Youth Ministry

Youth ministry at church

Our primary goal is to help youth develop a personal relationship with Jesus Christ by providing them the resources to grow in worship, ground them in the Word, and give them opportunities to witness and serve others. We also give them the skills and the support groups they need to make wise decisions at this critical time in their lives.

It should be well noted that the youth group/ministry is NOT a stand-alone group with a different vision from the church. Far from it!!! It actually feeds into the mainstream church. It is the thrust and approach that may differ somewhat from the main Ministry. The vision for the Youth ministry derives directly from the Church vision as set forth by the man of Vision, the senior pastor. We envisage the nurturing of young people who are committed to Christ, committed to the Kingdom, and committed to the body of Christ.

 

Purpose of the youth ministry

  • To implement the vision of the church at a micro level, that is, level of the youths.
  • To help the YOUTH integrate into the larger, intergenerational community of the church.
  • Helps the church stay relevant.
  • Focuses on evangelizing their peers and indeed anyone to come to the kingdom of God.
  • Helps to propagate the Kingdom of God, providing the vital link between the “TODAY AND TOMORROW” of the Church.
  • Helps the church focus on the way of Jesus, which goes beyond tradition, dogma, and work.
  • To provide an environment for family for orphaned youths in our midst.

 

Our focus

  • To provide a safe, loving, and wholesome atmosphere for young people
  • To come up with programs which help ground young people in their faith
  • To offer a variety of worship experiences that help young people connect with God and one another
  • To facilitate the means for young people to develop their individual prayer and spiritual life
  • Ensuring that young people develop values, ethical norms, and a sense of Christian community
  • interaction with adults who authentically model the Christian faith
  • To nurture a wholesome young people who can stand on their own within the church and world at large

 

What is youth

We consider anyone who belongs to Glad Tidings Fellowship High-Glen Assembly who is not married, regardless of age, as a youth. As soon as one graduates from Children’s

Church/Ministry at age thirteen (13), they automatically become a member of the youth group. They remain with the youth group until marriage.

 

The youth leaders committee

The youths are led by a committee led by a Youth Pastor. The other members of the committee comprise of two or three more couples who may be elders or deacons within the Church, together with a mix of young men and women appointed by the Church eldership. These youth leaders may or may not rotate, that is, they may be reshuffled bringing in new faces and dropping others. The thrust is however more towards continuity rather than reshuffling. The reshuffling tends to take a natural trajectory with some marrying to leave the youth group and others being roped in to replace them.

 

Meetings

As a recognised vital cog in the wheels of Christianity, the youth group at Glad Tidings High Glen Fellowship have been accorded a specific day of the week whereby they meet and minister among themselves. They meet every Friday in the evenings from 1800hrs to 2000hrs.

The church Eldership left the day to day activities of the youth group in the hands of the Youth pastor and the team he leads. The aim is to facilitate for a wide range of programs which appeal to young people while maintaining the goal of nurturing a spiritually, academically, socially, emotionally and physically balanced youth.

 

Activities

The   activities in which the youth engage vary preaching, evangelism, praise and worship to the more mundane such as sports, outings and just fellowship while sharing food.

 

Sub committees

The need for sub-committees became apparent as different needs and challenges faced by the youth surfaced. We try to cater for the different categories of youths.

 

  • Social welfare – this committee is set up so as to be primarily focused on the less privileged members of the youth group. These may be orphans, the poor or even the abused. The aim is to unravel their needs which would then be addressed at church level. We aim to bring to the Church Leadership any cases that may demand more attention than can be offered at Youth Group level. Paul in the book of Galatians gives the injunction to carry each other’s burdens thereby fulfilling the law of Christ. Gal 6:2

 

  • Sports And Recreation Committee, Aka, Outing Committee.

The particular committee takes care of the more mundane needs of the youth group. We seek to develop a more rounded youth, hence we facilitate for socialisation for the youth just like in any other community. It is our desire that the youth don’t stray from the church to seek “fun” elsewhere because the church is “too boring”. Even the apostle Paul talks about the benefits of physical exercise (1Tim 4:8). He even emphasises the need to rejoice in the Lord (Phil 4:4).

 

  • Prayer and MCs – this is modelled on the lines of the main Ministry with this committee being responsible and coordinating people who lead services as MCs or during prayer
  • Praise and worship
  • Preachers
  • Teenagers (ages 13-19)
  • Young adults (Ages 20+)
  • Relationships ( that group of youth who are in official relationships as stipulated by Church policy)