The State of Student Ministries I spend a good deal of my time in research. It’s something I feel is important for a person in my position. Some of this research involves an in-depth of scripture for an upcoming lesson. However, a lot of my research goes into understanding contexts. In Bible College, the first thing they drilled into our minds was “context determines meaning.” In the Bible, this means historical background, the context of the author, the context of the audience, how the passage relates to other passages around it, how it related to the book it was in, how it related to scripture as a whole, among other significant trends to analyze. In student ministry, this means understanding contexts such as, age, developmental stages, trends in culture, trends in our church, history of our church, trends in the broader Church, history or the broader Church, language barriers (slang), friendships, family and parents, technology, the list could really go on and on. Therefore, I study these things to have a thriving ministry at First Presbyterian Church. I read books, countless articles, and every two years I go to a National Youth Workers Convention to be with thousands of other leaders who are going through similar situations within their ministry. I think we have a tendency to look outward and play a compare game when analyzing ourselves. This isn’t just in church, but in our personal lives as well. It’s why we want the latest and greatest clothing style, vehicle,
To have a productive and constructive understanding of God it is a requirement for the reader to pay attention to context or risk missing the fundamental messages from God. To read as a contextualist one must process understanding of the scripture by consistently asking questions about context. To be a Fundamentalist is to not consider context and either believe a word for word literal account of the stories regardless of scientific evidence or to look and scientific evidence and regard the stories as untrue or implausible, completely missing the meanings carried within those stories. The important difference to determining meaning can be found in a reader who considers context in order to find these
This philosopy of ministry is simply my personal way of doing things . In my view, every christian should believe the same primary, fundamental doctrines, however, not all churches and ministries should have the same style, or the same philosophy of ministry. Just as there is variety in the body, so the world needs all different styles of pastors, leaders and teachers. No one style will reach everybody with the gospel of Jesus. As you read the Bible you'll see that while God does tell a church what to believe and think, he never tells the church exactly how to operate. The church is free to creatively operate within biblical teachings and principles.
The charity I picked to receive the $1000 is Matthew 25 Ministries. It is a disaster relief charity and much more. It’s location is 11060 Kenwood Rd, Blue Ash, OH 45242. I picked this charity because it is a worthy organization that provides resources to those who are in need of food, clean water and cleaning supplies, etc. This charity helps prevent diseases by supplying clean water to rural places. It also helps improve the economy of these places by teaching the people skills and sustainable practices.
For many years the Apostle Paul and his pastoral leadership has given me great insight as to how live life daily. His missionary journey’s as God’s representative has had great influence on my own theological thought and preservation of my faith. The book of Colossians is filled with stories of redemption, knowledge and the power of prayer. The Apostle’s extraordinary life from darkness to light can only be attributed to the Grace of the Lord.
No matter what my background and the struggles I have in life, I can use all experience as motivation and relevant opportunities to assist in teaching others. In the midst of preaching and teaching, I learned that I must always seek to make learning relevant by using real-life scenarios and illustrations. Not only that, but I must go the extra mile to ensure that I create lessons and sermons connecting with learning modalities. Moreover, I should strive to always include reluctant learnings in every learning opportunity and not single-out students because of their
The word “Christian” in Colorado Christian University is more than just a belief shared amongst the Faculty and Student Body. It is the foundation on which all aspects of the educational experience are built. Beginning with a strong Statement of Faith, which aligns with core beliefs of the National Association of Evangelicals, the University proclaims its belief “in the Bible as being the only authoritative Word of God, that God exists in the Father, Son and Holy Spirit, as well as belief in the salvation and resurrection that is only found in Christ Jesus” (Statement of Faith at Colorado Christian University, n.d.).
The premise of Cannister’s book is that when teenagers matter, everything changes in student ministry. Cannister uses the introduction to look at four basic core principles that have lasted almost a century. First there is having a clarity of purpose which, without, a youth ministry will crumble. Second is exemplifying authentic leadership. This is not someone being perfect but genuine with youth. Third is the overall goal: transformation of lives. Lastly there is creating and maintaining genuine relationships with students. These four core principles have been “beacons of light” for youth pastors/ministries for decades.
This paper is the final results of my internship ministry practicum II experiences reflection in my church organization work settings and training. My experiences from different areas of exposure sharpened my skills for my professional role of the Doctor of Ministry Program in the theological field of counseling and teaching. My ministry practicum consists of direct involvements with hands-on, real-life interactions under the supervision of my Supervisor, Chaplain Andrea Fletcher. This Comprehensive Written Review analyzes the full spectrum of my observation and participation in tasks from my Ministry Learning Agreement Form. The opportunity allowed me to view other leaders in ministry exercising their gift and in turns
Among the challenge of understanding the people that you are ministering to or with is the challenge of being able to maintain high standards of moral behavior in a challenging environment (Martin.n.d). There is also the challenge of ever changing volunteers and the lack of volunteers (Martin.,n.d). As a Christian leader, we tend to believe that there will always be an abundance of volunteers to serve God but that is not always the case as I have witnessed personally.
A-30 of The Leaders Box, a resource for church leaders in the United Church of Christ, contains information for one who is seeking to become an ordained minister. One of the requirements of a candidate for ordination is to provide their association committee on ministry with a paper “dealing with the person 's theological perspective and grasp of the historic Christian faith; understanding of the history, theological roots, polity and practice of the United Church of Christ; and the person 's faith pilgrimage and understanding of ministry.” The Leaders Box: www.ucc.org/ministers_leaders-box
By understanding the circles of context, we have a better and deeper understanding of the Bible
It is not an easy task to carry out public leadership, you have to know almost everything, counseling marriage on the verge breaking down, baptizing dying babies, administering Holy Communion for dying individuals, leading marriage ceremony with unusual and complicated scenario. It is also not easy to accept ministry as God calling rather than as job placement or vocational opportunity. It is tough to accept the people, their culture, tradition and the whole identity. God called us to ministry so that we will be able exercise his full authority (Matt 28:16-18) with full humility (Philippians 2:6, 2Cor 8:9, Rom 5:6-8). We have to deny ourselves and follow the footsteps of Jesus our Lord (Luke 9:23).
After reading Chapter 2 of Pastor: The Theology and Practice of Ordained Ministry by Willimon I found that there is many ways to minister to people. It is possible to collectively and effectively utilize a little piece from each area to make it work. The primary thing to realize is that you are not overly dependent on one area versus another, allow the Holy Spirit to guide you in your ministry.
Nations crumble, churches and business fail, families become dysfunctional, children lose their way, and men stray from God for one disturbing reason; lack of leadership. These failures are often because of the lack of instruction, proper leadership, and confusion over what Christian leadership is and how that leadership is applicable to every facet of business and personal life.
Winsomely presented, B.B. Warfield is well known for his scholarship with no exception seen here, In The Religious Life of Theological Students. Here as seminary students, we must chiefly be Godly men, apt to teach with the added passion of devotion driven by our love of God. As a result of our love for God, we are encouraged to have in our vocation a devotion with zeal and piety. We are to be as Warfield puts it; God-made, meaning a minister is called, shaped and developed divinely by God’s decree and power thereby being made worthy through the process of God’s call upon their life.