Empowering the adult and youth laity to reach unchurched inner-city African-American teens: through a contemporary outreach ministry called J.A.M. (Jesus and Me)

Stacy L Spencer

Etd

Empowering the adult and youth laity to reach unchurched inner-city African-American teens: through a contemporary outreach ministry called J.A.M. (Jesus and Me)

Public Deposited

MLA citation style (9th ed.)

Stacy L Spencer. Empowering the Adult and Youth Laity to Reach Unchurched Inner-city African-american Teens: Through a Contemporary Outreach Ministry Called J.a.m. (jesus and Me). Drew University Theological School. rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/df05638b-a9f8-47c1-99de-1bdedf793004.

APA citation style (7th ed.)

S. L. Spencer. Empowering the adult and youth laity to reach unchurched inner-city African-American teens: through a contemporary outreach ministry called J.A.M. (Jesus and Me). https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/df05638b-a9f8-47c1-99de-1bdedf793004

Chicago citation style (CMOS 17, author-date)

Stacy L Spencer. Empowering the Adult and Youth Laity to Reach Unchurched Inner-City African-American Teens: Through a Contemporary Outreach Ministry Called J.a.m. (jesus and Me). Drew University Theological School. https://rim.ir.atla.com/concern/etds/df05638b-a9f8-47c1-99de-1bdedf793004.

Note: These citations are programmatically generated and may be incomplete.

Creator

Stacy L Spencer

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Abstract

There is a need in the inner-city to reach unchurched teens who are often overlooked by society, government, and even churches. Many churches are closed systems when it comes to dealing with its young. These 'closed systems' focus on the youth of their parishioners but fail to venture out into the community to those that are trapped in poor communities or ghettos. There is a widening gap between the 'haves' and 'have nots' in all of society and particularly amongst middle and lower class blacks. How does a middle class black church in the inner-city reach out to lower class youth surrounding its church? How do we empower the laity of a congregation to effectively reach unchurched youth? These are the questions that I will explore in this professional project. The vehicle we will use to get from Hip Hop back to the 'saving station' in the church is a contemporary outreach ministry called JAM (Jesus and Me). My goals were to 1) provide a place where young people could be transformed and feel safe, 2) create small groups that would allow the students to share more intimately and experience growth along with accountability, and 3) equip volunteers, both adult and youth, to carry out ministry to unchurched youth in the inner city. As a result of this project lives were transformed, volunteers were empowered to become ministers, and a bridge was built from the church into the community.

Publisher