Massanetta Story: Front Row Seat

Ridgley’s congregation had a history of summer mission trips, but no experience of conference ministry for younger youth. They worship in a secular community where youth from the congregation have difficulty getting a sense of the larger Church - that they are part of a substantial community of faith. “I wanted a way to engage my middlers earlier” - at a point in their personal development where faith and identity are shaped. Ridgley hoped to provide an experience that would deepen their connections with each other while deepening their faith through fellowship, play, worship, and time away from the busyness (and screens) of normal life.

Ridgely found exactly what she was hoping for at Massanetta Springs MIddle School Conference. “At Massanetta, I sit back and watch the Holy Spirit work with my kids. I have a front row seat.” Around every corner of Massanetta Springs it seemed there was evidence of the Holy Spirit’s work: sitting with feet in the spring, having unscripted conversations and teachable moments that just don’t seem as natural elsewhere; the impact of the candlelight vespers service on the faces of her youth.  The transformative energy of a Massanetta Springs experience was everywhere. “It was contagious.”  

Ridgley knows that Massanetta Springs is having an impact on her congregation’s youth when they say things like, “I never realized there were so many other teenagers like me.”  It’s a place where Middle School students can be, “wholeheartedly themselves and be loved for being wholeheartedly themselves” - a rare and special space for today’s young people.  It’s a place where the lasting impact is tangible.

When SJPC youth return home from Massanetta Springs, parents seek Ridgley out to ask, “What happens there? When they come back, the youth want to be involved!' Massanetta Springs is a place where kids grab onto faith for themselves and learn that “church is for them, too.”

The transformational faith journey that Ridgley enjoys from her “front row seat” is made possible by generosity from people just like you. Your financial gifts ensure that more Middle School students have opportunities to see themselves as meaningful contributors within the broader community of faith. Supporting Massanetta’s ministry before December 31 will ensure those experiences for the SJPC youth group and thousands more each year. Thank you.