Brooklyn Lindsey is a pastor who currently oversees the middle school ministry at Highland Park Church in Lakeland, Florida and has recently written two books: Oppposite Day: Upside-Down Questions to Keep Students Talking and Listening (2009) and Confessions of a Not-So-Supermodel: Faith, Friends and Festival Queens (2008). She recently blogged about some advice she offered the leaders in her congregation who work with middle school students, which she suggests is helpful for those working with youth of all ages:
- Look for loners and talk to them.
- Look for loud ones and help them to see how they can be leaders instead of being distractors.
- Look for lovers and remind them that there is no purple at youth group (girls are pink, guys are blue, purple is not an option).
- Look for low blows and help mean spirited conversation by interceding and redirecting. It may mean buying a student a coke and having a mentoring conversation.
- Look for lifters. When you see the uplifters in our group, praise them publicly.
So What?
Youth ministry staff and volunteers need the occasional “back to the basics” training.
- How often is this type of training provided in your local congregation?
- Are all youth workers both encouraged and equipped to “look for” and respond to young people who fit within each of these general categories?
- Is it possible for a teen to attend youth group and not be engaged by an adult leader on any given week?