S.O.S. teen ministries

[holysoldier5000]

This ia a praise for a successful teen ministry.

My church is just a small country church. We have only 100 members but we are growing. We have a verity of different ministry programs: the adult bible studies, the men’s prayer group, the women’s quilting circle, and many more. The one program we did not have was a program for the teens. Now the reason we did not have a teen program was not the lack of teens. We had plenty of teens in the church, 18 teens to be exact. The real reason we did not have a teen program is because the adults truly do not know how to have a successful teen program.
But I have found this to be a common problem among many church adults. Most of the time it is a matter of fear. Adults are actually afraid of teenagers. I know this may sound weird but it is true. Adults, when faced with the prospect of working with teens are so terrified of the young generation that they will shun from the position of having to do anything with them. Why is this? The answers very from: “I can’t work with teens I have no experienceâ€

[Archan]

[align=center]Wow...

Sounds like things are going pretty good so far. I'll somtinue to pray that your ministry grows and that God continues to give you understanding and knowledge to handle situations as they come and go (The pattern that usually follows a newly growing group). However, I would try to find a way to mesh the adults with the younger people, because if they continue to develop seperately from the congregation itself...well,thats where things might tend to get rocky. One of the key things that led to Old Testament Israel (I don't remember the specific character or verse...still kind of early for me at the moment) uprisings and such was that the coucil of the elders was not sought and young princess or captains would seek the advise of their friends which would lead to misfortune. Alot of reasons why I see praticular young groups fall is because they continue to develop away from the church because they lean to their own understanding and don't seek the coucil of the ministers or even the Pastor in some cases....as well as sometimes the adults themselves just dont want to be involved as you noted and eventually the young group leaves the congregation all together only to fall apart in the wrold "out there". I'm sure things have yet to reach this level for you, but it's something to keep an eye out for. If the relationship between adult and young person is truly on such uneasy terms as yu mentioned, seek coucil from your pastor so find a way to bring these two elements together. It wont be easy....in fact it might be one of the biggest challenges for you yet, but thats why we have a prayer room right? Groovey, all things are possible through Christ, hence why I'm praying for you and your entire youth group.

God Bless,
Archan

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