QUALITIES OF A GOOD YOUTH LEADER #01 – SOMEONE WHO LOVES

If you think about the expectations that are placed on today’s youth leaders, it is sort of overwhelming: management, public relations, graphic design, party planning, marketing, theology, professional speaking, and, of course, being a talented musician and worship leader. When many parishes are advertising a job opening for a paid youth leader, they are often looking for someone with a degree in catechetics and/or theology, maybe two years’ missionary experience and four years in a parish.

 Other parishes are hoping to find a parent who enjoys working with youth or just someone who is young and relatable. What really makes a good youth minister?  This is the first post of many that will help you evaluate the important qualities of a good leader.

The first quality is simple but easily escapes us. Love is the single quality that makes a good youth minister. Love for God and love for the youth, and the desire to bring those two loves into collision.
I’ve worked with all types, and all had good intentions: the “brains” who could share unending theological truths without planning or referring to notes, the “experienced” who have the perfect resumes, the “moms” who pull from all their parenting and counseling resources, and the “relevant” ones who look great, know pop culture, and send out the cool vibe. Each bring their own niche and skill set, but nothing ever trumps love.

Time and time again, it’s the people who have a burning desire for souls, the people who spend as much time on their knees with Jesus as they do planning and researching their youth nights, the people who are humble enough to change their plans and programs to meet the needs of the real people sent their way. These people move me and inspire me to bring Jesus to teens.

For most people, the truth can be hard to hear. Teens, like anyone else we hope to share the gospel with, need to know that we care about them, that we love them, and that we want them to be happy. They must have a sense of this before they will be able to readily receive and live the gospel in an authentic way. St John Bosco, the patron saint of youth ministry, when asked about the secret of his immense success with the young, simply said “Love.”

“This was the method that Jesus used with the apostles. He put up with their ignorance and roughness and even their infidelity. He treated sinners with a kindness and affection that caused some to be shocked, others to be scandalized and still others to hope for God’s mercy. And so He bade us to be gentle and humble of heart.” – St. John Bosco

We can only love when we are receiving love.  We can only receive love from the One who is love.  His name is Jesus Christ.

http://catholicyouthdiscipleship.org

Our Projects

In the bid to bring about change in the CYON of St Gerald and to rebuild the broken image of our youths; we the St Gerald CYON have carefully introduced the following project to drive this change:

1.   PROJECT CHANGE

VISION: “…to INSPIRE, EMPOWER, EQUIP and GROW youths into leaders who will make a change in the church and society”

YOUTH CONFERENCE: Under the umbrella of the PROJECT CHANGE, the Youth Conference is initiated to be an annual/yearly program which would be organized by the youths of St. Gerald Church. The objective of the Youth Conference is to educate, empower, and transform lives especially the young people among us and that of our environs. This is a simple reason we spread our tentacles to other parishes, schools, tutorial centers like ADAMS COLLEGE and a host of others.

To ensure the continuity of this Youth Conference we therefore appeal to our parishioners, individuals, and corporate bodies to sponsor this event. Because we believe in change and transformation we strongly believe that with your support or sponsorships in terms of finance, and the conference materials, we can achieve this dream that has kept us going.

If you are really passionate in seeing young people live better lives and fulfill their God given dreams then you can kindly reach us via these lines: 08115874949, 07015145943, 08088733350, and 08104923832. Your support would be highly appreciated!

2.   PROJECT RAISE

VISION “to establish creative, innovative, and strategic means or system of making money legally for the organization so as to fund our quality programs, run her affairs and also ensure she is debt-free”

Under the umbrella of the Project RAISE is dedicated to raising funds for the organization, we have outlined the following programs to achieve this:

·        Publication of quarterly Youth Magazine which would be sold to the church especially the Youths and also marketed across the Mary Land CYON Deanery and nebouring parishes.

·        Organizing our annual Youth and Children Harvest where games and many exiting activities would be geared to raising funds

3.   SKILL ACQUSITION PROGRAM (SAP PROJECT)

VISION “to equip and provide valuable skills for 500 youths by the end of 2015 thereby insuring their financial future, reducing the un-employment rate amongst youths and in Nigeria”

OUR S.A.P PROGRAMS

We shall be taking courses in the following categories below:

1.   Catering

2.   Event Decorations and Management

3.   ICT programs i.e. Graphics Designs, Desktop Publishing, Website Design and Development etc

4.   Fashion Design

5.   Photography

6.   Bead Making

7.   Shoe Making

8.   Soap Making and Packaging

SKILL ACQUISITION PROGRAM: Participants shall upon completion of the program, be awarded certificates of participation and also encouraged to establish business applying the skills acquired from the program. By doing so we are empowering and equipping the youths hence reducing the unemployment rate amongst young people.

This program is not only limited to our parishioners but also extend to young people from different backgrounds, faith or denomination. We hereby implore the church, individuals, professionals, corporate bodies who can offer any of these training to support and partner with this skill Acquisition Program.

The date and duration for the enrolment for the Skill Acquisition Program would be communicated to you via your contacts in the future. Be prepared; tell others about S.A.P PROJECT….because WITH S.A.P….WE CAN!

NB:This program is not only limited to our parishioners but also extend to young people from different backgrounds, faith or denomination. We hereby implore the church, individuals, professionals, corporate bodies who can offer any of these training to support and partner with this skill Acquisition Program.