The Going Ministry · Students 12–25 · Central Florida

Young Fire — Student Ministry

You are not the next generation waiting to grow up.
You are the fire right now.

This is for you if...
You feel something burning in you that you don't have a name for yet.
You're tired of being told to wait your turn — in your school, your community, your faith.
You believe in something bigger than the algorithm and you're looking for people who do too.
You've been in church your whole life and never felt it — or you've never set foot in one and you're curious anyway.
You want to do something real — not just attend something.

The stands are full.
The field needs you.

Young Fire is not a youth group. It is not a Wednesday night program. It is a community for students who are done spectating and ready to move — whatever that looks like for where they are right now.

What This Is

Three things.
All of them real.

The Community

People who
mean it

Young Fire is students from across Central Florida who are serious about their faith and serious about each other. Not a crowd. A community. The kind where you know who will pick up when you call at 11pm because you need someone to talk to. That community is real. It's here. It's yours if you want it.

The Events

Moments that
actually land

Young Fire events are not pizza nights and name tags. They are high-energy, high-stakes gatherings designed to create the kind of experience that stays with you. The kind you bring someone to. The kind you look back on as the night something changed. Dates and locations posted when you connect below.

The Mission

Something
worth doing

Young Fire connects directly to Eric Schwalbach's school board candidacy, the Jesus Clubs in Schools initiative, and the broader Going Ministry network. You're not joining a program — you're joining a mission that is already in motion across Central Florida. You have a role in it. We want to show you what it is.

"Christ said Come and See —
but He ordered us to Go."

Isaiah 6:8 · The Going Ministry · Eric Schwalbach
The Teacher Behind Young Fire

30 years in the
classroom.

Eric Schwalbach has been teaching in Central Florida for over thirty years. He has also been in the streets, the prisons, the locker rooms, and the recovery rooms for just as long. He started Young Fire because he kept watching students with fire in them sit in seats designed to contain them.

You were not made to sit in the stands.

Eric is also running for Lake County School Board District 1 in 2026 — the only active classroom teacher on the ballot. His candidacy and Young Fire are part of the same mission: get students out of the stands and onto the field.

Eric Schwalbach
Teacher · Founder, The Going Ministry
School Board Candidate, Lake County District 1 · 2026
Central Florida
30+ Years in the classroom 5 Ministry fronts running simultaneously
Light Up

You found
your people.

Tell us who you are. Where you go to school. What's burning in you. Eric and the Young Fire team will reach back out with information on events, community, and how to get plugged in.