Letter to Parents
This is a brief welcome to all parents of existing or potential First
Baptist Youth Fellowship (a.k.a. The Burn) members. It is our strong
belief that proper ministry to youth begins at home. In other words,
you are the best role model and teacher that your kids could possibly
have. A couple years back, there was a series of TV commercials running
which showed teens arguing with their parents, only to turn aside
to the camera and admit: "I don't really mean those things. I
say I don't want my parents involved in my life, but in reality, I
do. I need them." Though, perhaps, a bit simplistic in its approach,
nonetheless, I find this to be true as I work with youth. You do have
an impact on them, which is awesome and scary, depending on your own
personal lives.
Our approach in this Youth Ministry is to teach Scripture in its
proper context above all things. We believe that students, under
the guidance of the Holy Spirit, have the God-given ability to learn
the deeper things of the faith and to apply them to their everyday
lives. We also believe that younger people really do want to learn
the deeper things, but too much of today’s youth ministry
is only skin deep, neglecting the meat of the faith. As such, we
tend to work through passages of Scripture in a more systematic
way each week for the discussion time. This means that we rarely
deal with the typical "hot topics" (i.e. sex, drugs, and
rock-and-roll) in and of themselves. We just don't spend a lot of
time in our current curriculum solely on these issues. That doesn't
mean that we do not address them, however!!!
During our application sections, depending on the particular passage
of Scripture we are teaching, we will address these topics. God
wants us to address these topics, because He wants us to honor Him
with our bodies, our souls, and our minds, and we want to equip
our students for the temptations which they will face. This brings
us full circle, because this is where you will have the best impact.
As they see you living God-honoring lives, and as you engage them
(and this is where it admittedly gets tough) in conversation about
temptation, lives will be changed for the better.
Child Abuse History Clearance: Switching
gears a bit, times have changed here in America over the past fifty
years or so. One look at the news this past year in particular reminds
us of the type of world in which we live, and we do not want to be
naïve to this fact. The reality is that there are students in
churches and in schools who have been the victims of all sorts of
abuse. Again, lest we be naïve and assume that "it could
never happen here," it is the policy of FBC that all teachers
and leaders who come into contact with newborns through Sr. High students
go through a criminal clearance (a.k.a. CORI) according to the laws
of MA. We have done this, and all leaders of your students have been
cleared. Ideally, we wish that no school or church had to go to such
measures, but the truth is that this is a necessity these days. Here
at FBC, we thought it best to be proactive rather than reactive when
it comes to abuse. We trust that you will agree.
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