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RYM exists to reach junior and senior high school students for Christ and equip them to serve Him in the church and in the world.

For over 30 years we have fulfilled our mission by providing conferences for youth that are Word driven, God centered, and Gospel focused. God has blessed RYM, growing us from our original one conference to now six conferences that are reaching and equipping students in the Southeast, West, and Pacific Northwest. We give all praise to God for the abundant grace he has extended to us and the more than 2000 students and youth leaders who attend our summer conferences.

However, we are only scratching the surface of what needs to be done for the sake of Christ’s Kingdom through RYM. We have a growing burden that the youth culture of our cities and nation be transformed by the gospel of Jesus Christ. We have a growing burden that the disintegrating family be restored by the gospel of Jesus Christ. How can we serve Christ’s church in extending His kingdom in these ways? Our plan of action will focus on three primary areas: conferences, training and resources.

I. Conferences for Youth and Families

RYM conferences seek to reach the unbeliever for Christ and establish the believer in Christ through the means of dynamic expository preaching, biblically faithful and relevant teaching, and effective small group interaction. In the midst of the attractions and idolatries that envelop our youth, they must have a passion for Christ! We love only because He first loved us. Therefore, we want to nourish their hearts and minds with the glory and goodness of God in Christ so that they can say with Paul, “the love of Christ constrains us.” As Christ captures the minds and hearts of these students, we want to see them grow in grace, embrace a biblical world and life view, be encouraged in Christian fellowship and service in and through the local church, and possess a growing zeal for evangelism and missions.

We hold our conferences in places that are noted for their beautiful display of God’s wondrous creation so that students may be influenced by the two great books of God: the book of Scripture and the book of nature. RYM conferences provide the opportunity for church youth groups to interact with one another in a beautiful, fun and learning environment that encourages unity, community, and depth of relationship with God and one another.

As we look to the future, then, we will expand our youth conferences in these ways:

A. Grow the Senior High Colorado Conference
B. Grow the Senior High Pacific Northwest Conference
C. Expand to two Senior High Florida Conferences
D. Expand to two Junior High Florida Conferences
E. Establish contacts in new regions for future RYM Conferences (east coast, west coast, & northeast in particular) with a goal of having a youth conference in every region of the country.

And, we will introduce several new conferences to serve specific needs. In addition to our newly formed Mercy in Missions Project and Winter Ski Conference we will:

F. Introduce RYM Student Leadership Conferences
G. Introduce RYM Family Life Conferences

II. Training for Youth Ministers, Leaders, and Interns

In many cases, youth directors are very young, lack seminary training, and are not intentionally guided by core values and a coherent philosophy of ministry. Instead, they often minister according to their tradition or the latest fad in youth ministry. So many of these young men have a love for Jesus and a heart for youth but simply lack the theological, philosophical, and methodological foundation upon which to build an effective ministry to youth and families. RYM can provide this for them. Therefore, we will:

A. Work in conjunction with Reformed University Ministries to develop training material that adapts their philosophy of ministry to the junior high and high school contexts
B. Organically recruit a base of youth directors for training
C. Create connections & community among youth directors within their regions
D. Cast a vision for long-term covenantal youth ministry
E. Pursue opportunities to teach courses on youth and family ministries in Christian colleges and seminaries
F. Create varying methodologies and models for contextual youth ministry that remain consistent with the RYM philosophy of ministry
G. Develop a plan for the ongoing training and encouragement of youth directors
H. Create an RYM internship program that will benefit the local church in her ministry as well as the intern in both his (or her) present and future ministry.
I. Create a direct and intentional pipeline between RYM and Reformed University Ministries (RUM), between junior and senior high ministry in the local churches to the ministry of RUM on the college campus (RUM is called RUF – Reformed University Fellowship – on each local campus).

III. Resources for Youth, Youth Ministers and Leaders, and Parents

There is a crying need for reliable, reformed, and relevant material that is written to the junior and senior high school student. Too often parents and youth leaders are forced to recommend books, articles, devotionals, etc. to youth that either are not theologically reliable or were written for an adult audience with adult applications. However, we believe that one of the best ways to address the needs of students is by writing to students. There is also a great need to speak directly to parents and youth leaders alike. Therefore we will:

A. Expand the RYM website so that it becomes a theological, philosophical, and practical resource for students, youth ministers and leaders, and parents.
B. Communicate with seminaries and Reformed University Fellowship ministers about students under their influence who have a desire to minister to youth and their families, recruit and train them, and become a resource for churches that are looking for qualified youth ministers and interns.
C. Write and publish curriculum, devotional guides, and discipleship material for junior and senior high students.
D. Write and publish curriculum, family worship guides, and discipleship material for parents.
E. Write and publish a philosophy of ministry for youth and family ministry as well as other books aimed at encouraging and equipping youth leaders in their ministries.

These proposed changes represent a significant and exciting expansion of the ministry of RYM that will by God’s grace and power encourage and equip churches in their ministries to youth and families, help transform the youth culture in general, and even strengthen the ministry of Reformed University Ministries in the future. In short we desire to influence the church literally for generations.

We need churches and individuals to embrace our vision for the future & become partners with us in making it a reality. We will be breaking new ground and we need your help to do so. We need your financial support and your commitment to pray fervently and faithfully for the ministry of RYM. Would you join us in being used of God in truly producing a Reformed Youth Movement in the 21st century?