The Ohio Independent Baptist, January 1964

mnn , ___ _,_.... - br pi r thij tt\ltt(h. .. \ - By Mrs. Stewart Chaffe, Youth Editor H \\ does the pt1l e of ot1r O RB , outh read? hat problem do they f ,1ce. and h v. effecti, ,e1}' do their 1... ht1rche help then1 to meet and olve their problen1 ? What do the)' think ah ut certain ocial i ue ? H ow tan1iliar are they with the purpo e and aim of the GARBC? Do they ~OO\\ \\ hat the Bapti t di tinctive are? Ho\\ Jo the) rate the training program of their church? D o they fee] che) are recei,ing adequate in truc– ti n and training to prepare them for their pre ent ta k a witne e and their future ta k a church leader ? In an attempt to obtain the opinion of our )'Oung people on the e and other que tion . the Youth Page editor di tributed a que tionnaire to about 1 ,000 teen who attended the OARBC youth rally at Cedarvil le in ovember. About one-third of the form were returned. P ar tic ipant were not to identify them elve or their churcbe in any way. It wa hoped that anonymity would en– courage teens to hare their frank and honest opinion . We believe that thi has been the ca e. All over state Where did the teen come from? They were here from all over the state. Were they all from GARB churches? o, some young people invited unsaved classmate from Jr. and Sr. high schools. Fifteen young people answering the que tionnaire indicated that the church which they attended is not a GARB church. Ele\'en were uncertain in regard to the affiliation of their churches. ine more failed to answer the question; po ibl)' the 1· were also uncertain. Of the total number re ponding to the question. 283, or 91.6% , attend GARB churches. Most of these young Page 12, JANUARY, 1964 • o,ce o pc pie have been tak.cn 1nto the 111c111 - hcr hip f their cht1rc he . Only I8.6rc arc n n-n1en1ber . incc the e peri– encc. of the ne~ birth and bapti n1 arc pre-requi ite to member hip in cht1rche of ot1r fellow hip, it can be a.. t1n1ed that about 1.4% of the > oung people con1pleting the que tion– naire ar e baptized believer who pro– fe . to know Chri t a Saviour and 1-ord. From Christian homes? How many of the e young people are f ron1 hri tian home ? Are we rear:hing only the off pring of our GARBC familie ? To what extent are we reaching teenager who e parent are not Bap ti t ? H ow effective is the w itne and te timony of our young people in choo]? I our outreach ex– ten ive? What are we doing to reach high choolers for Christ? In an at– tempt to find the answer to the e que tions we a ked our young people the following que tion: Wl1ich of yoilr parents is a 111e,11ber of a GARB chitrch? Bot/1 .. Dad . Mo,n either. Some young people did not know· they did not an wer. Of the 2 97 who did an wer 61.3% indicated that both parents are members· 26.6% aid neither parents are· in 11.4% of the ca e only the mother i a member a nd . 7 % checked D ad only. Caution to be exercised Caution must be exercised in in– terpreting the e tati tics. They might indicate that we are doing a good job in reaching unchurched teenager for Christ but on the other hand , they might indicate that we are not uccessful in holding all the teen– agers from our church families. Prob– ably we need to examine our effec– tivenes in both area . However it hould be a definite encouragement to you teens who are witne ing at chool to know that more than one out of every four young people attending our churches are from home in which neither parents are members of ot1r churcbe . Be f ai thful in vour ~ w1tne<;\! D o not a un1e that , 1 our . c la n1ate won't be intere~tec.I becat1.. c their parent aren't in tere ted. Teener~ are looking for ecurity and ati fac– tion . You know THE O E who can a ti fy the longing heart-TH O E who ha promi ed the securit}· of H i abiding pre ence, a home in heaven, and ins forgiven to tho e who re~eive Him a Saviour. Share thi good new . Continue to pray for un aved kid . Live before them a consi tent hri tian testimony o that they will de ire to know ) our Lord. Teenager in high chool tr uly repre ent a field that i ripe unto harve t. Should be taught Bible God told the I raelite to rehearse Hi act in the ears of their children. God people were to teach their children the Word of God and al o the works of God, e pecially in re– gard to Hi dealing with them. Young people were to know why they " ·ere a eparated peo,ple. They were to know what they believed and \\ 1 by. i Have our churches been ucce f ul in in tructing our young people in re– gard to the origin purpo e , and aim of the GARBC? In an wer to the que tion : Do yoit know ivh}' )·our chitrch i i,1 the GARBC? 60.-l-% an wered yes, and 39.6% answered no. A follow-up que tion brought fewer affirmative answers. Only 43.9% believe that they know what the GARBC tands for. About 39.2% are unsure and want to know more. The remaining 16.9% do not know. Further indication of unfamiliarity with the need for the GARBC move– ment it origin, or it position ap– peared in the replie to the que tion: Do you know why the GARBC 1vas forn1ed? egative replies were 65 .6% of the total , and po itive replies were 34.4%. R e ponding to the que tion: ..t4re you a Baptist? 93.7% of 284 returns aid ) es. The teen were then a ked, 'D o you know why?" There \\'ere fewer an wer to the latter que tion. Of the 233 replying, 211, or 90.6% THE OHIO INDEPENDENT BAPTIST