Once a month, from 7 to 10 p.m., Sweet Home Missionary Baptist Church in south Miami-Dade gives youth a safe alternative to spending their Friday night hanging out on the streets. This high-energy experience, nicknamed “Club Surge,” draws teens from Perrine, Cutler Bay, and other neighboring communities to a “church transformed.” For Sweet Home, the word “club” means more than a gathering place: it stands for Chosen, Loved, Unshaken, and Bold.
This event, marketed as “part concert, part community night, part worship service,” offers live music, games, interactive lessons, and a safe space for students to ask the biggest questions on their minds.
According to Sweet Home, Miami-Dade youth violence and juvenile arrest data show that the weekends are among the highest risk times for teens. Club Surge seeks to speak life into the upcoming generation, despite the peer pressure associated with the age and the limited resources in the area.
“I was told that this is a lost generation,” said Pastor Donte Palmer, director of the youth program. “This generation is not lost. They need purpose. So as soon as you give them their purpose, they are hungry for it, on fire for it, so I give every one of them, all my students, a purpose.”…