Youth Ministry Lite #11

Sorry I am a little late with the latest post but here it is. I hope you enjoy the column and are finding the resources helpful in running a more effective ministry. The 1st resource is a great website to go to for your personal growth as well as to retrieve lessons for your class. Focus On The Family is Dr. James Dobson's radio program and website. Dr. Dobson is an expert on family life, raising kids, etc. On this website you will find a variety of articles which will help you to better understand your teens, as well as effectively reaching them. Visit his site at http://www.focusonthefamily.com/ .
Our second resource is a lesson idea based around the statement, "God isn't interested in your ability, but rather in your availability." Use this lesson to help your teens understand that God only asks them to come to Him with an open and willing heart. Explain to them that no one who God has used, in the bible and otherwise, has had the "experience and qualifications" to accomplish the tasks given to them by God. They have only been successfully because He instilled in them the abilities to achieve the tasks He gave them. God does that so when people see the events they will know it was by God's hand they were accomplished. Today we all lead very busy lives and need to make sure we are putting God 1st at all times and are seeking His will for our lives everyday. Let your teens know that at times this will mean us sacrificing doing things we want to do in order to follow God. The earlier we teach this to our teens the better. Help them make themselves available to God and ask them regularly what God has asked them to do ove rthe past week or two.
Thirdly, I want to discuss curriculum. The book series is written by Mark Matlock and is entitled "Wisdom On.........". The topics range from dating to family to school. This is a series to purchase a book for each student and have them read a chapter each week and then discuss as a group. I highly recommend it and if it requires you having a weekly or biweekly meeting at your home, I recommend doing so. Go through the entire series and make your meeting a discussion. Have refreshments and snacks for the teens and create a relaxed atmosphere. If you have shy kids, provide paper and pens for them to write down questions or comments anonymously and then pull them out of a basket. Thats it for this week and I promise to be on time with the next column. Have a great week.

Youth Ministry Lite #10

Today we celebrate our 10th Youth Ministry Lite column!! To some 10 isn't a big number, but when it comes to my column it's huge! Writing this column is such a blessing to me and and I hope that it has been a blessing to you as well. On to column 10!
Resource #1 today is a great way to help partner with the parents of your teens. You can even make it a group effort and make your youth leaders responsible for a section each, and use it to bring the team together. So what is this amazing resource? A parent newsletter. The newsletter could contain sections such as: Youth Pastors Column, Upcoming events, Topics to be covered and a brief overview along with a question or two for the parents to ask their teens. Also include articles on teens and their daily walk with Christ.
Our second resource are pocket gospels. A pocket gospel is a "tract on steroids", so to speak. They contain the basics of the faith (Jesus is Gods only Son, Died for our sins, Resurrection, He is the only way to be saved)the entire gospel of John and how to accept Christ. They have even partnered with dare2share (a previous resource) to design one just for teens. These are great to have out on a table for any visitors and to give to your teens to hand out to their unsaved friends.
Our talk sparker section is going to be a short one this week but its important. Youth Ministry can only be successful if you integrate the parents into the mix. You need to have regular meetings with them and host events where the parents and teens mix. A great "event" to have is a parent/teen conference so to speak. You need to be the catalyst that helps the two better understand the other. Be the mediator and coach them through how to communicate with one another. A big topic to bring up is compromising, coming to a middle ground. Also, try to get your teens to understand that they are on loan to their parents from God and their parents are responsible for raising them properly and that as teens they aren't always going to like what their parents want from them. I will stop here as I could go on and on. Have a great and blessed week and until next time...........

Youth Ministry Lite #9

Here we are with out next Youth Ministry Lite, your source for the best ideas, tips, and resources for Youth Ministry. Our first resource can be found at your nearest Lifeway Christian store and is titled, The Invitation. It is a cd which contains music by a variety of artists, scripture, and narration by Rick Warren, which takes the listener through an invitation to accept Christ. This is great to hand out to first time visitors, regulars whom you arent sure of their salvation, and for the teens to hand out themselves. They are only a buck a pop, a deal you can't pass by!
Our second resource is a tool which I have learned to use often, a poll/survey. You can create a survey on your lesson topic and let the teens fill it out and hand it in prior to class or you can create one to simply get to know the teens on a more personal level. The possiblities are endless and from my experience, the teens love to take a survey and they like hearing what their peers answered.
For our talk-sparker I want to discuss a very tricky topic. It's tricky because it requires the youth leader to take a stand. The topic is "creating a safe-haven" youth group. Now when I say safe-haven, I mean having a zero-tolerance policy when it comes to bullying and picking. Every teen should be able to walk into your youth group and know that they will not be berated, bullied, or picked on. I am a stickler for this in my youth group and my teens know that so long as I am their youth leader, I am will not tolerate it. So how do you go about creating this environment? Here are a few tips to help you make your youth group a "safe-haven":

1. It starts by letting the teens know that you mean business.

2. Hold your teens accountable. Talk one on one with any offenders, build them up and let them know they are better than that. If you have repeat offenders, find out why they bully and come up with a plan to prevent it from happening again.

3. When you see it happen (since we arent living in a perfect world), handle it immediately! You've got to keep your eyes and ears open at all times.

4. Make sure there is always a teen to youth leader ratio of 5:1. If this isnt possible right off the bat, begin recruiting! Pray and begin asking. Enlist the help of adults whose sole purpose is to be your "Eagle Eyes", you can even come up with a clever name for them. Meet with them as a group and train them in how you want them to handle any bullying situations and what constitues bullying. Always talk with them about any incidents they handle.

Have a great week and I'll see you soon!

Youth Ministry Lite #8

Happy Fourth Weekend! I have some resources that I am very excited to share with you! Our first highlight is the 4-session dvd pack Teens vs Parents by Mark Matlock. This is a great tool to use either on your Wednesday night meetings or to do over the summer as a week-long class for the community. You can promote it to the community by having you and your teens go out one evening and do a neighborhood blitz, handing out flyers and explaining what the activity is. You can also make up posters to hang within your youth area at church to promote your teens to invite their friends and neighbors. It is a great tool to teach teens how to have a better relationship with their parents and provides you the opportunity to teach them how they should view and treat their parents. This is a big issue as many of today's youth do not respect their parents or adults for that manner. On the fifth evening you could invite the parents to come in and discuss with them what you have taught the teens and what you hope comes from the lessons. You could even talk with the parents about both parties making that night when they begin with a clean slate. Possibly having the teens serve their parents/guardians refreshments.
Next up we have a great book and journal combo for you to read. Now it doesn't specifically deal with youth ministry but rather with you. Many times we forget about keeping ourselves spiritually healthy and this is a great book to renew yourself with. The title is The Travelers Gift and it is written by Andy Andrews. Make sure to pick up the journal that goes along with the book as I highly recommend it! I am currently reading both and it has had a huge impact in my life and how I view success and whats important to me. You will be telling your friends about it, I guarantee.
For our talk sparker this week I want to discuss teens, their prayer life, and what stance you need to take on the issue. Of course you know that you need to talk about prayer and so forth but what about really making prayer an important part of your weekly meetings. It is one thing to allow your teens to say your closing prayer and another to have them regularly participate in a prayer meeting. If we want to teach our youth how important prayer really is then we have to give them hands on experience. Every 1-2 months give the youth 10-15 minutes to spend in prayer. Prior to providing them this time, share with them how the prayer meeting will work and what the purpose is. You could ask them for specific prayer requests before you begin the prayer meeting or even the week prior and then type up a prayer sheet and handout to them. This will give them some direction. It will take them time to learn how to pray for 10-15 minutes and you have to be right alongside them. Make sure you ask each week for updates on the prayer requests that have been made. You could even have a praise party after your prayer meeting every couple of months. Make sure that you explain to the teens that God often times answers our prayers differently than what we want or expect. However, He sees the whole picture of our life and truly knows what is best for each of us.

By His Grace and For them,
Ashley E.

Youth Ministry Lite #7

Welcome to this weeks Youth Ministry Lite. We have some great resources and ideas so lets get right to it! Our first highlight is the book, Choose Your Top 3...500 Dynamic Discussion Starters to Get Your Teenagers Talking by Brian Schulenburg. This is a must have for anyone involved with Youth Ministry and is a resource you can use as often as you like. You can start off each meeting with one, use it for discussion nites where you choose a couple funny ones and a couple serious ones, and the so on.
Our second highlight is something I came up with and have been using for numerous months with my teens, weekly announcements. At first thought you think, "How boring. Why do this?". The announcements I handout each Wednesday nite consist of a scripture, News (youth group and the world- (funny or very important), a topic to discuss with their parents, prayers/praises, stats, and more. The key is to make them fun and interesting for your teens. They don't take much time to put together and have been a blessing for us.
Our talk-sparker this week is about keeping a positive attitude as a leader, which can be hard to do at times. I was reading Phil. 1:12-30, which tells about Paul when he is in prison. Regardless of where Paul was and what he was going through, he stayed focused on his mission and kept a good attitude when doing it. As a leader, we can either surrender to our circumstances or we can surrender to a cause so great, our circumstances won't matter. So the next time your down because the teens act like they don't care or you're struggling to get through to that one student who just doesn't get it, remember what your purpose is and that a good attitude goes a long ways.

For the Students and Because of Him,
Ashley E.

Youth Ministry Lite #6

Hello Once Again! What a week it has been. Last weekend our church hosted "The Great Youth Event" and had Jason McLeod, who starred in Facing The Giants and Fireproof, as our guest speaker. It was amazing! I realized my next column needed to be written and her I am a bit late. A couple of weekends ago I watched one of the best films I have ever seen, Defiance. Now, while it isn't a "Christian" film per say, I feel safe in recommending it. The film only had a couple of curse words in it, but you can screen the film, know when they are said, and mute or run over them. I only recommend it for high school students and older. The film tells the true story of the Bielski brothers who hid in the forests in order to hide from the Nazis. By the time the brothers were able to safely come out of the forest, they were accompanied by over 1200 fellow Jews. These brothers managed to pull of the biggest Jews saving Jews venture of the WWII. Their story is extremely powerful and relays the message to never give up. This is a great film for movie night. Make sure you let the parents know what you will be showing and how you plan on combating the few curse words. Also explain to them why you are showing this film in particular.
Our second highlight today is the game "Bible Ball". All you need to play is a small-medium sized ball and a group of teens. Have your students sit in a circle and explain how the game works: You (youth leader) will throw the ball to one of the students, upon catching the ball the student must name one thing from the category you have chosen. Let's say the category is men of the bible, the teens must name someone like Moses or Adam. Once they have said their answer they then pass the ball to whoever they want. You will have to make the rules of no hard throws and must give everyone a chance. Have several categories prechosen and when a student cant come up with an answer...they are out. The last 1-2 left are the winners. This is a great game to get the teens loosened up, as well as reinforcing basic bible knowledge.
For this weeks talk sparker, I want to talk about making mistakes and what to do. What I want to say is summed up by this little saying: Good People - Weak Moments. How true this is. As Youth Leaders, we talk a lot about what things the teens should stay away from and how they should act, but have you ever taken the time to talk with them about what they should do WHEN (not if) they mess up. None of us are expected to be perfect, we are human and as humans we are going to slip up at times. You need to make sure that your teens are aware of this often overlooked fact and then walk them through handling the aftermath of their mistake. This little illustration may help them better understand: The only difference between a sinner and a saint, is a saint picks himself back up when he falls down. He doesn't wallow in his mistakes. Give the teens solid real life guidance in what to do. They will appreciate it more than you will know.

Youth Ministry Lite #5

Welcome back for more great ideas and insights into the world of youth ministry. This weeks first highlight is one of my all-time favorite websites to get lesson ideas, video lessons, and handouts: Dare 2 Share Ministries (www.dare2share.org) in an ace in the hole and Youth Pastor or Youth Leader should be without it in our "little black book" for youth ministry resources. Greg Stier, the founder, does a great job at providing top notch materials for for youth leaders, teens, and parents on his website, all for free! They even do conferences across America, teaching teens how to effectively share their faith with their friends.
Our second highlight is one of the best youth ministry magazines I have come across and you can always count on refreshing ideas, thought provoking articles, and helpful insights when you pick up an issue of Campus Life's Ignite Your Faith. This magazine if written for teens and young adults but is a tool all youth leaders should have within reach. Try a free trial issue and you will be hooked!
Our talk sparker for this week is about actively connecting with the teens in your youth group. How often do you make it a point to make and grow a more personal connection with your teens? Actively connecting with teens requires that we move beyond simply "showing up" on Sunday's and Wednesday's. It requires us to say hello to each of our students, to shake hands, to call on them to read scripture, or close in prayer, as well as to set aside time outside of church. This could mean sending out email or chatting via Facebook through the week or having a teen grill out where getting to know your teens more personally is the purpose. If we want to see their world, gain their trust, and earn their respect, we must draw them out and pursue them. We need to be better listeners, ask more probing questions, and share more of our life experiences. We must show them we deeply care by knowing them by name, knowing their strengths and weaknesses, and when their birthday is. We must form a relationship with each and every one of them and nurture that relationship if we are to having a lasting impact on their lives. All the time respecting proper boundaries and never putting ourselves in potentially compromising situations. If we forget the basic necessity of teens to be heard and be known, we won't be the role model and mentor we are striving to be.

Quote to live by: "You may think you are leading, but if no one is following, all you're doing is taking a walk." Mark Batterson paraphrasing a quote from a beloved leadership guru