Learn. Serve. Impact. Through Urban Ministry
CSM offers short-term mission trips that bring your youth group to the city for a week-long service experience. Discover your gifts, build faith, and make a Christ-centered impact alongside urban communities.
About The Center For Student Missions
For over 25 years, we've been connecting hearts and hands to serve urban communities with love, hope, and the transforming power of Christ.
Our Mission
The Center For Student Missions exists to provide effective urban ministry experiences that transform lives, influence churches and communities, and honor Christ. We believe in the power of hands-on service to break down barriers and build lasting relationships.
Through our summer mission trips for students, spring break immersion trips, and fall break mission trip opportunities, we connect churches with urban communities -- creating an affordable mission trip experience built on mutual growth, understanding, and faith-based service.
On every trip...
LEARN
Arrive with humility and a posture to learn. Our full-time staff live in the neighborhoods we serve, building trusted relationships and understanding the city’s challenges. A hallmark of CSM is the Prayer Tour: your City Host guides your group through the neighborhood while sharing stories of community and resilience. Whether it’s a youth mission trip for middle school or high school students, every group leaves with a deeper understanding of urban life and faith-based service.
SERVE
Service is at the core of what we do at CSM. After learning about the city, you have daily opportunities to serve somewhere new. Instead of creating work ourselves, we proudly partner with dozens of organizations already seeking to meet specific needs in the city. We listen to their needs each day and provide the help to get it done. Our serving opportunities are so diverse that no two weeks at CSM will be identical!
IMPACT
We believe that God is at work before, during, and after your mission trip. Our trips are designed to help you process what that looks like. While you're here, you're part of a solution for the city, but you're not the sole solution. Despite much work still to be done, a significant portion wouldn't be possible without your willingness to learn and serve in the city. Our hope is that you leave feeling impacted and return home seeking to make a positive impact in your community.
Our Impact
See how God is using The Center For Student Missions to transform lives, strengthen communities, and advance His kingdom in urban areas.
Individuals whose lives have been touched through our ministry programs
Partners actively involved in urban ministry through our programs
Faithful ministry serving urban communities with excellence
What People Are Saying
Hear from the pastors, volunteers, and community members whose lives have been impacted by our ministry.
"CSM is an amazing experience and so cool to see how our students grow."
"Great week and great team of hosts. Really grateful for our week and experiences."
"CSM's youthful volunteers have been a great blessing. Always eager and motivated, and a big help serving, cleaning, and organizing, etc."
"The Giving Garden is 100% volunteers, and CSM represents the majority of the volunteer groups that join us each year. In short, without the volunteers CSM provides, The Giving Garden would not be able to fulfill our mission of feeding people in need. And it goes without saying, at this time in our lives, the need to do all we can for food insecurity is greater than ever."
Experience a city. Learn about a city. Contribute to helping a city.
Through immersive programs and guided experiences, we connect you with urban communities in meaningful ways.
Get In Touch
Ready to join our mission? We'd love to hear from you and explore how we can partner together to transform lives and communities.