Service Hours

Philosophy of Community Service

Developing Compassionate Citizens is a goal of Christian Life School. Since we value a lifestyle of service, students are required to complete community service hours in order to graduate from CLS.  Certain principles are required to create a heart of service in students. These principles provide the foundation for driving policies and procedures in the spiritual formations department. The following principles drive our holistic decision-making:

1. Christ-followers are called to use our gifts for the church and the world. (Colossians 3:23)

2. Followers of Jesus will grow, love, and serve God and people in His name. Service is an act of loving and serving God, resulting in a missional life. (Matthew 22:34-40; James 2:14-24; 1 John 4:19-21)

3. God’s missional people work in, with, and through the local church. (Matthew 16:18)

4. Developing personal and life skills are most effective when guided and stimulated by personal mentorship. (Prov. 27:17)

Community Service Objectives

The Spiritual Formations department is committed to its purpose of providing experiential training that integrates the classroom teaching into lived action. To fulfill its purpose, the Spiritual Formations department has set out the following objectives:

1. To cultivate Christ-like character through service: Christian Life School requires community service hours to help students develop humility, compassion, a servant's heart, following Jesus' example of loving and serving others (Mark 10:45).

2. To apply faith through action in the real world: By engaging in community service, students learn to live out their faith practically, becoming active participants in God's work and making a positive impact in their communities (James 2:17).

CLS Community Service Required Hours 

CLS, like many college-preparatory private Christian schools, requires practical service learning credit, as well as academic credit for graduation.

• All students (grades 9-12) are required to complete an average of 12 community service hours per year they attend CLS. Therefore, a student who attends CLS for all four years of high school will need 48 hours of community service to earn a Christian Life School diploma. The number of total required community service hours will be decreased for students transferring from a different school and will reflect the grade they are entering. These hours are required for graduation but are not academic credits.

• 7th and 8th grade students are strongly encouraged to participate in service hours throughout the year to develop the habit of giving.

• Service hours logged for graduation must be different than service hours logged for NHS and NJHS.  They may not coincide. 

• A student may only receive a maximum of 6 hours per service project.  For example, a mission trip that spans multiple days will not fulfill the 48 hour graduation requirement and may only account for a maximum of 6 hours recorded.  

Finding Community Service Opportunities

There are many service opportunities available in the Kenosha/Racine/Northern Illinois area to gain practical ministry/service-learning experience and fulfill the required hours. On Mobile Serve, some local opportunities will be posted for students to gain hours.

• Community Service may be in/through local/global churches/organizations

• Local children’s groups, youth groups, Bible studies, discipleship, leading worship, and similar opportunities may be recorded

• Other creative public service alternatives submitted to and approved by the Spiritual Formations department may be accepted

• Service projects for personal family members will not be approved

• If you have questions about acceptable service hours, please see Pastor Matt, our Pastor of Spiritual Formations

Submitting Community Service Hours

All hours will be submitted and processed on our program, Mobile Serve.  Students will be given an account to track their hours during their high school years at CLS.  The submitted data will be displayed and tracked on this personal account at mobileserve.com.

• All hours must be submitted through Mobile Serve.  No paper copies will be accepted

• All hours must be submitted no later than one month after the service project is completed

• All hours must be verified on Mobile Serve by the service project supervisor before hours are approved by the CLS Spiritual Formations department

Frequently Asked Questions

• How do I submit my hours? 

  • Go to mobileserve.com or download the app.

  • Log on using your CLS gmail account 

  • Click the “Log Hours” button on the home page and follow instructions

• I served at a kids camp for 5 days, how many hours can I submit? 

  • You can log up to 6 hours MAX for each service project. 

• I don’t know the supervisor anymore and I can’t get the verification from them. What should I do? 

  • You may have a parent or guardian be the supervisor for the event if they can verify that you served. 

• I am in 8th grade, when do my service hours begin to count? 

  • Your service hours will be counted at the start of your freshman year. This does not include the summer before. 

• I am not sure if my service project will count for school? 

  • Please ask Pastor Matt and he will guide you in the right direction.