Princeton Club 56′s mission: Share God’s love with students, help them grow in their faith

There has been a long standing outreach ministry to teenagers in Bureau County.

That mission is continuing with a new name.

Princeton Club 56 has been launched with a mission of sharing God’s love with students and helping them grow in their faith.

Sue Scruggs, Chuck Warren, Linda Fine and Barb Jesse, the Princeton Club 56′s board of directors, decided that the ministry needed to be supervised by the local board of directors and that all the funding should stay in Bureau County.

To accomplish this, the board left Young Life in late 2022, and created a new, local nonprofit organization. Princeton Club 56 was officially incorporated in the state of Illinois in August 2023 and was officially approved as a 501c3 nonprofit organization by the IRS in October 2023.

The board hired Buc and Carmen Grey on Feb. 1. Buc Grey is full time with Princeton Club 56 as area director, and his wife, Carmen, is the part-time office administrator. The Greys have a history of youth ministry, starting in the 1990s in West Virginia and then continuing in Princeton from 2002-2022 with Young Life.

Princeton Club 56 offers many programs for students in junior high, senior high and college age, including:

Junior High Club: After-school outreach club for students at Logan Junior High during the school year 3 to 4 p.m. on Wednesday afternoons.

Senior High Club: For high school students during the school year on Wednesday nights at the youth room at New Hope Church, 30 N. Sixth St.

College/young adult Club: For young adults that meets on Sunday nights.

Weekly small group discussions for all ages that meet throughout the year.

Summer and Fall camping trips.

Khristian Whitfield, a young adult volunteer leader with Princeton Club 56, summed up the ministry.

“We are there to share with students love and open arms just as God has for us no matter who it is that may need it,” Whitfield said. “I want to make sure that everyone knows that Club 56 is going to be a place where people of God will share His Word and love one another for a long, long time.”

Princeton Club 56 Fiscal Year Budget for 2024 is $140,000. There are two main yearly fundraisers for the ministry, a banquet and a golf event. All money that is raised through the banquet and golf outing stays local.

There are many local individual donors and businesses, community groups and churches that support Princeton Club 56.

Those who would like to contribute, may send a check to Princeton Club 56 at P.O. Box 56, Princeton, IL, 61356. Your contribution is tax deductible.

To see more pictures and to follow Princeton Club 56 on social media go to their Facebook page at Princeton Club 56 and Instagram at Club 56 Princeton. For more information about Princeton Club 56, contact Buc Grey at 815-878-5874 or email at princetonclub56@gmail.com.