Reimagining Youth Ministry

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Advancing : Reimagining Youth Ministry: "Un-churched youth must be reached with the gospel. Statistically this is the harvest field demographic. Much time and prayer should be spent considering the best ways to reach them before they make permanent faith based decisions. Hospitality is the church’s untapped evangelistic natural resource. We should be inviting our lost neighbors and friends into our homes on a regular basis. Then we can share the love of Christ with them from a position of strength. It begins with the example of the parents. As we cast the vision of hospitality and reaching our neighbors through our example I believe our kids will follow. They’ll begin inviting their lost friends over to the house. I’m all for youth evangelism. Nearly half (43%) of all Americans who accept Jesus Christ as their savior do so before reaching the age of 13 (Barna: 2004) With parents leading the way our youth are called and empowered to reach their generation with the gospel much more effectively. 78% of American teens say that their parents have a lot of influence on their life. (Barna: 1997) Josh McDowell writes, 'The most powerful impact upon a child's ethical, moral and spiritual development is the relationship with the parents. It is 300 times greater than the church.'"

Comments

Anonymous said…
Thanks for the visit, John! Sounds like you have a similar philosophy regarding youth ministry and parenting!
April 22, 2006
John Umland said…
i do. i've been invovled in youth ministry. i do see the value of parental involvement. that's why i no longer do youth ministry because my kids are elementary age and i teach their sunday school classes and assist in their AWANA meetings. i believe in the necessity of inter-generational discipleship. all these values attract me to simple churches where these can happen naturally.
April 22, 2006
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