Youth groups and other modern ideas?

HCL,

Please understand, I do not teach or lead out of taking away of authority from men. I do it because it needs to be done. When the men come forward, I step back. In fact, the boys in our children's ministries for a while had women in leadership because it needed to be done. When a man finally took it... I became an undergirding for him to do his job and do it well.

 

as i said before i'm an orphan ;no folks, i went
to churches good & bad, most had programs for youth ,summer camps etc... saw a lot of good things happen. could'nt help but notice a lot
of up & coming young preachers working in those programs.guess it was good pratice for later
becoming pastor of a church.

 

This is a very interesting thread. Personally, coming from a "bus-kid-background," my parents never ever went to church with me,but they allowed me to attend. They are to this day still unsaved and it has been a personal mission for me to share my faith with me own parents more and more. About the issue of youth groups, when I was around that age group, I attended very faithfully two different church youth groups. I value these times very much! They have helped me very much to prepare and to burden my heart for ministry. I think the real issue about this is not about whether youth groups are right or not, but whether or not the church will have a successful youth group in God's eyes. Youth groups should not just be a time for "fellowship," but I believe that teens should be involved in ministry in some capacity. I can remember in one particular church where every Saturday morning/afternoon several of those in the youth group would sacrifice their time and go pass out tracks, share their faith with other teenagers and also in a door-to-door calling ministry. When the other church members saw that the teens in the church were performing this aspect of church ministry then it provoked other people to good works and provided opportunities for the teens to really see what minitry is like. People say that they want their children involved in full-time Christian service yet they never are given opportunites to share their faith, and to see ministry from the mister's perspective. Currently I am preparing for full-time Christian service at Pillsbury Baptist Bible Bible College in MN. I can say without a doubt that had my two previous church youth groups had not provided opportunities for me to serve alongside other people in the church, I coud nearly guarantee ministry would not seem as worthwhile and meaningful to me.

I thank God for youth group also because it was while I was 16 years old at a youth group that I saw my true need of a Savior. I had grown up in churches for several years (attending since I was 4 years old) and I was already a leader within the youth group and I had even preached several times through different opportunities. Unfortunately though i had never God's grace for myself. I had focused more upon service than upon the Savior. So as the pastor of another youth group preached about "HOW MUCH ARE YOU GOING TO MISS HEAVEN BY?" He went on to say that many people are going to miss heaven by only 18 inches (the span between your head and heart). Many people have head knowledge, but they have never had a heart knowledge and accept God's grace for themselves. I went forward that night and made things right with my God. I thank God for showing me my shortcomings and working in my life and bringing me to a point where I had to have Jesus.

I would say to those that are considering the ideas of a youth group to consider a few things. First, remember that youth leadership is vital to an effective youth group. One major problem with many youth groups is that there are many inconsistencies between the message proclaimed to youth and the minister's lifestyle presented. Be consistent with your own message! Also, as stated above do not have a social club for teenagers, while socialization is important, I do not believe that it is the major focus of youth ministry. While definitely not the final aspect of youth groups, one final aspect to consider is to keep the youth group mindful that they are a ministry of the church and not just a seperate church for teenagers. Being a ministry of the church the youth group should be responsible and accountable to the church and the pastor. Again this is only one person's testimony about youth ministry and by no means complete, let me just close by saying that youth groups, if run according to Biblical standards should ultimately glorify God in both its purpose and practice.

Thank you for listening to the ramblings of this man's beliefs.

 

Outstanding post, Teddy, and welcome to the BaptistBoard!

You brought up some excellent points, and thank you. Youth groups meant the world to me, too, coming from a non-Christian background. All of a sudden there were kids with aims higher than Saturday night!

God bless you in your work and studies. I hope more people read your post because it has a lot to say that should be read here.

 

Youth Groups are an excellent idea. In Australia we have "Youth Alive" rallies in which different youth groups from all denominations get together for a huge praise and worship meeting with a speaker that is in youth ministry. Thousands of unsaved kids come along and heaps of churches in our country have seen growth from unsaved kids comming into their youth group and joining their fellowships.

The early church was all about building a christian community. Teenage christians need to belong to a strong christian community.

 

HI Ben,

I just got a call from my husband who is in Adelaide right now. He was not aware of this taking place there. Has there been a rally in that area?

You are right -- teens need strong connections.

God bless.

 

I agree that youth groups are a great thing when run as a ministry of the church and not as a separate institution. However I do not believe that we should participatein or encourage others to participate in multidenominationa rallys such as Youth Alive. These type of rallys are like mini Promise Keepers conventions and should be avoided like the plague

 

How do you tell that to the thousands of teenagers that have accepted Jesus Christ at these raliies and have gone on to membership in local churches? Bear in mind these kids are comming from secular high schools and many have never been inside of a church ever. God has a plan and a purpose for these kids, and if He can reach them at a Youth Alive which for some is the only time they will ever really hear the Gospel. Then that is to be encouraged. The early church practiced community based public rallies (Acts13:44) So is certainley scriptural.

 

Why do you have a praise and worship time and invite unsaved kids to it?? Doctrinal issues aside, surely you understand that unsaved kids cannot priase and worship God. What they need is evangelism.

 

Which is exactly what they get! the christians praise, The evangalist evangalises and masses of kids go forward to make a commitment to Jesus Christ.

 

Check out www.youthalive.org.au/

 

Ben - whose plan of salvation do they follow? The Catholics? The Mormons? The Oneness Pentecostals?

Or the biblical plan that we Baptists espouse?

That, my friend, is the problem with non-denominational events and people being saved at them, and then becoming members of churches. Which church? Which doctrines?

If you take someone to one of those rallies, are you ready to stand up and take responsibility for someone coming away believing they are saved by being baptized?

 

Thank you Don and Pastor Larry, those were exactly my thoughts when I added that reply.

 

Luke 9:49-50 Now John answered and said, "Master we sawsomeone casting out demons in your name and we forbade him for he does not follow with us." But Jesus said to him, "Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is on our side."

 

Youth groups can be a powerful influence -- for good or bad -- in a Christian teen's life. What is key to making it a positive experience for those involved is to have the adults in charge (whether a specifically hired youth minister or members of the congregation) act like adults and not just be "one of the gang."

Unfortunately, as a teenager, my church youth group was led by a minister who was rather young and immature and as such didn't set appropriate limits for what appropriate behavior was. The cruelty I experienced at the hands of my peers was much worse than that I ever suffered from nonchristians at school. On church trips I would be verbally and physically assaulted and then isolated when all the other girls (including the chaperones who were in their twenties) refused to room with me. (And no, I was not a freak with something wrong with me -- I happened to be a rather cute, rather smart young lady.)

Eventually, I had to give up attending youth group activities like discipleship training, choir, acteens (which I just loved), and eventually even Sunday school. My parents said they just couldn't see me suffer the abuse any more and felt that it would drive me away from the church if I continued to go.

Sorry to ramble on, but I just strongly encourage all youth leaders to put a stop to jealous comments or petty fights when they start. Don't let teens turn on one member of the group. Let the group be somewhere where all are welcomed and nutured.

 

No offense intended, but the emphasis of this thread should not be focused on youth groups, youth leaders, and associated ministries, but on the sovereign grace of God! And I tell you why. He is the one who makes and breaks a young person. The sovereign grace of God is able to sustain a young person, in spite of all the adversities he/she may go through in life.

Some of you may know that I was born and raised in Hungary. After moving back to Budapest from the country side, following WWII, our church of 250-300 members was a lively one. We had lots of young people of various ages, and we had a separate girls group and a boys group. We met during week days separate, but on Sunday afternoons we met combined. We also had a youth choir, and a string instrumental orchestra (I was one of the three classical guitarists). We did not worry of being robbed away from our parents either, spending too much time at the church, because we were anxious to go to the house of the Lord whenever we could!

Out of the youth group I attended the boys grew up and became doctors, engineers, scientists, teachers, and tradesmen. And one of my friend became a Professor in the Baptist Theological Seminary, and later it's dean. Yes, I agree that the young people can and will grow up in or out of youth groups and remain faithful to the Lord, but there is a special bond lasting a lifetime which binds those together who grew up worshipping as one.

In America the young people have so much time at their hands. After WWII we had to work after school, do our homework at night, and early in the morning had to stand in line in front of a grocery store, relieved later by our parents or older siblings in the hope that we will get some bread, some milk, and whatever we needed. Most of the time we did not know what the store will have when they opened the doors, we just purchased whatever they had. I froze my legs in those cruel winter mornings on the lines in front of grocery stores, and I still have those blisters from time to time to remind me of those unforgettable days. But we still had time to go to church and participate in the youth group meetings, in the midweek prayer meetings, the choir and orchestra practices, the youth excursions, and Sunday on the all-day events. We wouldn't miss any of those meetings ever! Because we valued the fellowship, the togetherness of fellow believers, and because we did not have TVs, movies, sports events and other entertainment. Perhaps that is the problem with the American church youth today, they have lost their focus, they have lost their values - and those who supposed to lead them are no different....... So, where we go from here? I'd say, back to the basics, back to the Bible, back to the solid foundation of our faith, and the proper followship of the Lord.

[ December 03, 2002, 08:23 PM: Message edited by: Barnabas ]

 

Hello, Madelyn Hope, and welcome to Baptist Board. Thank you for your post -- some very good points!

I think we can all see that there are groups that can be excellent and some awful. Often the telling point is the youth leader, and you are right, his maturity can and does make all the difference in the world.

As far as non-denominational meetings go, I know that a lot of the kids when I was growing up went to Youth for Christ or Young Life, both of which are non-denominational. Those that were not involved in churches were invited by various other kids to go with them, and those who were involved in churches went back to their own on Sundays, but more determined to be a good Christian and faithful to God.

These are not bad results for a non-denominational group! From what I understand, the youth rallies in Australia have the same effect. I know from experience it is a lovely thing as a kid to go to one and come out focused on Christ. That's a whole lot better than being focused on anything else! God will open up the right doors for each one of these kids. I have no doubts about that.

And thank you, Barnabas, for reminding us all that what happens in real life is not always the way we imagined something would happen.