 6th grade. Okay, that’s really strange. But it’s true.
For many of our students, Disciple Now was a mountaintop experience. God spoke to them and they left the weekend feeling closer to God than when they started. But we all know life happens. And we are now a few weeks removed from the weekend.
Will you pray for our students as they explore what it looks like to live as disciples of Christ? God is doing some amazing things through our students and the adults who serve them.
Finally, I want to close today by saying thank you to everyone who helped with Disciple Now in February. Whether you hosted, co-hosted, transported, cooked, served, prayed, or sponsored, thank you for all you do. Trinity is a wonderful and giving church. Thank you is not enough.
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Feb '25
Disciple Now 2025
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Feb '25
by Wes Henson & Students
As we get ready for Disciple Now, I asked some of the students that will be attending what they are most looking forward to. Here are some of the responses:
Charis Henson, 8th Grader: What I’m looking forward to most about Disciple Now is the way that it encourages our relationship with God to grow. Another thing that I’m looking forward to is that it’s a place that brings joy and comfort and it’s where I’ve made some of my long-lasting friendships.
Luke Bowers, Freshman: I am excited for Disciple Now because I am going to get to grow in my relationship with God and I’m able to get to know people on a deeper level.
Aidan Hawkins, 8th Grader: I’m looking forward to spending time with friends and having fellowship at the host house and church.
Ben Watkins, 7th Grader: Hanging out with friends
Ben Watkins, 7th Grader: Hanging out with friends
Anna Henson, Senior: I am looking forward to building relationships with the younger high school girls since it’s my last year in the youth group.
Kendall Boles, Freshman: I’m excited because I get to spend a weekend away from everything else and spend time working on my relationship with God and connecting with my friends and seeing their growth in their relationship with Christ.
Kendall Boles, Freshman: I’m excited because I get to spend a weekend away from everything else and spend time working on my relationship with God and connecting with my friends and seeing their growth in their relationship with Christ.
Please be praying for the weekend and all that God is going to do in the lives of our students to help them grow in their relationship with God and with others!
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Jan '25
Student Ministry – January 2025
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Jan '25
It’s funny to me how the little daily decisions we make have the potential to end up impacting us greatly down the road. As I have lost weight, I feel the “weight” of poor eating decisions. I can often overcome one or two poor decisions, but one or two poor decisions each day for a week add up.
But the same is true of the good decisions. Making one or two good decisions each day adds up as well. Slowly, over time, making the right choice over and over reaps rewards.
Working with teenagers, I see this played out, both ways. Someone makes a couple of poor decisions, over and over, and they often find themselves facing consequences. At the same time, when they make wise decisions, the results can be just as obvious.
The truth is, for all of us, the right decisions make a difference. So, what “right” decisions are you going to make this year? I hope you joined with us on the Trinity Bible reading plan in 2024. You may not have been perfect at it, but hopefully you make the decision to read time and again. If so, yay! If not, then now’s a great time to start.
One other good decision: pray for the student ministry. Pray for students to live out their faith. Pray for our adult volunteers and that relationships will grow and gospel conversation will be abundant. Pray for our seniors who will graduate in May and their parents (of which I am one!). Pray for our 6th graders as they navigate a new phase of Middle School. Pray for Disciple Now coming up in February.
I cannot wait to see what God has in store for 2025!
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Jan '24
Student Ministry – January 2024
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Jan '24
2023 was a phenomenal year. We saw several highlights through the year. We continue to see numerical growth. We have more and more adults who are volunteering to invest in the lives of students. We had several students make decisions at camp, and are seeing fruit from many others.
And the best is yet to come.
I’m constantly amazed by the newness of God’s working in our lives. No matter how often we think we’ve seen Him do something we couldn’t imagine, he moves in an “only God” kind of way again. And, for that, I am perpetually grateful.
I’m looking forward to what 2024 has to offer as we host a Disciple Now weekend, take an even larger group to the Dominican Republic, celebrate a great group of Seniors (again!), continue to build relationships and get to know new faces, and watch as God works in a way only He can work. It’s going to be a great year!
As we kickoff the New Year, join me in praying for God to continue to move, and for our students to learn what it means to respond to God’s working in our lives. Pray for our adults as they seek to build relationships that point students to Christ.
Thank You, Trinity family, for all of your support in 2023 and the coming support of 2024.
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Dec '23
Student Ministry – December 2023
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Dec '23
by Wes Henson
December may be one of my favorite seasons around TSM. For the Christmas season we intentionally shift gears, aiming to help build connections.
Our Circles have gone great so far this semester, but during December they take a break and we get to gather everyone together for a few weeks.
This year we have our 3rd Annual Christma-lympics on Wednesday, December 13, and it’s going to be even better than the first two! Plus, it will be our first Christmas Party in the Refinery
!I’m excited to announce we have scheduled a Disciple Now for February 9-11, 2024. For those who may not know, Disciple Now is a local weekend retreat. I’m excited for the opportunity to include members of the church in the weekend through hosting, feeding, and praying. If you’re an adult and interested in serving, let me know.
To help kick-off Disciple Now registration, we are having a Special Edition of TSM Live on Wednesday, December 6. On this night, we will have a very special guest, and you will not want to miss out!
Finally, I cannot give enough thanks to all of our wonderful adults who have jumped in to help lead a Circle, to sub, to invest in students in the Forge, to bring donuts, to go to camp, to serve, to love, to laugh and to give. We couldn’t do what we do without all of you!
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Sep '23
Youth Ministry – September 2023
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Sep '23
The start of school always brings a renewed sense of energy and excitement, as well as its fair share of grumblings from students who enjoyed summer.
As we look ahead at the Fall, I would like to take a moment to share some of the wins we’ve seen over the past month.
We took 63 kids and 16 adults to camp and have enjoyed the excitement that follows camp. The connections we were able to make continue to grow as we look at what it means to continue to “respond” to God.
The new 6th graders joined us in August and have brought an excitement and energy, and it’s been a joy watching our older kids connect with them along the way. One thing I love seeing is when a high school student reaches out to a middle schooler to help them find where they belong. I think this is a beautiful picture of the church at large, as well.
We were excited to baptize Jackson, Wesley and Hudson and on the same day we had our Student Worship Team lead worship.
Looking ahead, we are praying for God to continue to work in and through us as we kickoff Circles on September 6 and September 10. Through Circles we hope to build new relationships and build on existing relationships to help us grow in our relationship with God.
Finally, I would like to say thank you to all of the adults who have volunteered to step up to serve with Students. We could not do what we do without the support of adults who love God and like students at least a little. It’s going to be a great year!
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Aug '23
Youth Ministry – August 2023
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Aug '23
July was an incredible month! We were able to take a total of 79 people to camp. Our word for the week was “respond”, and our group did a great job responding to how God was leading them. Thank you to everyone who got a prayer card and prayed for a camper. I truly believe we could not have had the week we had without our Trinity family praying for us.Next, I would like to take a moment to brag on the adult sponsors we took with us.
Our female sponsors were: Sharron Hawk, Mica Henson, Marilyn Johnson, Melissa Morris, Shelby Peschel, Abbey Elliston, Lauren Tripp, Cailin Powell and Ryia Neuman. Our male sponsors were: Rick Boles, Clark Elliston, Riley Gordon, James Tripp, Caleb Boone and JD Templeton. These fifteen adults went above and beyond all week in so many ways. They were such a blessing as they endured the heat, poured into our students, and continually pointed our group to Christ. If you see one of these incredible adults around, please be sure to say thank you.
Finally, as we look at the beginning of school and Incoming 6th Grade Promotion, if you are interested in serving in the Student Ministry, please let me know. We have needs in a variety of areas, and some areas we don’t even know yet! I would love to sit down with you and have a conversation about what role you might could play in the Student Ministry of Trinity Baptist Church.
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Jun '23
Meet Trinity’s 2023 Summer Interns
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Jun '23
We are thrilled to have two interns this summer: Ryia Neuman and Cailin Powell, who are both currently Trinity members! For this month, I asked Ryia to share a few words. Enjoy! –Wes Henson
Hi! I’m Ryia Neuman. I am 9th generation from Kerrville, and Trinity has basically been my second home for about eleven years. Interning for Trinity has been something I’ve dreamed of doing for a couple of years now, and I am humbled and honored to be given the opportunity to serve as one of your summer interns this year!
I just graduated from high school and am filled with a strong sense and calling to ministry. Though the exact shape of this calling remains uncertain as of right now, I’m very interested to see what God will reveal over the next few months. I am looking forward to getting to work, as well as learn, alongside so many wonderful Jesus-loving people and getting to know my home church even better than I already do.
I am super excited to develop stronger and deeper relationships with the youth as well as the wonderful youth workers who have poured so much love and wisdom into my own life. It is an honor to walk alongside them. I am also looking forward to helping these students grow in their relationships with Christ. I am excited to watch the friendships among the students grow stronger during our time together at camp and throughout the summer. Above all, I am eager to watch and see how God works and uses this summer for His glory!
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