FUN in the SON

My first recollection of really seeing youth work as a ministry was sometime in the late fifties when Louise and I became sponsors of an Intermediate Training Union group. We had both been active in our own churches during our teenage years and had held places of leadership with Beginners and Juniors in the Hilliard Memorial Baptist Church of High Point, North Carolina. However, we never really had a vision of youth ministry until my employer transferred us to Greensboro and we became a part of the Florida Street Baptist Church family. We are certain God led us there as we had visited several other churches in the southern part of the city and had deliberately “skipped over” Florida Street because we thought it was too large. Both of us had been accustomed to small churches in High Point and were afraid of just being “lost in the crowd” in such a large congregation as evidenced by the church building at Florida Street. But our plans changed one Sunday afternoon as two ladies came by our home while taking a community census. They were overjoyed to find that we were new Baptist residents in the area. We were so impressed with their warm and outgoing personalities that we surprised them by visiting their worship service that very evening! We knew at once that God had a purpose for us as part of their church family and moved our membership shortly thereafter. The Lord gave us some blessed experiences over the years as we labored together, but one of the first was in connection with thirteen-year olds in Training Union. While serving as sponsors of this group, we had many discipline problems - particularly with one boy who was always getting into mischief. He often had to be reminded not to bang the back of his chair against the wall, and on at least one occasion, the class roll book just “accidentally” fell out the second floor window! But I also recall some serious moments during this time. One of our requirements was that all “quarterlies”, as our study guides were called in those days, were hung up on a clothesline strung across the room before we started the program period. The idea was to study your assigned part of the program and be able to share it with the class without reading it from the book. These young people really studied during the week and came prepared on Sunday nights! What a joy to reflect upon the names of those in that group… Charles, Gail, David, Ronnie, “Skipper”, Tony, Charlie, etc. Almost every one of them has entered a church-related vocation or has married someone who entered the ministry! I'm sure there were other positive influences in these young people's lives, but I'm grateful that the Lord used “clothesline quarterlies” to help them grow during the time He allowed our lives to touch. We have learned a deep truth as we have reflected on this period of our lives: That you seldom see the results of youth ministry until years later, and only eternity will reveal the full extent of one’s influence on these young lives.