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YOUTH MINISTRY
Being Ready to Teach
by Amy Mears
In a moment of extraordinary goodwill or total lunacy, you agreed to teach youth Bible study. Perhaps you owed a great favor to the Bible study director. Maybe you drew the short straw. Or maybe, just maybe, you minister with the youth in your church and community because you love them and are energized by spending time with them. However it came to pass, you are now responsible for fifty minutes to an hour every Sunday with a group of teenagers. How do you get ready to teach?
Let’s begin with the obvious. You study the session. You read through the material that is provided and select the options that seem best to apply to your group. You adapt the activities to the number of young people you anticipate for this session. You adjust for the fact that this Sunday you will have both the older and younger youth. Or you modify the questions so that they will better apply to a group comprised of thirteen-year-old boys. Then you make notes to yourself, highlight the questions you want to ask verbatim, gather the supplies you will need, and make plans to arrive early enough to welcome the first teenager.
You might be one of those individuals who really gets into in-depth Bible study. If that is the case, you might spend one preparation session digging deeper into the day’s Scripture text. Your church library may have additional commentaries on the focal passage. Maps, atlases, theological dictionaries, archeological journals, and preaching guides can all provide helpful additions to your store of knowledge about a text. It might also be that the ministers on your church staff would be delighted to share the contents of their personal study libraries with you. It never hurts to ask!
The second line of preparation is less tangible and involves spending time with teenagers on your mind. Praying for the members of your group is important not only because they know you keep them in prayer and are encouraged, but also because it helps you focus on their needs as individuals and as a group. When you spend five minutes each day with their faces before you and their lives on your mind, you cannot help becoming more attuned to their needs and their situations. In addition, thinking benevolently about those with whom you have personality differences or a significant difficulty can help your own attitude become more positive.
Another helpful step is to spend time – perhaps on a monthly basis – with other people who work with teenagers. A neighbor who teaches high school or middle school, a colleague at work who volunteers with Boys or Girls Clubs, a social worker in your church who focuses on adolescent needs – any resource person who deals with young people can enhance your understanding and encourage your work. A cup of coffee together every couple of weeks can keep you in touch.
Finally, your personal spiritual preparation determines your readiness to teach. No one feels on top of the spiritual world all of the time. Jesus needed to take time off every now and then, and we certainly will, too. A basic level of spiritual commitment goes a long way toward keeping any Christian on even keel. I will suggest three possible steps for getting yourself ready to teach.
1. Read good stuff. A good bookstore can help you select and obtain excellent materials for spiritual growth.
2. Talk with people who understand. A partner, a prayer or spirituality group, or a spiritual guide will be invaluable. Sharing your spiritual life with others who are consciously developing theirs is like sharing treasures.
3. Write in a journal. Recording your thoughts, your feelings, and your prayers is good for the soul. It is helpful, too, to read it periodically. Staying on track and monitoring your spiritual travels becomes a daily adventure. Being ready to teach is a rewarding experience.
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