At Faith Christian School, we believe students should engage culture with both truth and grace, learning to share the hope of Christ in meaningful ways. One avenue for this is our Youth and Government program, where students participate in the Virginia YMCA’s Model General Assembly in Richmond—crafting bills, debating real-world issues, and taking on leadership roles. Through this experience, students grow as thoughtful, articulate leaders equipped to impact their communities with the Gospel.

Here at Faith Christian School, our primary aim is to engage students in a deep love for Christ that inspires a love for all that he has created. We live in a broken, divided world that turns over every stone to find the fundamental needs that only Jesus can provide. Our students, suited in the armor of God, are prepared to engage this need in all environments. One way that students at Faith Christian learn to share this truth of the Gospel with the world is through civic engagement in the community. Students in Youth and Government, an upper school government program, have the opportunity to attend the Virginia Youth in Government Association (VAYGA) Model General Assembly (MGA) in Richmond, where they use their platforms to engage with other students in a way that brings powerful witness to the Gospel.

The Youth in Government program exists to provide students with the opportunity to use their rhetorical, research, and analytical skills in a real-world arena: the State Legislature. Through our time together, students choose a timely issue to assume a position on and compose a bill that they will present to a gathering of high school students from across Virginia at MGA. They then debate and vote on these bills as they take on the role of a delegate or senator. Outside of being a legislator, students have the opportunity to work as a Lobbyist or Media Team member to simulate an environment similar to a true session of the state legislature. In the past, students have submitted bills concerning state policies on minimum wages, standardized testing, and sexual assault reporting. In preparation for MGA, students question, debate, and attend specialized writing workshops hosted by the YMCA so that they might present the best final bill on the floor of both the Senate and the House of Delegates. Considering the intentional value of rhetoric’s study at Faith Christian School, our students are active contributors to these discussions and even take on leadership roles within them, as several students have been elected to serve in executive offices and other appointed roles in our time at MGA.

We offer Youth in Government and MGA at Faith Christian so that our graduates may experience what it means to live their faith while impacting a world with people who may not know the hope that they have in Christ. Students become familiar with the legislative process through direct immersion, a process highlighted within Classical Christian pedagogy, and so find themselves better prepared to face venues that require them to give a defense of the faith that they have, as MGA has provided such a venue. As Christians, it is invaluable to our effectiveness as missionaries that we understand the way of the world as it relates to the truth that we hold. Only then can we engage our communities around us with what they desperately need.