Featured Youth Ministry

Actually the only ones pushing this nonsense is cals.

 

Youth ministry is absolutely essential for a growing vibrant church. Without it you will lose a lot more of your young people to other churches, or to no church at all. Unfortunately, good youth ministers are hard to come by. The good ones resign to be pastors, so the pool is limited. Probably the most effective are the part time lay youth leaders, but they are often handicapped by their lack of training. Maintaining a strong youth program is a problem.

 

We are in total disagreement about Youth Ministry.

 

Now that is funny

 

Who? You and the Spurgenator (as the youth like to call him)? :thumbs:

 

Why is youth group necessary?

 

Wed night prayer meeting is not commanded in scripture, but is not necessarily wrong.

It is only wrong when it becomes a matter of legalism and contention ie, Wed night is optional for Christians unlike Sunday worship proper which is commanded

 

Again, I do not understand the importance of youth ministry. It divides the body along unnecessary lines, it encourages the 'generation gap', and it minimizes the importance of collectively coming together as one body.

I have never ever known of a good youth group and I have been in several churches.

PLUS-

I know of several several bad things which have happened as well.

 

In a previous post:

http://www.baptistboard.com/showpost.php?p=2163459&postcount=39

You mentioned that you ministered to homosexuals. How do you see it as acceptable to minister to a specific people group, based upon your comments in this thread?

 

I do not have a problem: one is within the church walls and the other was not.


One was "outreach/evangelism"

The other was within the body of Christ


BTW, it happened quite by accident--they were Bible Studies

 

I call it providence, If I may interject briefly from the back ground.

 

Don't try moving it to YOUTH topic Discussion sections, been there, done that , got moved some where.

 

Because of my love for kids; and a career that spanned 30 years, most of it in one form or another of working with youths and parents both in the church and in the secular world, I would have to say that youth ministry should be a major portion of the annual budget. Every effort to recruit and great leaders and subsidize greater programs, should be the mission statement of every church around the world.

I say this simply because the young people you reach today for Jesus are being groomed to be the leaders of tomorrow's church.

From the nursery to the college-aged young people, church should recognize that programs as feeders that recruit, train and teach the future leaders of tomorrows church! We can't afford to skimp on this vital area if we are really concerned about the longevity and even the legacy of the present church!

Great question Salty. And you got my nickles worth of opinion. :type:

 

Thank you sir!! You are very correct!!

Grace and peace

 

As I read the thread I couldn't help but think that what MaroonCat79 (among others) are actually protesting is not effective youth ministry, but ineffective youth activity.

Ministry seeks to meet spiritual and physical needs, where an individual or group is. Activity seeks to keep people occupied for predetermined period of time.

Ministry seeks to reveal Jesus, to invest deeply in the lives of others. Activity seeks to attract a crowd, to entertain.

These are two very distinct things. As a pastor I'm not interested in activity, I want ministry.

Because there is such a variety of needs, ages, abilities, etc... there is nothing wrong with seeking to minister to young people, old people, single people, children, married people, where they are at in life. This shouldn't be the only ministry effort just as an hour long expository sermon through Leviticus shouldn't be the only type of preaching.

There is great power in the collective and all group specific ministry should emphasize (insist on) the importance of coming together and sharing in our love of Jesus in worship as the one that scripture says we are. Opportunities should also be sought out that intentionally bring different groups together for purposes other than collective worship.

We need it all, group specific and collective - eliminating one or the other doesn't make a church better, just incomplete.

 

I am convinced that older children need to be a part of the church community at large and not segregated due to age. I have seen too much bad stuff from youth group from bad peer pressure to abuse for my good.

I am totally at a loss as to why "Youth Group" is so important. Honestly, in 30 yrs as a Christian and in several states and churches, I have yet to see a good one, Ever.

I am for 3-4 Sunday school classes in church with everyone from 5th grade or so on up attending one of them. You can have different topics: one class going through I Samuel, one class doing a NT survey, one class doing the Doctrine of the Church, another on Mark, and of course a "New Members Class" (Which is almost an imperative to me, especially for new believers or those wanting to join the church