MISSION

• To invest in their growth and development.
• To ignite within them a passion for Christ and commitment to serve their families, church, and others.

VISION

Our vision is that every one of our youth is:

• Positive that God loves them and has a plan and purpose for their lives.
• Persuaded to accept Christ and live productively for Him.
• Passionate about Christ, His church, the needy, and the lost.
• Prepared for life, relationships, service, and leadership.

GOALS

The scripture reads, “Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 3:13-14). With this in mind, our goals are:

• To help youth build a strong foundation in Christ Jesus.
• To develop leadership skills and talent among youth.
• To help build a strong bond among youth across the national church.
• To help youth understand and actively engage in ministries of the church.
• To help strengthen, motivate, and encourage youth ministries across the districts.

PROGRAMMING STRATEGIES

The Next-Gen team provides educational sessions for youth ages 13-17 during our national assemblies. We cover topics relevant to their age groups including:

• My Identity in Christ
• Destined for Success: Various Pathways to Success
• Family Matters
• Money Matters
• Human Trafficking
• Issues of the Heart
• Dating/Relationships
• COGBF History
• How to serve Christ in the home, church, & community
• College Preparation

DESIRED OUTCOMES

Next-Gen promotes and provides instruction in the performing arts so that youth will have outlets to creatively express themselves, and use their creativity and talent in developmentally appropriate ways to draw others to Christ (i.e., drama, spoken word, mime, praise dance, youth band).

We engage families and enable them to celebrate in the spiritual growth, training, and performances of their youth. Youth hour during the national assemblies will provide a venue for youth to operate in and share gifts that they have learned through instruction.

We engage youth in an outreach/mission activity during each national assembly (eg., writing letters or sending items to youth in a different countries.)

• Conduct youth needs assessments across the districts.
• Hold quarterly conference calls with district youth leaders and use information gathered to develop national youth programming.
• Work collaboratively with other youth and young adult ministries (when possible) to build continuity and strength in ministries (i.e. children’s ministry, 2CBF).
• Work collaboratively with the above ministries and other national church auxiliaries to organize a national youth retreat (that will include special programming for the youth, including sports)/