ANDREWS UNIVERISTY
SEVENTH-DAY ADVENTIST THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY
Methodology Paper:
A Model for a Youth Life Group
Submitted to Dr. Allan Walshe
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
DSRE 534-002
Ministry to Youth and Young Adults
by
Jan H. Molina
November 20, 201
1
METHODOLOGY PAPER:
A MODEL FOR A YOUTH LIFE GROUP
RATIONAL
The church is a community of people where we learn, grow, take responsibility and
introduce friends to faith in Jesus Christ, a community to be transparent and honest, helping our
fellow students to grow in our love for God and with each other.
The cells are small communities of young people guided by young people where
everything said above can happen. In any group we find leadership at any level, the youth cells
make use of this natural dynamic.
Cells are not simply “the last cry.” They have been around for centuries. When Jesus
began his ministry, he chose a few people to share his life with them, encourage them and then
send them (Mark 3:13-16) – All these are the values of the cells.
However, the church in the United States is going through a generational change that few
have been able to face, especially in the Hispanic churches. The second generation of Hispanics
has to face a clash between two cultures, their parents’ culture and the culture where they are
growing. The author of this document is serving in a Hispanic church in which the difference
between generations is marked. Therefore, this document will focus on presenting the
characteristics of a small group focused on the Z generation.
Many young people in the church feel misunderstood by adults, of course, the generation
gap is a determining factor for these kinds of feelings. Young people in the church feel displaced
because adults do not accept their ideas, their way of worship, or even their way of thinking.
However, one of the most decisive problems in Hispanic churches is that adults want all the
service to be in Spanish, while young people want it to be in English. Because of the latter, in the
church in which I am serving the decision was made to create a service in English, apart from the
cult in Spanish, so that the young people had a better interaction with the study of the Bible.
During the English service, young people have the opportunity to participate in different
activities and develop as leaders.
However, even if the young people are involved in the different ministries of the church,
the priority of the leaders is that the young people are first involved with Jesus. For this, a small
group focused on young people must be created, especially the Z generation. The methodology
that will be used for this group will be a group of eight members, in which the pastor will be the
