brokenwearybones
New Member
Hello all. I'm Sarah, 18, and Christian/Protestant. More Methodist than anything else, yet still a Dutch Reformer.
I was called by God this past weekend on a trip with my youth group to become a Youth Pastor/Counselor. I truly witnessed God's grace this weekend with the other youth in my group, and for the majority of the weekend, it was all about them, and at Altar Call, I couldn't find it within me to worry about my problems, but poured prayers for the youth in my group who need healing.
I was also charged by the Pastor of the church my youth group is based from to go to my Minister with my cousin, and talk about updating our church. See, our sanctuary can hold 850 congregants, yet our average weekly attendance is 60, and nearly 20 are choir members. My church's congregation is rooted in the old blood and old money of the area, and unfortunately, the older congregants have the most influence with our church, and even the Consistory turned up its nose when our Minister allowed World AIDS Day 2005 to hold their memorial service at our church. You see, we have at least 17 youth in the church, but my cousin and I are the only ones that bother giving up more than an hour and a half on Sunday morning, which is even more pathetic than the Sunday Worship attendance, but it's coming from that. I've seen more families leave our church than come in, and it's due to the unwelcoming atmosphere created not by the Minister, but by the congregants. Our church is dying to the point that my future children won't be raised in the church that I was, and the congregants who claim to accept and live by the teachings of Christ are where the seams are fraying.
Any ideas, aside from leaving that congregation, to revitalize our church and bring more youth into it? And not just bring a friend on Sunday morning, but make it more youth- and young family-friendly?
I was called by God this past weekend on a trip with my youth group to become a Youth Pastor/Counselor. I truly witnessed God's grace this weekend with the other youth in my group, and for the majority of the weekend, it was all about them, and at Altar Call, I couldn't find it within me to worry about my problems, but poured prayers for the youth in my group who need healing.
I was also charged by the Pastor of the church my youth group is based from to go to my Minister with my cousin, and talk about updating our church. See, our sanctuary can hold 850 congregants, yet our average weekly attendance is 60, and nearly 20 are choir members. My church's congregation is rooted in the old blood and old money of the area, and unfortunately, the older congregants have the most influence with our church, and even the Consistory turned up its nose when our Minister allowed World AIDS Day 2005 to hold their memorial service at our church. You see, we have at least 17 youth in the church, but my cousin and I are the only ones that bother giving up more than an hour and a half on Sunday morning, which is even more pathetic than the Sunday Worship attendance, but it's coming from that. I've seen more families leave our church than come in, and it's due to the unwelcoming atmosphere created not by the Minister, but by the congregants. Our church is dying to the point that my future children won't be raised in the church that I was, and the congregants who claim to accept and live by the teachings of Christ are where the seams are fraying.
Any ideas, aside from leaving that congregation, to revitalize our church and bring more youth into it? And not just bring a friend on Sunday morning, but make it more youth- and young family-friendly?
