Article  A Good Youth Ministry Can Aid a Child's Transition into Adulthood The job of a good youth ministry doesn’t only spread God’s Word to young people, but they are also put in charge of getting them ready to make the transition into adulthood more comfortable. Basing your lessons upon this goal is the best way to help them to have the confidence and build their relationship with God so that they can become productive, healthy adults. There are only a few years that the youth ministry has their undivided attention before they spread their wings and fly away. Make the most of the time that you have with them and listed below are a few ideas for making the transition easier for these young adults. Enforce the concept of remaining in church after high school, even if they plan on going away to college. If their family is already committed to the church and attend regularly, they may have instilled that into their children by setting that example. A personal commitment to remain involved in church throughout their lives will be evident in children with families that believe it’s important. It is passed down to their children that it is important to God, as it should be equally important to them. If they are moving to another city or state to go to college, they may be unsure of the church possibilities. You can offer to help them find a suitable worship area that is close to where they will be living, if they would like help finding one. Your youth ministry plan should include avenues to build their leadership skills during their last years in high school. Additional, maturity and accountability will come along during their senior year because leadership responsibilities increase as they get to their final year in high school. It is also quite common for a young adult to lose interest in the youth group as they grow into adulthood. Keeping the youth lessons in your youth ministry fresh may hold their attention for a longer period of time than the same old stand-bys that they may have already heard. Give those high school students in your youth ministry an extra amount of leadership responsibilities in your group for a bigger understanding of adulthood. They will be able to transition much easier and smoother if they have been given additional activities and tasks to complete while you still have an influence. When the seniors come to the conclusion that they can take on additional responsibilities and handle them effectively, it will increase the confidence that they have within themselves to live productive adult lives. Developing leadership can be done a few different ways, but a very good one is to allow the seniors in your youth ministry to take on and initiate a mentoring effort. Give each of them a specific younger child in your group in which to mentor. It will be a great way for the older students to minister to the younger ones and to feel accountable for the things that they teach them. Another important aspect when helping the young people to smoothly cross over to adulthood is to create loyalty to the church as a whole, not just their youth ministry program. If they are active within the church as a whole and can efficiently interact with the adults in the church they will feel more of a belonging. This may make them be more likely to continue their attendance even after they graduate from the youth ministry program. In addition to becoming a mentor figure for the younger children, it is also vital that they connect with the adults in the church. After all, they are becoming one of them and will need to be able to relate and worship alongside adults as they transition. Category Society Author Anonymous Add To Favorites Print This Article Email Article To A Friend Post Comments   Rate This Article (0) 1 - Poor2345 - Good678910 - Excellent Added On 09-22-2009