4 Small Group Prep Techniques
When I prepare to teach my small group, there are 4 tools I’m learning to use to help me customize the curriculum to be relevant to our ministry setting.
1. Relate my life to the material – Sometimes this requires me to dig deep, other times the connections are obvious. Either way, it’s important for me to share my story as I teach so I can show how the principles of the lesson can be used in real-life settings. I’m careful to share failure stories as much as I can. If I only share success stories then my students may feel they could never live up to my standards. It’s important to communicate that we’re all on the journey together; each of us hitting potholes along the way.
2. Review what others are saying – The web is full of resources such as podcasts, articles, blog posts, statistics and other items that directly pertain to the subject of any lesson I could ever teach. If I’m ever running short on outside material it’s only because I haven’t looked. Finding volumes of information on a topic doesn’t mean I have to use it all in my teaching. However, it may give guidance to the direction I take the lesson or illustrations or activities I choose to implement while teaching.
3. Reuse what I’ve learned in church – Repetition is one way to drive a lesson home. In the Bible when you see a concept repeated you can know for sure what the author is driving home. It’s the same way in teaching small group. I take every opportunity to reinforce what is taught in the weekend services as I teach my small group. I may even prod the students to bring in the message by asking them if they remember what Pastor Doug said about a specific topic. Keeping sermon notes in a binder helps me recall what was said on a specific topic.
4. Request the help of other small group leaders – Some of the best training I get is from other small group leaders in my ministry. Hearing them talk about how they teach and interact with their students challenges and equips me to be a better leader. My fellow small group leaders are an easily overlooked asset that can yield a treasure trove of ideas for teaching my small group.
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Filed under: How to last in youth ministry, Resources
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