You Can Help Shape Tomorrow’s Church Today
You can help shape tomorrow’s church today by supporting Ligonier Ministries.
We’re creating and distributing resources to reach children, teenagers, and young adults with the truth of God’s Word. This month, when you give a gift of any amount, we’ll send you a copy of the new Student Edition of the Reformation Study Bible designed for young people. You’ll be one of the first to receive this resource, as it won’t be publicly released until next month.
So many changes come during the teen years. By the time we’re in our mid-twenties, most of us have made significant decisions regarding our vocation, our spouse, and even our theology. The paths we choose in these years shape the rest of our lives.
Ligonier Ministries seeks to help believers at every age and stage of the Christian life know and love our holy Creator so they will serve Him wholeheartedly. This is done through many donor-fueled outreaches designed to reach young people during the critical, life-shaping era of their teens and early twenties.
These outreaches are having a lasting impact. The teaching of Dr. R.C. Sproul and Ligonier Ministries changed my life when I was a young adult in college, and I can’t overstate the impact it had on my life and the life of my family. My experience isn’t unique. Just a few months ago, I met a group of remarkable young students who traveled to our national conference from New York City because they discovered Ligonier’s teaching during the global lockdowns of 2020. They found biblical teaching, and the Lord renewed their minds and led them to a solid gospel-preaching church.
Isn’t it thrilling to see how the truth of Scripture transforms people even at such a young age and gives them a foundation for faithful service in the church?
Ligonier’s passion to reach those who are just entering adulthood goes back fifty years. When R.C. established the Ligonier Valley Study Center five decades ago, college-age visitors trekked out into the foothills to learn truth.
Those study center days had a lasting impact on many people. Just look at what Russ from Indianapolis has told us:
“After five years with the Associated Press in New York, I wondered how to apply the Bible and my then-young Christian faith to news reporting. I knew Christ had answers to all the world’s problems, but I didn’t know where to find them in the Bible. Wise elders sent me to R.C. Sproul at the Ligonier Valley Study Center. Later, our church in Indianapolis became one of the first to buy the old VHS cassettes, bringing R.C. on board for our Sunday school classes.”
Having been helped by Dr. Sproul as a young man, Russ went on to share Ligonier’s teaching with the next generation. He continues:
“Our children grew up hearing R.C., and our grandchildren now appreciate his children’s books, such as The Lightlings or The Priest with Dirty Clothes. R.C. knew his theology in such depth that he could teach big truths to five-year-olds, such as the trustworthiness of the Bible in The Knight’s Map. We thank the Lord for R.C. and his family for the first fifty years of Ligonier, with prayers for another fifty for subsequent generations.”
As God has multiplied Ligonier’s outreach through your prayers and financial support, we’ve created new initiatives to reach and equip even more young people with the key truths of God’s Word. Reformation Bible College has been training and discipling future Christian leaders in a formal academic setting for more than a decade now. You’ve also fueled the expansion of outreaches to serve teens. In fact, we just hosted an Always Ready youth apologetics conference in Central Florida, and we’ll be holding another in Lancaster, Pa., next month. I hope you’ll be encouraged to know that by far the fastest-growing group of people who access Ligonier.org is Generation Z—those between ages six and twenty-four.
Dr. Sproul wrote a number of children’s books, and our publishing efforts continue to consider younger readers and to come alongside families by producing even more discipleship resources for the rising generations. This fall, we’ll be releasing what we expect to become a go-to resource for young adults, the Student Edition of the Reformation Study Bible. This new edition builds on the work that Dr. Sproul oversaw and provides younger students with tools to dig deeply into the Word of God. Fresh topical articles, study notes, and definitions of key words will help expand students’ understanding of foundational Bible facts, the rich theology of God’s Word, and the way Scripture speaks to the pressing concerns of this and every age. Many parents and grandparents have asked us to produce just this kind of resource. So we’re eager to rush you a copy of the Reformation Study Bible, Student Edition when you give a gift of any amount. As this resource won’t be made available for purchase until November, you’ll be one of the first to receive it.
With your support, Ligonier is pushing forward strategically to produce more resources to equip the next generation of Christian disciples. Podcasts for younger listeners are currently in the planning stages, and we are producing short films with teaching specifically designed to share easily on websites like YouTube and apps like Instagram to reach Gen Z. As we prepare to distribute copies of the Reformation Study Bible, Student Edition to many high school and college campuses, additional teaching is in development for release digitally and in print. Lord willing, Ligonier will be hosting more training events like the Always Ready apologetics conference for high schoolers, and we plan to return to college campuses to equip young men and women to stand firm on God’s Word in an age when the Bible’s teaching is being rapidly marginalized.
Your help is urgently needed. Please stand with Ligonier to serve the rising generation. There is much in the works for younger people that I hope to share with you in the months and years ahead.
Thank you for helping to shape the future of the church for the sake of Christ in obedience to His Great Commission.