Acts 1:8
“But the Holy Spirit will come upon you and give you power. Then you will tell everyone about me…”
Contact:
Margie Ligon
Director – Youth Discipleship
VISION AT ASSURANCE
“A people without a vision will perish” Proverbs 29:18
Our Youth Group here at Assurance is known as One:8, named after Acts 1:8. One:8 isvery excited about the past year’s church-wide visioning process that has led to a singular mission to “Grow and Go.”
The youth group has always focused on growing in discipleship and faith while going out into the world to share. Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” is all about “Grow and Go”.
As Youth Leaders you should know that Assurance is all about Growing Disciples (followers) of Jesus Christ so that we can Go serve Christ in the world. In “Growing and Going”, we emphasize the 3 S’s: Spirit, Serve, and Share.
We grow our Spirit in worship, prayer, and small group connections. We grow by Serving others inside and outside the walls of the church. And we Share our gifts and the good News that God loves us all. Our Youth program and each of our awesome youth have been growing in faith and growing to serve and share for a long time.
EFFECTIVE YOUTH LEADERSHIP
We believe it is a wonderful and challenging responsibility to lead our youth here at Assurance. We have developed this manual for our leaders and will conduct periodic development sessions to help you to grow your skills in leading youth.
Assurance is a laity led church. We believe that Jesus wanted all people to become disciples and grow in their faith through active serving and sharing of that faith to others.
We have developed four “tips” to becoming an effective Youth Leader here within the Assurance community:
Commit – Commit your time, gifts, energy, and your heart to the youth
Connect – Connect by meeting them where they are as individual youth
Prepare – Prepare through study before time together and prepare your heart for service
Protect – Protect the youth by providing a safe and healthy environment to grow
Heb 10: 24 – 25 “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together…but let us encourage one another…”
COMMIT– Commit your time, gifts, energy, and your heart to the youth…
Be here and be here often! Your presence tells the youth you care about them.
Be EARLY! Being here early to meet and greet each youth that arrives increases their sense of self worth. Be present at least 15-30 minutes ahead of them anticipating and looking forward to their arrival.
Commit to helping yourself become a leader of discipleship to our students. Nurture your own spiritual life through personal bible study and small group studies.
Participate in training opportunities provided here at Assurance and off campus.
Commit to helping students connect to God, the Church, each other, and the community.
Commit to regular and consistent attendance in worship and outreach opportunities.
We need leaders that model discipleship not just talk about it.
CONNECT – Connect by meeting them where they are as individual youth…
Connect through prayer. Pray for the youth and for your ability to be a good leader for them.
Mingle with the students and make newcomers feel welcome. Learn their names. Ask youth personal questions to show you want to know more about them. Ask them about their school, sports, and relationships. Then listen.
Participate wholeheartedly. Any game can be fun if you want it to be. Be first to jump in and encourage others to be drawn into the experience with excitement.
Connect with them outside of the Church. Make a point to see them at sporting events, their jobs, concerts, and plays. Or connect with them by email, texting, or Facebook. Let them know you are thinking and praying for them when you are not at Church.
Be genuine. Be open and honest with the youth. Don’t be hesitant to share with them your struggles and failures. It shows we all are human, sinful and in need of God.
Be patient during silent moments. When you ask the youth questions and they don’t immediately respond, do NOT give them the answer. Rephrase your question. Teach them to dig deeper for answers. Don’t settle. Someone will break the silence eventually if you don’t do it for them!
Be the leader, not a teenager. Don’t try to be like them. All children and teenagers deep down like order and discipline. Making it clear that you are the adult leader will gain their respect. They don’t want someone that tries to be “like them”.
PREPARE - Prepare through study before time together and prepare your heart for service…
Youth can sniff out an unprepared leader! You will always be provided a curriculum and I ask you to read and study.
Have any materials or handouts ready for use in advance of the lesson time.
The curriculum is your guide for your lesson but not the absolute source. Using your own personal experiences, and study will only enhance the lesson when you interject from your perspective.
Being prepared makes the lesson flow better and you’ll connect easier with the youth if you are not struggling to remember what to say and do.
PROTECT - Protect the youth by providing a safe and healthy environment to grow…
Help nurture an emotionally safe environment for our students. Create an environment where smiles, hugs, and compliments are the norm and cut downs, gossip, and judgmental attitudes are not welcome and addressed. One:8 is a place where students are loved and accepted.
All youth should have adult supervision when on campus or off campus. If youth are allowed to separate into groups they should be no less than 2-3 persons (age and situation will dictate these groupings).
When driving please drive the speed limit and make sure all youth wear their seatbelts. You are setting an example for the youth so please be responsible with mobile phone usage while driving.
Never allow yourself to be alone with a student of the opposite gender.
We will do our best to comply with all safe sanctuary guidelines.