Saturday Discovery Zone allows
young people to explore ministry

By Claudia M. Williams
Staff Writer
Young people 12 to 22 who sense a call to serve God can explore ministry further November 12, in Bulverde.
Discovery Zone, presented by the Southwest Texas Conference youth ministries department, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Loft Coffee House in Bulverde.
The Rev. Rusty Freeman, youth ministries director, said he expects the program to draw more than 40 young people.
The free Discovery Zone program gives young people four hours with youth ministry professionals to find out what it means to be in ministry.
Worship leader is recording artist Shannon Cutts. She describes her ministry as one to encourage, empower, inspire, activate and transform young lives through her music, personal testimony and outreach activities.
Cutts’ witness is to focus on the call to ministry from a young woman’s point of view.
“Shannon’s testimony is important for young women,” Freeman said, “because God calls both genders. But it’s still easier for people to understand a man’s calling.”
Roughly 40 percent of Discovery Zone participants are girls, Freeman said.
The program includes discussion groups facilitated by youth ministry leaders from various Southwest Texas congregations. These groups are to explore specialized ministry areas: youth, music and worship, missions, and ordained ministry.
Rob Baird, a representative of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., is to present information about theological education.
In addition, the program includes Holy Communion, various ministry displays and lunch.
Freeman said past Discovery Zone gatherings—Saturday’s is the 11th—have inspired a number of young people to enter the ministry. One is now a church youth director.
“He continues to sense that he is called to pursue ministry further by going to seminary,” Freeman said. “Discovery Zone for him was what it is for all youths, a program to help them learn about ministry and discover more about themselves.”
Young people experience the call to serve just as adults do, Freeman said. But young people are often more open to the Holy Spirit.
“I recently read that although their bodies are not developed to adulthood, their emotions and passions are developed to a higher level,” Freeman said.
“It’s a spiritual harvest field so ripe we just have to offer the opportunity, and they respond to the call. They don’t have the baggage adults have to block it out.
“They are great receptors whose inner sense is the Holy Spirit speaking directly to them. They have to have that inner sense confirmed and encouraged by pastors, by the outside.”
At youth camps, Freeman said, high school juniors and seniors who themselves are discerning God’s will serve as junior counselors. They show young people that someone “doesn’t have to wait until they’re 25 or 30 to begin ministry,” Freeman said.
“They’re doing it right now,” he said.
More information about Discovery Zone and worship leader Shannon Cutts is posted at By Claudia M. Williams
Staff Writer
Young people 12 to 22 who sense a call to serve God can explore ministry further Saturday in Bulverde.
Discovery Zone, presented by the Southwest Texas Conference youth ministries department, is scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at The Loft Coffee House in Bulverde.
The Rev. Rusty Freeman, youth ministries director, said he expects the program to draw more than 40 young people.
The free Discovery Zone program gives young people four hours with youth ministry professionals to find out what it means to be in ministry.
Worship leader is recording artist Shannon Cutts. She describes her ministry as one to encourage, empower, inspire, activate and transform young lives through her music, personal testimony and outreach activities.
Cutts’ witness is to focus on the call to ministry from a young woman’s point of view.
“Shannon’s testimony is important for young women,” Freeman said, “because God calls both genders. But it’s still easier for people to understand a man’s calling.”
Roughly 40 percent of Discovery Zone participants are girls, Freeman said.
The program includes discussion groups facilitated by youth ministry leaders from various Southwest Texas congregations. These groups are to explore specialized ministry areas: youth, music and worship, missions, and ordained ministry.
Rob Baird, a representative of Asbury Theological Seminary in Wilmore, Ky., is to present information about theological education.
In addition, the program includes Holy Communion, various ministry displays and lunch.
Freeman said past Discovery Zone gatherings—Saturday’s is the 11th—have inspired a number of young people to enter the ministry. One is now a church youth director.
“He continues to sense that he is called to pursue ministry further by going to seminary,” Freeman said. “Discovery Zone for him was what it is for all youths, a program to help them learn about ministry and discover more about themselves.”
Young people experience the call to serve just as adults do, Freeman said. But young people are often more open to the Holy Spirit.
“I recently read that although their bodies are not developed to adulthood, their emotions and passions are developed to a higher level,” Freeman said.
“It’s a spiritual harvest field so ripe we just have to offer the opportunity, and they respond to the call. They don’t have the baggage adults have to block it out.
“They are great receptors whose inner sense is the Holy Spirit speaking directly to them. They have to have that inner sense confirmed and encouraged by pastors, by the outside.”
At youth camps, Freeman said, high school juniors and seniors who themselves are discerning God’s will serve as junior counselors. They show young people that someone “doesn’t have to wait until they’re 25 or 30 to begin ministry,” Freeman said.
“They’re doing it right now,” he said.
More information about Discovery Zone and worship leader Shannon Cutts is posted at www.reachingyouth.org..