Clark retiring from a lifetime of dynamic youth ministry

When Allyson C. Clark moved from Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, Fort Worth, TX, to metro Boston in 1991, the Nashville, TN, native was often asked “How long are you staying?” New England Baptists were accustomed to enthusiastic Southern Baptists serving a church for a few years before retreating to warmer, friendlier climates. “This question had a great impact on me. I told them I was here to stay. It took five years and they finally stopped asking,” she said. 

After more than thirty years, those persistent questions of longevity can finally be answered: a lifetime. A noted leader of youth and “next generation” ministries for the BCNE, Clark, who is the BCNE’s Next Generation Ministries-Associate Executive Director, is retiring this year—but, true to her word, she will continue to live in Massachusetts and serve others in fresh ways. 

“I arrived in New England with a Southern accent that drew attention, which proved to be a way to open doors for spiritual conversations. Early on, my heart was set to develop indigenous leadership, especially with the next generation,” Clark noted. Soon she was serving youth leaders and coordinating regional events before being invited to join the staff of First Baptist Church, Sudbury, MA. 

Eight years later, in 1999, BCNE leaders Ken Lyle and Neal Davidson invited her to join the Northborough team as its first full-time youth leadership development director.

For more than twenty years Clark and many volunteers have developed and enhanced what she calls “the four pillars of the BCNE’s youth ministry’s offering.” Those are:  

• Youth Encountering Christ (YEC), a winter retreat, is the BCNE’s oldest and largest youth-focused event. Nearly 600 teens and their leaders will attend the forty-second gathering January 27–29 in Sturbridge, MA. Ray Allen, the longtime BCNE evangelism leader, now retired, started YEC in 1981. 

• CrossWalk, which began in 2000, offers a summer camp environment for New England youth who have completed grades 6–12. Teens attend with their church youth group and chaperones. The schedule includes worship, fellowship, small-group Bible study, and recreation. Crosswalk 2023 will be held July 17–22 in Dudley, MA. 

• Quest, a leadership development opportunity provides high school juniors with opportunities for discipleship that deepen their spiritual walks by working as a ministry team. Some 500 Questies have learned spiritual gifts, shared personal faith stories, and developed as servant leaders. Quest grew out of the former Northeastern Baptist School of Ministry. Each year the program culminates with a ten-day overseas missions trip.

• CheckPoint is a fall retreat for youth leaders. In recent years, adults who lead youth ministries in BCNE churches have traveled to Brazil to learn the same lessons of servant leadership that high school juniors learn during the Quest experience.

Since 2000, Clark reports, YEC and CrossWalk students and leaders have donated $180,000, funds that are used for Quest missions projects and expenses.

Renee Ghobrial, a Medfield, MA, native, and an alumna of every BCNE ministry offered to teens, devoted five years to mentoring Harvard University students; serving at Arabic Baptist Church, Newton, MA; and encouraging youth. In 2022, she was the BCNE’s Communications Director. In January, BCNE Executive Director Terry Dorsett appointed Ghobrial as the Next Generation Ministries-Youth leader. She and Clark will work together until 2024 when Clark will transition to a part-time advisory role. 

A Massachusetts native and a New England Baptist since 1970, Dan Nicholas is the BCNE managing editor.