Several churches in Polk County have united and put aside denominational barriers in order to put together an event for area youths.

Earlier this year, three youth pastors met with a heart to motivate and challenge their youth about serving and ministry.

Around the same time, a band of students at Cedartown High School organized a banquet on their own to show appreciation to its youth workers. The Christian club Brothers and Sisters in Christ (BASIC) held the banquet in March.

From that meeting, personal relationships were established and the small group of pastors grew to nearly a dozen. What began as one church’s program or event began to evolve into a multi, interdenominational activity.

Youth groups have been having worship services together, with one church hosting, one night and the visiting church returning the favor the next time.

Denominational walls are steadily coming down and youth pastors and their youth, together, are excited.

“The kids got a taste of something that they are excited about,” says Nate Galloway, “and they want it.”

Galloway, youth pastor at New Hope Fellowship Church, has prayed for years for something to bring the church community together.

Into his seventh year of ministry in Cedartown, Galloway hosted ‘Invasion,’ a weekends worth of activities to which up to eight church youth groups attended.

“Honestly, this was a test,” Galloway said of ‘Invasion.’ “I thought, will it happen, can it happen? I wanted to do something to bring other churches and youth pastors in the community together.

“These students needed to see that and understand that we’re all working for what we call the Kingdom, not a denomination. We have to have a Kingdom mindset.

At ‘Invasion,’ several middle and high school age youth met over a weekend for worship sessions and a community service project. Attending youth groups included: New Hope, Antioch Baptist, Crossview Community Church of Rockmart, Youngs Grove Baptist, First Baptist, Worldview Baptist and the Cedartown Church of God.

“We wanted it to be student-centered and show them (the youth) that they have something in common,” Galloway said. “It was moving and powerful. God’s spirit was definitely felt.”

Galloway said ‘Invasion’ came as the result of brainstorming sessions with Shane Petty of Antioch Baptist, and Anthony Millsap, of Crossview. The trio collaborated and agreed to the joint service.

Prior to ‘Invasion,’ Petty’s church hosted a similar type event on a smaller scale called ‘SOCKET.’ The event was held on multiple occasions earlier this year, having many fellow church youth groups in attendance.

As an acronym for Serving Our Christ King Evangelizing Teens, ‘SOCKET’ offers youth an evening of praise, fellowship and preaching. The next scheduled event is August 29.

“I am thrilled at what God is orchestrating in Polk County,” Petty said of the youth services in which he has been involved.

“It is quite obvious that we as student pastors are tired of God getting put in a box. We are ready for God to get the recognition that He solely deserves.

“All our students are fired up about Jesus and what he has done, and God will change this county if we stand up and worship Him together and bring the walls down of the buildings we meet in as churches.”

Similar sentiment is expressed by Millsap.

“My heart was to reach out to other student pastors,” Millsap said. “I know I needed help as a youth pastor and other student pastors could help.

“By reaching out as we have, we’ve been able to grow some friendships.”

And along the way, the men reached out to other ministers in the area, receiving guidance, too, from their youth, who were already meeting with their peers through ‘BASIC.’

The trio has expanded in number, meeting once a month to bounce ideas off one another, draw strength and recruit more workers.

To date, the group consists of Galloway and Jamie Christie, of New Hope, Petty, Millsap, James Cordell, of the Cedartown Church of God, David Frasier, of Youngs Grove, Chris Edwards, of First Baptist, Eric LeFevres, of Second Baptist, Lee Kelley, of Worldview, and Sammy Stephens, of New Harmony.

In May, Frasier’s church hosted ‘LifeSpark,’ a one-night youth service featuring praise bands, dramas and speakers at the Purks Building.

Many area church youth groups attended and again just came together for praise and fellowship.

“We had a wonderful night. Through the moving of the Holy Spirit and the efforts of so many people, we saw several youth come to know Christ and many more draw closer to God,” Frasier said.

More events are planned.

“One of the goals for me with this group is to change the mindsets of students in Polk County,” Edwards said of his involvement. “We hear too many negatives, too many problems with drugs, too many problems with teen pregnancy, too many problems with the high school dropout rates, and too many problems stemming from broken homes.

“If we can get our youth groups together and let them see just how many of them there are, theen they can get a sense that they are not along in the halls of their schools. Then hopefully they will be encouraged by those numbers to feel comfortable investigating, learning, living, and telling others about their faith with words and actions,” Edwards said.