Seminary Hill Press, the publishing arm of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary (SWBTS), released “A New Vision for SBC Student Ministry,” by Richard Ross, professor of student ministry and J.M. Price chair of religious education in the Jack D. Terry School of Educational Ministries. The book’s release coincides with Ross’ preaching the last chapel sermon of the 2021 fall semester.
“With minor adjustments, the church has been ministering with teenagers about the same way for 70 years,” Ross explained about why the book is needed. “That model is not working. We introduce fewer teenagers to Jesus each year. Even among the teenagers who attend, only 10% meet the most basic criteria for a disciple. Half the youth group walks away from the church after high school. Another 40% attend church occasionally but make no difference for the kingdom. Missing the constant infusion of young adults who love Jesus and pursue the Great Commission, 75% of evangelical churches are plateaued or declining.”
Ross, who has served as a professor of student ministry at SWBTS since 2000, said the decline in numbers has little to “do with ineffective student pastors, weak student ministry programming or cold pizzas,” but rather the “critical issues are more church wide and systemic.”
A New Vision for SBC Student Ministry, which is targeted to senior pastors, student pastors and other leaders who are concerned about the future of the church, offers 16 changes in student ministries which aid in reaching, discipling and sending teenagers, as well as how to design a student ministry. Included are suggestions for how to implement the 16 changes and appendixes to provide support for student ministries from SBC entities, including curriculum offered through Lifeway, and theological education for further equipping in the area of student ministry.
The 2021 Southern Baptist Convention annual meeting in Nashville adopted Vision 2025, which includes six strategic actions Southern Baptists are committed to accomplishing by 2025. The fourth strategic action focuses on reaching, baptizing and discipling people under the age of 18 in order to change the ongoing decline in these three areas.
Calling the inclusion of one of the priorities focusing on next generation “historic,” Ross, Shane Pruitt, national next generations director at the North American Mission Board, George Siler, student leaders manager at the International Mission Board, and Ben Trueblood, director of student ministry for Lifeway Christian Resources, met together “to work out implementation” because the Vision 2025 statement “said we will turn around ministry with the young, but it did not say how,” Ross explained.
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(EDITOR’S NOTE – Ashley Allen is director of news and information at SWBTS.)
