PELHAM – Shelby County’s youth are invited to Kingdom Christian Center’s Youth Explosion and Concert on Saturday, March 25, from 6-10 p.m.

The event will focus on meeting the personal needs of youth by helping them develop positive self-images, learn how to deal with bullying and peer pressure, find purpose and most of all, have fun.

The event is for sixth- through 12^th-grade students and will be held at Kingdom Christian Center, 3039 Wilson Street. Right now about 40 teens are signed up to attend the event. McClain said the capacity for the event is 200 people.

Food will be served from 6-6:45 p.m., and then guest speaker Alex Harrington of the Christian Faith Center in Seattle, Washington will deliver a message to the youth. Afterward, Christian musicians Andrae Weems, of Alabaster, and Preacha Boi, of Birmingham, will perform for the teens.

Charla McClain, a pastor of the church along with her husband Jerry, said this is the first time the church has hosted the event. If the youth explosion is a success, she said she’d like to make it an annual event.

“This idea came from our youth,” McClain said. “They were looking to do something in outreach and wanted to get other youth involved.”

The event is also serving as a fundraiser for the church’s youth program to raise money for their outreach efforts.

“The kids serve at area shelters and various outreach organizations and sometimes they use their own money to purchase supplies to donate,” McClain said. “They’ve also had fundraisers to help raise money.”

Monetary donations will be used to purchase supplies for local shelters and charity organizations. McClain said the church is also in search of businesses and community members to contribute toward purchasing prizes, gift cards and t-shirts to go in gift bags for youth participants.

The event is free for youth who register for the event in advance. To register, text the full name of the youth to 970-999-7809.

The cost is $5 for youth at the door and $10 for VIP youth, which includes a gift bag and t-shirt. The cost for adults is $20.