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WHY YOUTH CELLS
(SMALL GROUPS)?
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The following exerpts were taken from an interview with Pastor Bill Toombs conducted by Rose Mizer on June 27,2001 for her youth pastor in Colorado Springs. The format maybe helpful to other youth leaders considering the transition to youth cell ministry.
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Why did you begin a youth cell ministry?
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- Desire to see commitment from youth for somethng more than just a social time
- Saw value in the relational aspects of the small group setting
- Increased the opportunities for different types or styles of leadership to participate
- Accountability
- Discipleship
- Training
- Wanted to see the youth own the vision of the church for themselves there was a need for the youth see that this was their church and not just their parents church and they just went along for the ride
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What problems did you face starting out? |
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- Changing the leaders' vision
- Recognizing that not everyone will like it and some might leave
- Measure of doubt that, asking self "Is this the right way to go?"
- Tendency to look at numbers (emphasis needs to switch from quantity to quality - both in youth and activities). A smaller committed group will be more effective than youth attending a social gathering
- Transfering the focus from meetings to relationships
- Having enough leaders
- Trying to move too fast (It's a process, not a race!)
- Dealing with change
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How did you recruit and train leaders? |
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- I looked for two types of people to help, those with a heart for God and those with a heart for youth
- Meet, meet and meet to transfer heart and vision (both as a group and one-on-one)
- Put people in a position where they will be challenged to grow
- Not necessarily formal training, but relational, always casting the vision and getting others to own the vision
- We had a short three week overview then did the majority of training through discipleship and on the job experience
- Leaders had their own meeting two times per month on a Thursday evening then one hour before Youth met on Sunday evenings
- Commitment was required and it paid off with life changing experiences
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What steps did you take to transition into youth cell ministry? |
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- Start meeting with key and young leaders to convey your heart and vision, over and over again until they catch it
- Bring the core youth together with the leaders to explain the vision
- Make sure that when you transition you have fun activities that the youth enjoy
- It was very helpful for us to have the drama outreaches when we started which gave the youth a focus
- Know what you are going to do for the first cell meetings ie. who will be in each group, who is the leader for each, what will be discussed (how their week went, how they are doing, topic discussion, pray for needs etc.). Your student leaders can give good input into what topics to start with
- Have follow up tracking meeting to know what's going on - your need feedback from many sources. If something is not working, change is not dirty word. Improving the quality of what you are trying to accomplish is the priority
- Training sessions to paint the vision for all s and youth interested in leading
- Have a parents' meeting to explain what and why you are doing. Let them know the door is alway open for questions (Once cells are started, the leader of the cell can be a communicator with the parents, esplecially those whose parents are from outside the church)
- Have prayer times with the leaders.
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What success have you seen with the youth cell ministry? |
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- Blessing of having a good staff that carries on with the vision even with leadership personnel changes
- Continued commitment of young people to seek the Lord, even after they graduate from high school
- Definte leadership growth
- Even after leaving youth cells they become productive in the life of the church - commitment to the Lord in the college age young s has been much stronger due to the foundation laid during their youth cell years
- New youth who come are able to relate somewhere and develop friendships fast
- We realized we can't and don't have to be all things to all people
- Youth who are not the "most popular" or "jocks" can find a place to develop leadership and relational skills
- Outreach has been very effective with cells - the ones who visit and stay longer become stronger and more committed. One of the students in a cell group started a bible study at school and has many led to the Lord and several attend youth cells.
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Why did you decide to do youth cells at the church on Sunday evenings? |
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- Almost everyone could come - no school conflicts and minimal work conflicts - occasional family conflicts
- Easier to invite friends to a Sunday night activity
- Most of the youth would be doing something that night anyway
- The leaders are available with less conflicts to their schedules
- You have the afternoon to prepare for special activities and leadership meetings
- Parents with multiple youth in cells only have to go to one location to drop off and pick up their youth
- It was easier to have the extended time (5:00-7:30) and touch spirit soul and body with fun games, Praise and Worship, teaching times and youth cell times
- By having 6th grade thru high school come at the same time, we have been able to bridge a relational gap that exists many time between jr. high and high school youth. We benefited greatly by the relationships that resulted from linking the age groups
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