Looking for "Vibe"

Hi, My name is Kate and I need some help with my YOUTH. On Sunday morning we have 20 or less YOUTH come and I think I know why. Our Sunday classes...aren't fun and they don't have any...vibe to it. It gets less and less each week and I need help to figure out how to get our YOUTH to come on Sunday's. Do you have any ideas on making Sunday classes...interesting, fun, and exciting? I need help. Thanks so much! God bless.

Kate Necker

Editor's Note:

Kate - Thank you for sharing your concerns with me and I am sorry it has taken some time for me to respond. Teaching Sunday School and running a youth group are similar yet different activities. I have done both. The ideas and activities on the web site are primarily for youth group activities when there is a longer period of time set aside and when there is an expectation that we leaders will present a program that encourages the growth of Christian friendships as well as presenting opportunities for the faith of our young people to grow. There are a couple of ideas from the site that you can use in a Sunday School setting that I believe will work. One is the "Fruits of the Spirit" activity found on the following link. Another is the "Three Pens Game" in the Archives Activities section of this website. Fruits of the Spirit I remember my first Sunday School class (Seventh Grade) when I judiciously studied a curriculum given to me, presented the workbooks which accompanied the curriculum to my students and found that it just did not work. I knew I had to start being creative and develop my own ideas for the group. About three weeks later we played the "Three Pens Game" which sparked their interest. Then we did something I call "The Jury Speaks" where we turned the class into a courtroom and organized the young people into a couple of small juries. Juries of three or four will even do. After having some discussion about the legal system and levels of evidence, I presented a "case". It had to do with a problematic situation teens might encounter. After they discussed the case and each jury revealed its conclusion, we looked at scripture to determine what Jesus would do. The first time we did "The Jury Speaks" was in 1977 and we are still doing the event today now during our youth group meetings as my Sunday School teaching days are over. The event is always well received by our young people and we really get a chance to talk about the guidelines for life scripture gives us. I cannot release information about specific scenarios developed on the web site as the scenarios are too long. However, you can find six scenarios to use with scripture references and discussion in the book, "Not the Same Old, Done-it-before Youth Meetings". Simply go on the website and more information about the book can be found partway down the Home page or on a separate page entitled "The Book". The book has 360 pages worth of ideas and activities in it including many Bible studies you can use in a classroom environment. Other popular activity ideas are found in the chapters, "Who do you say I am?", "Where can I find you, God?" and "What would you have me do, Lord?". There are also study ideas for the following holidays: Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine’s Day and Easter. I hope that this has been helpful. Please write and let me know where you are from as I would like to include you on our Guestmap. Here is the url for the web site in case you have misplaced it: http://www.christianyouthgroup.org Tim Ferguson

If you would like to discuss activity ideas with Kate and Tim, please write to: TimFerguson@christianyouthgroup.org. Kate will be notified and we all look forward to your correspondence.
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