The Youth Transition Network
"Before you dive, get the big picture."
Fellow Buzzards,
I want you to know about and consider donating time and money to the Youth Transition Network, "a coalition of youth, college and military ministries working together to motivate, prepare and connect students to their next spiritual home."
*****
When I wrote Blah, Blah, Blah, I wanted to teach my readers about the worldviews ambush most Christian students face entering college. My goal was (a) to stem the loss of youth in Christian involvement after high school graduation and (b) to get people so excited about Jesus that they couldn't help but share their faith with others.
The loss-of-youth problem is huge. A 2007 nationwide study by Lifeway (publisher for the Southern Baptists) put a hard number on it: 70 per cent walk away from the church! Flipping the statistic, this means that in spite of all the youth groups, programs, camps, activities and money spent, the church is retaining only 30 per cent of its young people.
Enter the Youth Transition Network, founded in 2004 to address the same problem.
Blah focused on worldviews. YTN focuses on relationships: the students themselves, parents, youth ministers, senior pastors and college ministry workers.
YTN has developed a national strategy and superb resources:
In addition, YTN has led the gathering of Campus Crusade for Christ, the Navigators, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Student Venture, Chi Alpha, Youth for Christ, Campus Ambassadors, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Christian Educators Association, National Network of Youth Ministries, Urbnet and many others to release the "Eye-Opening" video that they hope will connect many students with LiveAbove.com and to campus ministries.
As you can imagine, getting so many ministries to work together for a common goal was a miracle in itself!
Now, another miracle is needed. In the next two months, YTN needs to experience a grassroots, heartfelt thank-you from the widest possible spectrum of Christians who recognize that this loss of youth problem must aggressively be addressed. This response that will be noted by foundations YTN is courting who want to be sure that YTN is viable, valued and meets a real, felt need.
Please, for the sake of our youth and the gospel, get your church's youth minister connected to YTN. Provide Ambassador kits to youth pastors. Please prayerfully consider putting YTN on your list of monthly giving and making a significant one-time gift to YTN.
Sincerely,
Bayard Taylor, author of Blah, Blah, Blah: Making Sense of the World's Spiritual Chatter
Fellow Buzzards,
I want you to know about and consider donating time and money to the Youth Transition Network, "a coalition of youth, college and military ministries working together to motivate, prepare and connect students to their next spiritual home."
*****
When I wrote Blah, Blah, Blah, I wanted to teach my readers about the worldviews ambush most Christian students face entering college. My goal was (a) to stem the loss of youth in Christian involvement after high school graduation and (b) to get people so excited about Jesus that they couldn't help but share their faith with others.
The loss-of-youth problem is huge. A 2007 nationwide study by Lifeway (publisher for the Southern Baptists) put a hard number on it: 70 per cent walk away from the church! Flipping the statistic, this means that in spite of all the youth groups, programs, camps, activities and money spent, the church is retaining only 30 per cent of its young people.
Enter the Youth Transition Network, founded in 2004 to address the same problem.
Blah focused on worldviews. YTN focuses on relationships: the students themselves, parents, youth ministers, senior pastors and college ministry workers.
YTN has developed a national strategy and superb resources:
- The "Eye-Opening College Video" on YouTube, with student interview clips and a link to LiveAbovedotcom where students can connect with college ministry leaders and/or Christian roommates through the internet months before they arrive on campus.
- A professionally-done, highly interactive "Be Prepared" session on DVD that employs a self-launching slide show with embedded video clips (tested with over 600 youth in state youth conventions and at Urbana 2007 with tremendous student response).
In addition, YTN has led the gathering of Campus Crusade for Christ, the Navigators, Intervarsity Christian Fellowship, Student Venture, Chi Alpha, Youth for Christ, Campus Ambassadors, Coalition for Christian Outreach, Christian Educators Association, National Network of Youth Ministries, Urbnet and many others to release the "Eye-Opening" video that they hope will connect many students with LiveAbove.com and to campus ministries.
As you can imagine, getting so many ministries to work together for a common goal was a miracle in itself!
Now, another miracle is needed. In the next two months, YTN needs to experience a grassroots, heartfelt thank-you from the widest possible spectrum of Christians who recognize that this loss of youth problem must aggressively be addressed. This response that will be noted by foundations YTN is courting who want to be sure that YTN is viable, valued and meets a real, felt need.
Please, for the sake of our youth and the gospel, get your church's youth minister connected to YTN. Provide Ambassador kits to youth pastors. Please prayerfully consider putting YTN on your list of monthly giving and making a significant one-time gift to YTN.
Sincerely,
Bayard Taylor, author of Blah, Blah, Blah: Making Sense of the World's Spiritual Chatter
posted by fangorn at 1:26 PM
