Assembly of God youth organizations


Assemblies of God youth organizations include two youth organizations operating under the auspices of the Assemblies of God, the Royal Rangers and the Mpact Girls Clubs.

Royal Rangers

Royal Rangers is an adventure-based, merit-driven, faith-based, church ministry and mentoring program for boys in grades K-12, providing “Christlike character formation and servant leadership development for boys and young men in a highly relational and fun environment". The Royal Rangers program is active throughout the United States as well as in over 90 other nations; consequently, in 2002, 'Royal Rangers International'' was started and "exists to establish, strengthen, and serve the growing number of nations seeking to impact the next generation through the Royal Rangers ministry." Royal Rangers in the USA is a boys-only program, unless the church does not have a girls ministry program; programs in some other nations allow both boys and girls to participate. The uniforms, mottos, practices and operation are derived from the Boy Scouts.
Royal Rangers' Mission is to "evangelize, equip, and empower the next generation of Christlike men and lifelong servant leaders."
. The GMA testifies to the persevering work, assiduous endurance, and ceaseless dedication towards the program, plus being equipped to be strong, intrepid leaders.

History

There are four divisions of the Royal Rangers program corresponding to the age group:
Each division has their own vest, on which can be placed the awards

Advancement System & Awards

The Royal Rangers advancement system includes discipleship, leadership, and skills development aspects. Each age group in the program utilizes an appropriate advancement trail for that age group; boys complete advancement steps by earning a specified number of merits and other requirements. There are over 300 merits which can be worked on during meetings, on their own like at home for example, or both.

Ranger Kids’ Gold Trail Award

The advancement steps form the Ranger Kids' advancement trail. Each year for the three years in Ranger Kids, there are four quarterly patches; each patch "is based on the completion of requirements in four developmental categories: mental , physical , spiritual , and social ". Once the ranger earns all four, it is then when they earn the annual patch. Upon earning all three annual patches, the ranger is thereby awarded the highest honor of the division: the Gold Trail Award. In summary, the GTA is attained by earning the three yearly patches and the three yearly patches are attained upon the completion of the four quarterly patches.
Kindergarten - Trail to the ElkFirst grade - Trail to the WolverineSecond grade - Trail to the Cougar

Discovery Rangers’ Trail to the Gold Eagle

Skill, leadership, and Bible merits form the core of the advancement trails for Discovery, Adventure, and Expedition Rangers.
The Discovery Rangers is similar. The yearly trails are respectively the Falcon, Hawk, and Eagle Awards.

Adventure Rangers’ Trail to the Adventure Gold Award

Likewise, the Adventure Rangers' annual trails are the Adventure Bronze Award, Adventure Silver Award, and Adventure Gold Award.

Expedition Rangers’ E3 Award

The Expedition Rangers' annual trails are the E1, E2, and E3 awards.

Gold Medal of Achievement (GMA)

The highest attainable award in Royal Rangers is the Gold Medal of Achievement - which is tougher than the Eagle Scout Award. The GMA testifies to the persevering work, assiduous endurance, and ceaseless dedication towards the program, plus being equipped to be strong, intrepid leaders. The GMA is awarded upon the completion of the highest award for any two Royal Rangers age group besides the Ranger Kids' Gold Trail Award, as of the new, current 2016 amendments as well as other requirements such as reading the entire Bible, age specifications, the GMA Capstone Project, etc.
The Gold Medal of Achievement with MERIT is a special honor awarded to boys earning the highest award in three age groups.
The Gold Medal of Achievement with HONORS is a special honor signifying 13 years of dedication, as one completes the entire advancement system; representing a full 13 years of work, recipients of this award must earn the highest award in each age group, as well as other requirements.

Special programs

The program features a number of components of special interest to certain types of our membership. These include: Frontiersman Camping Fellowship, Royal Rangers Alumni, The Outpost Ranger of the Year, The NSSP, The National Championships, Brownells/NRA National Youth Shooting Sports Program, and the "Together Plan".

Royal Rangers International

Royal Rangers ministers to young people in the United States and in over 90 countries through the support of Royal Rangers International, the Assemblies of God World Missions organization tasked with the responsibility to support Royal Rangers worldwide. Thus, in 2002, Royal Rangers International was started and "exists to establish, strengthen, and serve the growing number of nations seeking to impact the next generation through the Royal Rangers ministry.". The largest organization outside the United States is in Australia, with groups in all areas except Northern Territory and Western Australia.

Training seminars

Royal Rangers has a variety of different training opportunities for boys, or Junior Leaders, and adult leaders. Training takes place in various parts of the country and is mostly given at the district and national levels.
In 2013 many elements of training were made available online including; Ranger Safety, Outpost Chaplaincy, Preventing Child and Substance Abuse, and more. National Elementary Education Conference and Ranger Safety Course were updated.

Junior leader training

Equipping the next generation of boys and young men involves preparing them for leadership. In Royal Rangers, the process of preparing boys for leadership and engaging them in leadership roles today is an integral part of what we do. The process of training junior leaders currently takes place both within the local outpost as well as at the district level. Both play a vital role in leadership development in Royal Rangers. Boys can participate in local or district leadership training as well as the Trail of the Saber. Junior leaders are trained to be respectful leaders as they grow up. You need to contain discipline and attend several leader training camps. For example, the SED Junior training camp, advanced junior training camp, survival camp.

Adult leader training

Outpost leaders can participate in spiritual, Royal Ranger skill, and leadership development through opportunities provided to outpost leaders and organizational leaders.
An outpost commander can earn the prestigious Medal of Excellence. To do so, the commander must first go through commander training: the four levels of Outpost Leaders Advancement. The advancement setup is simple. Commanders must first earn a square-shaped patch that certifies them of being ready, safe, trained, as well as undergoing advanced training; that patch features the emblem in the center, with "Ready" "Safety" "Trained" and "Advanced" on the sides - one written for each of the four sides. To get this patch, commanders earn each of the four "tickets" on the edges one by one. That is, to earn the "Ready Ticket," the commander completed Ranger Basics and Ranger Essentials training; earning the "Safety Ticket" requires being CPR certified and having completed the Ranger Safety Course; earning the "Trained Ticket" requires taking a choice of either the National Rangers Ministry Camp or National Elementary Education Conference ; finally, it culminates with the World Class Outpost Seminar for the "Advanced Ticket;" this adult leadership training has the purpose to equip leaders to effectively minister to boys. With everything mentioned, plus a couple of more requirements, the commander earns the square patch. Now, they could start to work on the Medal of Excellence since that requirement to the MOE is completed. The MOE "represents a level of commitment and dedication to both the leader's personal growth as well as the spiritual and leadership development of boys and young men". It is earned via taking one or more boys on the journey of completing the requirements for earning the highest attainable medal of any of the four Royal Rangers' divisions..

Additional leader training

Additional leadership training is available for instructors, organizational leaders, and more.

Mpact Girls Clubs

Mpact Girls Clubs, formerly known as Missionettes Girls Clubs, are part of a worldwide program directed by within the Assemblies of God. The program is the counterpart ministry to Royal Rangers. The Clubs were created to allow girls an opportunity to discuss issues that matter to them and learn how to live according to Biblical principles given by Jesus.
The name was changed from Missionettes to Mpact Girls Clubs in March 2007 as part of a strategic plan to reach girls in a more holistic manner. The Clubs were subsequently divided into three categories to accommodate the boys in the two early clubs, Sunlight Kids and Rainbows.
The Missionettes were founded by the Assemblies of God Women's Ministries in 1956.

Purpose

Girls Ministries Clubs are driven by a 5-fold Purpose.
  • To win girls to Jesus Christ through love and acceptance.
  • To teach them to obey everything Jesus commanded us—developing girls spiritually and mentally.
  • To provide encouragement, support and accountability through lasting Christian relationships.
  • To provide an environment for girls to develop their gifts and abilities.
  • To acquaint them with the Great Commission of Jesus Christ our Lord.

    Girls Clubs Code

One of the distinctives that sets these clubs apart from other clubs is that there is a code which is the mind-set of all leaders and girls. The Code is Philippians 4:8 — "Whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable, if anything is excellent or praiseworthy, think about such things."

Club levels

Girls Ministries clubs are organized into three categories of clubs. The leaders of each club are called "Sponsors".
Mpact Kids Clubs
  • Sunlight Kids is the club for nursery-age children up to 36 months. Boys and Girls may be part of the Sunlight Kids club.
  • Rainbows is the club for 3 and 4 year olds. Boys and Girls may be part of the Rainbows club. When a boy starts Kindergarten he will move into the Royal Rangers program. The Rainbow colors are Green and White. The club motto is "Rainbows are helpers."
Mpact Girls Clubs
  • Daisies is the club for Kindergarten girls. It is a one-year program. The Daisies colors are Yellow and White. The club motto is "Daisies tell about Jesus."
  • Prims is the club for 1st and 2nd grade girls. The club colors are Pink and White. The Prims motto is "I will be kind and thoughtful."
  • Stars is the club for 3rd through 5th grade girls. The club colors are Blue and White. The Stars motto is "I will follow Jesus."
Teen Girl Ministries
  • Friends is the club for 6th through 8th grade girls. The club colors are Purple and White. The Friends motto is "We are committed to God."
  • Girls Only is the club for 9th through 12th grade girls. The club colors are Red and White. The Girls Only motto is "Every day in every way I will boldly live for God."
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