In the last ten years, the church has seen a steady decrease in youth involvement and even an exodus of students leaving the church altogether. To properly address this, the church must embrace the calling to implement a different youth ministry model that is bold, attractive, winsome and effective.
Within an ever-shifting high-tech culture, students are finding it a challenge to make their faith relevant and tangible within a post-truth society. With the widespread use of technology and social media, youth ministry has inherited new layers of complexity that have never been witnessed before. Today’s youth are hungry for genuine truth that is just as relational and caring as it is honest and clear.
But how do we make such a drastic cultural change in the church while staying convinced that the roles of the parents and the youth pastor are just as vital as they ever have been? The first step is to trust that today’s youth are just as effective in ministering to their peers as their youth pastor is. As students are given the opportunity to positively impact their world around them, they become inspired to explore their faith more within the environment of their youth ministry.
Youth Empowered is a book that will help guide parents and youth pastors to successfully mentor tomorrow’s church leaders by accomplishing two primary goals: To help church leadership minister alongside their students (rather than at their students), and to help their students learn how to utilize their spiritual gifts before they graduate (rather than hoping that they figure out how to get involved after they graduate from high school).
By challenging traditional models of youth ministry, this book will address varying strategies that cater to small, medium, and large youth ministries. As a result, Youth Empowered will assist any church navigate through the challenges associated with launching a student-led youth ministry, regardless of its current size.
Stay tuned for more information in the New Year! Please forward this post to a youth pastor or youth minister that you know so that they can subscribe and receive updates on this exciting resource!
Due to observance of the holiday, next week there will not be an edition of Focusing On Jesus. Merry Christmas and may God Bless you and your ministry!!
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