Pledge Month

"We'd like to see younger families come to our church." That is a sentiment that as the minister of Rising I hear quite often from folks who attend our church and it's a desire that I share as a soon-to-be-father.

I was fortunate enough to grow up in a church that invested heavily in the youth. When I was a wee little lad, there were only a few children in our church. As I grew, so did our youth ministry. When I was a teenager, it was normative to have 60-80 teenagers attending our church along with just as many elementary age children. I have memories of being involved in Christmas plays both at church and as a blessing to folks who lived at Suncrest here in town. On snow days our youth minister would organize an impromptu sledding day at the water tower park. We had our annual ski trip to Mt. Holly after a lock-in at the church that was not only a ton of fun but filled with teaching and training to walk in the way of Jesus. I had friends at school, but I was much closer to my friends at church. It was incredibly formative for me.

We had a lot of fun. But it also provided much opportunity for us kids to train in serving in ministry. I credit those years and that ministry for why I do what I do today as the minister of Rising Church. And it was because my home church invested in us.

It's long been a dream of mine to see a robust youth ministry at Rising but given our size, it's been a matter of money and volunteers. It's a catch 22 situation. Let me explain.

At the present moment, it appears to be a gamble to set money aside to hire a person who will be devoted to developing a youth ministry for our children and teens. The issue appears to be that we don't have enough children to warrant another even part-time salary. This leaves the ministry in the hands of volunteers in our church who will willingly set aside time during the week and on Sunday mornings to teach our kids.

But, and understandably so, not many people want to give up their time in church on Sunday morning. For the last several years we have had a faithful few people who have but they miss out on time with the church family and burn out as time goes on. Which leads to a desperate call for new volunteers to fill the void - and this cycle has been repeating since Rising started.

This leads to our youth ministry simply surviving instead of thriving.

In the last several months we've had young families visit Rising Church - the very ones we'd all like to see stay. And I have been asked about what we offer to our children and teens. When I explain that all we currently offer is Sunday morning classes, you can see the disappointed look in their eye. And the 4 or 5 families that may have stayed have moved on to other churches that do offer something for their kids.

Hard truth time: If we at Rising will not invest our time into discipling and caring for our youth, we need to be able to hire someone who can and will. And the only way that will happen is if all of us contribute.

Imagine being able to see those 4 or 5 families added to our Rising family. The new relationships. The 8-10 kids and teens added to our ministries. The lock-ins, the kids' Christmas program you used to be blessed by, the opportunities to see families grow in their faith and who share their testimoties. What a blessing that would be to you and to me. We may even see new believers and new leaders as a result of our presence in our community. This is one practical and monumental change that could realistically happen if all of us would commit to faithfully and sacrificially give.

A robust youth ministry is important for church growth - but that's a side effect. We are in a culture where God is no longer a staple in our thinking or conversation. Biblical truth and Kingdom morals are not at all commonplace. As parents come to faith, they are babes in Christ unable to train their own children in righteousness. A youth ministry partners with parents in teaching and offering resources to see entire families come to walk in faith. Where years ago it was nice to have - today it's a need.

Whether it's your time or your money - this doesn't happen without you. But it's my prayer that this article on a corner of the internet might get you thinking about what you might be able to offer. I'm excited by the possibilities but we need some tough folks who will tredge through the growing pains to grow a program that will train the next generation of Christians for the church of the future in the United States and beyond.

As you consider your pledge - maybe you have a few extra dollars you could drop in to see this seemingly impossible thing become a real opportunity for Rising. Maybe you have no extra dollars, but a few extra hours you could put toward taking the children on a fun outing to a hay ride this fall or work with the kids to put on a Christmas pageant that would bless our church. Either way - I see this as the next step in our offerings to this community that would only be a blessing to us, our community, and the Kingdom of God.

If nothing else, would you at least pray with me that the Lord would open up the doors and call on the hearts we need to become all that God has called us to be as Rising Church. Even though it doesn't look like a need given our current circumstances, it is aboslutely an opportunity that we're missing out on. We have a fantastic community of people who love Jesus. I would love for more families to be exposed to the grace that God has allowed each of us to experience.