Church Urged to Help Prepare Youth for Leadership

Governor-General, His Excellency the Most Hon. Sir Patrick Allen, is imploring church leaders to take a key role in grooming the country’s young people to take up the mantle of leadership.

“I want to challenge you, church…leaders to seriously engage in mentoring our young people. All of us must ‘seize the day’ and become involved in preparing them for the leadership of our country,” he said while addressing the Leadership Breakfast of the Portmore Ministers’ Fraternal at the Victory Tabernacle in Portmore, St. Catherine.

He argued that the response to the problems, which are evident among many groups of young people, cannot be to write them off as “the lost generation”, noting that the church is called to be “the purveyor of hope and your ministry and message must demonstrate that hope”. 

The Governor-General stressed that leaders have to “move with the times” and become proficient in the use of new media to communicate their message to the youth.

“Church leaders have to be visible and effective workers in the communities which they serve. Their message… must be tailored in the language and style, which will have the greatest impact on the minds of their audience. Church leaders, who cannot adjust to change, including the use of modern technology, will become irrelevant,” he warned.  

He further urged them to go beyond the walls of the church to reach persons. “The battle for the minds cannot be fought solely within the precincts of our church buildings, nor even through the electronic and print media, useful though these are. Church leaders have to go where the people are and seek to meet their needs where they are,” he advised.

“I want to (challenge) all of us and in particular the Portmore Ministers’ Fraternal, to impartially assess the leadership in the various spheres of our society. Where there are failures, be bold in identifying them, but in love. Your mission is to encourage and motivate effective leadership, seeing where you can contribute to solutions and where you can use your own leadership skills to enhance the context in which other leaders function,” he stated.