Intergenerational Recreation Ministry

When it comes to getting active with the older people in our churches, let's just face it, some of us get grossed out at the thought.  Seeing them out of their natural environment of eating peppermints and watching Matlock it's just real hard to see how teens or even young adults could get along and possibly even develop some friendships with the older ones in our church.  But the hard facts are everyone benefits when it comes to mixing all the generations at church together for some clean, fun Christian recreational activities.  The main idea behind doing activities as a body of believers is, of course, about the community it builds.  But that is just the foundation that supports many great things to come.  Once that ice gets melted away and the uncomfortable cold waters are warmed relationshps are developed.  I am not sure about most of you, but I have at least 3 old ladies and 2 old men at my home church that I have to either hug, shake hands, or kiss when I go home.  Those people are always making sure that I'm doing ok and they always let me know that they have been praying for me.  I think that is what intergenerational recreations are all about.  I mean I never did go golfing or canoeing with them but it was at church events that I got to know these individuals on a deeper level that led to me thinking of them as a second or fourth grandma.  And we all know we could use more grandmas in our lives.  I guess my question for is what boundaries do you see coming down because of intergenerational recreaction?  And is there any older person out there that has invested in you?

The many possibilities of middle schoolers

As far as middle schoolers what do you see are limits of ministering/recreationing with and to middle schoolers and in contrast what are some of the opportunities? What were your expectations going into MSO as far as how middle schoolers would be?

Well, when I think of middle schoolers I think of my sister who is in middle school. There are times when I think that she is fully incapable of learning, but weeks later she will surprise me with some tidbit of information that she had retained. The opportunities for middle schoolers I think are that they are very open and receptive to modeling. Middle school is a time where kids look to idols and mentors and it is a great time to be a positive mentor and introduce strong Christian figures and heroes that they can look to i.e. St. Francis, Martin Luther, Shaine Claiborne. Especially for my sister it helps her to see real people that live a life like Jesus in the here and now. For the recreational aspect middle schoolers love to play games and have fun. As far as limitations, I think that middle schoolers can dig in deep to the word, but their attention span and thinking capacities are similar to that of a small rabbit especially if social media is not utilized. Also for recreation sometimes kids don't want to cross the middle school cliques and hang out with the other kids.

I hope this question isn't confusing. The more experience you have had with middle schoolers then your answers will probably be better. My experience is limited.

The Christian Calendar

Carly Haas

I did not know very much about the Christian Church Calendar before this assignment, so I had to do some background work. I am attaching the source I got my information from on here so if you want to get some background you can. http://www.cresourcei.org/chyear.html

In thinking about the church calendar I did not realize how purposely laid out it is to tell the story of Jesus. The website above talks about how the Christian calendar revolves around the life and ministry of Jesus from start to finish and it also touches on the Great Commission and Jesus’ return. With thinking about the Church Calendar in association with teaching the children, I think it is a great way to connect them with the stories of Jesus. A lot of the time the children are learning something different than the congregation in “big church”, but I think if the children, youth, and adult ministries all teach and learn from the Christian Church Calendar then they can connect with each other, while learning about the life and teachings of Christ. We don’t, however, want to loose the other important stories within the Bible and only focus on the Gospel. The other stories are also part of our Christian history. In what ways can we implement the use of the Christian Calendar in teaching the children, but not loosing sight of the other stories within the Bible as well?

The Role of Missions as a Form of Recreational Ministry

Tyler Cheek

When most people think of 'missions' their minds travel to the far reaches of China, the safaris of Africa, or the rain forests of South America. However the idea of missions is so much bigger than the extreme images of full time missionaries. Missions is an important part of Christianity that any person of any age should carry out in their daily lives. While it is no exactly realistic to prepare first and second grades to be sent into Las Vegas for street evangelism, there are still areas of missions that they can be trained in. Before Jesus left the Earth he left us with the instructions on how to live our lives. He summed all this up with what is known as the "Great Commission" (Matthew 28:18-20). How can the Great Commission be literally applied in your life as a teacher, so that through example you can teach and disciple others?

Program Templates and Youth Meetings

Sara Cover:

Youth groups are something that most of us are familiar with, we can think back to the silly games, interesting lessons and yummy food. But I am sure none of us really stopped and thought about the work that went into pulling it all together. Reading this chapter really helped me to see that it is not just all thrown together but thought through. So what exactly are the parts that make up a successful youth meeting?

Well like Jesus says the first shall be last and the last shall be first, that is how you have to begin your planning with the end in mind. Figure out what you want the students to get out of the meeting, what one point do you want them taking with them and processing through out the week. That is the thing that you build games, songs, and discussions around. After that is done brainstorm ideas of things that will go with your main point and help to emphasize it. The last thing you need to focus on is making sure your point sticks with them and that they want to come back the next time. You can do this in three easy ways : make stepping stones that connect the point from tonight's meet to the point for next weeks meeting. Also decided what the function of your hook is; is it to review, preview, or connect and in what form a challenge, question or promise.

My questions are from your youth group experiences what was one thing you really took away from the meeting each night and what is one thing you wish you could have changed to make it better. Also do you believe that there are any topics that should not be discussed in a youth group setting why or why not?

Experientail YM Handbook: Full-day Events

Emalee Dunkle: I really enjoyed this particular statement: "remember that there are no throwaway moments in ministry." This just blew my mind, many events or plans get pushed away because we think that they can not be as meaningful as they should be but in reality, there is always a learning experience to be had, you just have to be open for it. Since sometimes full-day events seem that they are too much work for such a little time I think we tend to put less emphasis on them. Another thing that caught my interest was the T.S. Eliot quote used at the end of the chapter: "We had the expierience, but we missed the meaning." This seems to be evident in many things when we discuss about imporvements that we feel need to be done in church programs it seems that sometimes we are missing the meaning of the events and not getting out of it what is being offered to us. My question relating to this deals with reflection: In what ways do you think participants can get meaning out of an experience to emphasis the purpose of the event? (that might be a little confusing of a question but hopefully my answer will clear that up) For me I think there needs to be a good amount of time for reflection so that those invovled can think about how they may have been impacted. Personally just leaving time for prayer is not always the most beneficial way to do this, asking questions and then letting the participants ponder and pray about thier answers is usually a more beneficial way for me to get the most out of an expierence.

Best-Ever Games: Introduction

Mike Smith

Are games still an effective resource that we must utilize in order to engage our students in ministry, and how can we fight through the entertainment barriers to get the kids involved?

Games have been around for many years, but it seems that this generation has strayed away from the desire to be involved in games that involve a group of kids. Many of them would rather be at home on the internet, watching TV, or playing video games. The book, Best-Ever Games states 7 reasons that games are still valuable today including: games are universal, stress-relieving, improves person's feel of belonging, and a few other good reasons. Acknowledging these benefits of games shows me that these games are still an important tool to use in effective ministry. In order to engage the kids, we need to be of encouragement and try to help show the students the benefits of playing games by pushing them to be involved, but never in a demanding, forceful manner.

Games

Often times in the church, from what I have seen, games are mainly used just as a distraction or a way of burning off kids'/teens' energy. Games are also sometimes used as a form of competition to suck in a certain crowd into the church with the purpose of building up numbers (this is particularly prevelant in youth groups.) What I think we need to ask ourselves in the church is if these are good enough reasons for having games. There are certainly times where a game can be useful in opening up a kids service to get children active and connected, and games may very well be a good way to minister. But I think these should only be done if there is a plan behind it. We need to ask ourselves before we plan a game: What are we trying to accomplish by doing this? What kind of impact could this game make? Will everyone be able to be involved?

So my questions are (1) How do we make sure our games have a purpose or value? (2) What might be some kinds of games to shy away from? What are kinds of games we should try to utilize?

Camps and Retreats-Colby Layton

Camps and Retreats:

Many of us have been to a camp or retreat in the past while we were still in high school and if we have then most likely we have piles of memories made and friendships as well that we will not soon forget. What are the most memorable camps to us? If we think hard and look deep I think we will find that the most memorable to us are the ones that were well planned out. They were organized, the leadership were all working together and the message, leaders, counselors, everyone was focused on God and that is when we grow. Those are the camps we remember. People's lives are changed at retreats and camps. So why don't we do them more?

Why do we wait until summer for the one week of camp? Why do we only have one retreat a year if any at all? And when we enter ministry will we attend any retreats that we aren't stressing about making sure it all goes well? I think retreats are the biggest key in stopping burnout in clergy today. Not a standard retreat with people, but what would happen if once a month the pastor took 24 hours to lock themself away from all contact with people and retreated to the quiet and listen to what God has to say to them. How much more refreshed would we be? How much can we learn from those? What if we did that right before camp meeting and went into camp totally rested and calmed? How much greater will that retreat/camp be then?

I believe the changes would be so drastic people wouldn't know what is going on, but everyone would be growing exponentially, the pastors, leaders, and students. What do you all think?

Details Camps & Retreats

As a leader, how will being organized help make your camp or retreat successful? If you can tell a parent to include one thing with their child, what will it be and why?
As a Leader, you must have a TO-DO list in advance before you even plan for the camp or you can pretty much forget about the most important things. As a group leader you have so much to be responsible for, but you could make it easier if you are prepared. Example, you need to arrive early to check-in or prepare for events. This will relieve any pressures and ensure your group has an incredible camp experience.

I will ask a parent to include mosquito repellant (spray/lotion) with their child to protect to them. This will ensure that each child has one to prevent bug bits. This won't take care of the entire problem, but will help and relieve one of the work loads for the group leaders.

Godly Play

Rachel Elder

What is Godly Play? How do you teach it to children? And how can it also benefit adults?


Godly play is where a teacher uses different techniques and ideas to help illustrate to children, the understanding of the Word of God. After reading this article and seeing this idea actually in practice made me see the importance of Godly play. A child can learn on so many different levels and at differnt stages, and a teacher needs to know how to make the Word not easier for the child, but more meaningful in a way that they would understand and relate to it. This idea of Godly play is not to "play down" the Word of God, because you don't go into as much detail, but take it more as an approach for a younger child to understand the whole book of Solomon. A childs brain can not comprehend that, but if you make it into a story that they can better relate to then it will be easier for them to understand.

Godly play is also a time where children can interact with crafts, toys and games to help them relate to the story. We all know children are more likly to have a short attention span, so you need to make sure the lesson can be focused around them in such a way that they can hear the story, then act out the story, and then retell it in their own way to show the understand what is really going on.

Expereimental methods and the bible

Keith sharier

What does the concept of parables mean to you?  Why are parables an important method of teaching concepts of the Bible? What is your favorite parable and why does it stand out to you?

To me, parables bring LIFE to the words that are there on the page. It’s almost too easy to read straight through a book or to hear a story and not grasp the true concept that it was attempting to put forth. But when you give the reader/listener that visual image it not only gives them a new way to look at it, it also gives them a chance to literally relate to what is written/said and instead of just words, it gives them a chance to feel as if they are interacting with the story as well. Parables give you that “ohhhhhh I get it feeling” instead of reading/ hearing something and wondering….”umm, what on earth is going on?”. Parables make it easier to remember the important concepts that God wants us to follow and through the practical element that it puts forth. My favorite parable comes from– Matthew 13:31–32 He set another parable before them, saying, "The Kingdom of Heaven is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and sowed in his field; which indeed is smaller than all seeds. But when it is grown, it is greater than the herbs, and becomes a tree, so that the birds of the air come and lodge in its branches." This has always stuck out to me because when I read it I feel powerful! In the sense that, with God…ALL things are truly possible, with faith as SMALL as a tiny little mustard seed the possibilities are absolutely endless. It shows me that when you Trust in the Lord, that the seemingly meaningless seed that you sowed… will end up growing into a HUGE tree beyond all belief and your world will totally get rocked…in a good way!

Experiential Youth Ministry - Introduction

Ben Evans

How do we make the lessons being taught at church desirable to the students? How do we make the passion for learning stick for them? What different forms can that take?

One of the things that stuck out the most to me throughout the entire introduction was how much Losey was trying to send home the idea of making the lessons and questions relevant and exciting to the students. Instead of teaching a lesson and making it a routine and getting into a rut with it, we need to make a lesson exciting and we need to be interested in it. After all, if we aren't interested in something, why would they want to be? If we aren't excited by what we're teaching when we're studying it, then they will see that and won't really care about what is being taught. We need to be careful what we teach and how we teach it so that it stays fresh and interesting to us and the students. If we can do that, we can lead the students into asking questions of their own that will help their relationship with God deepen. I have seen this done by using a night where the discussion is driven by questions the students have or discussing the current events. The more exciting and real the topic is to them, the more likely they are to dig deeper for more answers on their own.

Format for Posting for 2011

In order to keep the site somewhat clean and organized I want to outline a few guidelines.
1) If it is your week to post the question start a new post in this format:
"Your Name - The Question you are posing"
2) In the body of the post start by stating the reading you are responding to:i.e. "Experiential Youth Ministry - Introduction"
3) After that you can state your response/stance/thoughts.
4) Everyone else should respond to that post with their contribution as A COMMENT... not a new post.
5) At the beginning of your comment the first line should be in this format:"Your Name"

Next Line: Your Response

I didn't outline that ahead of time, but many of your blogger names are not clearly identifiable as you, so we won't know who you are.If you can edit your previous posts please go in and do that.
Thanks!
James

Class of 2011

Here we go! This is our first post. I just sent you all an invite and we are ready for a GREAT spring! Happy Valentine's Day! Go recreate!