EveryBoy Initiative FAQ

August 29, 2024

 Frequently Asked Questions Concerning EveryBoy Initiative, Royal Rangers, and National Boys Ministries

To provide greater clarity on the purpose of EveryBoy Initiative (EBI), the current situation with Royal Rangers, and our plans moving forward, we are trying to compile a list of frequently asked questions from leaders in the field in hopes that we can provide clear answers to all of them. Here is the list we have so far. Please let us know if you are aware of any additional questions you are hearing.

1. What is EveryBoy Initiative (EBI)? What is its purpose?
   1. EveryBoy Initiative is a cooperative effort between the National Boys Ministries/Royal Rangers office and AG U.S. Missions to provide curriculum and resources free of charge to every qualified evangelical church to enable them to reach every boy in the U.S.
   2. EBI provides the funding to support the development of boys ministry resources in a variety of formats to enable every church to provide some form of an effective ministry to boys.
2. What is a qualified evangelical church?
   1. An Evangelical church is one which believes and teaches the following core doctrines:
      1. There is one God in three persons: The Father, the Son, in the person of Jesus Christ, and the Holy Spirit.
      2. The Bible is God’s inspired and inerrant word.
      3. Salvation: Individuals are saved by faith. Only through the gift of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection can sin be forgiven.
      4. Second Coming: Jesus Christ is returning for His bride—the church, after which He will rule and judge the world.
3. Can I give personally to EveryBoy Initiative (EBI) and my church receive a complimentary charter?
   1. No. The church must be the donor for the church to receive a complimentary charter.
   2. Until we reach the point where EBI is fully funded, all churches are asked to continue chartering as they have always done. However, if your church is currently supporting EBI you may contact the national office to receive a complementary charter. This is a way for us to say Thank you for seeing the need to reach our boys and being willing to pay it forward.Note that this waiver is only available to churches that are supporting EBI, not individuals.
4. Can I give personally and my church receive credit toward its overall missions giving?
   1. Yes. Any person who supports EBI can designate their AG church to receive missions giving credit. This will show on the church’s mission giving statement. This is not something that the Royal Rangers office sees.
5. How can I give to EBI? Can I make a one-time contribution or is monthly support required?
   1. Although regular monthly contributions are preferred, one-time gifts are also welcome. One-time gifts may be made via the same portal as used for setting up recurring giving online.
   2. If you prefer to give your monthly commitment in an annual contribution, complete the Faith Promise form with the monthly amount filled in the appropriate blank. However, you would mail the entire annual contribution with the form. Although, you have given one donation, EBI will receive the amount indicated on the form each month.
6. What is National Boys Ministries?
   1. National Boys Ministries is the comprehensive name for the ministry department in the national office tasked with oversight of all boys ministry programs and resources. Royal Rangers is the primary component of National Boys Ministries.
7. What is EveryBoy Ministries? Is that a new program?
   1. EveryBoy Ministries was a preliminary title being considered for National Boys Ministries at one time but was not put into official use. There is no EveryBoy Ministries.
8. Is the Royal Rangers name changing?
   1. No. Royal Rangers has been the name of the Boys Ministries for over sixty years and there are no plans to change the name.
9. Why do we need National Boys Ministries? If RR is healthy and growing, why provide other options for ministry to boys?
   1. For the same reason a hamburger restaurant offers a variety of burgers, people want choices. Royal Rangers is a completely developed customizable program, and for the past sixty years has been the most effective mentoring program for boys. However, for a variety of reasons some churches want to do something different. Through National Boys Ministries, we are expanding our influence into more churches so that more boys are reached. From our more than sixty years of experience, we are providing resources to assist those churches in reaching boys in their unique settings.
10. What kinds of resources will EBI support the development of?
    1. EBI will support the continued operation of the Royal Rangers national ministries as we expand our lessons, training, and events. EBI will also support the development of resources for mentoring and general ministry to boys.
11. Who will develop those resources?
    1. Some resources will be created by the National Boys Ministries/Royal Rangers office. EBI support includes funding for updating and expanding curriculum and training. Some resources will be developed by the field, and some will be created in cooperation with other ministry departments with the Royal Ranger/National Boys Ministry department providing tools and training on how to utilize them in a focused mentoring model for boys.
12. How will those resources be distributed? Print or digital? Free or sold?
    1. Digital distribution is our preferred method due to the elimination of printing, storage, and shipping costs although selected items may be available in print format.
    2. Some resources, such as Royal Rangers curriculum, will be available for free, while others, such as training may have a cost.
13. How will these resources be promoted and marketed? By whom and to whom?
    1. The National Boys Ministries and Royal Rangers department will bear the primary responsibility for the promotion and distribution of boys ministry resources in cooperation with the districts.
14. What are EBI funds going to be used for? What will giving to EBI accomplish?

            Your giving to EBI will allow the following:

    1. Bring awareness to churches of the critical need to reach the boys of our nation along with resources and opportunities available for each church to effectively reach the boys of its community.
    2. Underwrite the cost to providing a fully developed curriculum that is written with boys in mind and guides in the development of boys spiritually, mentally, physically, and socially from ages 5 through 18 years of age at no cost.
    3. Further develop the new online advancement tracking and curriculum delivery platform.
    4. Enable the expansion of the national office team through hiring additional staff to resource and assist churches, develop new materials, continue the updating of current materials, and aid in the training of men to effectively disciple boys.
    5. Eliminate charter fees for the Royal Rangers program and thereby remove a financial obstacle for churches to reaching boys.
15. When will these benefits be released? When will we start seeing the results of our giving to EBI?
    1. The stated benefits of EBI will be released progressively as funding becomes available. Funding received to date is already being used for some of the stated objectives, such as funding the ongoing efforts of the National Boys Ministries/Royal Rangers office, providing complimentary chartering to churches supporting EBI, and funding the development of the new Royal Rangers app and online platform.
    2. Additional benefits will be released as specific benchmarks are reached in funding.
    3. As with missionary support, the initiative must reach full funding before it can be completely released to the field.
16. How will information and status updates on EBI and these other issues be communicated so contributors and leaders are accurately informed?
    1. The most current information will always be available on the EveryBoy.org website. The top of the website shows a status of funding graph.
    2. An email newsletter is currently being created to actively communicate information about EBI to contributors on a regular basis.
17. What is the current situation for RR? Are we growing, dying, plateaued, etc.?
    1. Just as churches are closing and new ones are opening every week, we see the same thing happening with Royal Rangers outposts. Recently one church with ten campuses launched outposts on all ten of their campuses. We are also seeing several churches, who had closed outposts in the last ten years, relaunch. Conversely, we have churches every month who close their outposts. Often these outposts have leaders who haven’t been staying current with their training and learning on how to best mentor boys, or they are outposts where they have a change of leadership, and new leadership doesn’t understand the need of boys or the vision for ministering to them.
    2. Many of our outposts do not charter. Additionally, we no longer have a reporting mechanism, such as the ACMR, to know exact numbers of churches using Rangers. This will all be corrected with the new Royal Rangers app and online process being developed through the EveryBoy Initiative. Once released, we will not only know exact numbers of outposts using the app. We will also know weekly, how many boys are being saved and attending across the US.
18. What is our vision for Royal Rangers, and what is our plan for getting there?
    1. Our vision for Royal Rangers is to influence more boys than ever, more effectively than ever. There has never been an assault against the young men of our nation as is currently happening. There are very few resources to counter that assault. We must continue to stand in the gap and help our boys become Christlike men!
    2. Royal Rangers has long been a popular and effective program for providing an effective gender-specific ministry to boys, and we plan to continue supporting this ministry among our churches and districts for many years to come. We will work continually to improve our leader training processes and curriculum resources to ensure they are relevant and effective with each new generation of leaders and boys.
19. What is the role of the district in this process? How will the districts support ministry to boys beyond RR?

    Districts can aid in this initiative in the following ways:

    1. Ensure that all men and boys are welcome at male specific events. District powwows can be rebranded as “man camp” or father/son campouts. Whenever there is a Ranger event, be intentional to include those who are not part of Royal Rangers but are still mentoring/discipling boys.
    2. Provide leadership training and invite leaders of non-RR groups to participate. Much of our training is focused on reaching boys and best practices for discipling boys, which is beneficial for all. Furthermore, the national office will be creating additional trainings focused on ministering to boys more so than on program.

Promote this initiative and help bring awareness to the needs of boys in our culture.  Speak about it at district councils, during minister meetings, and in district publications.  The national director and team are available to speak, to offer training and articles, or to assist in helping districts address the needs of boys in any way possible.