Youth Ministry Leadership Quick Tip: Save the Drama

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.

Scripted Drama

I was watching an episode of “8 Simple Rules… for Dating My Teenager Daughter,” and the teenage sisters were fighting because one of them made the cheerleading squad and the other didn’t. Their parents had this dialogue:

“I can’t live like this! They keep fighting!”

“They’re teenagers.”

Unscripted Drama

Middle and High School teens are known for being prone to drama. If it’s not “he said, she said,” it’s “they stole my boyfriend/girlfriend.” Emotions run high. While we tend to associate drama with the young ladies, we can’t discount the same type of issues with the guys.

Drama comes with the territory of these age groups. As small group leaders we are often placed in the middle of it. The good news is that we have the opportunity to squash it. Continue reading “Youth Ministry Leadership Quick Tip: Save the Drama”

Three Thoughts about E-Book vs. Books

Technology has been a staple in my life. I went to college to study Computer Science and for almost a decade, I’ve worked professionally with technology. I value a good innovation. Technology can make tedious or time-consuming tasks quick, interesting, even engaging. But sometimes it gets in the way.

Recently, my family was given Kindle e-book reader. Up to this point, I had held off on the whole e-book trend. Because, as much as I love technology, I didn’t like the medium of a lit screen to do serious reading. As I mentioned in a previous post, I love the smell of a good, real-life, physical book.
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A Short Book Review: Wordsmithy by Doug Wilson

Have you ever toyed with the idea of writing? Is the art of wedding words one that you would like to master? Do you appreciate a good metaphor? Then you ought to read Wordsmithy by Doug Wilson. It’s a short book (128 pages) with seven chapters that Wilson describes as “Hot Tips for the Writing Life.”
Continue reading “A Short Book Review: Wordsmithy by Doug Wilson”

Youth Ministry Leadership Quick Tip: Look at the Long-term

I love reading how-to books. They’re usually clear, straight-forward, and easy to apply. You can pick up a book on “Home Improvement for Dummies” and after reading a few pages, you’ve probably read enough to do something. Maybe not necessarily well or right, but you can go from reading to action relatively quickly.

There’s a definite attraction to the quick, get-it-done solutions in life. It’s the whole reason people pay for fast food regardless of the facts that say it’s usually pretty unhealthy; it may be bad for you, but it’s quicker than what’s good for you.
Continue reading “Youth Ministry Leadership Quick Tip: Look at the Long-term”

Three Thoughts about Editing Your Writing

Sir, Yes Sir!

When I was in eighth grade, I had a drill sergeant for an English teacher. She took a rag-tag group of grammatically-ignorant thirteen-year-olds and whipped us into a lean, mean, sentence-graphing machine. Or at least I think that was her intention. In reality, I don’t know how effective she was. Because I still end up making mistakes, mistakes that I don’t think that the army would approve of. Like hanging prepositions. And fragments. And starting sentences with “and.”

My eighth grade English teacher actually did make a big impact on my life and writing. I don’t remember her name, but I do know the difference between “was” and “were” and how to conjugate verbs. But as stringent as she was, I still end up making mistakes, often. And so, revising and editing my writing is a task up which I must never give.

Editing What You Write

  1. Editing is a necessary evil. I hate to change the oil in my car. Actually, I never change the oil in my car. I hate the process of taking it to a mechanic, shelling out the cash to have them do it, and then losing the hour that I have to spend waiting for it. But, if you disregard the oil long enough, you kind of end up with a ticking time-bomb of a car. Writing without editing is kind of the same way. It’s not fun, but it must be done if you want to communicate with clarity.

  2. Failing to edit hinders your message. Have you ever walked into a furniture store and seen an amazing dining room table? Maybe it has wood that was recovered from a barn built in the 1700s. Maybe the finish makes you worship the God who created the wood and its grain. Now imagine that table with a giant gash in it. Or an obscene message etched into a corner. That response you feel, that distraction you give into, that is what poor editing does. It causes the reader to focus on an aspect of the medium, rather than the message. Don’t let the reader get distracted.

  3. Editing forces you to remember your fallibility. I wish I was perfect. Sometimes I think I am, until I’m quickly reminded how flawed I am. But I’d rather remind myself, then have someone else have to point it out to me. Try to be your own critic, so others don’t have to be.

Editing is like prep-work in the kitchen. It’s not glamorous, and it’s usually not too much fun. But good prep helps make the meal palatable. Let’s communicate deliciously, not distractingly.