Every year I go to the National Youth Workers Convention and every year it is beneficial on a bunch of levels. But, inevitably a few things rise to the top each year that really stick with me and almost becomes themes throughout the weekend.
Each year I attend an Intensive Learning Lab which consisted of 6-8 hours of teaching and training in a certain subject.
This year I attended one titled "Story, Experience and Collaboration: New Approaches to Youth Ministry presented by Mike and Mark Novelli along with Kelly Dolan.
There was a real focus on "Storying" which was an ancient Hebrew approach to the scriptures that includes creative & sequential telling of Bible stories followed by review and dialogue that allow the participants to be drawn into the scriptures in a "new" way (new to us because we don't teach this way in teh US very much). Michael has a ministry website called Echo The Story and Mark and Kelly also have a minsitry website called Imago - re-imagining the way we gather, learn and worship.
They brought us up to speed on what "storying" really is. Mike shared some stories from his youth groups that he has done this with and they led us through a storying experience. What a great way to interact with scripture.
I really believe this is something that could "wet the whistle" of every kid that wants to know God more deeply but doesn't dare to pick up their Bible because it is confusing or intimidating or whatever their excuse because it draws them into the story and makes them an insider and partner in the story not just a spectator.
Mark and Kelly really talked about the postmodern culture that is almost woven into the very make up of our kids and highlighted some of the observations about this culture and the impact that it SHOULD have on the way we do youth ministry.
A few of those observations were that they are: experiential, artistic, abductive, non-linear
The question(s) I posed to myself after this were:
Are we trying to teach/reach a postmodern culture by using modern tactics?
How can we tap into the students to learn from them about what "works" for them?
Are we pandering to and reinforcing their consumeristic midset?
Are we telling them what to do or showing them how to discover it for themselves?
If someone is artistic and doesn't learn very well in the traditional style (I don't learn well in this way) how can we teach them in a way that suits them?
It was great to be in this intensive with one of my leaders, Mike! We actually got to take Mike, Mark and Kelly out to dinner one evening to get some "one-on-one" time with them to pick their brains a little bit more.
I think we are going to experiment with storying in our High School group. Neither Mike or I had picked guys that we wanted to be in a discipleship group with, not without trying or praying about it. But, maybe God was holding us back for something better (not to diminish discipleship!)
I am REALLY excited about where this goes!
2 comments:
It was truly great to attend the "Storying" seminar with you Michael. One recurring challenge we seem to constantly be running into in Youth Ministry is helping students desire to get into God's Word on their own. Many feel it is too difficult for them to understand, or it's irrelevant or antiquated, or they just don't know where to start, so therefore, they just give up on the pursuit and say, "I tried that and it didn't work for me."
I truly think that the vast majority of these students would like to know how to interact with God's Word and how it affects their lives if they felt able to do so and felt that God's Word was meaningful and relevant to their "real" lives.
I feel that "Storying", or simply listening to God's Word in narrative form and then discussing observations He shows you, is a safe, communal, Spirit-reliant way to understand God's Word. I am excited to begin the journey to helping our students see how they fit into God's continuing Story for their lives....and may they never be the same for it!
Mike Mac
yeah with our youth the past few months it seems as though they really just simply do not care about the Bible, because to them it is old, boring, and meant for their parents, or older people in the church. I look forward to hearing how this goes in high school, and hopefully this can be a useful tool in getting students to connect and interact with the Bible in a more real way!
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