As a Royal Ambassador I will do my best:

to become a well-informed, responsible follower of Christ;

to have a Christ-like concern for all people;

to learn how to carry the message of Christ around the world;

to work with others in sharing Christ; and

to keep myself clean and healthy in mind and body.

Royal Ambassador Logo

 

The Royal Ambassador Logo and the Royal Ambassador Colors have significant meanings: The shield in the center stands for faith in Jesus Christ The bar in the shield represents service to Christ and to others The crown represents service to Christ and to others The laurel branch represents victories gained through Jesus Christ

RA Logo Page created June 3, 2001

The following information from Royal Ambassador Training provided in Year 2002.

PURPOSE

To involve Boys in Missions Awareness and Activities

1.      Royal Ambassador Pledge

2.      Royal Ambassador Motto – "We Are Ambassadors for Christ" II Corinthians 5:20

3.      Lad Motto - "Learn and Do in Jesus Name"

4.      Crusader Motto - "To Help Others in Jesus Name"

5.      Only SBC curriculum for mission’s education and action for boys

PLAN

1.      Baptist Brotherhood - Royal Ambassadors, Challengers, World Changers, Baptist Men

2.      RA Program Age Divisions:

·         Lads - grades 1-3, Home-centered, Led by Adult Leader, Weekly Helpers.

·         Crusaders - grades 4-6, Home-centered, Led by Adult Leader, Weekly Helpers.

3.      Mostly activity-based learning - Varied topics and activities.

4.      Easy RA's (EZRA).

5.      History of Royal Ambassadors (1998 – 90th year)

PERSONNEL

1.      RA Director of local church (Administrator)

2.      RA Committee of church (Resource persons)

3.      RA Chapter Leader (Relates to & leads boys)

4.      Boys and Parents (church boys nucleus, but open to all boy

5.      Outside local church

6.      Association RA Director/Committee

7.      Regional RA Director and Resource Persons

8.      State RA Committee

9.      Texas Baptist Men

10.  Brotherhood Commission - SBC

PARTICIPATION

Making the RA Pledge and Motto Come Alive for Boys Through:

1.      Chapter Meetings - Center of program. Small close-knit group. Divide by grades. Weekly meetings. Parts of meeting. Chapter meeting room. Chapter uniform

2.      Personal Development ( Advancement ) - 1  level per year Lads - Lad 1 (1st grade (, Lad 2 (2nd grade), Lad 3 (3rd grade). Bars and Stars, Athletic Patch Crusaders - Page (4th grade). Squire (5th grade), Knight (6th grade). Bars and Stars, Athletic patch

3.      Mission Action - Become aware of missions and missions needs Support missions through prayer and giving Involve boys in Missions activities

4.      Interest Activities (boy-appeal)

·         Games and Sports

·         Handcrafts

·         Racer Cars

·         Conclaves Rallies

·         Congresses

·         Camping and Outdoor

Learn campcraft skills

Earn campcraft patches

Go on camping/outdoor trips

Interest activities carried out on church, association and state levels.

5.      Meaningful Relationships

·         All parts of RA program are interrelated

·         RA's should be closely related to and a vital part of local church and its ministry

·         Relations in boy's life to - Christ, Church, Parents Other boys, Christian Men.

PUTTING INTO ACTION

How to Begin :

6.      Secure Pastor and Church Support

7.      Elect and Train Royal Ambassador Director

8.      Select and Train Royal Ambassador Committee

9.      Determine Needs

10.  Select and Train Chapter Leaders

11.  Meet with Boys and Parents

12. Begin Chapter Meetings and Activities

Major Ministries

1.      Sunday School

2.      Worship

3.      Music

4.      Missions

5.      Discipleship Training

Royal Ambassador History

Caught in a time warp, you have just been transported back to the year 1883. Spotting a church nearby, you wander in to find a small group of boys meeting to study about missions.

Their clothing looks rather strange to you. Each boy is wearing loose-fitting pants gathered at the knee along with knee socks and shirts with lace and ruffles.

The boys are learning about a Southern Baptist missionary to China named Lottie Moon. They decide to try to collect some money to send to China to help Miss Moon in her work.

The church is First Baptist Church of Owensboro, Ky., and the boys' group meets regularly with the church's pastor, J.B. Solomon, to learn more about missions work.

If such a time warp were possible, and if you could locate that group of boys, you would have found one of the early Southern Baptist missions groups for boys.

Some Baptist churches called such groups "boys' mission bands."  In 1907, five of these "boys bands" gave money to missions through the Southern Baptist Convention. Such groups developed out of a need. Boys then, as now, needed to be a part of a group. Southern Baptist boys in particular needed lo learn about and be a part of the missions emphasis in which their churches were involved.

One reason the Southern Baptist Convention was formed in 1845 was to create a way to send more missionaries. At that First convention meeting in Augusta, Ga., the Home and Foreign Mission Boards were created. As missionaries began to be sent out, churches rallied around missions. Organizations, including groups for boys, started springing up in churches throughout the convention.

In 1888, Woman's Missionary Union, an auxiliary to the Southern Baptist Convention, was organized primarily lo support missions. Some of the "boys bands" used leaflets and stories in WMU publications in their study of missions.

Aware that such groups were already meeting, WMU women saw a need for an organization designed to meet the spiritual needs of Baptist boys and provide missionary education and involvement.

In October 1907. WMU appointed a "Committee on Mission Work (or Boys." Miss Fannie Heck, president of WMU, was chairman of the committee. Miss Heck and another committee member. Miss Elizabeth Briggs (later Mrs. T.C. Pittman), attended a young people's missionary conference in Asheville, N.C. There they heard a song. 'The King's Business," that was about Christian "ambassadors" Miss Briggs suggested the name "Ambassadors" as a good name for a boys' missions organization. Miss Heck added the "Royal."

At the 20th annual meeting of Woman's Missionary Union in May 1908, WMU members voted to sponsor a mission organization for boys 9-17, and that the name be the "Order of Royal Ambassadors."

One messenger, Mrs. W.M. Petway, was so excited about the new organization, she hurried home to form the first Royal Ambassador chapter in the Southern Baptist Convention-the Carey Newton Chapter of First Baptist Church of Goldsboro, N.C.

By 1909, there were 45 RA chapters in the Southern Baptist Convention, involving several hundred boys. By 1915, there were 500 chapters with 4,500 members.  Program materials for boys first appeared in Our Mission fields, a WMU publication for women which included materials (or several youth organizations).

In 1924, a ranking system was introduced featuring the ranks of Page, Squire, Knight, and Ambassador.  Two higher ranks, Ambassador Extraordinary and Ambassador Plenipotentiary, were added in 1929 for boys 13 and up.

Camping became a very important part of RA work, creating enthusiasm among boys. The first RA camp was held at Virginia Beach in 1917. By 1925, RA camps were being held in Virginia, South Carolina, Alabama, Georgia, and Kentucky.

Royal Ambassadors celebrated their 25th anniversary in 1933. There were 4.369 chapters with 41,864 members. In recognition of the anniversary, M. E. Dodd, pastor of First Baptist Church of Shreveport, La.. arranged for a 45-minute, coast-to-coast broadcast, one of the First major Southern Baptist broadcasts in the history of the convention.

By 1943, RA work had grown to the point that a full-time convention-wide Royal Ambassador secretary was needed. WMU employed J. Ivyloy Bishop to fill the position.  Bishop had worked as RA secretary for Alabama, Mississippi, and South Carolina making him the logical choice for the convention-wide job. He served until Sept. 1, 1953.

Another major event in Royal Ambassador history was the birth of Ambassador Life, a magazine strictly for Royal Ambassador boys.  The first issue appeared in June 1946 and by 1949, the circulation had risen to 35.897. In 1958, the publication's circulation hit 80,000.

Even though Royal Ambassador work bad been sponsored and promoted by Woman's Missionary Union since its birth as an organization, men had always been involved. From the beginning, men bad served as counselors in many churches and had been involved in some of the planning and development of the program. As the years passed, some Baptist leaders began to feel the boy's organization should be promoted by the men's organization, the Southern Baptist Brotherhood Commission.

In 1952, the "Committee on Royal Ambassadors. Man and Boy Movement, and Scouting" was appointed to study the RA program. In 1954, on the committee's recommendation, the Southern Baptist Convention voted to transfer RA work to the Brotherhood Commission. The transfer took place over a three-year period during which leaders from both organizations directed the work. Officially, the work was transferred to the Brotherhood Commission on Jan. 1, 1958.

Growth of RA enrollment up to this point was remarkable. From 4.500 members in 1915, the organization grew to 59,488 in 1945. During the next eight years, the enrollment almost doubled to 115,294 in 1953, the year before the vote to transfer the work to the Brotherhood Commission.

The enrollment more than doubled again during the next eight years, reaching 235,605 in 1961. The enrollment finally peaked in 1963 with 244,656 boys. Due in part to fewer babies being born in the late 1950s and early 1960s, enrollment dropped for a few years before beginning a slow but steady climb to 233,022 in 1981.

A new enlarged and revised RA program was introduced Oct. 1, 1961. The new program included three age divisions: Crusaders (age 9-11), Pioneers (12-14), and Ambassadors (15-17). The name was officially changed from "Order of Royal Ambassadors" to simply "Royal Ambassadors." The present Royal Ambassador Pledge replaced the old RA allegiance, and Crusader, Pioneer, and Ambassador Mottos were added. New manuals were developed. A new advancement plan and campcraft program was introduced. Counselor's guides were developed for each age group.

As enthusiasm for the revised RA program grew, so did Ambassador Life. The circulation reached 101,952 in 1962 and continued climbing until it hit 125,000 in 1968.

Beginning Oct. 1, 1970, the responsibility for boys 6-8 years of age was transferred from WMU to the Brotherhood Commission. The program was refined the same year. New guidance materials were prepared, and boys were grouped according to their grade in school rather than their age. Crusaders included Grades 1-6. Pioneers included Grades 7-12.

Advancement plans were based upon grades in school: Lad 1, 2, 3 for boys in Grades 1, 2, and 3; Page for fourth-graders: Squire for fifth-graders: Knight for sixth-graders; Pioneer Adventure for Grades 7-9: and Ambassador Service for boys in Grades 10-12.

During the 1970 refinement, National Ambassador Service Aide Awards were revised to require 750 hours of individual service to church and community. The name of the award for older Pioneer RAs was changed in April 1982 to "Ambassador Service National Award." The last issue of Ambassador Life was September 1970. October 1970 introduced Crusader magazine for Grades 1-6 and Probe magazine for Grades 7-12. Leadership magazines, Crusader Counselor and PioneerPlan) mie also introduced.

Crusader magazine reached a circulation during 1971 of 108,159. The circulation declined and then leveled off, averaging about 90,000 through the 1970s and climbing to about 117,626 in 1983.

Probe averaged about 61,000 in 1971, dropping to about 45,000 where it remained through most of the 1970s and into the 1980s.  Seven national RA congresses have been held in recent RA history. The First National Royal Ambassador Congress was held in Atlanta in August 1953, with about 5,000 boys present.

The second congress, in Fort Worth, Texas, in 1958, registered about 8,500 boys. The third congress, in Washington D.C. in 1963, attracted 6,000 boys. Oklahoma City hosted the fourth congress in 1968. registering 10,326. The fifth congress, in St. Louis, in 1973, drew about 3,000 boys. Nashville, Tenn., hosted the sixth congress in 1979, registering more than 2,000 boys. Memphis, Tenn. hosted the seventh congress in 1986.

Another major event occurred in 1975 - the 50^th anniversary of the Cooperative Program, the budget plan of the Southern Baptist Convention.  That year. 2,513 Royal Ambassador runners carried a lighted torch, representing the light made possible through the Cooperative Program, from Brotherhood Commission offices in Memphis to Miami where the Southern Baptist Convention was meeting.

The 26-day, 1,483-mile run climaxed during the opening night of the convention as the last runner carried the torch into the auditorium to the applause of convention messengers.

In the early 1980s a special Brotherhood Commission committee named Missions Impact 2000 was formed to study missions education through the year 2000. The committee's recommendations were adopted and in 1987 the Royal Ambassador program was revised.  New groupings lowered the highest grade in Royal Ambassadors to ninth grade. High school Royal Ambassadors moved to a new Brotherhood division called High School Baptist Young Men. Lads were formed for boys in Grades 1-3; Crusaders included Grades 4-6.  Pioneers included Grades 7-9.

The last issue of Probe was September 1987.  October 1987 introduced Lad magazine for Grades 1-3 and Pioneer magazine for Grades 7-9. Crusader remained for Grades 4-6 only.  Leadership magazines, Crusader Counselor and Pioneer Plans were combined to form Royal Ambassador Leadership, the primary leadership magazine for all Royal Ambassadors.

The events in RA history fail to tell the complete Royal Ambassador story. Lives that have been touched complete many years of history.

Month after month, as Southern Baptist missionaries are appointed by the Home and Foreign Mission Boards, they tell how the Royal Ambassador program helped to direct their lives toward mission’s service.

Some felt God's call to mission’s service at RA camp. Others were influenced by the weekly chapter meetings.

Their lives, given to God in mission’s service, have touched countless thousands of people around the world.  In addition lo these missionaries, there are thousands of other religious workers and Christian laymen who represent an army of former Royal Ambassadors who still believe they are "Ambassadors for Christ".