From chapels, to small groups, to special events, UCA is dedicated to forming Christian disciples in ways that extend beyond the classroom. And this school year, overseeing that responsibility has largely fallen to Mr. Andy Sons, Director of Discipleship.
Mr. Sons started teaching at UCA last school year, and added Director of Discipleship duties this year. He wears many hats at UCA, from teaching Bible classes to all four grades, to teaching PE for freshmen and sophomores, to maintaining and creating discipleship opportunities for students. He also serves as Ministry Director at Grace Church in Lansing.
Mr. Andy Sons, Director of Discipleship
Mr. Sons took the role over from Mr. Steven Harrison, who departed UCA at the end of last school year. Among many other responsibilities, Mr. Harrison established the foundation of UCA's Bible curriculum and faith formation opportunities.
Chapel
When it comes to regular rhythms of worship and discipleship at UCA, Wednesday chapels are a crucial part. These chapels are sometimes led by Mr. Sons, but are also led by faculty, staff, and outside speakers.
To start the year, Mr. Sons led the school through a series called, “Stories that Shape Us,” walking students through some of the classic Bible stories, like Noah, Jonah, Samson, David, and others.
“For some of us that have grown up with these stories, we got to relive them and say, “Ah, these are good stories.’ But at the same time we realize we have a lot of students who may not have heard these classic stories before. And they need to hear them,” Mr. Sons said.
As part of the “Stories that Shape Us” series, Mr. Sons spent a whole chapel in character as Matthew, and told the story of being a disciple of Jesus, and recounted the last days of Jesus’ life.
After ending 2023 with an advent series and a visit from a missionary in the Philippines, chapel this semester starts with lessons on contentment and anger. Next is a series that will run until Easter that examines the life of Jesus called, “Come Follow Me, a Disciple’s Journey.” Starting in April, the school will learn about the Full Armor of God described in Ephesians. The final chapels of the year will feature seniors sharing their testimonies.
Groups, retreats, and other activities
New this year, Mr. Sons has organized a discipleship group at UCA. In a funny coincidence, 12 students are involved in the program, which required students to apply to be a part of the group.
“It’s things like simple check-ins, building them up to be leaders, teaching them things like how to pray and how to encourage one another,” Mr. Sons said. “The point of it is to build spiritual leaders.”
The group meets every other week during their lunch period to hold each other accountable and work on their goals for themselves.
Retreats are another tool for discipleship at UCA, Mr. Sons said. At the beginning of the year, seniors went on a small retreat to build class community, and in early February, some students will go to Winter Jam, a retreat at Silver Birch Ranch in Wisconsin that’s focused on worship and winter-specific activities. An all-school service day is also planned for the spring semester.
As far as upcoming plans go, Mr. Sons hopes to start a monthly activity that’s modeled after a church youth group, allowing students to eat together in the evening, enjoy fellowship, and worship together. He also hopes to start a student chapel committee next school year that will be involved in leading chapel from week to week.
Bible curriculum
Mr. Sons is uniquely situated to ensure the activities and experiences outside of the classroom complement the Bible curriculum that he leads students through in the classroom.
UCA freshmen work through the Old Testament and sophomores move on to the New Testament. Juniors study systematic theology, including the doctrines of scripture, salvation, the church, the trinity, and the end times. Seniors focus on historical theology and church history, learning about different denominations, church traditions, and how to carefully avoid various heresies.
“For seniors, it’s also set up in a way where it’s a lot of discussion and advice, because they’re about to graduate,” Mr Sons said, “The thought is freshman to senior year, you know the contents of the Bible, you know the doctrines of the Bible and how to interpret scripture, and then for seniors it’s, ‘What are you going to do?’”
Uniquely UCA
Being an open enrollment school, UCA does not require students or parents to be Christians to join our community. That reality has led to some challenges, but also some powerful spiritual moments among students, Mr. Sons said.
“I want all of our students to know the good news, but at the same time, even if just one person is listening, repents, and acknowledges the love of God that they have upon them, all of heaven rejoices. That’s the mentality I try to have,” he said.
James Sullivan graduated from UCA last year. When he first arrived at UCA, he was filled with uncertainty. “He had a ‘I don’t know if there’s anything out there’ kind of attitude,” Mr. Sons said.
James Sullivan on graduation day in 2023.
By the time he graduated, James claimed Jesus as his savior.
“He came back this year and he was so excited to show us a video of him being baptized,” Mr. Sons said. “The questions he would have toward the end of last year that he would ask me, you could tell he was just so genuine. You could tell he was just so in it and so excited to grow and be in the faith.”