NEW YOUTH DIRECTOR OF ONTARIO SDA CONFERENCE WITH A FRESH PERSPECTIVE!

WRITTEN BY CLAIRON HAYNES (OWNER OF THIS BLOG)

The year 2016 has seen a reshuffle of the executive body of the SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST CHURCH CONFERENCES across Canada. The Ontario conference of SDA is no exception. The election of Youth Director PASTOR JOHN M. SCOTT came as no surprise to many who have known him and his ministry for Christ over the years.

Only three months in this position yet we have seen losts of hope and promises from his appointment already. A Youth Pastor in the past, one would think that no doubt he should have a fair idea as to the needs of the YOUTHS in his conference and can tailor to dress those needs. However his approach right from the onset has proven otherwise - that he is not willing to go into this game with the preconceived notion that HE HAS ALL OF THE ANSWERS TO WHAT THE YOUTHS NEED but moreso that the implimentation of the DIAGNOSTIC APPROACH to his ministry will help to gather the pertinent information that would better inform his effective planning during his tennure as Youth Director. The vehicle through which Pastor Scott has used to access this data is his #RealTalkLive tour. What better way to know the needs and concerns of the youths than to engage in a dialogue with them.

Accompanied by a team of willing individuals the #RealTalkLive kicked off its first episode on Saturday October 29, 2016 at 9PM at EAST CENTRAL ONTARIO. Youths and young adults were invited to participate in a live discussion with the hope of bringing to the fore some of the needs and concerns that they have and measures they would like to see implemented by the youth division of the conference to see those needs addressed.
PASTOR SCOTT & HIS HARD WORKING TEAM

THE POWER OF SOCIAL MEDIA
The power of social media helped draw persons into this experience through various video clips and pictures posted of the sessions. The feedback seen from several Facebook post indicates that this tour is exactly the FRESH BLOOD that needs to run through the veins of the youth ministry of our churches. I applaud Pastor Scott and his team for MOVING AWAY FROM THE TRADITIONAL WAY OF DOING THINGS (assuming what the youths need and make the provisions most of which continue to handicap this ministry).

Some of the districts in Ontario that #RealTalkLive visited are as follows: 
- East Central Ontaion
- West Central Ontario
- Southern Ontario
- Western Ontario
- Metro North Central
- Metro South Central
- Metro East
- Eastern Ontario (Ottawa)
- Metro West

The tour wil culminate on December 17th at Metro West at 6:00 PM at the Mississauga SDA Church. 

The focus questions that fueled the discussions were centred around three (3) broad areas. These included:
1. Need of the youths.
2. Capacity to help fulfill these needs.
3. Solutions and guidance in terms of how to make youth a reality and even more impacting on the lives of the youths in the Ontario Conference.

YOUTHS LIVE ENGAGEMENT IN CONVERSATION

MY EXPERIENCE IN OTTAWA
I am grateful for the opportunity to visit the Ottawa SDA church to sit into one of these #RealTalkLive sessions with Pastor Scott and his team. The evening opened with a Moderator posing some questions to Pastor Scott relative to his call to Ministry and his days growing up as a youth. The youths got a first hand glipse into his past experiences and realized that their own experiences were not remote from his. This strategy helped to break the ice and established a ground of familiarity, thus setting the pace for what was to come.

The second phase slid into a group discussion. Key questions were posed by the facilitators to generate discussion. The underlying theme that was echoed was centered around the GENERATIONAL GAP that seems to exist between the mature and the youth of our churches. We got to hear how the youth felt about this. Suggestions for solutions were given to help narrow this gap. For example it was felt that no particular age group should wait on the other to make the first move toward integration. In addition it was revealed that the MAIN REASON  why youths tend to leave the church is due to the fact THAT THE ADULTS DO NOT UNDERSTAND THEM. This for me was REAL TALK as it sort to answer this burning question which I have had regarding why so many of our young people continue to leave the church and those who remain why they seem to lose interest in church life.

Unfortunately I had to travel back to Montreal before the session ended but based on what I was able to experience I can safely say that Pastor Scott and his team GOT MORE THAN THEY MAY HAVE ANTICIPATED relative to the needs of our young people and now they can go back to the drawing board and better tailor their programs to suit these needs.

CONTACT INFO:
For more information regarding this topic feel free to visit the ADVENTIST YOUTH ONTARIO Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/AdventistYouthOntario/?fref=ts

As the owner of this blog I take this opportuity to congratulate Pastor Scott and his team for the excellent work they have done with this tour. I hope that other conferences will see this as an example to better help their youths as well.

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