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Feeding the Lambs: Youth Engagement
and
Development Activities of Southern Megachurches
Joshua D. Ambrosius
Joshua
Ambrosius, a Ph.D. fellow in Urban and Public Affairs at the
University of Louisville, investigated youth engagement and
youth development activities of megachurches for his Southern
Research Fellowship report. Megachurches, defined as Protestant
churches drawing two-thousand or more weekly attendees, are
rapidly building their congregations by locating in fast-growing
Sunbelt suburbs and by recruiting young families and teenagers.
On any given Sunday, some 1.2 million Southerners attend one
of the 323 megachurches located in Southern Growth’s
member states.
A
common criticism of megachurches is that they are insular enclaves
with an inward focus, lacking true concern for the less fortunate
members of their broader communities. In light of this criticism,
Ambrosius seeks to understand the breadth of community outreach
efforts in Southern megachurches, with an emphasis on the activities
of the churches’ youth ministries. To do so, Ambrosius
surveyed youth ministers at eight diverse megachurches across
the South to identify basic youth programming, indicators of
regular community outreach, youth leadership development and
training, and other volunteerism. Ambrosius found that, in
direct contrast to the above criticism, megachurch youth ministries
partake in a wide array of community engagement activities
and also have strong leadership development programs. Among
the author’s findings are:
- Megachurches
in the South, while all evangelical, are denominationally diverse.
Among the eight surveyed megachurches, three are Southern Baptist,
two are nondenominational, and one each is United Methodist,
Presbyterian Church in America, and Church of God.
- All
eight youth groups develop leadership skills among a subsection
of their young attendees. Six of the ministries offer regular
training, while the remaining two do so intermittently and
for special purposes, such as in preparation for a mission
trip.
- All
eight youth ministries engage in regular community outreach —< half
of them on a weekly basis. They engage in a wide variety of
activities, including cleaning up their communities, building
and renovating homes, distributing food to the needy, and serving
children and the elderly.
- Six
of the eight churches partner with social service organizations
for community outreach and five partner with other churches
for similar work, exhibiting a willingness to cross denominational
lines in their mission to serve their communities.
- Seven
of the eight encourage their teens to volunteer through other
organizations or programs in the community. An equal number
encourage youth preaching, teaching, and other public speaking
activities.
- Five
youth ministries responded to Hurricane Katrina by participating
in rebuilding efforts or otherwise serving along the Gulf Coast,
and five reported that some of their teens devoted their spring
break vacations to aid in the recovery.
- All
eight conduct domestic service trips to other cities or regions
in the U.S. once or twice a year, and all have taken at least
one international mission trip.
- These
service trips are often the catalyst for further youth development
efforts. Some churches give their teenage members full responsibility
for planning and executing mission trips, thereby building
necessary life skills that are often then applied in their
home community.
Download Josh Ambrosius's Report
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