HISTORY OF THE YOUTH FELLOWSHIP
THE STONE THAT BECAME A GREAT MOUNTAIN
The Stone which has become the Great Mountain, is a term often used to describe the rise and growth of the Youth Fellowship. Without a doubt, the church has grown in leaps and bounds from when it was first established- 4th October 1987. Despite its ups and downs, it has become a safe haven for its members, pushing on the mantle and gospel of Christ and ensuring its ever-shining light.
The establishment of the Youth Fellowship was due largely to the untiring efforts of Pastor G.O. Baptist, whose vision for the development of the Youth of the Church could be said to be far-sighted. Pastor G.O. Baptist was motivated by God’s directives and the many benefits to be derived from affiliating the Youth Fellowship with the Lagos State Youth Council [LSYC]. At this point in time, the Aims and Objectives of the church were:
- To inculcate in the Fellowship and her members the implicit faith in Jesus Christ as the savior and redeemer of mankind
- To promote true Christian love fellowship among members and to be at peace with all men
- To foster Christian and social relationship among members
- To promote moral and spiritual upliftment among members
- To develop members intellectually and spiritually for the challenges of the times
On Sunday 19th January 1986, the agreement to inaugurate the C&S Youth Fellowship was made and on
Sunday, 4th October 1987, the Youth fellowship was formed with Snr. Apo. Pro. E.A. Fabiyi as the Chairman and Snr. Apo. Pastor G.O. Baptist as the Secretary. The church was formed with eight bands; Joseph, Rhoda, Faith, Ephraim, Joanna, John, Truth Divine and James with the inclusion of the Youth Choir.
In line with the Church development programmes and in order to maintain an effective management of the Youth Fellowship, it was decided that some existing bands be regrouped to exclusively accommodate the Youths. Thus in 1990, an age structure was formed:
* 15 – 18yrs Joseph/Rhoda
* 19 – 22yrs Ephraim/Faith
* 23 – 26yrs John/Joanna
* 27 – 30yrs James/Truth Divine
In addition to the established bands, the Youth Fellowship also started with units in line with the overall development purpose for Youths. Indeed, many Units exist today not only for spiritual growth, but also for educational, physical and moral development. At inception, there were such Units as: Secretariat, Public Relations, Finance, Education, Drama, Sports, Quiz & Debate, Counseling, Welfare, Social, Evangelical, Teachers, Interpreters, Wardens and Church Workers, Video, Decorating, Career, Editorial, ThinkTank, Disciplinary, Singles & Newly Weds, Service of song.
Late Snr Apos. Pro Past. A.B. Oterunbi was appointed as the first Shepherd of the Youth Church between 1988 and 1990. He had the help of Bro Babafemi Bello and Bro Gbenga Koledoye who acted as Chairman and Secretary respectively. After he was transferred to the Shiloh Church Service, Snr Apos. O. A Adesina was appointed the second Shepherd of the church. He served between 1990 and 2000.
In 1992, the conference of the Youth Fellowship was established. This was after the church won approval as the sub headquarters of the Lagos district. The conference was held on Saturday, 13th June 1992 with about 7 units in attendance. Subsequently, many more seminars, workshops and symposiums have been organised to this effect. The first National Workshop/Symposium was held at Ile-Ife branch under Surulere circuit on Saturday 19th June, 1993 and the Theme was “Leadership & Church Organisation”. A keynote address was given by our father S/A. Pro.S.F. Korode while our mother Late M/I/I. Adefioye was present as one of the guest Lecturers.
Due to the rise in members of youth in the church, more bands were created which were Senior Joseph, now the Prophet Jeremiah band; Senior Rhoda, now Hephzibah band; Senior Ephraim, now St. Mark band and Senior Faith, now Susana band. As such, the age structures were reformed thus:
* 17 – 19yrs Joseph/Rhoda
* 20 – 22yrs Jeremiah/Hephzibah
* 23 – 24yrs Ephraim/Faith
* 25 – 26yrs St.Mark/Susannah
* 27 – 28yrs John/Joanna
* 29 – 30yrs James/Truth Divine
After the 25th anniversary of the church, the Youth Fellowship organogram was restructured to aid the smoother running of the church. Generally, the reorganisation places all Youths of the branches under one umbrella; the Youth Fellowship members are now known as Snr Youth while the Sunday School Children are called Jnr. Youths. This also changed the title of the SHEPHERD to the DIRECTOR of the Youth Fellowship with the Deputy and the Assistant. In view of this, on Sunday 4th February 1996 Snr.Apo.A.O. Adeshina was re-appointed as the Director of Youth Fellowship [both SNR & JNR. Youth], Snr.Apo. Ranti Soetan who happened to be the Shepherd of the Junior Youth was promoted to the post of the Deputy Director of Youth Fellowship on the same day and Pastor Fola Onafuye was appointed as the Asst Director for Snr.Youth.
On Sunday, 19th October, 1997 the Youth Fellowship celebrated their 10th Year Anniversary. While barely two years later, The Youth Fellowship Night Vigil started on Friday 7th May 1999.
Another change took place on Sunday 30th January, 2000 in the Youth Fellowship where the title of the DIRECTOR was changed back to SHEPHERD. The then Director of Youth Fellowship Snr Apo. O.A. Adeshina was promoted to the post of Director of all Youth Fellowship both Nigeria and Overseas, the Asst. Director for Snr.Youth Pastor A.A. Ademeora was appointed as the Secretary of CHURCH EVANGELICAL MISSION [C.E.M], while Snr.Apo.Ranti Soetan was promoted to the post of the Shepherd of Youth Fellowship Surulere branch. Pastor Akin Ogundana was the Assistant. Shepherd [Spiritual] and Apo. Babafemi Bello as the Assistant Shepherd [Admin.]
Another age structure was drafted in 2003 by the then Youth Band Coordinator Apo. Ademola Animashaun for the smooth running of the Youth Fellowship. This age structure is currently in use till date.
* 17 – 19yrs Joseph/Rhoda
* 20 – 22yrs Jeremiah/Hephzibah
* 23 – 25yrs Ephraim/Faith
* 26 – 28yrs St. Mark/Susannah
* 29 – 31yrs John/Joanna
* 32 – 34yrs James/Truth Divine
On Sunday 1st February, 2004, Snr Apo. Ranti Soetan, the Shepherd resigned from the office and this led to a change in the administrative set up of the Shepherd in Council. Pastor Akin Ogundana who was the Assistant Shepherd [Spiritual] was posted to the English Service Chapel on Sunday 18th April 2004. As such, the Assistant Shepherd II, Apo. Babafemi Bello was promoted to the post of Shepherd of the Youth Fellowship on the same day. The new Assistant Shepherd [Spiritual] in person of Pastor Prophet D. G. Olusesi was appointed on Sunday 9th May, 2004 and the new Assistant Shepherd [Admin] in person of Apostle Felix Tayo was appointed on Sunday 4th July 2004. This was a milestone in the Youth Fellowship as it achieved a vision of having its Shepherd in Council filled with ex-youth fellowship members.
On the 21st February, 2004, the church celebrated the opening of the Seed House to serve as an abode for inspiring and spirit filling books for members who wished to read. For effective smooth running of the Youth Fellowship, there was an appointment of the new Department Coordinator and the assistants on Sunday 27th March 2005. The inauguration ceremony was held on Saturday 16th April 2005 at Apata Memorial High School Ire-Akari Estate Isolo. They were to run and monitor the activities of their Unit/Committee for the period of two [2] years. Also, efficient programmes were organised by the Youth Fellowship for those who wished to have more knowledge about skill acquisition and development. A three [3] days mini trade fair was organized for the very first time from Thursday, 24th- Saturday, 26th November, 2005 at the Church premises. Also, In preparation towards the Christmas retreat/Outreach, a three days Workers’ retreat was organized by the Evangelical Unit which was held from Friday, 2nd-Sunday, 4th December, 2005 in the church premises.
In 2008, the leadership structure of the Youth Fellowship was changed. The Shepherd in Council was left to run as an independent body with the aid of the executive arm. As such the S.I.C was constituted of:
Shepherd Pro. Oluseyi Coker
Deputy Shepherd Snr. Apos. Kehinde Showemimo
Secretary Bro. Olusegun Korode
Also, Apostle Kunle Oderinde was saddled with the responsibility of the Units coordinator. The Shepherd in Council was tasked with refocusing the Youth Fellowship to meet with the new challenges of an ever changing environment. The Bands and Units Executives underwent extensive reshuffling and revitalisation to allow for better administration. Consequently, new programs were added to address the various patterns and needs of the church. Such as:
* Joyful Noise service (A praise service which holds every first Sunday of each month
* Unusual Sunday Services (Unique Sunday services which hold occasionally and held with a particular theme in mind to help keep programs fresh and relevant to the youth
* A day with the Lord service(A prayer and intercessory services which holds every first Saturday of each month)
The Youth Fellowship also registered a non-governmental organization named Success Gate Christian Foundation which seeks to maximize the potentials of Youth in the church and the society at large. The fellowship has also registered a Security outfit named Beryl Security and Guards which is meant to address the challenge of unemployment amongst members and also to constitute a funds generating outfit.
Going forward, the Youth Fellowship seeks to grow and ensure its vision, mission and core values are entrenched in its members, reflecting in their ways of life. With each step spiritually inclined and directed by God, the Great Mountain keeps growing stronger with the goal of eternity in paradise for everyone under its umbrella.
OUR CORE VALUES
We run our daily activities based on these core values “GRACE “
