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About TNT Youth Ministry

In August of 2000, Ephrata Mennonite Church, now known as Alive Church Ephrata, began a parking lot outreach ministry for community youth. The outreach met every Thursday night, drawing well over 100 young people. This outreach soon became known as TNT or “Thursday Night Thing”. Over the years, TNT grew from being known as a Thursday night outreach into a much broader vision. No longer is TNT a church program but an independent, non-profit organization that has developed multiple youth center locations and serves public school campuses. 

Above all, TNT has the heart to transform young lives by sharing the loving message of Jesus Christ. To accomplish this, we focus on earning the right to be heard by building relationships and showing that we deeply care about people’s lives and hearts. At our youth centers TNT provides fun activities, group games, devotions, and small group times. On the public school campus, we provide a servant’s heart, helping students meet academic and relationship goals.

All in all, TNT is all about transformation. Our desire is for youth and adults to experience the love, joy, and hope that comes from a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. We believe that loving Jesus and loving others is truly what the kingdom of God is all about.

Our VISION is to see transformed students bring hope to their families, peers, schools, and communities with the saving power and love of Christ.

Our MISSION is to build trusting relationships to ignite faith and transform students for Christ on school campuses and their communities.

 

CORE VALUES:

Prayer - Petition God for spiritual transformation for students, schools, and communities

Build - Build healthy, trusting relationships to gain influence to be able to share the gospel of Jesus Christ to disciple students in Biblical values

Pursue - Walk alongside and invite students to faith in Jesus Christ and encourage students to connect to the Church

Empower - Provide tools and opportunities for students to fulfill the great commission

TNT Youth Ministry Statement of Faith

  • We believe the Bible to be the inspired, inerrant, authoritative Word of God.
  • We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons: Father, Son, and the Holy Spirit.
  • We believe in the deity of our Lord Jesus Christ, in His virgin birth, in His sinless life, in His miracles, in His vicarious and atoning death through His shed blood, in His bodily resurrection, in His ascension to the right hand of the Father, and in His personal return in power and glory.
  • We believe that salvation is a personal decision made available to all by grace through faith in Christ alone and that regeneration by the Holy Spirit is absolutely essential.
  • We believe in the present ministry of the Holy Spirit by whose indwelling the Christian is enabled to live a godly life.
  • We believe in both heaven and hell. Those who have accepted the saving power of Jesus Christ will have eternal life in heaven.  Those who do not accept Jesus Christ as Lord of their lives will spend eternity in hell and total separation from God and his son Jesus Christ.
  • We believe in the spiritual unity of all believers in our Lord Jesus Christ. The church best represents Christ to the world when there is godly humility and unity within and between congregations and love towards the world at large.
  • We believe that God created the marriage covenant to be between one man and one woman. Furthermore, TNT believes that God creates each person in his image, fearfully and wonderfully made, and designed with intended gender, sexuality, abilities, gifting, and purpose.

Meet Our Board

Cheryl Pfautz – President

Deryl Hurst – Vice President

Glenn Sauder – Treasurer

Kevin Eshleman – Secretary

Galen Zimmerman

Lisa Miller

Merle Zimmerman

Mike Landis

Scott Galen

Sherry Woolley