1. Youth Ministry Events as Faith Formation – Part Three
Processing Events and Connecting to Daily Life

2.  Youth believe in God! Yay! So…now what?
 Let’s deconstruct MTD in the lives of youth and challenge
youth to experience Jesus Christ through authentic
relationships and experiences that are rooted in sound
theology and practices.
 In Session One, we talked about the:
Purpose of Events
 In Session Two, we talked about how you:
Prepare your Group for an event
 Did you miss a trainings? Watch past sessions online at
www.practicediscipleship.org

3. Session
Three
(What you are
hearing today!)
We will talk about
how we help groups
experience the work
of the Holy Spirit in
the midst of an
event, and how to
connect that event to
their daily lives…and
maybe even share it
with others!

4. Events are
opportunities for
young people to
disengage from
the world around
them so they can
fix their eyes on
Jesus Christ.
Out of our
comfort zone, we
can see the world
and ourselves
from Christ’s point
of view rather
than our own.

5. Hand-Holding
and
Finger-Pointing
Spiritual direction often is considered
one of the practices of communion,
since the ultimate objective is not to
offer moral instruction or pastoral
Photo by Sam Mugraby, Photos8.org care. The goal of spiritual direction is
reaching toward oneness with God by
discerning God’s direction for our
daily lives.”
-Godbearing Life, pp. 139-140
Hand-holding is ministry of presence…
Finger-pointing is ministry of direction.
Photo by Sam Mugraby, Photos8.org

6. Participation is ACTIVE
Experience the event fully
Observe what’s going on with the youth
Translate your experience into a story to share

7. Participation is GENUINE
Expect to be transformed yourself
Be who you are

8. Participation is COMPLICATED
This isn’t just a vacation, you know!
Full participation is hard work!

9. Listening is ACTIVE
Listen with your ears
Listen with your eyes
Listen with your body
Respond with clarifying questions

10. Listening is GENUINE
Listen because you care
Be open to the questions youth ask

11. Listening is a DISCIPLINE
Part of listening well is hearing what is said
Part of listening well is “hearing” what is NOT said!
Listening is focusing on the speaker
Listening is hard work!

12. Ask good questions
Make observations
Photo by Sam Mugraby, Photos8.org
Point to Jesus

13. W = Where
H = Hobbies
E = Event
A =
Acquaintances
T = Travel

14. The first person ASKS questions and LISTENS
The second person RESPONDS
The third person OBSERVES
 Allow each person to rotate through the various roles.
 Give the group members 5 minutes for each role.

15. Connecting Events and
Experiences to Daily Life
“The entire congregation
makes a difference in
youth ministry.”
(p. 83, EYM)
“Of parents who report
that their faith is extremely
important in their daily
lives; only 8% of those
parents’ teens report that
faith is not very or not
important in their lives.”
(p. 171, EYM)

16. Set goals for how your events can be
transforming.
 What kind of goals would you have for a weekly Bible
study?
 What kind of goals would you have for a summer trip?

17. How will you communicate with parents about
what was experienced?
 You can never communicate in enough ways!
 Involve the parents in your event somehow
 Create activities for families to do together that support
or extend the goal of your event

18. How will you share your events with the
congregation?
 Worship
 Written communication
 Visual images around the church
 Involve congregational members in events
 Congregational mentors/prayer partners

19. How will you intentionally share your event
experiences with youth who could not attend?
 Storytelling with purpose
 Group building
 Communicate while gone
 Involve other youth, parents and congregation in
planning

20. Managing Your Group During Events
Some of these tips
will apply to trips
only, some will apply
to local events as
well.
“When did we ever
get the crazy idea
that to make
children do better ,
first you have to
make them feel
worse?”
-Jane Nelsen

21. Cell Phones
 Will you allow them?
 How will you monitor their use?
 What is the church’s liability?

22. Transportation
 How big is the group and how will this affect the type of
transportation you choose?
 How will you separate groups into vehicles?
 Will you/can you use transportation time as group
building time?
 How will you get back to vehicles?
 Who will drive?
What are your safety concerns?
 How much baggage can youth bring?

23. Lodging
 Where will you (and other adults) sleep?
 What are the overall sleeping arrangements?
 Safe haven/risk management policies

24. Food
 How many meals?
 Where do you plan to eat?
 Will you give food money allowances or pay as a group?

25. Group Management
 Small Groups with designated leaders
 Covenant issues
 How many sponsors do you take?
 Come prepared with “back-up”
 Make a ministry opportunity
 Keeping track of your group

26. Wow!!! Now you’re ready to go!!!