On the side of a mountain in scenic Durango, Colorado, my small group and I pondered how to take the things we were learning there at church camp to our schools back home. We decided to start a campus group at our school. Through the summer, we met to talk about what we wanted the group to look like. With the help of Brock, the leader of YoungLife, an influential Christian group in our area, we soon figured out what we wanted: a place at school where we could come together and have fun, learn and talk about God with our friends. Someone came up with the clever name TAG – Talk About God. This name fit our vision of the group. For the lesson part of TAG, we wanted “big church sermon” aspects to the group as well as “small group” time, and game time too. And with help from our principals, we found the perfect time to hold TAG: right after school on Wednesdays before sports started. At that time, TAG became a welcome distraction from sitting in the commons, which is students’ other option. The reaction from our school so far has been overwhelmingly positive. TAG has amassed a core group of people with new faces every week. Every time I go to TAG I am incredibly thankful for a group like it in my school. I think groups like TAG can be influential for God’s kingdom in every school.
If you would like to start something like this in your school, here are some things I’ve learned from starting TAG. First, contact with an adult to help you. They have good advice and can help you with problems that aren’t even on your radar. Brock has helped us tons through our start up journey. Second, get a group of people together as a leadership core. TAG’s core is about twenty people, and they help invite, organize, and do the lessons each week. These people helped get TAG into the school and keep it awesome. Last, pray. All the time. On the day TAG started, my prayers were simple: “Please don’t let me mess this up God. Let this be what you want it to be. Please let this go well.” Over and over. They worked, and also gave me peace. Since God was with us, everything went pretty smoothly. With these tips in mind, I wish you a happy group starting.
Jessica – Maize South High School
