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.
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
Sergio Espinoza Associate Pastor of Family Ministries Harmony Baptist Church (Recorded: May 8, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM SERGIO While there is a learning curve with utilizing technology, it opens ministry opportunities. Church will likely not go back to exactly what it was before. Trust and obey the Holy Spirit's directions.
Our Youth ministry is taking the lead in running themselves online with Bible studies - they chose a series in Genesis along with them celebrating birthdays and other important events online and playing games too! Also, they've been a vital source of support for us in our online Sunday worship services by preparing/playing/recording online praise & worship songs. They've been an incredible source of blessing! - Jonathan Bernard (Greenhills Christian
Jim Alford Pastor of Youth and Community Whitby Baptist Church (Recorded: May 8, 2020) INSIGHTS FROM JIM Helping to organize information in 1 central location is crucial. Some students, especially those graduating from grade 8 and 12, are grieving loss of their graduation experience. Continue to maintain those personal relationships with students.
