The youth are gathering for One Night.

And, hopefully, many more nights afterward.

The biannual One Night youth group meeting for Brookhaven and Lincoln County students will be held tonight at Clear Branch Baptist Church. The back-to-school service will be composed of youth groups from six local Baptist churches, but any local student — Baptist or not — is invited to attend.

“It will be a laid-back, student-friendly service,” said Clear Branch Student Minister Crystal Stringer. “It’s just a way to kick off the school year with all the youth and students on the same page — to get focused on the school year and what we, as a body of believers, can do to reach out to our classmates and our community.”

One Night begins at 6 p.m. at the church, which is located at 2166 Clear Branch Lane Northeast in Lincoln County, but with a Wesson address. Paul Epperson of Byram will be the guest speaker, and worship will be led by Parker Dungan of Columbia.

Tonight’s service will be the fourth One Night event, which is held once per semester and organized by a committee of six local Baptist youth leaders from Clear Branch, Fair River, First Baptist, Heucks Retreat, Macedonia and Pleasant Hill.

Stringer said more than 300 students are expected.

“It’s upbeat worship, a good word and a lot of fun fellowship,” she said. “It’s good to have students from all the different schools intermingling, to see everyone and catch up. I’m hoping any students who walk in will see a lot of familiar faces and feel right at home.”