Not everyone is cut out to work with pre-teens and teenagers. A lot of people think that you have to be young yourself to survive working with them. The fact is that a lot of retirees love working with this age group and make great leaders of the kinds of youth ministries San Antonio TX churches want to be able to offer their members. Most of these leaders adhere to some simple rules.
You need to make the ministry meetings fun places to be. This may be the only way to get and keep a crowd. You can make up silly games, organize rock bands, or have overnight lock ins that, on the surface, don't seem to have much to do with religion. It might be showing the kids how to work together or getting normally reluctant kids to volunteer. Everything you plan however must have an underlying purpose and gospel foundation.
There are always kids that hang back. They might have been forced into your program by their parents or followed someone they have a crush on in order to get their attention. It doesn't really matter why they are there. It's your job to engage them and try to pull them into the group. It takes time and effort, and doesn't always work, but this is one of the challenges of the job.
It's important to make the truth of the gospel fun. Very few kids are interested in being preached to or memorizing Bible verses. They will be much more willing to listen to you, if you give them unusual examples of how these centuries old stories apply to their daily lives. Kids have a lot of imagination, and you can capture it if you start the conversation and then sit back and let them take it wherever they want to go with it.
It's important for you to really understand these kids. You have to be sensitive to which ones will grab the spotlight away from others and which ones are terrified of being singled out. You need to understand where they are on their spiritual journey. Instead of asking directly, which will embarrass most of them, you have to let them open up on their own terms.
You should make an effort to get to know the parents, without embarrassing the kids. Parents of little ones will rest easier knowing who you are and that you have their kid's best interests at heart. Parents who don't show up need special attention. Reaching out to them may have to start with you introducing yourself at drop off or pick up times.
If you are going to lead a ministry, you must make the commitment to then stick with it. This can't be a whim that you drop when it gets hard. You have to consider the damage you can do to kids have had losses and disappointments heaped on them by other adults in their lives.
Teenagers are not babies, and they aren't adults. They are in flux between the two. This is a critical time, and you can make a difference.
You need to make the ministry meetings fun places to be. This may be the only way to get and keep a crowd. You can make up silly games, organize rock bands, or have overnight lock ins that, on the surface, don't seem to have much to do with religion. It might be showing the kids how to work together or getting normally reluctant kids to volunteer. Everything you plan however must have an underlying purpose and gospel foundation.
There are always kids that hang back. They might have been forced into your program by their parents or followed someone they have a crush on in order to get their attention. It doesn't really matter why they are there. It's your job to engage them and try to pull them into the group. It takes time and effort, and doesn't always work, but this is one of the challenges of the job.
It's important to make the truth of the gospel fun. Very few kids are interested in being preached to or memorizing Bible verses. They will be much more willing to listen to you, if you give them unusual examples of how these centuries old stories apply to their daily lives. Kids have a lot of imagination, and you can capture it if you start the conversation and then sit back and let them take it wherever they want to go with it.
It's important for you to really understand these kids. You have to be sensitive to which ones will grab the spotlight away from others and which ones are terrified of being singled out. You need to understand where they are on their spiritual journey. Instead of asking directly, which will embarrass most of them, you have to let them open up on their own terms.
You should make an effort to get to know the parents, without embarrassing the kids. Parents of little ones will rest easier knowing who you are and that you have their kid's best interests at heart. Parents who don't show up need special attention. Reaching out to them may have to start with you introducing yourself at drop off or pick up times.
If you are going to lead a ministry, you must make the commitment to then stick with it. This can't be a whim that you drop when it gets hard. You have to consider the damage you can do to kids have had losses and disappointments heaped on them by other adults in their lives.
Teenagers are not babies, and they aren't adults. They are in flux between the two. This is a critical time, and you can make a difference.
About the Author:
When you are searching for information about youth ministries San Antonio TX residents can come to our web pages online today. More details are available at http://www.mountzionfbc.org/youth now.