One of the challenges for many churches is transitioning pre-teens and teens into youth leadership roles. I feel this is vital to a young person’s walk with the Lord.
During the pre-teen and teen years, many temptations can draw youth away from the church. At this age they seek greater independence and continue to express their individuality. Some feel the need to decide if what their parents have brought them up to believe is truly what they believe.
Transitioning pre-teens and teens into youth leadership roles takes time. One of the ways we have opted to begin the process at our church is to assign each student a week to draft a Sunday school lesson and applicable activities, which they present to the group. They can choose to share any story from the Bible, even if it is one previously covered in class. The one rule is that they must find a new take-away from the story to share with the students.
My daughter’s turn comes up in October, and she is both nervous and excited. I have agreed to help her a bit, but overall this is her assignment. She has expressed interest in getting involved in a more meaningful way at church. While she is still young (11), beginning the process now will better prepare her for her future role in the church.
How does your church help pre-teens and teens transition into leadership roles?
I missed this post when it first went up. This is a topic that many churches are struggling with. I like your idea of having the youth choose a Bible story and teach a lesson on it. If we don’t involve our youth in meaningful ways in our churches we will continue to lose them.
Thanks Janice. I’m glad you liked the idea. We struggle like many other churches with making this transition. I’m always looking for new ideas too. I hope others will share.