Brothers and Sisters of WCAC Youth,
In a month or so, Pastor Ben will be distributing applications for joining the Doulos Team. However, allow us, the counselors, to lay out some guidelines:
1. If you are only or primarily looking for some leadership position to put on your college application, we ask that you do that at school. The Doulos Team is not here to make your application look good. Furthermore, "Youth Group Doulos Team" on your application is not as impressive as you think it is (unless you're applying to Wheaton, which is almost none of you).
2. We are NOT looking for saints, but sinners to serve. We are looking for people who are COMMITTED to SPEND SOME TIME to SERVE the WCAC Youth Group community. We don't care if you are a straight-A student or a straight-C student. We don't care if your goal is to go to Harvard, or if your goal is to go to COD. All we care about is that you are COMMITTED to SPEND SOME TIME to SERVE as a SLAVE to your peers at WCAC Youth.
3. Read the above 2 points again. We're serious about it.
4. We are looking for people who are willing to place a premium on their relationship with God. We want anyone considering Doulos to be willing to take the Law of the Lord seriously, as outlined in Mark 12: 28-34. We want your time in the Doulos team to be a time of spiritual growth for you, not a deadweight. NOTA BENE: This does NOT mean you have to be perfect (read point 2 above). You will never be complete of sin. This also includes meeting regularly with your discipleship mentor.
5. We are looking for people committed to maturity. You don't have to be there when you enter, but we expect you to grow up in doulos. That means paying attention to your teachers, focusing on the tasks at hand, no side conversations, etc.
6. Doulos is NOT an executive social club. If you want to spend time hanging out with friends, don't join doulos. You will be disappointed-- we guarantee it. Would you rather serve your youth group by cleaning up the youth room instead of talking to your friends? If you can honestly say "yes" to that, consider applying.
7. Doulos members take each other seriously. We edify each other and spur each other on in Christ. This can involve sharing our struggles with each other. If you're committed to keeping all your struggles to yourself, maybe wait a year or two.
8. You will be asked to do stuff. Every doulos is assigned a ministry that will hopefully bloom under their supervision. We expect you to take your ministry seriously and put in time and effort towards its growth. We expect you to take every WCAC Youth Group seriously. We expect you to be willing to sit down with each one of them and laugh with them, smile with them, cry with them, allow them to cry on our shoulders. This all takes time. If you are overcommitted at school, and are not willing to drop some (not all) of those commitments, please think twice. NOTE: You will not be asked to do EVERYTHING. But you will be expected to do something.
9. YOU ARE REQUIRED TO DO THE FOLLOWING:
a) go to prayer meetings.
b) go to every doulos meeting.
c) be involved in a discipleship program.
d) go to youth group every Sat. and church every Sunday!
e) Alert Pastor Ben ahead of time if you won't be able to attend a, b, c, or d.
We are not saying the above 9 points to scare people into not applying. We encourage many to apply. However, we want to make sure every applicant knows that we, the counselors, take Doulos seriously, and we don't want people to take this lightly. We are a fun and closely-knit group who are serious about the growth of everyone in WCAC Youth. We share struggles and triumphs in ways that few have seen. We do expend lots of our time and energy to ensure WCAC Youth is the way it is.
Please pray about getting involved in Doulos. When the time comes, if you feel led, and after Pastor Ben announces its availability, please pick up an application and fill it out. Also remember that for now, we only open the Doulos for people entering 10th, 11th, and 12th grades. This does not mean we don't value our junior highers and high school freshmen, but we want you to grow in your faith to the point where you can serve others. We encourage you to do that even now, regardless of age.
Please note this: there are always surprises when it comes to people joining doulos. We have always ended up asking some unexpected people to join, and some expected people will not be asked to join. Thus, please apply if you feel called to do so-- even if odds seem to be stacked against you.
Note: If you don't fill out an application honestly and completely, you will NOT be considered, no matter how likely you will be chosen to join Doulos. The application process will include a one-to-one interview with Pastor Ben.
Also note that you don't have to join Doulos to serve in the youth group. Please approach any of the Doulos, counselors, or ministry staff (Joey or Pastor Ben) for details. Serving the Church is also appropriate and highly encouraged. Ask Pastor Green for any questions. | 
