For Christian education and nurture leaders.
Take the jitters out of teaching youth
By Heather Gallian
Some people are scared of mice or snakes or of being alone at night in an unfamiliar place. In church, however, no scary experience compares with receiving a phone call from the Sunday school superintendent asking you to teach the youth class. Saying yes multiplies the panic.
But you need not be scared. Youth won’t bite. Youth will ask questions, and perhaps even disagree. They may go away confused sometimes. But that’s okay; discovering what faith means, often by trial and error, is what discipleship is all about.
Your youth class is made up of many different people. Some really want to be there and are eager to learn. Some, to be honest, are there because Mom and Dad dragged them to church. Some are half asleep after last night’s youth event. Like adults, all come with various thoughts and distractions running through their minds: school work, part-time job, relationship problems, family conflict—and confusion about who God is.
Youth will ask questions, disagree, and sometimes go away confused. But that’s what discipleship is all about.
So what does it take to teach them without fear? Here are some guidelines directly from the mouths of youth about what they hope their Sunday school teacher knows.
Please be real.
Don’t just talk about faith; live it. Youth are very perceptive and have a great ability to see right through what you are saying to them. If they don’t see you living what you are trying to teach them, you lose credibility. Without your saying something, they sometimes know who you really are and what you believe. If you struggle with an issue or topic, tell them. Be honest. That goes a long way in building a healthy relationship.
You don’t have to be perfect.
You don’t have to be a professor of biblical theology. If you want youth to feel comfortable and relaxed with you, don’t try to be someone you aren’t. Maybe you don’t have all the answers, and that’s okay. Work with them to find the answers. Dive into the Scriptures, learning as you grow together.
Keep the youth involved.
Like the rest of us, youth have difficulty sitting and listening to someone talk for an hour. Ask questions that encourage responses. Avoid questions that will get just a “Yes” or “No” answer. Have them do some role-plays. Ask a youth to co-teach with you sometime. He or she will have great ideas for keeping peers involved. Moreover, team-teaching with youth is a good way to build relationships and develop leadership.
Remember your audience.
Don’t forget that youth are at their own stage in life, and it’s quite different from the stage you are at. Youth aren’t children anymore, but neither are they adults. Talk to them as teenagers. Get to know them. What are their struggles? What really excites them? This doesn’t mean you have to hang out at the local skate park or movie theatre, but it does mean knowing what is important in the lives of youth.
Be relevant.
Keep asking how the topic relates to the experiences and lives of your youth. Find out how the Scripture or lesson speaks to them. Spiritual growth and development occurs when youth allow Scripture to challenge and inform their own lives. Knowing the biblical facts and discussing theory, in themselves, won’t make discipleship happen.
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Spiritual development is also a lifelong adventure, with plenty of “God moments” along the way. You will therefore need to be patient with yourself. Your success should not be measured by whether your entire class signs up for baptism classes. No matter how inexperienced or incapable you feel as a teacher, know that you are planting, watering, and nurturing seeds of faith throughout the year. And be thankful, knowing that you are travelling a sacred and holy road.
Heather Gallian is a youth ministry pastor in Markham, Ontario. Previously, she worked as minister of youth ministries for Mennonite Church Eastern Canada.