A Study on the Children and Adolescents Ministry of the Chi-Ku Church of Village Gospel Mission in Tainan

• Main Authors: Yu-Chi Huang, 黃玉琪
• Other Authors: Rei- Yi Tsai, D.Min.
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2014
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/81570735255363115727

碩士 === 基督教台灣浸會神學院 === 基督教神學研究所 === 102 === Taiwan in the past half-century has changed rapidly from a rural-based agricultural society into an industrial-based urban society. Thus, the rural population, urban concentrating on areas had a serious loss, and caused a great impact on the local industries and churches. In this study, Chi-Ku Church is certainly affected by emigration, so the members are mostly elders or children. Then, a big concern areas: When the church elders are gradually dying out, how can the development of Chi-Ku Church continue? The faith of the children and adolescents at Chi-Ku Church should be the key point to the development of the church in the future.Therefore, this study is targeted at understanding the history, the current status, and development of the Chi-Ku Church children and adolescents ministry. In addition, the four questions proposed by Mark C. Thelin are adopted, while discussing the rapid population change at the rural churches, supplemented by some researches of other scholars arepresented in this essay. In this study, the researcher also conducted detailed interviews with several related co-workers of the children's ministry, children, and adolescents at Chi-Ku Church. The researcher collected and analyzed the related data from Village Gospel Mission (V.G.M.) in Taiwan. Then, the researcher provided four specific recommendations and conclusions at the end. For the references of the children and adolescents ministry at Chi-Ku Church, the relevant organizations or subsequent researchers in the future.Through the study four important phenomenons are discovered. First, it is much easier to get in touch with the children and adolescents than with the adults at the rural churches, so the priority of the church ministry will be better invested in the children and adolescents. Furthermore, principally speaking, stable co-workers help develop the children and adolescents ministry; so, the rural churches may consider about putting more professional, full-time, and stable staff to engage in children and adolescents’ ministry in the long term.Besides, the church fellowship and summer camps of V.G.M. help to connect the children and adolescents outside the church. Thus, putting more efforts on high school youth fellowship and higher graders in elemantary schools are suggested as a priority in ministry, then on the lower graders ones. Meanwhile, rural churches may encourage children and adolescents in or out of the church to take part in the summer camp of V.G.M., so that their faith will be promoted in this good environment. Finally, these children and adolescents are expected to return to their rural hometowns after they are grown--this will be a great source of the churchministry in the future. It is strongly recommended that the rural churches put more attention on nurturing children and youth of this generation, and increase their willingness to come back to serve the rural churches.