AMBASSADORS YOUTH

1
AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings

• Our weekly gatherings are part of the heartbeat
  of our community life
• Drawing in - gathering people in at the end of
  the week
• for connection meeting new people, becoming
  known in a relaxed and fun environment
• a place of encounter for Christians and
  non-Christians (though the emphasis of what we do
  is to equip for witness on the playing field)
• to be renewed in their knowledge of God and his
  will
• for healing - to be prayed for, to pray with
  others
• for a time of encountering God with other young
  Christians in worship
• to share stories, receive and give encouragement
  to others
• Sending out sending people into their unique
  contexts
• equipped, strengthened and encouraged in their
  faith and for service

2
AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples

• How well do these events help us achieve our
  goals?
• Large group gatherings are by no means the most
  effective ministry that forms teens into maturing
  disciples who make other disciples
• Effective spiritual transformation happens far
  more effectively through personal discipleship
  events such as cell groups, triads and mentoring
• Dallas Willard Spirit of the Disciplines
• Greg Ogden Transforming Discipleship
• Richard Foster in writings for Renovare
• Large group gatherings DO, however, play an
  important part of our life together. They are key
  times for people to meet, be encouraged, worship
  and learn in a setting that complements what
  happens in smaller groups

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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples

• When and how we currently run ministry events
• Saturdays
• Cell groups 6-730 pm - Bible study,
  discussions, prayer in grade groups
• Open House 730-1030 pm relaxed,
  un-programmed, a connection time
• Sundays
• Youth Church 10-1130 pm worship, teaching,
  sharing stories
• Evening service 7-830 pm up to 20 Ambassadors
  attend regularly

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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples

• Some problems with the way were running these
  events
• Were unbalanced
• 8 hours of youth events in a single 26 hr
  period, on one day of the week
• We do too much
• Were being part of the problem of
  over-programmed youth. Young people are busy
  doing things 7 days a week
• our events are under-staffed, we cant ask
  leaders to commit to so much
• We dont do things at the right time
• sunday mornings are bad times for teenagers!

On Sunday mornings were asking youth to be most
receptive to the deepest things at the time when
they are least able to do that.
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
Why Sunday mornings are bad times for
teenagers 1) Teens are chronically sleep
deprived Adolescents need 9 hours and 15 minutes
of sleep. They rarely get that much due to early
school start time, inability to fall asleep until
late at night, work, social life and homework.
Parents may need to adjust their child's schedule
to allow more sleep. Most teens are chronically
sleep deprived and try to "catch up" on their
sleep by sleeping in on the weekends. The Sleep
Well website Stanford University
(http//www.stanford.edu/dement/adolescent.html)
Up to 7 hours of sleep debt per week can be
accumulated by the mismatch of the required sleep
and the actual sleep achieved. This debt
continues to accumulate over the school
year Clinician's Guide to Paediatric Sleep
Disorders  Mark A. Richardson, Norman
Friedman Chronic sleep restriction in
adolescents leads to significant neurobehavioral
consequences related to decline in alertness
levels. These include a negative impact on mood,
vigilance and reaction time, attention, memory,
behavioural control and motivation. These
impairments may in turn be associated with
significant declines in school and
work/occupational performance, increased
risk-taking behaviours (use of alcohol, illicit
drugs, nicotine, caffeine, stimulants), and
injuries. National Sleep Disorders Research Plan
- Adolescent Sleep (http//www.nhlbi.nih.gov/hea
lth/prof/sleep/res_plan/section6/section6a.html)
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
Why Sunday mornings are bad times for
teenagers 1 contd) Teens are chronically sleep
deprived Trying to recover the sleep
debt Sleeping late on Saturday and Sunday
usually fosters a later sleep onset on Sunday
night. Despite this, sleeping in on weekends
allows adolescents to pay back some of their
weeknight sleep debt. Adolescents who are
allowed to sleep in on the weekends may have an
opportunity to pay back some of their sleep debt.
While this may mean somewhat less sleep on Sunday
night, in the view of some participants it is
better than no repayment of the sleep
debt. from Adolescent Sleep Patterns
Biological, Social, and Psychological
Influences Mary A. Carskadon Cambridge
University Press, 2002. (http//www.questia.com/re
ad/105050789)
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
Why Sunday mornings are bad times for
teenagers 2) Teens have a different energy
rhythm Changes in the Circadian Rhythm Sleep
researchers are finding that the circadian clock
varies with developmental stage. Adults with
sufficient sleep are alert in the morning, sleepy
in the afternoon, and alert again in the evening.
Children with sufficient sleep are at maximum
alertness in the morning and crash early in the
evening. Adolescents with sufficient sleep are
sleepy in the morning, dip even lower in the
afternoon, and get a burst of alertness in the
evening and going into the night Dimensions of
Human Behavior  By Elizabeth D. Hutchison,
p257 Changes in the biological clock triggered
by puberty make it hard for most teenagers to
fall asleep before 1130 p.m. or midnight.
Secretion of the hormone melatonin, which
promotes sleepiness, starts about an hour later
in the evening in adolescents than in
pre-pubescent children, and ends about an hour
later in the morning, too. from Adolescent Sleep
Patterns Biological, Social, and Psychological
Influences Mary A. Carskadon Cambridge
University Press, 2002. (http//www.questia.com/re
ad/105050789)
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
Why Sunday mornings are bad times for teenagers
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples

• Why Sunday mornings are bad times for teenagers
• Summary
• On Sunday mornings, adolescents are trying to
  cope with a chronic accumulation of sleep debt of
  more than 7 hours
• They are functioning at a low-point in their
  daily energy cycle
• Youth Church at 10am for teens is like trying to
  run a worship service at 2-4pm or 11pm on a
  Sunday for adults
• Its at this time that we are currently trying
  to do work that will form them into maturing
  disciples who make other disciples

We are committing the bulk of our resources into
a program that is least effective in achieving
our ministry goals
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings

• How can we do things better ?
• Improve our time-balance
• Reduce the concentration of contact time and
  spread events out in the week
• Do less-better
• Focus our leadership resources on hosting one,
  well-run, high impact weekend event that better
  achieves the aim of equipping and energising
  young people for ministry
• Allow our young people to have more time to
  rest to catch up on sleep, work or recreation
• Do the right things at the right time
• Engage young people with activities of spiritual
  formation at the times they are best able to
  receive it
• Engage our senior youth better
• Provide better opportunities for senior youth to
  receive teaching, engage in worship, receive and
  offer prayer, and grow in ministry.

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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings
How would we change what we do ? Move from
this to this
Cell groups Sat 6-730 Prime place for spiritual
formation
Cell groups Sat 6-715pm Prime place for
spiritual formation
Open House Sat 730-10 Relaxed, social time, no
spiritual content
Evening worship 715-815 Gathering for
story-telling, worship, prayer, builds on cell
groups
OH 730-830 Parallel hang-out space for non-Xn
teens or juniors
Open House 830-10 Relaxed, social time
Youth Church Sun 10-1130 Worship, teaching,
prayer, sharing stories
A place for teens to gather and receive some kind
of low-key input, possibly after a joint worship
time at the main 10am service
Evening service Sun 7-830 Not geared specially
for youth but a good place for worship and
connection
Evening service Sun 7-830
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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings

• What are the potential advantages ?
• Offer more friends of our teenagers the chance
  to encounter God in worship
• when youth organise their own outreach or
  worship events (eg Encounterfest, Simply Worship,
  Summer Happening etc) they run them on Friday or
  Saturday evenings, not in the mornings!
• Model a more balanced, Sabbath-shaped lifestyle
• by giving our youth space to rest
• Engage more of our senior youth
• by providing them with engaging events on
  Saturday evenings
• Reinforce learning at cell groups
• by focusing input on what has just been taught
• Reduce Ambies leader burn-out rate
• Improve integration of youth with broader church
• likely that more youth would attend 7pm service
• youth could help at Childrens Church or crèche
• more youth could attend 10 am service

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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings

• What are the potential disadvantages ?
• Junior grades and their friends enjoy current
  Open House format
• might go elsewhere, preventing us from building
  those relationships
• Disruption to current pattern of Sunday morning
  family worship
• out of sync with Childrens Church requiring a
  step-change for grade 7s
• What do parents do with teens on Sunday
  mornings?
• Loss of family time on Sunday mornings
• Youth who currently come only to Youth Church
  cant find transport to Saturday evening worship
  time

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AMBASSADORS YOUTH
making maturing disciples who make maturing
disciples
A vision for weekend gatherings

• How can we address or minimise these
  disadvantages ?
• Junior grades and their friends enjoy current
  Open House for
• might go elsewhere, preventing us from
  building those relationships
• Provide a parallel place for juniors to hang out
  in non-threatening space
• Layout of Callow House allows for this we have
  done parallel events in the past
• Assign leaders to look after and engage with
  these youth
• Disruption to current pattern of Sunday morning
  family worship
• Out of sync with Childrens Church requiring a
  step-change for grade 7s
• cant fully mitigate this one. I believe
  advantages outweigh the disadvantage here
• What do parents do with teens on Sunday
  mornings?
• Allow them to stay at home or continue bring
  them to church at 10am. Possible joint worship
  time at 10am followed by low-key input for Ambies
• Loss of family time on Sunday mornings
• Family time on Sunday mornings consists almost
  entirely of travel to and from church (not
  usually the highest-quality time!). Families are
  separated for the service times anyway
• Youth cant find transport to Saturday evening
  events
• Organise transport networks on Saturdays.