I sent an email to an old friend who is a youth pastor at my church back home in Boston. I still call Boston home even though I live here in Audubon, PA because that city is always in my heart and I plan on ministering to the people of that city and dedicating my life to that. I emailed him because I wanted to know what some of the strategies he had in place were for making disciples and equipping them for ministry later on. I asked him some questions because things had changed since I was last involved with the youth ministry about 3 years ago. He has had time to grow and place some programs in place to reach the young people of the North Shore of Boston. My friends name is Clark and he is the youth pastor at Calvary Christian Church in Lynnfield, MA. Lynnfield is a suburb of Boston. I went to church there but drove out from the city.
The first question I asked Clark was what the process he had in place for making disciples. This is a real basic question that is at the foundation of how he is helping people live their lives as followers of Christ. Clark shared with me that once a student gives their lives to Christ on a Friday night at youth group or on a Sunday morning they are presented with the opportunity to join one of the ministries and classes they offer at the church. Some examples of these ministries are drama team, worship team, Sunday school and Wednesday bible study. An up front ministry like worship team is not something that is for a new believer. The students are encouraged to join either the bible study or Sunday school as a place to start for them to learn about Christ.
The next question I had for Clark was dealing with what he biggest challenge he faces on making disciples. The biggest challenge he said that he faces is consistency. The students have a tough time going on a consistent basis to these ministries. The reasons may vary from not being able to get rides to having prior commitments to other things. The students may be parts of sports teams at school or another extra curricular activity that they are a part of. This can be frustrating at times because they may not place the priority on discipleship like Clark does he says. He still reaches out to them though even when they cannot make it out every week. This lack of consistency creates difficult in running some of the student ministries also because only a few are committed and end up doing a lot of the work and burning out a bit.
Some of the ways that Clark prepares the students for ministry is through coaching a resources being made available to the students for whatever they need. One of the ministries that are highly encouraged is the bible clubs in the local schools. Clark has a program established to train leaders to run bible clubs at their schools and whatever materials they need the youth group provides it for them. This can include Bibles and workbooks. Students who want to be involved in the audio/visual dept. get a full training on running the lighting and sound board. They are never put into a situation where they do not know what is going on and thrown into ministry. Students are given the resources they need to excel and grow in ministry.
When it comes to measuring the effectiveness of making disciples and equipping students for ministry Clark says that the quality of the disciples are the ultimate measuring stick. He said “If our students are passionate about Jesus, falling in love with the Word, and ministering to people...we are being effective.” The fruit that the students begin to bear is the way to see if the ministry is doing its job of making disciples. When they are inviting friends and true change is apparent in the way they live their lives.
These are some of the ways that Clark disciples his students at Calvary Christian Church. It is interesting to note that numbers was not one of the criteria he states as what is success. The youth group though has continued to grow and it has been a result of the processes that have been put in place to minister and disciple to students.
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