LEGACY STORY

Legacy Bible Church is a community desiring to live out the Gospel. At the heart of everything they do as a church, they intend to be GOSPEL-CENTERED. And because Legacy believes this Gospel is their only hope, they want to see every member of their family EMBRACE the Gospel, EMBODY the Gospel, ENTRUST the Gospel, and ENGAGE the culture with the Gospel. These aims comprise their discipleship process for the church, as well as their church’s vision. The Gospel is the motivation for all they do!

Legacy Bible Church began in 2000 as a small group of believers meeting in a home, desiring biblical teaching and authentic community. Increasing in number, they quickly relocated to an aircraft hangar and then a local school gym. As the church and staff continued to grow, Legacy moved into its first permanent facility in 2012, debt-free. With over 29 acres, space is available to accommodate the growing body, now averaging 750 weekly attending worship services.

Legacy is growing. The average annual growth rate is about 20%. In addition, the Sherman/Denison area is projected to have incredible growth in the near future due to a number of multinational corporations making this area their strategic base of operations. Therefore, Legacy is seeking the team and structure that will best serve the church body of today and tomorrow.

NEXTGEN

NextGen Ministries refers to the ministries at Legacy Bible Church specifically designed to minister to the next generation of believers. It includes Legacy Kids and Legacy Students. Our ministry approach is rooted in 2 Timothy 3:14-17 as we build an age-appropriate, gospel-centered foundation.

But as for you, CONTINUE in what you have LEARNED and have firmly BELIEVED, knowing from whom you learned it & how from childhood you have been ACQUAINTED with the sacred writings, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus. All scripture is breathed out by God & profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, & for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.
(2Tim. 3:14-17)

LEGACY KIDS

Legacy Kids (birth-5th) desires to acquaint children of all age levels with the Word of God. We want to see them build a strong, gospel-centered foundation in a safe, loving, and fun environment. LKids, like the church as a whole, uses three different settings: Large group teaching time, Life Group discussion time & one-on-one discipleship time as our model for ministry. We hope to partner with parents in the discipleship of their kids by creating environments, curricula, and resources that center on the gospel of Jesus Christ. Our mission is to equip families to engage in spiritual conversations at home, not just in classrooms on Sunday mornings. Every week, children of all age levels go home with the same memory verse on a given Sunday, and you’ll see that as your child grows older, he or she will get a clearer and deeper understanding of each story on Sunday morning. We hope that younger children will be able to tell you the basics of the story and that older children will be able to fill in missing pieces of that story and how it applies to everyday life.

STUDENT MINISTRY

We understand that 6th - 12th grade students are entering a world that is changing more rapidly than ever before. Legacy Students is an opportunity for young minds to not only learn more about the gospel but also begin applying the gospel to everyday life. Beginning the process of becoming a fully formed disciple of Jesus Christ is the goal. Regular programming offered seasonally on Wednesday evenings continues to follow our ministry model for the whole church using three different settings: large group teaching time, Life Group discussion time, and one-on-one discipleship. Legacy Students find further relational engagement through games, “hang out” time, and worship during weekly gatherings. Throughout the year, there are age-specific retreats for middle and high school, summer camps, and various serving opportunities for them to participate in. Students are encouraged to serve within the life of the church by using their gifts to edify the body and the greater community as they live out the gospel.

We desire for middle school students to be AFFIRMED by answering the following three questions:
WHAT IS THE GOSPEL?
WHAT IS GOSPEL-IDENTITY?
WHERE DO I BELONG?

We desire for high school students to be MOBILIZED by being intentional in emphasizing the following three practices:
DISCIPLESHIP: What it looks like to follow Jesus.
SERVING: Participating in the body of Christ.
PROCLAMATION: Taking the gospel into our circles of influence.

CHALLENGE & OPPORTUNITY

Legacy Bible Church has an opportunity to impact the surrounding area for decades to come. Due to the steady and consistent growth moving into our area, the lay elders and lead pastor recognize the continued need to shepherd and mentor the growing body of believers while supporting our staff members as their ministries grow and develop. The Next Gen Pastor will play a key role moving forward in both oversight/management of the NextGen team while also fulfilling the Legacy Student Director role in this next season. The lay elders and lead pastor recognize the next hire for the Next Gen team will be a full-time Student Pastor to allow us to maintain healthy growth and shepherding of an increasing church body and staff.

The following are some of the challenges and opportunities ahead.

SCALABLE VOLUNTEER LEADERSHIP

As Next Gen ministry continues to grow, it is imperative that the Next Gen Pastor (team lead) continues to operate within the ministry structure that can be scaled to grow with the church. This primarily happens through the weekly oversight and direction given to other Next Gen ministry leaders as they carry out the vision and mission of the church, with weekly Legacy Students programming. The recruitment, training, and sustaining of the leadership team is vital. They will be working alongside an already solid group of volunteers who seek to be equipped with the effective tools and methods to meet kids and students where they are partnering with parents in the discipleship process as we as a church equip, train up, and send the next generation out to love Jesus and others well.

Because of the size, scope, and growth of Next Gen ministry, the new NextGen Pastor must understand that a significant portion of his time will be spent with his Next Gen leadership team (direct reports) and the adult population (volunteers) in student ministry. Time with students is always desired to build relational bonds, but the realistic expectation for this new hire is that he will equip and empower leaders for relational ministry with middle—and high-school-aged students.

CREATIVE ENGAGEMENT

The Legacy Students' programmed gatherings thrive on vibrant energy and creativity. Whether through up-front icebreakers, media presentations, or all-play situations, it is the hope of the team that the new Next Gen Pastor can bring a fresh perspective to programming that engages both those who call Legacy home and their unchurched friends attending. The gospel-centered vision for this ministry is that every event and gathering is as much for the believer as the unbeliever. This new hire should bring a mindset that promotes variety in weekly programming that will engage the hearts of the students while providing a fun and safe environment.

TEAM PLAY AND TEAM PLAYER

While Legacy Bible Church is a driven environment, it is also a fun place to grow as a leader and team player with many rewards. The new leader should come in ready to laugh but also equipped and driven to work. Much of the work to be done by the Legacy Bible Church Next Gen Ministry team is done in collaboration; therefore, they seek to overlap their work schedules so that much of their in-office time is shared and community can be built.

SOLID FOUNDATION

Next Gen Ministry has a solid foundation upon which to build. While overseeing and working with the Legacy Kids Director to continue to meet the needs of our birth-5th grade, the new Next Gen Pastor will be charged with the opportunity to build upon this foundation and continue to relationally invest in leaders, families, and students at the middle and high school level to continue building a culture that is both invitational and biblically relevant