But while the sweet treats may get teenagers out of bed and into a weekly Bible reading, it’s the learning and sense of community that keep them coming back. Pastor Eric designed Tuesday Morning Bible Reading (affectionately called TMBR) not as a Bible “study,” but as a 30-minute opportunity for teens in middle school and high school to simply read Scripture. They spend 25 minutes diving into the narratives of the day’s reading, they read a psalm to close the gathering, and then everyone is off to school. 

“I don’t have an agenda.… We read the weird stuff,” Pastor Eric says. “They love the Old Testament, and we just get in it. And so I’m constantly holding the Bible up and being like, ‘These are the stories that they chose to write down and share with people. No one looks good in this story.’ And so I think they appreciate that too. It’s like, ‘Let’s honestly wrestle with this. Where’s God in the midst of this? I don’t know. Everyone’s getting murdered. What do we do with that?’ There’s an honest wrestling with Scripture in a way that doesn’t shy away from the harder parts and really exposes them to the wide variety of Scripture as well.” 

Pastor Eric knew a 6:30 a.m. start time was a gamble, even though it’s the one time of day usually unoccupied by school and sports schedules. Yet, parents repeatedly tell him it’s the one day of the week that they don’t have to wake their kids up. 

“I keep thinking to myself, ‘It’s only donuts. And we read the Bible. What’s the secret sauce, or what’s the magic here?’,” Eric says. I don’t know…and yet it is simple. I think in part [it’s because] we read interesting things. We’re really playful with what we do. And [community] ends up also being built.” 

Sophie, a high school freshman who has been attending with her brothers since COVID, admitted it was the donuts that initially sold her, but she quickly found value in the routine, the learning, and the connections with friends she may not otherwise see often. 

“On Sundays when they’re talking, when they’re reading the Bible up front, it’s a lot,” Sophie said. “I don’t quite follow it as well as I do when we’re reading [on Tuesdays]. We’re all following along, and we lose our spot a lot and then we have to go find it again. And it’s a lot more interactive.” 

The dynamic nature of this group often comes from diving down rabbit holes. On one Tuesday morning when reading from Second Kings, the group became fixated on learning how many shekels are equal to a US dollar. And Pastor Eric welcomes that. Not only does it offer some additional learning, but it lets young people take ownership of the experience. 

“We get three options, and we get to choose the new one,” Sophie said. “So we want to get through this book. The section we’re reading right now is not the most riveting and doesn’t have a clear story arc. But there’ll be parts where [we’re] like, ‘Oh, Jesus cursed the tree. Ha ha ha. Now what happens?’ One thing I’ve learned about the Bible is that it’s not just a highlight reel, it’s not just the good stuff. There’ll be parts where I was like, ‘Why did they put this in here? I don’t think this really matters in the story of the Israelites and God.’ [The Bible] doesn’t paint everyone in a good light all the time. And I think that’s kind of important. If everything was painted in a good light all the time, it wouldn’t be a full painting.” 

While it may not require much to stage this group from week to week, Pastor Eric is very intentional about its outcomes. He wants to have a space where young people can learn, ask questions, and wrestle with their faith. TMBR is just one piece of a youth ministry program that makes that possible—a ministry that hopefully positions these teens well for life after high school.  

“We have a lot of kids who are intellectual types.… I think teaching them to [embrace] curiosity [is important],” Pastor Eric says. “They don’t need to check their intellect at the door when they show up here. They don’t need to be afraid to ask difficult questions or wrestle with those things.… I think to show them you can be an intellectually serious person and a person of faith is a really important thing.”