Ellen G. White Counsel on Functional Youth Ministry: Implication for Caring for Youth in the Seventh-day Adventist Church, Nigeria

Abstract

The mission of the Seventh-day Adventist Church is to announce and prepare people for the second coming of Christ. This task is for both adults and youths to accomplish. Youth attrition from faith is a concern for religious leaders and many have written on different approaches to checkmate the phenomenon. The Seventh-day Adventist Church, especially in Nigeria is gifted with many young people but the church is faced with challenges of keeping the young people in the faith and in getting them engaged. Despite different organizations like pathfinder club and campus ministry, and different activities like youth camp and congresses, the challenges still remain. The functionality of youth ministry can be determined by how the young people are retained and are committed in the faith. The question therefore is, what else could be done to have a functional youth ministry in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in Nigeria? This study explored the counsels from Ellen G. White on youth ministry, extracting principles the church in Nigeria could adopt as part of the necessary overhaul of youth ministry. These will guide towards an intentional and functional youth ministry which will generate active and positive youth engagement in the mission of the church.