In the April print edition of the Central Times, we covered several religious groups in which Central students are involved. Student Community, the youth group at Community Christian Church, is such a group that allows high school students to develop and express their religious beliefs.

Student Community, or StuCo, meets every Wednesday from 7-9 at CCC. Students said that StuCo stands out from other churches or youth groups because of how the students can relate to the messages that pastor Bret Koontz teaches.

“I like [StuCo] because Bret makes it fun so kids can understand what’s going on,” said freshman Jessica Kanney. “It’s not a long, boring service. Our church is so much different from any other church. It’s amazing. They make it more relatable to kids.”

Kanney started going to StuCo two years ago with her friends.

“Right when I started going, they stopped going, so I was going by myself,” said Kanney. “It was scary but I felt that I wasn’t as scared because I knew God was there and that the people… would be welcoming. Because that’s what it was all about.”

Junior Jared Prosapio agrees that there is a tight-knit, welcoming community at StuCo.

“Anyone who goes can hang out,” said Prosapio. “If you just moved in, you can try StuCo out and everyone will surround you.”

Prosapio said StuCo helps him stay rooted in his Christian faith.

“It’s a reminder of who I am, what I’m doing wrong… what I should be doing,” said Prosapio. “It’s definitely a life-check, in a sense. [StuCo helps you] really influence other people’s lives and just be good to people.”

Every week at Student Community, the students participate in communion, an offering called “Giving Back to God,” live worship music, a short teaching of a Bible passage and then an hour of gym time.

Kanney’s favorite part is the worship time.

“That’s when I connect the most,” said Kanney. “It’s worship, but at the same time, it’s not always the slow, quiet, boring church [music.] Everyone is jumping up and down, falling on each other and sweating. Everyone’s together in that moment, singing together.”

The youth group also gives back to the community. The organization Food Fight, whose goal is to pack and ship meals to impoverished areas of the world, was born out of StuCo. Prosapio, who will be in charge of the organization next year and Kanney, who will be a student leader for the event, both believe that Food Fight has had a positive impact on their personal lives and Central as a community.

“You’re getting more people [involved in] that and they hear about StuCo so they’ll come to that,” said Kanney.”That’s good for us and the church.”

Propsaio said that he thinks even if someone is not Christian, they should still consider attending StuCo.

“Even if you don’t really know who God is or if you don’t really believe in him, just still come and have fun with us,” said Prosapio. “It’s something you want to do, something that will affect your life even if you’re not a Christian. It’s something that will make you a better person.”