CURBING EXODUS OF YOUTHS FROM THE NIGERIAN BAPTIST CHURCHES

 CURBING EXODUS OF YOUTHS FROM THE NIGERIAN BAPTIST CHURCHES .

It is no longer news that the rate at which our youths exit the Baptist churches to Pentecostal churches is alarming. It saddens one's heart to see many youths that the denomination have laboured on from the cradle to youth deserting the church when we need them most. Youths that we have invested our time on right from sunbeam to girls auxiliary / royal ambassadors to Lydia and at the time when they need to serve the church with their strength which is the glory of the youth they leave the church. This have become a trend in churches predominantly in the city and if nothing is done about it to arrest the situation urgently some of our churches will become dead. The youths are the life of the church, they are the hope of the church, a church without youths is simply a dead church. It becomes apparent for the pastoral leadership of the Nigerian Baptist convention to declare the matters of youth as a state of emergency and do everything possible to make it difficult for our youths to keep leaving our churches. The essence of this  paper is to come up with a template that will guide in curbing the mass exodus of youths from the Baptist churches in Nigeria.

Youth is a very sensitive age group with several challenges confronted them. A youth is a young adult or an adult between the age range of seventeen and thirty five. A youth is someone with strength, vigour and energy. The scripture says the glory of the youth is in their strength and the glory of old age is grey hair. Youthfulness is the peak of strength and it is the stage of choices making and most life choices that will determine how their middle age and old age will be like are made at that period. Benjamin Disraeli said "youthful age is a mistake and old age is a regret" most choices such as who to marry, vocation and career choices, marital choices, location choices, school choices are made at this critical stage of life. At this stage majority made bad choices which they would eventually regret later in life. This is the stage the church need to provide a platform for them that will address their peculiarities. This is also the stage where they want to express themselves, they want maximum freedom and do not want to be restricted. It is a period when they need to be listened to, it is a period when you need to attend to their needs or else they will move to where their needs will be met, it is a period when they want to be in vogue, it is a period when they want to be in charge of their lives, it is a period when their sexual hormones are at their peak, it is a period that they want to be inclined with what is happening in their society. In light of these we shall discuss how we can minister to our youths in such a way that they will find fulfilment and satisfaction in our churches.

CREATE A PLATFORM FOR THE YOUTHS 

The peculiarities of the youth call for you to have a platform for them that will address their individual challenges and peculiarities. This is beyond our orthodox way of having a youth department, meeting once or twice a month and having a youth week. The church pastor should have a burden for the youths with plans on how to minister and address the peculiarities of the youths in his church. Creating a youth department can't solve it because they hardly meet every week. There should be a youth church with their own service, Sunday school, youth deacons, pastor and choir. The youth church will address their peculiarities as this will reflect in their sermons, teachings and Sunday schools. This will provide an avenue to know their individual challenges and they will be adequately minister to. The youth minister will give reports of what is happening in the youth church to the church pastor and the church pastor will also support them and once in a while visit them and identify with them. Only a few churches in our denomination have a youth church. It is observed that majority of our youths stop attending our local Baptist churches after gaining admissions to Higher institutions of learning. They interacted with other youths of other denominations. They attended their Churches and find fulfilment there. If they had found it in our church they may not have joined them. 

INVEST IN THE MUSIC MINISTRY 

An average youth want to attend a church where he will be able to sing, dance worship God without any hindrance. A church vast in western music and traditional music will attract many youths. This requires employing a worship leader or music pastor that will organize a quality worship. It involves buying quality musical instruments and employing professionals that will play the keyboard, guitar, violin, saxophone and drums. If all these things are in place, youths will not leave but stay. Some Baptists believe it is only church pastor that should be paid but that is wrong. Keyboardist, Drummer, organist, saxophonist are also ministers and deserved to be well paid. A church with vast music ministry will organise musical concerts that will bring contemporary gospel ministers into the church and the church will be greatly blessed. 

ENGAGE YOUR YOUTHS 

In the youth church, engage them, choose deacons, ushers, secretary and other church officers from them. Ensure that they are in at least one department of the church and they are serving God there. Any project in the church like printing of tracts, building construction, and so on. Get them involve and pay them the way you will pay an outsider. There is nothing wrong if you allow some of them who are willing to cut flowers, clean the church, decorate the church are paid for services rendered. This will cultivate a sense of belonging and responsibility. 

INVEST IN YOUR YOUTHS 

Organize trainings and seminars in line with their chosen professions in life. You can invite renowned and sound professional in all areas of life like in nursing, law, medicine, education, engineering, human resources to train your youths how to be better in their chosen profession. Organize career talks for your young adults otherwise call teenagers who want to go to universities but are confused of course and institution to choose. Organize tutorials for secondary students, university students and professional exam students, bring in professionals to teach them. Organize marriage seminars for them especially those that are ready to marry and create a platform that will make it so easy for them to approach each other for a relationship. Constant relationship talks will attract people from outside and in the course of the meetings, allow them to interact with each other. No youth will want to leave where his life is being nurture 

BE INTERESTED IN THEIR WELFARE 

Be interested in their wellbeing. Help the needy youths. Those that are not willing to further their education, help them to learn a vocation, support them when they are graduating, create a forum where Cvs and resumes are submitted and connecting them with those that can help them get a jobs. Encourage members to tell the welfare team if there is any vacant position in their place of work and they will fix someone that need job there. Paying of fees of needy students and supporting them financially while in schools via visitations and bursaries. A youth that benefit from such will also want to repay it back when he is gainfully employed. It is hard for a youth to leave where he is receiving adequate love and care. 

UNDERSTANDING OF THE TIME 

A youth pastor and the church pastor must have foresight and be sensitive to what is happening in their society. Take adequate and pragmatic steps to ensure that your church align with the peculiarities of the century. Youth church must be social media driven, the church should streamline on YouTube, Facebook and other social media channels. A church must be technologically inclined. A church technologically inclined will have an idea of what is going on in the society and address it scripturally in such a way that Christ will respond to it. 

ACCEPT THEM AS THEY ARE 

Let them come as they are, do not discriminate but make your standard known without compromise. One of the reasons why some Baptist churches refuse to have a youth church is the idea that "they will be doing what they like there". We have been so wired and program in a way that anyone that does not cover his head during worship is going to hell or a lady in a trousers or a brother in fitted shirts or sagged trousers with earrings or necklace are not meant to come to church. Let them come as they are, the word of God is spirit and life and is able to change their lives and restore them. Do not do the work of Holy Spirit and do not play the role of assistant God. Am I saying we should allow ladies with uncovered hairs and indecent dressing in our church? No, we must uphold our Baptist belief, doctrines and dogma. The standard should not be compromised but we must allow people to come as they are and allow Holy Spirit to change them. The church is not meant for saints alone but for all. 

TREAT THEM EQUALLY 

There should not be preferential treatment. Pastor ward's, Deacon ward's and church financiers wards' should be treated equally without biases. Do not put all the deacon children as deacons in the youth church and give them VIP treatment. Let them be treated equally. The pastor should ensure that the youths relate without any prejudices. It is common in some Baptist churches where children of the church financiers related with each other without having anything to do with common member. Also you see pastor children relating only with deacon children and forming a kind of cabal that dominate other youths. This should be discouraged. Let all youths be treated equally. Create a youth friendly church where everybody will be given a VIP treatment 

INVEST IN SPORTS 

Sports is one of the language that the youths understand and it bring people of different culture and background together. The church should invest in sports. There is nothing wrong if we have Baptist youths football Premier league. The Baptist can have a national football club competing with Enyimba FC of Aba. The denomination can organise sport festival for her youths annually or biannual as the case may be. The sport is a tool we can use to get attention of our youths and also a medium of evangelizing other youths outside the denomination. some Baptist conferences and associations are already playing football competition among themselves. This is a welcome development but we can still do more by investing more in sports. It is not out of place if we have Baptist sporting complex with football stadium and other sporting activities. 

Conclusion 

The Baptists are people of the book, we have a good heritage and our future will be more secured if we prioritize youth matters at our national matters. Albert Mohler, The president of the southern Baptist theological seminary became a president at the age of 33.why must you be between 45 to 55 before you can be a Nigerian Baptist convention president. Why should a man in his 50s be a coordinator of national youth affairs of the convention? Why should older men without passion and burden for youths coordinate affairs of youth at convention, conference and association level? There should be a review of our constitution that will give room and opportunities for youth to be in position of authorities together with the adults. Let the national youth coordinator be between the age of 17 and 35. How can you speak for me if you are not in my age bracket and you are not feeling what I am feeling? You can argue that he was once a youth but the challenges then are different from now. It is imperative to overhaul our polity in such a way that our youths can have a say in the way our convention is run. 

Abolanle Oladipupo (BSc (OOU) BTh(NBTS)) 

6th July, 2021