Starting New Church need some advice

[Goceman86]

ok so Starting New Church need some advice, im in charge of the Youth ministry and before we actually open the church i need some ideas on what i need. the youth group is starting at about 6 people. can any of you guys through my a list of things i be getting? also and links for help is completely welcome.

both me and the senior pastor are doing this for the first time so this is a first.

thanks in advanced

 

[ReformedHighlander]

I helped with a youth group for 10 years. What is the duration of the meeting? We used to meet for 2 hours, usually had a time for gathering and letting the teens fellowship. This allows them tie to seek you or other leaders out to talk ask questions, builds up them as the next generation. Then games, plenty of sites out there with this info. Look up Simply Youth Ministry, I believe them to be the best. The announcements and worship, then lesson and dismissal. The youth pastor at the church I'm on staff with now follows a similar formula.

 

[tturt]

One thing I see often on the forums is that people don't feel accepted at church. I understand that this might not actually be the case, etc. but I would structure things so that every person would be included. You, as the leader, set the tone.

This isn't an exhaustive list. I would certainly have the basic beliefs of the church and the by-laws formulated. Assuming you'll have a traditional church with a permanent building - probably want to do the paperwork for a 501C which will require a name of the facility, board members, belief statement, etc. All board meeting decisions' documented. Will the services be traditional or non-traditional? Services be at 10 am on Sun or 2 pm for example? Insurance coverage, fire extinguishers, security systems, etc. needed. Will you be targeting a specific age group? Will it have a soup kitchen or some other type of charitable service? What about the furniture, sound equipment, projection screen, nursery furniture, etc? Sometimes you can purchase a church that is being broken up. How will the utilities, trash pickup, insurance, etc be paid? How will you handle requests for food, rent, or electricity from folks who don't attend the church? Will there be an area for social occasions? Will you permit folks who don't attend to have their weddings, etc. at your facility? Will you have a landline with a recorder? Computers? Signs? Whose going to clean it every week? Do repairs? If it is discontinued, will the church be given to a "like minded" group, sold, etc? Musical instruments or DVDs? Parking? bike rack? Free transportation to services for children? Need vans? chaperones and nursery workers. Is there a lawn? Whose going to maintain it? How are disagreements going to be handled? Are you going to counsel with people especially those getting married? Bank account - whose gong to write checks? (suggest two people) balance checkbook, audit books. Business cards.

Duties of each church position described in full. You might want to do a search here and look at some of the problems folks express with their churches and pastors and learn how they can be avoided.

promotion ideas - have a free meal, ask strangers if they would like for you to pray with them, or invite teenagers for a Fri night get together.

might want to do an internet search, too.

 

[Michele B]

Activity - LOTS of activity! Teens have a lot of built up energy and need outlets. Lots of board or active games, time for games and "acting" type mixers.

Of course, there should be a Bible study at a fixed time and place each week. Free time before Bible study should be unstructured, but MONITORED! Teens WILL "get into trouble" if there are no boundaries, but they do need a certain amount of free time to just blow off steam. Game tables, ping pong, air hockey, whatever....these are very popular. Anyone interested in helping the youth of your community may be able to donate some of these items.

Next, you must schedule activities away from church - together. In other words, plan at least ONE A MONTH activity....whether it's movie night, a trip to a pizza joint together, mini-golf, bowling. If you have teens with driver's licenses (we don't!), you could schedule a "Progressive Dinner," where you travel from one house to another....at the first house, you have hors d'ourves (spelling is wrong, I know!). Next house, maybe soup and salad, next main dish, final house - dessert.....just a fun activity where the kids can move around a lot.

Schedule a treasure hunt (I'm sure some ideas can be found on line).

What I'm saying is, teens need to be kept busy! In addition to teaching scripture, give them lots of alternative activities to spend time together in an unstructured atmosphere with the "leaders" so they can be free to approach you about anything that is on their minds. This also gives you lots of unstructured time to evangelize any kid you feel is not saved, or needs someone to mentor them. Build relationships. That's what Jesus did with His disciples!

Before one of our dear friends moved away, he built up an impressive youth group (close to 100 kids attending every week in a town of only ONE H.S. with 1000 students!). A very small town, lots of other churches running youth groups for many years, and NONE of them built up a youth group of this size! I believe his success in doing this is due to the amount of "out of church" activities he scheduled every month. AT LEAST ONE NON-CHURCH ACTIVITY was scheduled each month. This showed these kids that the pastor cared as much about their physical and emotional health as he did for their souls. He visited the school, and sat at the cafeteria during lunch once a week. Kids got to know him, and then they wanted to come visit our youth group.

Let us know how your venture is going, and God Bless You!

 

[brojeff]

Teens are looking for someone to speak truth into their lives. Jesus tells us to speak the truth in love. In order to do this you must build relationships with the teens God has placed before you. Don't try to grow big too fast. Relationships take time. The Apostle Paul said that he planted and Apollos watered but God caused the growth. Don't water down God's word in order not to offend them, they are perceptive enough and realize what you are doing and not have the respect for you that you need to make a genuine difference in their lives. Focus on the 6 that you have and help them discover God's plan for their lives and when they begin to discover this personal God you have introduced them to, others will come from their excitement.

 

[howardchou]

If you don't know why to start a church, don't start one. It will be blind leading the blind.

I am involved in starting Quality Churches and if you are interested to find out more, pm me.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

One thing I see often on the forums is that people don't feel accepted at church. I understand that this might not actually be the case, etc. but I would structure things so that every person would be included. You, as the leader, set the tone.

I agree 100% with this statement, I was rejected by many church people, and could find no help from any church to fulfill the vision I felt God had given me. So I started an online church using the statement:

This is an online church for people who want to share their God given talents with others. Send us your messages and we will post them for you

I got 2000 signups in the first 2 days. I then stopped advertising. 800 people have signed up since then. People want ownership, and they want to be able to use thier giftings. It is not all about our giftings, it is about growing the gifts of others.

But if you are looking for rules about starting any church. It is not about the method. It is about seeking God to find out what his will is. When I first started out preaching my messages were bible based, but looking back they were aweful. Now I ask the Holy Spirit for everything, I never preach anything God has not actually revealed to me. I never preach out of my own mind. The only way this can be achieved is to pray often, and listen often. If you are not used to hearing from God, God often gave the prophets a natural picture, then an interpretation of the picture. Jesus always used natural illustrations, this is just the way the Holy Spirit works. He starts with a natural picture, then tells you how it relates to biblical truth. Don't trust in your own wisdom, use God's. Ask him to show you what you need to do, spend hours in prayer asking, then do as he says.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

If you don't know why to start a church, don't start one. It will be blind leading the blind.

I am involved in starting Quality Churches and if you are interested to find out more, pm me.

Sorry I don't agree, Jesus took fishermen, tax collectors, and sinners, and turned them into the greatest force the world has ever know. Who says God can't take this novice, and make him more powerful than the learned. Some one who is looking for help is more use to God than some one who thinks they know it all.

 

[Lovemybliss]

Lots of great advice here just sending good thoughts your way!