Youth Ministry: What not to do
In Kurt Johnston's post What not to do, he talks about some principles for guiding the activities they do in their youth ministry. Here they are:1) Is it age-appropriate? Is it over their head? Will they 'get it?' etc.He talks about how often it's the impromptu activities that can be the worst. They haven't been thought through and may have significant consequences. For me it means we want to be well-prepared and also have older-wiser leaders on hand to bring wisdom in the spur-of-the-moment activites.
2) Does it dishonor anybody? I don't want to dishonor scripture, Christ, nerdy kids, jocks, tall kids, heavy kids etc.
3) Can we defend it? When a parent, church elder or senior pastor asks us why we played that game, watched that movie etc. do we have a defense that will satisfy?
What do you think of his list? Would you add anything? Change anything?
Thursday, October 19, 2006 8:45:00 pm
dave i really like the new design its classy but simple its creative and i havent scene another blog like it...nice upside down flowers up the top too (i think thats what they are)good game tonight mate. top
Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:43:00 pm
That's a good list - and i only appreciate that now that im turning into one of those "older-wiser leaders" (slowly).
It's hard, cos I have always felt that the impromptu activities can be some of the most fun!
But I agree that having older-wiser-godly-clear thinking leaders on hand is invaluable. top
Thursday, October 19, 2006 10:45:00 pm
thanks jon. glad you like it. tonight was a good fun although we lost. good game.
simon - i'm becoming more of a worry-wart the older i get... or is it the younger other get?? top
Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:21:00 pm
Absolutly Dave... Prep. is everything in working with youth. You can try to wing it but more times than not someone overlooks something somewhere resulting in a negative impact on someone.
On a second note... seeing as your so cool on this contraption computor thingy, I want to change the overall look on my blogspot. How do I do this? Ohters have asked the same question and we eagerly await your imparting wisdom on the topic. top
Thursday, October 19, 2006 11:34:00 pm
Mal
1) Prep isn't everything. I think it's important... but the more you do stuff the less you need to prepare. i actually think it's possible to prepare too much... that you don't end up doing the work of ministry.
2) go into www.blogger.com and then go into your dashboard. then click on template... and you can change it from there.
otherwise there should be a help menu somewhere. top
Friday, October 20, 2006 9:27:00 am
I dunno Dave - you are PRETTY old.
I agree you can over-prepare. Maybe you need to be prepared, yet flexible - and most of all wise in making decisions.
People not programs as they say top
Friday, October 20, 2006 10:02:00 am
good call guthers (not the i am old bit!).
just a slight tweak...
people before programs.
i think programs are important - but people come before them... cos programs are to serve people not people serve programs. top
Friday, October 20, 2006 10:27:00 am
I think the key is having a plan, but it being a flexible plan.
I totally agree with thinking through 'can we defend it?'. When we ran a dress up night at carlo once, we had a 'grease' theme, and one agro parent sent a letter to the senior pastor outlining all the reasons why grease was an inapropriate role model for youth. I thought it was a bit over the top, as we really only meant 60's clothes, but we hadn't thought of that objection... top
Friday, October 20, 2006 12:29:00 pm
nice tweak dave - i agree
agro parents are the reason we don't make the same mistake twice sam - thank God for them!
Learning from others mistakes are also very important. Youth leaders don't always think like concerned parents. So its better to learn from someone elses experience than by learning the hard way. top