October 20th, 2007
One may ask, what is a youth rally, and why should the First General Baptist Church in Owensboro, KY, have a youth rally? First a youth rally is focused on youth within churches of a specific denomination. In this instance, it would be the General Baptist Denomination. Ages of youth targeted for youth rallies are usually from age twelve (12) - young adulthood (early twenties). The purpose of a youth rally is to:
1. Bring youth within the catchments area,
(which in this instance is a thirty (30) mile Radius) together as a group to bring them to Christ, have a deeper understanding and walk with Jesus Christ, how they as youth can help reach the lost and fulfill the Great Commission in their communities, and finally what is Christ's plan for the Church today.
2. As a denomination,
this gives us a chance to accomplish several things:
a. Bring the youth together
in a church service that is uniquely their own.
b. To have the youth work together in a structured environment,
but still flexible enough that it will appeal to the age group mentioned above. This will be the preparation ground for when the youth start attending G.A. Meetings, become leaders in their local churches, attending church business meetings, or as later on in life as some become members of church committees, Sunday school teachers, deacons and ministers.
c. The youth will learn to work together
as a group focused on:
1a. Fulfilling the Great Commission
of bringing forth the Good News of Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior to a lost and dying world in their homes, schools, and communities.
2a. Working together as group within and under
the jurisdiction of the General Baptist Rules and Procedures where the youth of these rallies will be overseen by adultleaders within the local churches (General Baptist Denomination).
3a. The youth rallies will be planned for a quarterly basis
with a different church within the General Baptist Denomination hosting the rally. This will give youth of the denomination to see other churches in the General Baptist Denomination and establish ties with fellow youth. The host church will be responsible for providing adult leadership and supervision during the youth rallies.
4a. At a later date, youth from other church groups
may wish to attend the youth rallies. If this occurs, these youth will be welcomed as brothers and sisters in Christ; however, while attending the youth rallies, they will have to conduct themselves in an orderly manner and abide by the rules and policies set forth by General Baptist Doctrine and Usage.
5a. The Youth Rallies will follow a set procedure
in the beginning. This schedule may change as the youth become more involved in the rallies and wish to make it their own. However, changes in the youth rally service will have to be approved by an overseeing body of adult leaders from the denomination.
Form a committee
to make recommendations on how we should proceed after reviewing information about the proposed youth rally.
Approach the church
at a quarterly or called business meeting to ask permission to have a youth rally using the Church and it's facilities as the host church.
Select a time & date for the youth ralley
Draw up a map
showing directions to Church. Include website directions to Map Quest that will give turn by turn directions from their church to ours.
Prepare a mailing list/e-mail list
of General Baptist Churchs within a thirty (30) miles radius of Owensboro to inform them of the date and time of the youth rally; and request that churches RSVP us if they plan on attending and how many youth they plan on bringing. This will give us an overall idea of how many youth will be attending from all churches and how many snacks & refreshments we need to have.
When youth rally is over,
review on how the youth rally went, what we need to do different next time, how we can get more churches involved.
Meet with other G/B Churches
to establish a board to oversee youth rallies in this area.
Establish a charter/purpose
for future youth rallies.