Youth Ministry Handbook and Leadership Training Manual

303 Pages·2005·1.33 MB·English

Youth Ministry Handbook
and Leadership Training
Manual
Y M D
outh inistries epartMent
G C s - D a
eneral onferenCe of eventh DaY aY Dventists
Youth Ministries Department
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
Copyright © 1976, 1981, 2000, 2005. All rights reserved.
Cover: Adventist Youth Logo
This handbook was prepared and revised by the General Conference
Youth Ministries Department
Designed by Frank Strack
Printed by the College Press, LLC
Preface
Y
ouTh MiniSTrY in The SevenTh-DAY ADvenTiST ChurCh has
gone through several phases, always evolving into a more specialized ministry to
an important segment of the church’s population. This evolution has taken the church
from the early beginnings when youth work was blended with Sabbath School to this
day when youth ministry is divided into clearly defined areas of interest, but pursues the
same goals.
Four levels of ministry to youth are active in youth ministry today:
Adventurer Ministry
·
To reach and help children 6-9 years old
Pathfinder Ministry
·
To reach, help, and train youth 10-15 years old
The Way (World Adventist Youth) Ministry
·
To meet the spiritual, social, and lifestyle needs of youth 16-20+ years old
Young Adults Ministry
·
To work with youth and young adults 21-30 years old
Former manuals have had a mixture of all four ministries. however, this manual is
designed specifically for senior youth leaders, and instructions regarding Pathfinder or
Adventurer ministries have been omitted. For more information about those minis-
tries, contact your local conference/mission office.
This is a handbook for guiding the AY Society, or any type of senior youth organization in
the local congregation, and is also the training manual for Adventist Youth Leadership.
Although the Master Guide and the Adventist Youth Leader Training Courses serve
as the foundation for youth leadership on the local church level, this handbook deals
primarily with the development of Adventist Senior Youth Leadership. obviously,
the general principles discussed here are also applicable to both Master Guides and
senior youth leaders. in addition to the principles contained herein, those receiving
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training as Master Guides should study material in the area of Pathfinder, Sabbath
School, and Children’s Ministries in general.
Since the introduction, implementation and elimination of the past Church Ministries
Department, youth ministry has experienced dramatic changes and challenges, in some
churches, our youth were neglected, even before and to the point of closing the Adven-
tist Youth Society, and consequently youth involvement and youth witnessing in those
churches. The result has been devastating, and urgent action is needed to provide the
solution in a visionary and responsible way, and to lead our youth in the right direction.
This handbook is designed to address youth ministry in accordance with these changes,
face the challenges in a positive way and give youth leaders a “how-to” guide for the
youth organization in the local church. Certainly, it will satisfy a great need and will be
a useful tool for the implementation and strengthening of the Adventist Senior Youth
Ministry around the world.
This material is not the work of one person, but a combination of contributions from
many persons from all the world divisions. We express thanks to the hundreds of youth
leaders around the world who have made this manual possible, and especially to the
South Pacific Division Youth Ministry resource Committee that provided several chap-
ters and have contributed extensively to the content.
Youth Ministries Department
General Conference of Seventh-day Adventists
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Contents
Preface ..............................................................iii
An explanation of the eight Modules .................................... vii
how to use This Manual ...............................................xi
introduction ........................................................xiii
ORGANIZATION MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Chapter 1 our Genesis ..................................5
Chapter 2 Development of Adventist Youth Society ..........11
Chapter 3 ideals of Adventist Youth .......................15
Chapter 4 officers of the AY Society .......................19
Chapter 5 Membership .................................31
Chapter 6 AY Society Programs ...........................35
Chapter 7 AY Society Activities ..........................49
Chapter 8 Personalized Planning for the Local Church ........51
Chapter 9 Senior Youth Training for Service ................57
LEADERSHIP MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Chapter 1 in the Steps of the Master ......................63
Chapter 2 Psychology of the Christian Leader ...............71
Chapter 3 Leadership Theories, Styles and Functions .........75
Chapter 4 When You are the Chairperson ..................83
Chapter 5 how God Prepares his leaders ...................93
COMMITMENT MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .97
Chapter 1 Youth upreach ...............................99
Chapter 2 Commitment Celebration .....................100
Chapter 3 Bible Conferences ............................113
Chapter 4 Gold and Silver Awards .......................117
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DISCIPLESHIP MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .119
Chapter 1 Youth, the Crisis Age .........................123
Chapter 2 Adolescent Developmental Stages and
Some implications for Youth Ministry ............127
Chapter 3 Basic Personality Desires .......................129
Chapter 4 Common Problems of Youth. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 5 Youth Ministry in a Contemporary Society ........137
Chapter 6 how to help the Youth .......................141
Chapter 7 Counseling with Youth ........................145
Chapter 8 Ministering to Young Singles ...................157
WITNESSING MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
Chapter 1 Youth and evangelism ........................161
Chapter 2 Planning for Mission ..........................165
Chapter 3 Adventist Youth Service .......................179
Chapter 4 Campus Ministry .............................183
Chapter 5 reporting Missionary Activities .................186
Chapter 6 The environment ............................189
WORSHIP MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .191
Chapter 1 What is Worship? ............................193
Chapter 2 Growing in nurture ..........................197
Chapter 3 Celebrating in Worship .......................203
FELLOWSHIP MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .209
Chapter 1 Meeting Fellowship needs .....................211
Chapter 2 recreation ..................................243
Chapter 3 Social Programs ..............................247
EMPOWERING YOUTH MODULE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .255
introduction ................................259
Chapter 1 Salvation and Service for all Ages ...............261
Chapter 2 Salvation and Service outcomes ................265
Chapter 3 Discipleship Strategies ........................271
Chapter 4 Leadership Strategies .........................279
Chapter 5 Mission/Service Strategies .....................283
Chapter 6 evangelism Strategies .........................287
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An Explanation
of the Eight Modules
E
ight Modules are incorporated in this Youth Ministry Handbook
and Leadership Training Manual, each dealing with a different
aspect of senior youth leadership.
Organization The organization Module presents the history and organization of
youth ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church.
The strong emphasis is on youth ministry based in the local church,
and not a ministry based on conference-organized activities. re-
sponsibilities of the leaders at the local church level are also cov-
ered in this module.
The content of this module will help the local church in its ministry
to young people, and will aid the local conference/mission person
responsible for youth affairs in developing a training program for
local church youth leadership.
Leadership This module incorporates aspects of training and actual practice
of those activities required for senior leadership, and includes both
philosophical base and practical practices. emphasis is placed on
qualities of idea leadership, the psychology of leadership, leadership
styles and functions, and practical matters such as how to chair a
committee or business meeting.
Commitment The Commitment Module primarily revolves around those activi-
ties and programs that are devotional in nature, and that provide for
special affirmation and celebration opportunities.
Weeks of Prayer or Weeks of Spiritual Emphasis are outlined, in
which a seven-day period of time is selected for a concentrated thrust
of personal relationships with the Lord through fellowship, intense
scriptural study and communion. Also featured are Bible Confer-
ences with ideas and helps for church and school youth groups.
vii
An Explanation of the Eight Modules
Another devotional feature, the Morning Watch, is targeted for in-
dividual or family time at the beginning of each day. Commitment
Celebration is a time of reaffirmation of a youth’s continuing faith
and confidence in God, the celebration of his or her baptism, which
may have taken place recently or at some time in the past.
This module is dedicated to strengthening the spiritual life of youth
and youth leaders as they participate in the devotional features of
Adventist Youth Ministry.
Discipleship This module deals with how to help youth become disciples and
stay committed to that way of life. extensive presentation on the
psychological aspect of youth leadership is given. Growth and nur-
ture group leaders specializing in the spiritual well-being of their
members will find resources in this module to accomplish all that
might be desired whether in youth or family situations. The ulti-
mate objective is discipling others to the Lord and equipping them
to share in this experience.
Worship Worship is not merely attending church. The religious exercise of
worship includes learning to live in God’s presence, and integrating
those things learned at church into one’s daily living. The purpose
of this module is to give youth leaders ideas to help Adventist young
people discover the joy of worship, and how to adopt a worshipful
spirit while attending church. (We are indebted to the South Pa-
cific Division for most of the material published in this module.)
Witnessing Witnessing, the sharing of our own individual experience in the
Lord, is among the first and foremost ministries in which the dis-
cipled Christian will want to engage.
in this module, we will discuss effective witnessing and how it might
be accomplished within the AY Society. For example, Festivals of
the Word are usually large central meetings held over a three or four
day period. in association with the meetings, an intensive effort is
made in outreach and redemptive ministries to the city where the
Festival is held. Fellowship, spiritual understanding, and enrich-
ment are only a few of the joys experienced by the participants.
Fellowship This module is designed to guide youth leaders in finding resources
to help provide meaningful recreation for the AY Society. Youth
must be guided to discover and take part in meaningful recreation,
in addition to learning how to deal with their leisure time. rec-
reation and entertainment must be defined and proper practices
that reflect the Adventist lifestyle adopted. This module will help
to provide answers to these needs.
viii
An Explanation of the Eight Modules
Empowering
Youth This module is a summary of the whole purpose of Youth Ministry
in the Seventh-day Adventist Church. A Salvation and Service fo-
cused Youth Ministry through Discipleship, Leadership, evangelism
and Service/Mission does empower Youth to be strong Christians
and participants in the mission of the church. in other words, this
section combines the above modules into four strategic themes.
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