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Liberty Theological Seminary

STUDENT MINISTRY REFLECTION

Presented to Dr. Jim Graham YOUT 510 - B02

Submitted By Shamyra Kennedy-Jones Octoberber 15, 2013

Student ministry philosophy

It is my belief that a youth ministry should be Christ-centered. It should be used a reinforcement to what is be taught at home. In order for our kids to stay in church, programs are not what will keep them there. Committing your life is a life-changing relationship that these young people take serious. We have to teach these young people how to build relationships with the others while teaching them about the works and the life of Jesus. Another key aspect of a youth ministry is the building of a good youth ministry team. If you use Christ as an example he had a team of twelve men from various backgrounds who came together for one cause, to teach the world about the word of God. Not only did Jesus do some of the teachings, he also prepared his team of disciples to go out and teach as well. It is my philosophy that a Youth Ministry is at its best when there are a group of committed Christians who are eager to teach these young people how to serve. Jesus said, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me" (Luke 9:23). It is the goal of the youth ministry to help families to teach their children how to deny themselves and pick of their cross and follow Jesus. It is the job of the youth minister, to help families grow together spiritually, especially with the youth in their critical years of adolescence. As a youth minister we have a great deal of impact on the lives of the kids , but not as much as their parents. It is job as youth ministers to partner with parents as they equip their kids to understand the life of a true Christian. Core values Being that my husband and I are rebuilding the youth ministry at our church from scratch, we have not developed our core values since we are still in the development stages of the ministry. This will be the first time this type of ministry will be establish at our church and we want it to be well designed prior to it being put in full operation. We are doing research with various churches in the surrounding to see what their core values and approaches are in relation to

evangelism, worship, missions, biblical depth, and discipleship. So far we have not found anything that will work for our vision for the youth ministry at our church. Dreams and Goals The dreams and the goals we have for the youth ministry at the church is to have a program that will not only teach the youth at the church about Christ but teach the parents how to teach the children at home about Christ. In order to have a successful youth ministry you much have a complete buy in from not only the kids and the family but the church as well. It is a goal of ours to have members of the church to volunteer with various activities that youth in the youth ministry will participate in. By having members to volunteer it will give them a firsthand look at what the youth are involved in. If they see this first hand they will be more willing to buy into the ministry. Without the complete support of the church the youth ministry will not be successful. Another dream of ours is to provide not only a Christian ministry for the youth but a mentoring program for those who are not involved in the ministry. The main idea of this is to provide so type of positive environment with of getting them to turn the lives over to Christ. In this rural area there are very little resources that some these lost or trouble teens can turn to for help, it is our goal to provide such resource. Evaluation One thing that needs to be evaluated is finding the necessary funding for this program. As right now the trustees of the church saying that we do not have any funds to operate this ministry. We need to evaluate how to operate the program at a minimum cost to us personal and the church. The purpose of this evaluation is to see how we can service those in needs and to find the funding to do so. We have to show the trustees of the church that this program is a very valuable asset to the church and it is worth whatever little funding we can receive. We have to do an

evaluation on what type of fundraisers will work in the community and to see if the members are willing to donate to the ministry. Specific events and activities Some of the specific events and activities for the ministry is fundraising activities for the ministry. We will provide education activities that relates to teaching the kids about Christ as well as about personal hygiene and other life skills. We will have activities for the kids do for fun, because we believe that as kids they need some activities that are not church related to keep them interested in the ministry. We always have activities that mainly focus on religion, we will lose the interest of the kids which will in turn cause them to leave the ministry. We have to be creative in what we do because of the type of children we are dealing with. Some the activities are having a lock in for the youth at the church. We can also have field trips to various educational locations in or out state paid for by the money we raise from the various fundraisers we will have throughout the year. Parents The parents well be our biggest asset to our ministry. Will have the parents to teach their kids about the Christ at home well the youth ministry will reinforce what they are teaching at home. The parents will be required to volunteer for our youth activities as well as be part of our youth meetings. If the kids see that their parents care about what they are doing they will be more willing to participate. The issue will be with the those kids who parents are not involve in not only what they do but church as well. With these kids we will partner them up with either a mentor or another family. This will give that kid some type of positive support that will be much needed for them to be successful not only in the ministry but in life. In Deuteronomy 6:4-9, Moses says: Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD

your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates. Reflection In this I class I really learned what I needed to do in order to have a positive setting the churchs youth ministry. I learned that it is the parents responsibility to teach their kids about Christ and the ministry is there just for reinforcement. In the interviews I learned that we must have people in the ministry that actually care not only about the Church but about the children as well. We have to make sure that each child is treated equally and that each of them are made to feel like they are welcome. We have to make sure as youth leaders that parents trust what we are doing is right and that we actually know what we are doing. We as youth leaders have to keep in contact with those who leave the ministry to go off to college to make sure that are still active in church and if they are not find a way to help them to get back active.

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