The Rejuvenation of the Church

The Rejuvenation of the Church: Meeting the Needs of our Youth through Christian Ministry

In Septembermy church had what is typically called a revival but it was instead called rejuvenation.Its goal was to rejuvenate the congregation. It was a time for spiritual renewal. It was a time of reaffirmation of our faith and an acknowledgment of God’s grace and mercy.

For the last week my heart has been heavy. When the latest reading and math scores for 4th and 8th grade students was released I was saddened not only by our failure to educate our children but by the broad gap between Caucasians and Hispanics and African Americans. I am not surprised because I tutor young children onThursday nights at our church. I see firsthand the struggle of some children to master the basics of reading and math. I also see concerned parents struggling to understand why Johnny is not performing well in school. I also see children being promoted to the next grade level not having mastered the current grade level proficiency.

We also have parents that are proactive seeking help to challenge their children to excellency.After report cards came out the number of students exceeded our number oftutors. We are being asked to expand throughout the community because the need is great. There are at least 11 schools in Jefferson County that have failed their bench marks for two years straight.

We as a church collectively are failing to meet the needs of our youth. We teach them in Sunday school, help with school supplies and uniforms, pray with them, plan youth activities and teach them to sing in the choir but is it enough. We are losing our children to the world because on the surface they provide solutions to all that’s wrong.

I believe that the church must open its doors to the community. It must provide a safehaven for our youth. We must provide tutoring centers, crisis intervention, provide a network with social agencies that are equipped to deal with issues that our children face every day. As long as we continue to pray with our youth and provide no solutions for their problems they will seek solutions from the world.

My next book will be “The Rejuvenation of the Church”: Meeting the Needs of our Youth through Christian Ministry.”

I am in the process of writing the book and will be developing a series of workshops incorporating my solutions to the issues that our youth deal with on a daily basis.

This book will be geared toward Christian Youth Ministries and other groups that mentor children.

Pray for me that I may be used by God to minister to our youth and for the future of our children.