Jacklyn Rondini Volunteer Youth Leader New Horizons Baptist Church (This is an email interview with Jacklyn and Alvin on May 20, 2020.) What's changed in your youth since March break? I’ve noticed a deeper desire for youth to commit to reading the Bible and understand scripture. Desire to have Bible Study and an inner desire has increased. What successes have you experienced? What struggles? Definitely a major success is having
Dean and Maxine Bender Pastor and Youth Leader Chesley Baptist Church (Recorded on May 19, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM MAXINE AND DEAN Some kind of in-person (appropriately physically distance) meetings are still vital. The youth seem to be getting tired of looking at their devices; they're looking for physical interaction. One-on-one connections are still key for open dialogue. Stay in the truth and keep plugging along; God
Mike Wong English Ministry Youth Pastor Logos Baptist Church, Milliken (Recorded on May 19, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM MIKE With the size of their group, the one-on-one conversations is much more important than the big program. During the pandemic, he has the opportunity journey with students in diving deeper into Scripture and they're finding ways to serve their community. Online platforms become an "open house" for your
Darryl Bergen Pastor of Youth and Family Wyoming Baptist Church (Recorded: May 15, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM DARRYL Their group sometimes met at a pizzeria to hang out. They delivered pizza kits for their families to assemble and cook together. He likens this stage to a rubber band that stretches forward and steps back a bit. The key is to keep moving forward. He promotes the concept
With governments at different levels thinking through how best to reopen parts of Quebec and Ontario, churches and youth ministries are discussing what the next phase will be. To help guide you, CBOQ launched its latest resource: Preparing Your Church for the Next Phase. Youth leaders have many factors to consider. Youth ministries are usually a smaller segment of the local church family, which provides them with different opportunities and considerations compared to the operations of other ministries and the church at large. Here
Jon Matthews Director of Youth and Young Adults Kingsway Baptist Church (Recorded: May 14, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM JON He's found a mixture of those who are looking for fellowship connections and others who want to go deeper into faith (especially since they've got time). Tools most useful are Zoom and Discord. To battle screen fatigue, he's balanced the number of programs offered online, encouraging them to
Greg Banik Assistant Pastor Heron Park Baptist Church (Recorded: May 14, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM GREG He focuses on the 4 Fs. Make sure you ensure due diligence in your practices (e.g. getting parental consent, attributing other media sources appropriately). Regularly reaching out to parents including those not attending the church opens opportunities for ministry and prayer; he can now help impact whole households. This isn't the
Andre Rocha Youth and Worship Pastor Bromley Road Baptist Church (recorded: May 14, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM ANDRE They've tried to connect with their youth every day. Sidekick.tv is a key tool that's helped their new online programming. God is still the same so rest on him.
Hannah Fairbanks Youth and Family Worker Immanuel Baptist Church, Toronto (Recorded: May 13, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM HANNAH She does "drive by and drop offs" (it's not as sketch as it may sound). This has deepened their understand and the value of community. She sends different activities for the family to do together and to help break the routine. Be creative. Take a chance. If it doesn't
This pandemic has highlighted the discord that often exists for middle school students (around ages 11-13). There’s a pull between their developmental stage and what’s accessible to them. On the one hand, developmentally, they are likely in the throws of puberty. They can be at different stages but for the most part they’re all in the midst of hormonal chaos. It’s been documented that the onset of puberty starts earlier than in previous generations, in some cases as early as age 8 especially in females. So when ministering to middle schoolers, we
