VALLEY FORGE, PA (ABNS)-American Baptists were challenged at their General Board meeting Saturday to focus on youth ministry, because it is the place where "we can do something drastic for the glory of God."
Olivia Hill Goodwin, a new board member and former student president at Marshall University in Huntington, W.Va., keynoted the session on youth and "best practices" for youth ministry.
"Effective ministry is not about replicating an existing ministry," she said. "It's about living a life worth replicating."
She described the campus ministry at Marshall University, and the importance of infusing students with the urgency of Christian life.
"Are we asking students just to show up," she said, "or are we asking them to change the world?"
Goodwin noted that it's been said Christianity is always just one generation from extinction. "If we lack leadership in the future, it is because we're not discipling it now," she said.
Youth is one of seven Key Ministry Areas adopted by the denomination for special emphasis. During Saturday's session, board members shared their experiences in youth work.
The Rev. Walter H. Heyman, Jr., pastor of the New Walk Christian Church in Kent, Wash., said his church invites its youth to report each week to the congregation. He added that some of the youth have memorized scripture to a hip-hop beat. "We meet them where they are," he said.
The Rev. Wallace Smith, associate pastor of the First Baptist Church of Indianapolis, said youth programs are of many kinds, "but every church is equipped just to love their kids."
Andrew C. Jayne American Baptist Churches, USA Mission Resource Development http://www.abc-usa.org/