SUBMIT A QUESTION BY EMAIL: DREW@SURGE.ORG.NZ
 

GENERAL FAQ'S

What is SURGE?
What does the name SURGE mean?
What is the purpose and mission of SURGE?
Who are the leaders of SURGE?
What is THE MAIN EVENT?
What is UTH Cafe?
What is a SPLASH EVENT?
What is the Xtreme Summer Challenge (XSC)?
What ages are allowed to attend SURGE?
What is the SURGE Servant Leader Team?
 

PARENTS FAQ'S

What is the governing organization of SURGE?
What does SURGE teach my child?
Where does SURGE stand on social issues?
What qualifications do the leaders have?
Who do I contact if I have a question?
What kind of supervision exists at SURGE?
What time should I pick up my students?
Do the students need to bring money?
What is the SURGE emergency plan?
What events are the most important to attend?
What is the SURGE policy on PDA?
 

GENERAL FAQ'S

WHAT IS SURGE? SURGE is the student ministries arm of East City Wesleyan Church and is a youth group for ages 11-18. 

WHAT DOES THE NAME SURGE MEAN? SURGE is actually an acronym that breaks down like this:

S = Surrender in Worship;
U = Unite in Community;
R = Respond in Devotion;
G = Gracious in Outreach;
E = Embody in Service. 

Each of these concepts are explained in more detail in my philosophy of youth ministry.

WHAT IS THE PURPOSE AND MISSION OF SURGE? The purpose of SURGE is also better defined by reading my philosophy of youth ministry.  However a simple statement of purpose would be that SURGE exists to provide a safe and loving environment where students learn practical decision making and life skills, enjoy fun and fellowship with their peers, find opportunities to serve others and discover the truth of God's Word.  SURGE also has a strong goal to develop leaders and train students in ministries that help support and grow God's church and the work of the Kingdom.

WHO ARE THE LEADERS OF SURGE? SURGE is led by Rev. Drew and Amy Donovan who are missionaries from the east coast of Canada to help pioneer youth ministry in the Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand.  Drew and Amy arrived in New Zealand on September 9th 2006 and are commissioned at ECW until at least February 2011.

Drew graduated from Bethany Bible college (University) in 1998 with a BA degree in Religion with a pastoral ministries major and a BA in Christian Education with a Music Ministry Major.  Since 1998 Drew has served as a youth pastor in North Carolina and New Brunswick Canada, but has been involved in leadership of youth ministries for more than 15 years.

Amy graduated from Bethany Bible college (University) in 2001 with a BA in Christian Education and Indiana Wesleyan University in 2003 with a MA in Community Counselling. Amy spent the next year teaching English as a second language in Japan while helping with a church plant. 

Amy and Drew were married on July 16th 2005 and began preparations to move to NZ while working as support counsellors in Toronto for an organization called Christian Horizons. 

SURGE also is supported by 4 other young adult leaders who assist Drew and Amy with supervision and planning for SURGE events. 

They are: David Grant, Derene Els, Graeme Els, and Charles Lamb.

WHAT IS THE MAIN EVENT? The Main Event is the primary meeting time for SURGE on Friday evenings from 7-9pm.  This event is designed to be an all inclusive worship and fellowship time for students.  We have many activities and games as well as a full band who leads songs of praise and worship as well as teaching from God's Word.  The main event is where the majority of SURGE happens!

WHAT IS UTH CAFE? UTH cafe is hour following The Main Event on Friday evenings and is designed to allow teens some more time to just be together and be social.  The goal of UTH cafe is to provide a safe and fun place for teens to hang out.

WHAT IS A SPLASH EVENT? Splash events are the outreach/fun events of SURGE that have very little, if any, teaching or preaching.  These events are what I call ENTRY LEVEL EVENTS which you can read more about if you look at the 3 Tier System in my philosophy of youth ministry.  These events are typically held on Sunday evenings from 6-9pm unless otherwise specified and are usually 1-2 times per month.

WHAT IS THE XTREME SUMMER CHALLENGE (XSC)? The XSC is our summer outreach program that has become our major outreach focus of the year.  During January and February SURGE is divided into 4 teams who compete for the SURGE XSC cup in a points race throughout the summer.  Students are encouraged to invite friends and to be heavily involved during this time out of school. 

WHAT AGES ARE ALLOWED TO ATTEND SURGE? SURGE is targeted to students from ages 11-18 however we do have a program on Sunday mornings for ages 9-12 to support the younger ages as they transition into SURGE.  An student who is 11 or in the summer before starting year 7 beginning after Christmas that year.

WHAT IS THE SURGE SERVANT LEADER TEAM? One of the important parts of SURGE is leadership development and the Servant Leader team are voluntary students who choose to attend monthly meetings and help with the planning and programming of SURGE.  Any student may be a student leader if they choose.  Servant leader meetings follow SURGE 4WORD on Tuesday evenings fortnightly. 

PARENT FAQ'S

What is the governing organization of SURGE? Surge is funded and governed by the larger body of East City Wesleyan Church: www.ecw.org.nz which is part of the Wesleyan Methodist Church of New Zealand: www.wmcnz.org.nz.  The pastor of ECW is Rev. Richard Waugh and he is also the National Superintendant of WMCNZ.  Feel free to contact Richard at rjw@ecw.org.nz

What does SURGE teach my child? Teaching at SURGE is typically done by Rev. Drew Donovan (Youth Pastor) or is closely monitored by the leadership.  SURGE focuses on teaching biblical truth and principles for living without focusing on opinion.  SURGE teaches that students need to learn to make informed decisions for themselves and therefore emphasises true principles for living rather than a rule based approach.  In other words we don't say "Do this and don't do that" as much as we say "This is what God teaches, now how does that apply to the choices you make in life?"

THE MAIN EVENT: The content and subject matter changes, but is typically done in series, therefore it is most beneficial for students to regularly attend the SURGE main event each week.

SURGE 4 WORD: is entirely scripture and discussion based so the teaching comes from discussing the passage studied that week.  The format is to choose a book of the Bible and to read a chapter each week discussing it's content as a group.

Many other principles are taught by example and through active involvement in student leadership opportunities at SURGE.

SPECIAL SUBJECTS LIKE SEX:  Some subjects need to be addressed to teenagers and will be discussed annually.  Subjects like sex, drugs, alcohol abuse, gambling, etc... are not the primary focus of our lessons however the life principles we teach do help teens make informed decisions about these issues.  When the issue of sex and dating arises each year you will be informed by email and mail so you can review the issues being discussed. 

WHERE DOES SURGE STAND ON SOCIAL ISSUES? Without going into too much detail, SURGE takes the following position on these social issues:  PLEASE Contact Drew Donova if you have any concerns or questions about these hot topics.

DATING: Students are encouraged to not pursue serious dating relationship until at least 17 years of age and are encouraged to focus on friendships without physical relationships in their younger years.

SEX: SURGE agrees that the Bible teaches abstinence from sex until marriage and therefore teaches teens to be pure in their dating relationships leading to marriage.

DRUGS: SURGE believes that the use of illegal drugs is harmful, addictive and supports the laws of the nation in stance and teaching. 

ALCOHOL: SURGE teaches that abstinence of alcohol is the best method to avoid alcohol abuse and that teens should not be drinking at all.  When a student is legally of age they must make their own informed decision about their drinking habits. 

ABORTION: SURGE believes that upon conception there is life and therefore abortion is not an acceptable option.

What qualifications do the leaders have?

Rev. Drew Donovan is an ordained minister of the Wesleyan Church (2000) and has served in youth ministry for more than 15 years.  He has 2 Bachelor of Arts degrees from Bethany Bible College www.bbc.ca in Canada in both Religion and Christian Education.  Drew has completed a suicide prevention program as well as serving 2 years as a volunteer fire fighter in Canada learning advanced first aid, however this is not current in NZ.

Amy Donovan is the wife of Drew and has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Bethany Bible College in Christian Education as well as a Master of Arts Degree from Indiana Wesleyan University in Community Counselling.  Amy has been serving along side Drew in youth ministry for the last 4 years.  Amy has gifts for counselling and is available to help with family matters upon request. 

Who do I contact if I have a question? If you need to contact anyone regarding an issue or question, email is the best method. Amy serves as the communication manager for SURGE and is typically the best initial contact.  amy@addministries.com  Please see our contact page for more information.

What kind of supervision exists at SURGE? Supervision at SURGE is currently at a ratio of approximately 1 adult to every 10 students.  We are careful to be sure students are monitored continually and that opportunities do not exists for dangerous situation.

What time should I pick up my students? SURGE respects the time and schedule of parents who do the majority of the driving and therefore will respectfully end when announced.  Our request is that you do have the same respect for the leaders serving at SURGE and arrive to pick up your students by the time stated or shortly thereafter.  We would like to discourage parents from waiting for a text or call before heading out to pick up students as that often leads to very late pick ups since the students won't call or text you until we are closing up. WE WILL NOT LEAVE STUDENTS UNATTENDED UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES AT THE END OF AN EVENT. Which is why we ask for your cooperation of being on time. 

NOTE: UTH cafe is all free time and students may be picked up at any time on Fridays between 9 and 10pm however I can't guarantee they'll want to go.

Do the students need to bring money? The Main Event will never cost money to attend however we do have a SURGE canteen available where teens can purchase snacks.  We do also teach students to give to the work of God and therefore may have opportunities to give an offering which is not required.  Other special events may have costs associated with them but they will be clearly announced.  We try very hard to not have costly events on a regular basis and will do all we can to keep costs low.  SURGE is a not for profit organisation. 

What is the SURGE emergency plan? In the event of an emergency at SURGE students the needs of the moment will be assessed by the youth leaders on site.  A first aid kit is kept on site and with us at all events outside the building as well.  If there is ANY serious risk or injury an ambulance will be called immediately followed by the parents.   A youth leader will stay with the student at all times until parents can arrive.  The youth leaders will follow the medical advice of the ambulance crew about where to take the student for treatment.  If you have any special instructions or special emergency contact information we should know about please inform us as soon as possible. 

What events are the most important to attend? If you feel that it is difficult for your student to attend every event at SURGE we recommend first that students try to be consistently at The Main Event.  This is the primary meeting of SURGE.  Second to that is SURGE 4 WORD and the least important events are the fun entry level events that are held on Sunday evenings.

A SUGGESTION ABOUT GROUNDING OR PUNISHMENT: We would like to discourage parents from using "The Main Event" or "SURGE 4WORD" as a platform for punishment or grounding.  Hopefully you can see the value in students studying God's Word and therefore we believe that grounding a student from these events is more detrimental than helpful.  Can we suggest that you consider the grounding to be from "UTH cafe" times and SPLASH events instead or find another creative means.  This is only a suggestion and we will support the decisions parents make.

What is the SURGE policy on PDA? PDA or Public Displays of Affection are discouraged and simply not allowed at SURGE.  We do however allow, holding hands and a hug goodbye at the end of the evening.  Teens are not allowed to go off together alone and PDA is dealt with immediately if discovered.