GCSS Spirituality
“Seek ye first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added unto you.” -Matthew 6:33
The administration, faculty and staff of GCSS seek to partner with parents to help each child develop a vibrant, growing, and most importantly, a saving relationship with Jesus Christ. First and foremost, we want to see that all young people in the GCSS choose to follow and live for Him each day. By setting this goal, we believe that all the rest of the pieces that make up a successful school program will come into proper balance. In our academics, fine arts, athletics, social activities and community service opportunities we want to seek and honor God in all we do.
GCSS is all about being part of the journey each young person embarks on to get to know Jesus Christ better and to include Him in all aspects of their lives. Nothing is more important or eternal than being a follower of Jesus Christ. Each GCSS school develops their own plan for making this happen. Through daily worships, prayer time, Bible classes, service activities, mission trips, chapel presentations, and weeks of spiritual emphasis, we want to provide every possible opportunity for the young people in the GCSS to build a forever friendship with Jesus Christ.
Pastor Chris Massengill serves as the chaplain at Collegedale Academy and Pastor Tabor Nudd is the chaplain at AWS and CAMS for the 2014-2015 school year. Our chaplains seek to collaborate with the youth pastors in our local churches to provide all possible support for the students who want to participate in Bible studies during the school year. 2013-2014 was an outstanding years with over 150 students being involved in Bible studies. As our strategic planning process continues the GCSS will seek to build stronger partnerships with the home and church. Exciting things will happen as we seek ways to intentionally minister to the students we serve.
Missions:
CA has a rich heritage of mission trips dating back to 1993 and the first school trip to Costa Rica. Since then CA students have had the opportunity to go every year on a trip sponsored either by CA or one of the other constituent churches. The last mission trip in the spring of 2014 went to Haiti and a majority of the trips have been to the Central American region. When you are on campus, please take a look at the world mission map in the administration building main hallway.
In order to make these trips a reality, students need to plan on raising approximately $1,600 – $2,000. CA Mission Trip Leadership operate an aggressive citrus fruit fundraising program every year which helps offset some of the costs of the trips. Mr. Michael Peel and Mr. David Djernes are the CA Mission Trip Coordinators.
The mission trip in 2014 was in combination with the Collegedale SDA Church. During the last week of February and first week of March 2014, about a dozen CA students joined the Collegedale church group to go to Haiti. This group continued to provide relief work for the devastating earthquake a few years ago, as well as helping in a construction project and medical clinic.