For Ann Harris

PROPOSAL FOR A FULL-TIME YOUTHS MINISTRY AT

THE GOOD SHEPHERD BAPTIST CHURCH 1127 N 28 St, RICHMOND VIRGINIA

AS WE PREPARE FOR A PROGRASSIVE, PROGRASSING, COMTEMPORARY AND

UNCOMPRIMISING INFLURENCES WITHIN THE TWENTY- FIRST CENTURY, WE MUST CONTINUE TO

FOLLOW God’s leading as he reveals to us, as a church, his vision for the direction of our

ministries here at Good Shepherd Baptist Virginia. In order to follow his

vision for us, our plan for ministry must be consistent with the Great Commission (Matthew 28:

18—20) and our church’s mission statement: “ As a worshiping community, our mission is to

make disciples of Jesus Christ by reaching out to others with the love of God, pointing and

relating them to Christ and the church; teaching and nurturing them in the Christian faith, and

involving them in the mission of the church and the world as a whole. We need to focus our

resources for ministry based on these statements of purpose and mission. If making disciples of

Jesus Christ is our mission and purpose, than we need to fulfill this mission in the most

effective ways possible. I believe that Good Shepherd Baptist Church can be most effective at

fulfilling our mission by investing our resources into expanding and revitalizing our present youth’s ministry in our beloved Good Shepherd Baptist Church. I believe that a church without a youths

program will soon die. Ministry to young people is absolutely vital to the fulfilment of the

Great Commission. If this is true, then Good Shepherd Baptist Church should be concentrating its

resources and energies in this area of ministry. This can be done most effectively when there is

a full-time person dedicated to the task. Churches without a dedicated and efficient full-time

Youth Ministry pastor often suffers and soon lose their effectiveness. Similarly, our church’s youth

program is suffering at present because of full-time dedicated, committed and efficient

workers. When more churches begin to employ full-time youth pastors, we will see effective

youth ministry that really makes a difference in the lives of the young people in this church,

this community, this state, America and the world. When youth pastor is dedicated to a career

of youth work, the most important element of youth ministry is initiated: i.e. persistency, and

consistency. Youth work is most effective when it is long-term. The young people will not open

up to someone who they know will be leaving them anytime soon, between two to three years.

A youth pastor who is prepared to commit his life to the young people will get to know those

young people, and as the young people grow in faith and even leave the church, they will

always serve the Lord and have some link with the church through the youth pastor who knows

them and prays for them. Full-time youth pastor must be prepared to go through the tough

times with the youth.

WHAT ARE SOME OF THE STRUGGLES THAT YOUNG PEOPLE ARE

DEALING WITH TODAY? HERE ARE SOME STATISTICS: A recent CNN article reported that 11.4%

of junior High school students report monthly use of marijuana, cocaine, or other illicit drugs in

2012-13.

Nearly 25% of senior high students reported monthly drug use, up 2% from the

previous years, every 17 seconds on average, a violent crime was committed

somewhere in America including: A forcible rape every 5 minutes. A murder

every 23 minutes, An aggravated assault every 28 seconds, A robbery every 51

seconds, In addition, larceny or theft occurs every 4 seconds, burglary every 12

seconds and a motor vehicle theft every 20 seconds. Every day, 15 youths, aged

19 and under, are killed with guns. Firearm homicides kill more people between

the ages of 15 and 24 than all-natural causes combined.

Jesus’ ministry is the supreme example for all Christian educators. For youth

ministry in particular, we must concentrate on Jesus’ incarnational ministry. He

was prepared to get alongside people and make them feel significant. He gave of himself and

looked to others potential and helped them through their failures and struggles in life. I am

proposing that this should be the goal of Good Shepherd Baptist Church youth ministry-to help

young people become mature in Christ; when this is done, the church will have a better

ministerial future. As I am cognizant of the strengths of Good Shepherd Baptist Church; having

huge bank account, strong women union, strong elderly membership, one of the best choirs, as

we are at the forefront of feeding the poor and providing disaster relief in the community and

Africa, we are generous people when it comes to funding gospel work in America and abroad,

we have produced an abundance of Christian resources etc, we are shallow on our youth

ministry in our church. The youth program is almost dead. The youth program is in spiritual

danger. My mission statement in this proposal is that the youth of Little Union Baptist Church

and incoming youths: that we as a church will value, support and foster every young person’s

journey of faith, guided by the teaching of Jesus Christ, we are committed to being responsive

to the needs of our youth and young adults, cultivating their God-given talents and gifts and

enabling them to grow spiritually and personally within themselves, their families, churches and

communities, through worship, fellowship, service, education, witnessing, sports, and continue

integration into the life of the church.

GOAL AND OBJECTIVES

· Salvation- to see from their testimony and conduct that every teenager has received

Jesus Christ as their personal Savior ( Rom. 10: 9,10 ).

· Evangelism-train each young person to share the gospel and allow opportunities to lead

someone to Christ.

· Service oriented- present opportunities for service oriented activities such as team

Outreach, mission trips, nursing homes, Bible studies, church cleaning/workday,

Children’s ministries.

· Devoted Teens- to encourage each teen to develop a more intimate knowledge of God, by

Consistent daily devoting of oneself to God, habitual Bible reading and prayer and have a thirst

for studying God’s word ( 2. Peter. 3: 18 ).

· Social Growth- learning to respect others and their property, working together, cleaning

up after oneself, making friends by reaching out to others, providing opportunities for

small groups and socializing.

· Character- attempting to develop qualities in the young people that honor Christ and

are respectable. Youth ministry is often the pillar of any Christian church’s continuity. If you

cannot set teenage hearts on fire with the love of God , they may go on to lead less fulfilling

lives or worse, be tempted into sinful ways. This being a difficult time in most teenagers lives, it

is more important than ever to get a good youth ministry program started and a full-time,

committed, efficient, dedicated youth pastor. If this proposal is approved, the tasks of the

youth pastor will be as follows:

· Prayer

· Being accountable to the church

· Helping with the Christian Education needs of the young people

· Interacting with the young people where they are

· Planning youth lessons and activities

· Planning special monthly activities

· Preparing special talks and lessons

· Preparing resources to ensure the youth ministry program functions smoothly

· Discipleship

· Evangelism

· Bible studies

· Visitation/ making personal contacts

· Counseling

· Writing personal notes

· Supporting the extra- curricular activities the young people are involved

· Coordinating the youth calendar

· Overseeing the youth ministry finances

· Organizing communication and advertising

· Providing ministry to families

· Attending committee and council meetings

· Involvement at local schools

· Training the youth ministry team to do ministry

· Building relationships with youth, parents and youth ministry team members

· Integrating young people into the broader life of the church

· Setting direction/ vision for the youth ministry and the youth ministry team members

· Evaluation of the youth ministry and the youth ministry team members

· Assisting with worship and music

· Working as a part of the church staff team

· Being involved in the community in positive ways

· Identifying and tracking youth trends

· Being available

In a world that is so busy, and demands so much of all its inhabitants, young people

need a secure environment, where they can experiment and decide who they want to

be. They need significant people to help them through this process. They need role

models to follow. Young people should never be looked at as insignificant, they are very

important and they hold the future of this church; they are complex individuals who are

battling to deal with the awesome transformation of their bodies, minds, and emotions.

They are in a time of transition and growth, developing from the birthed bundle of

potential to a fully integrated, functional member of society. The church is in a unique

position to assist in this process. We at Good Shepherd Baptist Church need to make a

commitment to holistically fulfill the Great Commission with new urgency and dedication by

increasing our resources that are being directed towards other important but not urgent

programs, to be redirected to our youth’s ministry program that is important and urgent. It is

only then that we will be able to effectively reach out to our young people and meet the needs

that they have in our very troubled and imbalanced world. I pray that the Lord will give us his

wisdom and vision, as a church, and put firing burden and eagerness on all of our hearts

for the young people in our church and community as we consider this proposal to

move our youth ministry program to a new contemporary and progressive level. As I conclude,

I believe in every individual’s life there ought to be a moment in time where he/she can

formulate a fundament theory concerning a particular subject or sphere of activity that governs

their daily pursue and future aspiration. This is very applicable to every educational area of

discipline, especially in the church where different influx of theories are being invented and

disseminated. Most of the influx, I believe is the outcome of our ever changing society, which

have a full weight on the pedagogy of the church. As the society changes, the church also

changes. What I am trying to get across is that, Good Shepherd Baptist Church will breed out an

authentic full-time youth program and employ a full-time youth pastor that will meet youth of

Good Shepherd Baptist Church holistically. I dream that the church’s youth program must be that

which is grounded in the textual and contextual setting of the biblical text and also it should be

formulated based on this contemporary society.

References

1. http://www.hpbmarketplace.com/Embracing-the-Future-A-Guide-for-Reshaping-Your-Church-s-Teaching-Ministry/book/2013566?qsort=p

2. http://www.crosswalk.com/church/pastors-or-leadership/16-ways-to-build-a-youth-ministry-that-will-last-11599048.html

3. http://www.youthpastor.com/lessons/index.cfm/FormFullTime_Youth_Ministry_Proposal_206.htm#.VOn39Xk5A5s