A lot of times in youth ministry it seems like all our students do is sit, listen, and consume youth ministry resources. But instead I feel that our students should actually be interacting: with each other, with our ministries, and with the world around them. It is important to keep this mindset because not only do I feel like this will help your students grow further in their faith, but will also increase the chances that they stay connected to your ministry throughout high school and a local church in general throughout the rest of their lives. I do not want to just throw this big idea out at you though with nothing to back it up. Instead I want to give you some specific ways that you can make your student ministry more interactive.
1. Change your teaching.- Most of us when we teach are lecturers. I understand because I am this way. And honestly this is a good thing sometimes because the Spirit is moving and you need to just let the truth pour out of you. But too often we do this just because this is the only way we know how to teach. That is why we must force ourselves to be more interactive. There are several ways you can do this but here are a few.
2. Increase opportunities for small group conversations.- You probably have small groups once a week at least. You may call this Sunday School or something else. But if this is the only time you have small groups that is not enough. Because it is in these times that students build relationships, get to pose questions, and get to wrestle with life with their peers. This is why you need to encourage these opportunities as often as possible. Maybe you have students break up into small groups after your talk at your midweek service. Maybe you offer a second type of small group meeting during your midweek. You could also make sure that you have time for small groups in all of your retreats and camps. All I know is that I have found that the more time students can get into small groups the better.
3. Empower your students to do ministry.- This may be the biggest thing, getting your students out interacting with the world around them. They cannot rely on you to do everything for forever and honestly you cannot do everything anyways. So you need to make sure your students know that they can and should be reaching the world around them and then train and equip them to do so. How this looks depends on God's leading, your students, and your community, but just please make sure you are doing this. Because our students want to do bigger things and the world is often giving them these opportunities. And they will take them if the we do not offer them something different.
Some of these things will be difficult and time consuming at first. But not only will they benefit your students, they will also benefit you and your ministry in the long run as well.
1. Change your teaching.- Most of us when we teach are lecturers. I understand because I am this way. And honestly this is a good thing sometimes because the Spirit is moving and you need to just let the truth pour out of you. But too often we do this just because this is the only way we know how to teach. That is why we must force ourselves to be more interactive. There are several ways you can do this but here are a few.
- Do an object lesson.
- Bring a student up to the front for an illustration.
- Pose a question to the crowd.
- Have students text questions in.
- Play a game with a point.
2. Increase opportunities for small group conversations.- You probably have small groups once a week at least. You may call this Sunday School or something else. But if this is the only time you have small groups that is not enough. Because it is in these times that students build relationships, get to pose questions, and get to wrestle with life with their peers. This is why you need to encourage these opportunities as often as possible. Maybe you have students break up into small groups after your talk at your midweek service. Maybe you offer a second type of small group meeting during your midweek. You could also make sure that you have time for small groups in all of your retreats and camps. All I know is that I have found that the more time students can get into small groups the better.
3. Empower your students to do ministry.- This may be the biggest thing, getting your students out interacting with the world around them. They cannot rely on you to do everything for forever and honestly you cannot do everything anyways. So you need to make sure your students know that they can and should be reaching the world around them and then train and equip them to do so. How this looks depends on God's leading, your students, and your community, but just please make sure you are doing this. Because our students want to do bigger things and the world is often giving them these opportunities. And they will take them if the we do not offer them something different.
Some of these things will be difficult and time consuming at first. But not only will they benefit your students, they will also benefit you and your ministry in the long run as well.
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