Royal Rangers at General Council 2017
This year’s General Council for the Assemblies of God was held in Anaheim, CA, and Royal Rangers was present to help pastors and church workers learn about this ministry.
General Council is the Assemblies of God’s bi-annual business meeting that draws pastors and church members from across the United States and around the world. This year’s Council featured several highlights of interest to Royal Rangers. We saw a change of leadership for the Assemblies of God. Dr. George Wood, who has served with distinction as general superintendent for the last ten years, withdrew his name from voting. Rev. Doug Clay, who has served as the general treasurer since 2008, was elected as the new general superintendent. With Doug’s election, we have for the first time a superintendent who grew up as a Royal Ranger. Doug will officially take office October 8 along with our newly elected general treasurer, Rick DuBose, former district superintendent of North Texas.
A favorite highlight of General Council is the opportunity interact with attendees. In the exhibit area, Royal Rangers set up a booth to highlight our ministry. Interaction with pastors, children’s and youth pastors, and lay members allows us to answer questions, brainstorm, and learn the needs and challenges of our pastors and churches. It is encouraging to see the cross section of churches who use Royal Rangers to mentor young men. The enhancements made to the program over the last several years have allowed this ministry to grow by being flexible enough to meet the diverse needs of churches as they seek to mentor the next generation of Christlike men. Our interaction with pastors affirms the critical importance of leaders continuing to learn and grow through training. Leaders who regularly attend training guard against using outdated methods or ideas that not only keeps their ministries vibrant and growing but also combats the unrealistic concept that Royal Rangers is not relevant to reaching today’s young men.
General Council also kicked off our August BGMC Challenge. We began with a “mini” challenge to see who would raise the most money during General Council. The loser would have silly string sprayed at him/her at the end of Council on Facebook Live. The overall challenge was decided by the total given for the entire month of August. With the larger event, came a larger consequence—the entire losing team being slimed by the winners on Facebook Live! At the end of General Council, the Girls Ministries team delighted in spraying Karl Fleig, Royal Rangers national director, with silly string when they brought in $5,287.84 to the Royal Rangers $3,300.09. The Royal Rangers surged during the remainder of the month and raised a total of $21,964.73 to the Girls Ministries $17,050.15. In the month of August, $39,014.88 was raised for BGMC through Master’s Toolbox and Coins for Kids. That is incredible! Both events can be seen on the @RoyalRangersUSA Facebook page.
National Director
Royal Rangers USA