Church of Bethlehem

English Ministry

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Starting gradually in 2022 and made official in January 2023, we made the important decision to integrate the Youth service into the COB EM service for the following reasons:

 

1) Connection: We noticed that in many churches with completely age-segregated services, youth members do not return to the church after graduating from college because they do not feel like the adult service is their home. This phenomenon, called the 'silent exodus,' happens because of a disconnect between Youth and EM. We want our kids to grow up here and feel like they belong here, so we integrated them.

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2) Observation: We all become better disciples by observing other faithful Christians. We believe youth can be better disciples by seeing how faithful adult Christians live.

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3) Worship attitude: We are all affected by the atmosphere of worship. We have noticed that youth members focus on worshiping God better when they worship with faithful adults. And the adults are energized, encouraged, and challenged by the presence of the youth. 

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4) Supporting our volunteers: Youth group leaders can easily become isolated and drained when they are excluded from the main worship time. But when we combine the Youth service and EM together, we can recruit more youth group leaders, and no one has to get burned out!

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5) Supporting the youth pastor: Just like everyone else, pastors need accountability. The EM pastor can help the youth pastor grow and hold the pastor accountable for faithful ministry. 

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6) Taking responsibility: We believe that, as members of God's family, we are all responsible for praying for, caring for, and mentoring the youth. If we say we support the youth ministry but never interact with the kids, then we aren't really taking our responsibility seriously.

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