Last night at youth group we went Christmas Caroling. It was an easy evening to plan as long as your open to the logistical chaos of coordinating the energy level of teenagers, the memory lapses of the elderly, and the weather. Fortunately we had great weather, a really good group of 6-12th graders and a volunteer to call every single person on Sunday morning to remind them we were coming later that night.
So here's what worked well.
1. We guessed the right number of people. There were 69 of us caroling (19 adults, 20 high school, and 30 678 students). That was a perfect number for us. We had 22 pizzas (which were all consumed - 6 of them leftover but eaten when groups returned). We had two extra vehicles, which meant that some groups had extra adults which helps with singing and car conversations. We had enough high school students to make them their own group, which was more fun for them.
2. We all went to nursing homes first. The high school group headed across the river first. They sang in the halls of a nursing home, then visited two shut-ins. and in the meantime, the other three groups (each had middle school kids) all met at one nursing home and sang together for the first 20-30 minutes. The home had a great turnout in their large room and I think singing together gave the kids a lot of confidence!
3. We didn't make it too complicated. Three vehicles per group, a manageable number of kids and adults in each, only 3-4 people to sing to, no silly games - just letting the kids have fun. Kids were singing with others in their age group and were chosen by their friends into 4 packs.
Things to do better next time.
- we had one HS student insist on driving himself because he had to leave early. That can't happen again.
- we had barely enough song sheets
- some of the songs on the song sheets weren't in the Lutheran inclusive or our tradition of words... change that.
- take pictures of groups before they leave.
- text pictures to each other... it'll be more fun!
Monday, December 17, 2012
Monday, December 10, 2012
The inclusion of Jesus on Christmas
Last night at youth group I heard more students say it was their favorite night than ever before... we made ginger bread houses. It was pretty sweet.
We actually began this tradition when I began here (I carried it over from my former church) and my favorite part of the evening is that the students learn without realizing it. Most students are familiar with the Christmas story, most have a nativity set at home and realize the meaning of the Christmas carols to some degree... but few students hear the story with a message other than God gives us a gift, we give others gifts too. So in this event we pick a theme and let the students explore the story and create a sugary diorama of what they see and hear in the story.
We began the evening with a warm up game similar to mad gab where students tried to identify Christmas-themed clues. It was a good game without any movement, and fit nicely in our evening for about 10 minutes of fun.
Then we invited a senior to share her faith story which happened to be about inclusion and exclusion. Meredith identified the most beautiful parts of the youth group - a welcoming place in a world where so many are excluded. Her story was powerful because she is such a high achiever that no one would have guessed that she has felt so excluded, so often in life. And in our church. It was a good story of her life and her passion for God and how she sees God involved in the inclusive ministry at youth group.
We built on Meredith's theme throughout the evening by moving into the next room and getting ready for our gingerbread competition. We call it a competition to add a little urgency and purpose to our designs. This year each group was assigned one of three stories from Matt or Luke about Christmas. And each team was first asked to identify the inclusion and exclusion aspects of the story. and then create a diorama that depicts that scene and theme.
30 minutes later our students were messy, but cleaning up and moving their sugary displays around to show off to others. We invited a representative from each team to share in front of the group what elements they chose to include and why, and then assigned three adults to pick favorites (for bragging rights only).
We still had 15 minutes at the end of the night to sing a few Christmas carols, pray and bless each other!
We actually began this tradition when I began here (I carried it over from my former church) and my favorite part of the evening is that the students learn without realizing it. Most students are familiar with the Christmas story, most have a nativity set at home and realize the meaning of the Christmas carols to some degree... but few students hear the story with a message other than God gives us a gift, we give others gifts too. So in this event we pick a theme and let the students explore the story and create a sugary diorama of what they see and hear in the story.
We began the evening with a warm up game similar to mad gab where students tried to identify Christmas-themed clues. It was a good game without any movement, and fit nicely in our evening for about 10 minutes of fun.
Then we invited a senior to share her faith story which happened to be about inclusion and exclusion. Meredith identified the most beautiful parts of the youth group - a welcoming place in a world where so many are excluded. Her story was powerful because she is such a high achiever that no one would have guessed that she has felt so excluded, so often in life. And in our church. It was a good story of her life and her passion for God and how she sees God involved in the inclusive ministry at youth group.
We built on Meredith's theme throughout the evening by moving into the next room and getting ready for our gingerbread competition. We call it a competition to add a little urgency and purpose to our designs. This year each group was assigned one of three stories from Matt or Luke about Christmas. And each team was first asked to identify the inclusion and exclusion aspects of the story. and then create a diorama that depicts that scene and theme.
30 minutes later our students were messy, but cleaning up and moving their sugary displays around to show off to others. We invited a representative from each team to share in front of the group what elements they chose to include and why, and then assigned three adults to pick favorites (for bragging rights only).
We still had 15 minutes at the end of the night to sing a few Christmas carols, pray and bless each other!
Monday, December 3, 2012
Christmas Shopping
Last night at youth group we met at church for our annual Christmas shopping for the Handicapped Development Center. This has been a long-time tradition of the youth group and it's a wonderful experience for our students to pool their money and buy gifts for people who really need our love and support.
We began the evening gathered in the church narthex so that we could make a quick getaway. because the narthex doesn't offer the same amount of comfort and welcome that our youth room does (there are not enough seats) we played a quick stand in a circle game as we began called railroad. It was effective at keeping everyone focused on the group while an adult leader gathered the stragglers for the first 10 minutes.
Then we broke into groups to go shopping. each group was given a shopping list for a resident. they worked together to think through gift ideas, then headed out in vehicles to the super target for some shopping.
Groups concluded by returning to St. Paul to wrap gifts, make cards and sing a few carols.
Things I loved about the event:
Having everyone go to the same store (a store with everything) was good for photos. St. Paul pitched in $20 for each group to help make sure the gifts could be great. Leaders were critical to making good decisions for the gifts, but the students creativity was inspiring. The small groups working together was sweet. The students generosity was inspiring. making Christmas cards out of construction paper was a good match. Extra Large gift bags were essential to keeping the gifts together.
Things to do better:
make sure the students share what they bought (i invited adults to share because we ran out of time). randomizing small groups - should have planned something better to get everyone on the same page before they left. leave more time for announcements and songs at the end. make sure to remind students that they are representatives of St. Paul when they are out and about.
We began the evening gathered in the church narthex so that we could make a quick getaway. because the narthex doesn't offer the same amount of comfort and welcome that our youth room does (there are not enough seats) we played a quick stand in a circle game as we began called railroad. It was effective at keeping everyone focused on the group while an adult leader gathered the stragglers for the first 10 minutes.
Then we broke into groups to go shopping. each group was given a shopping list for a resident. they worked together to think through gift ideas, then headed out in vehicles to the super target for some shopping.
Groups concluded by returning to St. Paul to wrap gifts, make cards and sing a few carols.
Things I loved about the event:
Having everyone go to the same store (a store with everything) was good for photos. St. Paul pitched in $20 for each group to help make sure the gifts could be great. Leaders were critical to making good decisions for the gifts, but the students creativity was inspiring. The small groups working together was sweet. The students generosity was inspiring. making Christmas cards out of construction paper was a good match. Extra Large gift bags were essential to keeping the gifts together.
Things to do better:
make sure the students share what they bought (i invited adults to share because we ran out of time). randomizing small groups - should have planned something better to get everyone on the same page before they left. leave more time for announcements and songs at the end. make sure to remind students that they are representatives of St. Paul when they are out and about.
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