Thank You for Your Interest!


We appreciate your interest in Student Ministries at Lake Avenue Church! We hope this material helps you understand what our ministry is about, and what a Volunteer Staff Member does.

Our goal is to partner with families to make disciples who know, love, trust, and follow Jesus for their whole lives. Our volunteers are some of the most amazing people you will meet. We love serving God by serving families together. If you're feeling the tug to learn more, you've come to the right place.

Along with an application, this page has a few tabs that hopefully will give you a better idea of who we are and what we do.

As you browse around, we want to emphasize three important things:

    1. You don’t need to be experienced. We will train and equip you, and we are always available to help leaders with questions.
    2. You don’t need to have all the answers. We provide a variety of resources, and we want to help you be successful. What we really need is mature adults who can live out their faith journey in front of students.
    3. You don’t need to be “hip” to be successful. What students truly want is someone who will love them and spend time with them...“hip-ness” is not a factor, “real-ness” is.

Please PRAY about this opportunity. Serving on staff will be one of the most fun, most rewarding, and most challenging seasons of your life.

One of the best ways for you to fully understand Student Ministries is to visit one of our meetings or activities. Please call one of us at (626) 844-4758 to arrange a visit. We would also like to meet with you and talk about this opportunity further.

Thank you!


Our Guiding Values

The Guiding Values of Student Ministries

Reconciliation: with God, our community, our city, and our world at large.

Ownership: by offering opportunities for students and adults to engage in mission together.

Authentic Relationships: with all the generations of God's unexpected family.

Discipleship: by developing intimate relationship with Jesus Christ through the Scriptures, prayer, worship, and shared experiences.

Service: as a witness to the reality of God's kingdom.

Qualifications

Qualifications of a Volunteer Staff Member

Reputation/Above Reproach. Volunteer staff members must be in a relationship with Christ, modeling a lifestyle consistent with biblical values. They should also have a consistent reputation among those closest to them - for example, family, friends, and co- workers.

Spiritual Maturity/Disciplines. Volunteer staff members exhibit a high level of spiritual maturity, including a commitment to the spiritual disciplines of Bible reading, prayer, service, fellowship, worship and evangelism.

Heart for Youth. Volunteer staff members have an earnest desire to serve students that comes from a place of sincere love.

Willingness to Lead. Volunteer staff members are eager to engage with students and assist students' development at any level of spiritual pilgrimage.

Commitment. Volunteer staff members give at least one year of committed service to students, and hope to be present for at least 3-4, and even beyond.

Relational. Volunteer staff members demonstrate a willingness and ability to engage the broad spectrum of personalities with which our community is blessed.

Team Player. Volunteer staff members are eager to work on a team toward specific goals in a mutually edifying, supportive manner. They have teachable, open spirits.

Commitment

Our Commitment to You

We understand that as a volunteer, you are making a substantial commitment of your time and energy to students. We want to affirm you in that with our commitment to you:

Training. We commit to provide ongoing training to assist you in leading students. We will offer specific training and resources that apply to your role in the ministry on both a corporate and individual level.

Community. We commit to offering an authentic community for you while serving in Student Ministries. You are not an "island," but rather part of a community of people walking through life together while serving students.

Encouragement. We commit to provide encouragement to you as you provide leadership. We appreciate you and we will encourage and celebrate you as you serve students.

Guidelines

Student Ministries Guidelines

As part of your commitment, we need you to read and sign a copy of our Student Ministries Guidelines every year. You can download a copy here.

 

Here are a few more details of what a staff commitment looks like:

Responsibilities of a Table Group Leader (High School Only)

At Lake Avenue Church, we strongly believe in a relational ministry where men and women of God are set strategically alongside students as healthy role models. Table Group Leaders make the love of Christ real in the lives of students.

Table Group Leader Job Description

A Table Group Leader is a person who co-leads a Sunday morning discussion group of up to eight students for a 1-4 year period. We ask that all staff members commit to one year at a time, with the goal of being present for the entirety of their table group's high school years. Maintaining a consistent relationship with these students is key to having an impact on their lives.

Table Group Leaders are responsible to the Associate Pastor of Student Ministries and the Lead Coordinator of High School Ministries. Table Group Leaders are responsible for the students within their respective table groups.

Time Commitment

1.5 hours on Sunday morning, from 9:00-10:30 AM. Additionally, Table Group Leaders attend monthly staff meetings (1.5 hrs/month), one all-staff commissioning service at the beginning of the school year (1.5 hours), quarterly meetings with a Student Ministries staff member, and our two big parties: Christmas and end-of-the-school-year. As you are able, we strongly encourage you to consider participating in our weekly programming (Wednesdays, service projects, and the like). The more the students at your table can live their lives alongside of you, the better!

Expectations

  • Know your students, i.e. names, schools, family members, interests, life issues, etc.
  • Try to make personal, individual contact with each member of your Table Group once per week. This can look like phone calls, text messages, public online posts, CC'd emails (technology is your ally here!), and of course, nothing is better than actual face time.
  • Adapt your discussion time per the needs of your Table Group. Please do not leave right away, but feel free to extend or shorten your time based on what is going on with your group on a particular day
  • Anticipate absences well in advance (wherever possible) and compensate for the void.

Responsibilities of a Small Group Leader (Junior High Only)

We believe that relational and incarnational ministry are absolutely essential to helping kids understand the gospel. As Christ was sent into the world, so we are sent into kids' lives to love them and show them what God is like through the way we talk about Jesus and through way we live our lives.

A Small Group Leader is a person who leads a Sunday morning discussion group of students for 25 minutes after the message. The Small Group leader is also expected to build relationships with their students outside of the Sunday morning program, through monthly Small Group gatherings as well as through spending time regularly with students. We ask that all volunteers commit to at least one year, with the goal of being present for the entirety of their small group's junior high years. Maintaining a consistent relationship with these students is key to having an impact on their lives.

Small Group Leaders are responsible to the Director of Junior High Ministries and the Ministry Coordinator of Junior High Ministries. Small Group Leaders are responsible for the students within their respective small groups.

Application Form

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Student Ministries Online Volunteer Application
    Please take your time and fill this application out thoughtfully and prayerfully. All information will be kept strictly confidential. Thank you!
    Personal Information
  1. First Name:*
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  2. Last Name:*
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    3. Other Info (info needed for background check)

  3. Gender:*
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  4. Birth Date:*
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  5. Info Good Until:*
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  6. Occupation:*
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    Contact Information
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    4. Permanent Phone (if different from above)

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    5. Current Address
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    9. Permanent Address (if different from above)

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    Church Background
  1. Do you regularly attend Lake Avenue?
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  2. If Yes, which service/s?




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  3. If NO, are you willing to pursue membership within 6 months?
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  4. Do you agree with our Church's Statement of Faith? Read SOF
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  5. If No, which items?
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  6. What other churches have you previously attended?
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  7. Were you involved in any ministry there? If so, please describe!
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    8. Personal Faith
  8. When and how did you become a follower of Jesus?
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  9. Please describe your walk with God
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  10. What is an area of struggle for you in your walk with Christ, and how do you think it might affect your ministry with students?
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    Volunteer Information
  1. What other organizations, activities, or time commitments are you involved with that may impact your serving in Student Ministries? (e.g. sports league, significant other far away, travel for work, etc.)
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  2. Please list two reasons why you want to serve students.
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  3. What kind of student do you think you could best relate to?
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  4. What kinds of things do you like to do for fun with friends? (hobbies, leisure time, etc.)?
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    Best Friend References

    Please list your two best friends and their phone numbers

  1. Best Friends Name:*
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    5. Personal References

    Please list three people whom we can contact as your personal references (one family member may be included - preferably one pastoral reference as well)

  5. Reference Name:*
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  6. Relationship:*
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  8. Reference Name:*
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  9. Relationship:*
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  11. Reference Name:*
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  12. Relationship:*
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    Past Issues
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  1. Past Issues:*














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    2. Personal Issues
  2. Before you were a legal adult, did you ever have a sexual experience with someone older than 17?*
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  3. Have you ever touched someone under 18 years of age inappropriately? (sexually or physically)*
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  4. Have you ever been arrested? If so, please describe the circumstances.*
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    5. Comments or Questions
  5. If you have any questions about any part of the application, please let us know so that we might discuss it in your interview.
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    6. The personal information in this application will be held confidential by the Student Ministy staff. Thank you for taking time to consider your involvement at Lake Avenue Church's Student Ministry.
    I agree that all of the questions contained in the application are answered thoroughly to the best of my knowledge. I agree that, whether or not I have the same values and beliefs as LAC, I will not undermine these values and beliefs while serving under the name of LAC.
    The typing of one's name equates to digitally "signing" this application.
  6. Digital Signature (First Name Last Name):*
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  7. Date Signed:*
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  8. Enter the text you see below:
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