The following is a guest post by Michele McGraw. Michele is part of the youth ministry staff at Grace Covenant Church. Her post is part of the on the go training that we give adult leaders in our youth ministry. The principles should be transferrable to other youth ministries with small group programs.
Road Trip
Growing up, when my family went on vacation, we would drive. There are six of us and this option was a lot cheaper than all of us hopping on a plane.
My sister’s and I weren’t always the most easy going and spent most of the time asking an absurd amount of questions: “When are we leaving? How long will it take to get there? When can we stop? When can we eat?” It drove my parents insane. My Mom would always answer saying, “just go with the flow!”
While we hated that answer, my mom had a point. Why not just go with the flow and enjoy the family time? (She’d chuckle if she knew that I was approving of this phrase.)
Going Off The Page
I’ve noticed that when I lead small groups, I am often so focused on getting to every question on the discussion guide that I miss out on opportunities to have real discussions with the girls. While it is important to keep your middle and high schoolers on track (somewhat of a conundrum I understand), feel free to deviate from the questions if you feel like your group really needs to talk about something.
You can lead discussion by allowing the teens to answer each other’s questions. Asking open-ended questions can help to keep communication open and flowing naturally. Take a moment to feel out where the group is and where they need to go. Assess if it’s ok to go off topic, or if they need to be redirected.
If you’re anything like me, you like to know who, what, where, when, why and how, and you need that information now. Let’s take a cue from my Mom, and “just go with the flow.”