GROWTH

We need to grow!

The most important aim of Boys' Brigade is to Advance Christ's Kingdom among Boys, we can not do that if there are no Boys in the program. And unless people know we exist, then no one can join.

Our Object neccessitates that we grow

The Object of the Boys' Brigade shall be

For the advancement of Christ's Kingdom among Boys and the promotion of habits of obedience, reverence, discipline, self-respect and all that tends towards a true Christian manliness.

Learn more about the project to disciple 1,000 young people in Melbourne's West

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GROWTH MINDSET

Before we start to think about practical strategies to grow we need to ensure that we have the right mindset about BB to create a culture within each company and the organisation as a whole where growth is common and encouraged.

Around the world we see that successful BB companies and organisations have three things in common:

1. A passionate belief in the advancement of Christ's Kingdom

The primary reason for why we are involved in leading and growing BB has to be to advance Christ's Kingdom. We also should not just have this as a general belief, but the specific belief that God will use our program to bring people to Him. This often leads to people having a quite high view of the program, ie making sure the four sides are equally promoted and that the program is run well, because they believe that God will use it. This is the most crucial of the three and there is no successful BB leader, company, or national organisation that does not have the Advancement of Christ's Kingdom as their primary focus.

2. Good Leadership Training

Because no matter how passionate people are about advancing Christ's Kingdom, they will likely struggle and burn out if they are not given proper training. So we need to be creating, running and seeking out good training to build good leaders.

3. Good Church Relationships

This related to both a company having a strong relationship with their local church but also with BB at State and National levels having good relationships with denominational leaders. For example, BGB Uganda is deeply involved with the Anglican Church there, so one day a Bishop might decide that he like BB and then tell the 70 churches he is in charge of to all start BB companies, this is how they have over 100,000 members.

But how do we establish these 3 principles in BB? I think it comes down to each President, captain, officer, NCO and squad leader to work towards establishing a culture where we are primarily focused on advancing Christ's Kingdom among the Boys God has blessed us with the opportunity to work with.

But the most important thing, before we do anything from inviting one Boy to BB to starting a whole Battalion of companies, is to pray. To ask God to bless us as week seek the advancement of Christ's Kingdom and to work in the hearts of those we work with.

PRACTICAL STRATEGIES

Now that we have established the necessity and mindset of growing Boys' Briagde, let's look at some practical strategies.

Word of Mouth

The number one way that BB grows all over the world is by word of mouth, especially when parents talk to other parents. So it is a good straegy to make sure that parents in your BB company are well equiped and encourged to share about BB with their friends.

Open Evenings

One event which has been shown to grow companies is an open evening. Boys and their parents are given flyers and are encouraged to invite their friends to come along to a specific night of BB. During the night the Boys take part in the regular program and the parents attend an information session about what BB is. Engaging parents of new Boys is essential, especially for Junior Boys, as the parents are the ones to: pay the fees, buy the uniform, wash the uniform, iron the uniform, drive them to events, drive to BB each week and make sure they come to events.

You can read more about open evenings in the growth resources below.

Starting New Companies

Never before has BB had such a vital role to play in the Church. Many churhces are realising that just having their Boys and young men in church once a week is not enough to disciple them into men of God. Essentially the entire BB program is an intense discipleship program, so we have become attractive to many churches.

If you are from a church that doesn't have a BB company please reach out to us! We would love to discuss how the Brigade can serve the Boys in your church and area.

If you are from a BB company, reach out to your local churches, many are more keen than you may think.

Lord, help us to advance Your Kingdom. May you equip us with passion to serve the Boys you have placed in our care and give us wisdom to make sound decisions and plans.

May we glorify you Lord through all we do. Amen.