At Assembly, we launched "Imaginative Hope", a concise collaborative message from 50 Canadian Baptist youth pastors to the 1000+ Canadian Baptist churches. The initial report has created a buzz amongst many churches and we are excited about what the next steps might be. To support those next steps, Imaginative Hope is relaunching its website ON WEDNESDAY. Not only will you access the video and the report, you can also glean
One of the leading trends in youth and family ministries is the notion of intergenerational experiences, which happen when the church encourages ministry, service and worship between generations. Research has demonstrated that these kinds of interactions strengthen faith formation for children and youth. Young people learn from trusted adults. In many ways, the Sharing Life concept is an underlying current for intergenerational friendships, which we invite you to consider in
Developing leaders is crucial in the progression of the church. Leaders at various levels--children’s ministry leaders, student leaders, adult leaders--provide a foundation for the church as a whole. Investing in leaders is one of the best way to strengthen the church. These are some best practices to consider for both student leaders and adult leaders. Student Leaders Building leaders, especially student leaders, takes time and patience. Some students progress faster
The person and message of God isn’t meant just for the body of believers; His grace, mercy and justice is meant to transform all of creation, including the communities surrounding a local church. What good is it to hide the light of Christ where no one else can see? At last spring’s Youth Pastors Summit, our group of youth pastors focused on how we can impact our communities through youth
“Mentoring” and “intergenerational” have become big buzzwords within the Christian community in the last few years. Research and personal stories reveal a student’s faith is propelled by having a trusted adult (mentoring) and a close peer (small group) walk alongside him or her. It is vital to encourage and nurture these relationships. Here are seven ways to do that. (Some of these can have overlapping objectives and incorporate aspects of
One key way we come to know God is through Scripture. We believe it is the inspired word of God, a primary channel through which he shares his love and his directives with humanity. We've also seen that biblical literacy is very low in the Canadian church (e.g. just 14% of Canadians read the Bible at least once a month in 2013, down from 28% in 1996). Building biblical understanding
Last April, we invited several youth pastors to a summit to learn from one another and to provide us with feedback about our ministry direction. Part of our day included discussing a series of best practices in six different areas (evangelism, biblical understanding, mentoring/small groups, community impact, leadership development and intergenerational interactions). Over the next few weeks, we’ll release some of the best practice suggestions from the group (with further
