Youth Ministries coordinates all youth activities in the church, ranging from Adventist Junior Youth (Adventurers, ages 6-9; Pathfinders, ages 10-15) to the Senior Youth/Young Adult Ministry (Ambassadors, ages 16-21; Young Adults, ages 22-31). The department integrates the youth of the church into the church community, working with leaders and other entities of the church in winning, training,retaining, and reclaiming its youth.
The mission of Youth Ministries is to lead young people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and help them embrace the call to discipleship. The three focus areas of ministry are discipleship, community, and mission. With the guidance of Adventist Youth leadership, young people work together for the spiritual, mental, physical, and social development of one another. “With such an army of workers as our youth, rightly trained, might furnish, how soon the message of a crucified, risen, and soon-coming Savior might be carried to the whole world” (Messages to Young People, p. 196). A Bible-based foundation in the church will enable youth to develop a lifelong commitment to Jesus Christ and His church.
The objectives of these programs and activities are as follows:
- To work for the salvation of young people within the Seventh-day Adventist Church, helping them grow spiritually, physically, mentally, and socially.
- To provide fellowship for Seventh-day Adventist youth and organize them to work for the salvation of other young people.
- To train Seventh-day Adventist youth for leadership roles within the church and harness their energy for involvement in all church activities.
Local churches are encouraged to organize social clubs such as Pathfinders to address the needs of children in all age groups. The conference or mission can provide information about these ministries. Other resources are available at www.gcyouthministries.org.
The Youth Ministries department mission statement reflects its emphasis on service and its confidence in the abilities of the younger generation: “To lead young people into a saving relationship with Jesus Christ and help them embrace His call to discipleship.”
AY AIM:
The Advent message to all the world in my generation.
AY PLEDGE:
Loving the Lord Jesus, I promise to take an active part in the youth ministry of the church, doing what I can to help others and to finish the work of the Gospel in all the world.
AY MOTTO:
The love of Christ compels me
