Students in Action Program equips Christian youth to be pro-life leaders

As an alumnus of Wesley Biblical Seminary (MACS ’06) and now a member of the Board of Trustees, Stuart Kellogg has a deep commitment to the biblical values of the seminary, including the Scriptural affirmation of the sacred value of human life. His career in television media and his experience with the Colson Center for Christian Worldview further raised his awareness of the many influences shaping the hearts and minds of the public, and the importance of a biblical worldview in evaluating those influences.

So, when Stuart saw influences seeking to draw young people in his church away from a pro-life position, he recognized the need to step into the gap. The result of his efforts was “Students in Action: Building Pro-Life Leaders,” a curriculum designed to be implemented in the local church that not only counters worldly influences; it goes further to help form young people as leaders who will influence the world for good by equipping them to be both advocates for life, and servants to the needs of families and children, especially women facing crisis pregnancies.

Students at FBC Fairhope pilot the Students in Action program

Stuart’s home church, First Baptist of Fairhope, Alabama, piloted the program in the fall of 2024. About a dozen high school-age students, along with adult leaders, engaged in classroom instruction, interactive discussion, and service projects. One such student is Jill Cotton, who was a high school junior at the time of the class. She recalls, “We met for five sessions that were about an hour long. I loved the classes, which were thorough and well-formatted. I was raised in a Christian family and understood the pro-life mission, but this class did a great job of giving me more detailed instruction on why I believe what I believe, from the biblical worldview to the history of the movement.”

Students participate in a project

Jill and her classmates also participated in several projects. “We served at a silent auction to help raise money for a local women’s health ministry,” she says, “and we even helped to teach the 4^th and 5^th grade children in our church the basics of God’s call to love children and led them in a project to raise funds by filling baby bottles with spare change.”

Particularly impactful for Jill was the opportunity to tour the women’s ministry facility and hear testimonies from people whose lives had been touched. “It made me realize that women often face a lot of desperation,” she says. “But God not only can give hope in their immediate situation, He can also provide them with a future and even use them to help others who are in need.”

Ryan Smith, who has served as Student Minister at FBC Fairhope for 18 years, affirmed that the class was effective for both the students and the adult volunteers who were involved. “It was a great refresher for them on God’s whole, beautiful plan for human sexuality and love for children,” he says. “We’ve already seen adult participants eager to start the next round of the class, and the youth are taking a leadership role as well.” He notes that one student plans to start a pro-life club in her local high school.

Strengthened by the feedback from this pilot group, Stuart has now developed a website to explain the program and share the resources with other local churches, prolifeleaders.net.

“Even with the overturning of Roe v. Wade, there has never been a more critical time in the pro-life movement,” Stuart notes, “but politics is not the answer. This hot-button issue is only the tip of the iceberg in a deeper need to anchor the worldview of Christian students in Scripture, and to turn ideas into action through practical service and real-world advocacy.”

As Dr. Matt Friedeman has noted, WBS students who engaged with the abortion clinic in WBS’ hometown of Jackson, Mississippi, were directly influential in the case that eventually resulted in the overturning of Roe v. Wade.

We praise God for alumni and board members like Stuart Kellogg, who continue to engage the world with the Scriptural values taught at WBS, and pray that this program and others like it will strengthen the disciple-making ministry of local churches across our movement.