How to Crush The Session at Youth
By “session”, I mean that part of youth group where all of the youth are seated, and at some point, the talk happens.
Here are some thoughts on how to do this well.
1. Remember why you’re doing it
Remember—Youth ministry is about making disciples for the glory of God, disciples who are growing, inviting, welcoming and active in serving. The session fits in with all of these things.
Growing. This is where we get fed with God’s Word. So it leads to growing.
Inviting. This is an opportunity to invite youth to know Jesus.
Welcoming. This is a make or break time for the youth feeling welcomed. If they’re stuck on their own with nobody sitting near them, they won’t feel welcome.
Serving. This is a great time to facilitate the youth serving. Maybe they can MC, or run a challenge, or read the Bible, or help with music, or lead some prayers. A few times I’ve even had one of the youth give the talk.
2. Be organised
It’s heaps important to be organised. Some things to think through if you are running the session:
Order. Are you clear on the order of things in the session? Do you know which slide is coming next? If you’re organised, you’ll know! A runsheet can be helpful.
Tech. Are the mics ready to go? Are the slides ready to go? Are the videos working? Including the sound? As the person running the session, it’s your responsibility to touch base with the tech guys and make sure it’s all working.
People. Do the people involved in the session know that they are going to be involved? Are they aware? If there’s music, do the song-leaders know whether or when to introduce songs?
Materials. If you’re running a game or challenge, have you got the necessary materials?
Seating. Organise where you want the kids to sit. Make sure there are the right number of chairs and that they are well organised. You don’t want too many chairs as it feels too sparse. You don’t want too few chairs, as the youth will start arranging mega-rows.
3. Beat the kids to the room
If you’re running the session, make sure you’re the first person in the room. Make sure there are other leaders down there from the very start. If not, it’ll be kind of boring for the youth when they get there, and may descend into chaos!
4. Have a plan for the very start
Have a plan for the very start of the night, for the moment the first youth walks into the room. The easiest thing is to have a video playing. You could also run a stage game, something that involves most of them still being in their chairs, but a few coming up the front and doing something.
Basically, you just want to avoid that dull moment when the youth walk in, but there’s nothing happening. As I mentioned before, it can quickly descend into chaos.
5. Sit strategically
As a leader, you want to be thoughtful about where you sit. You don’t want all of the leaders to be sitting or standing way up the back. You want to be scattered around the room in amongst the youth. This is great for community and vibes. It also can be really helpful for discipline. Sit amongst or behind the distracted ones. When the youth start getting distracted, you can tap them on the shoulder, give them a friendly death stare, and point them to the front.
6. Challenges/Game
I reckon it’s good to have a challenge or game in the session. Minute To Win It is always a winner. If you can keep the majority seated, it’s much easier to manage. If you’re in a big room, it can be helpful to project what’s happening on stage up onto the screen. If those seated can’t see what’s happening with the challenge or game, they’ll switch off.
7. Interview youth and leaders
This can be a great way of people getting to know each other, and a great way for the youth to be encouraged. Ask them about what they like to get up to, what they’ve been enjoying at youth group, how they’re going with following Jesus, how they’re going following Jesus at school (or uni or work). Maybe you could ask them a question related to what is coming up in the talk. It may help to touch base with the person on the talk.
8. Redirect attention
The youth will get distracted. By friends. Phones. Pens. Paper. Anything. As leaders, help redirect their attention. As I mentioned before, being spread out really helps with this. If you find that they are constantly struggling to pay attention, chat with the other leaders.
Are they bored?
Is it going too long?
Special needs?
Do we need to re-think our phone policy?
Do we stop giving them pens and paper?
Do we need to chat with their parents?
9. Give them time to reflect
This can backfire depending on your youth, but I like to give the youth time to reflect on what they’ve just heard. I give them paper outlines with the Bible passage printed (physical Bibles are obviously better—but I have my reasons) and space to take notes. I also leave space for them to write down:
a reflection from the talk
something to thank God for
something to ask God for
a friend to invite to Youth
I get the youth to do this, firstly, as a way of getting them to reflect, and, secondly, so that when we get to groups, we have some prayer points ready to roll!
10. Announce stuff
After the reflection time, I like to announce stuff that is coming up. With youth, you can never communicate things enough times. Got a special event coming up? A camp? A theme night? Announce it!
Most weeks I invite the youth to come along to church. One day they’ll be too old for youth group but they’ll never be too old for church. The earlier we can get them to church, the better.
Keep the announcements short. Otherwise you’ll lose them.
11. Finish with clear directions
After the announcements, we usually send them off to groups. Whatever you do after the session, you need to give clear directions. Otherwise chaos will descend. Make sure the youth know what’s happening next and where they need to go.
If you’re heading off to discussion groups, maybe even have a map up on the screen showing them where their group will be.
Also, if you’re heading to discussion groups, announce to the youth (as well as the leaders) when discussion groups will finish. Most groups will have one of those watch-watcher-youth who will keep you accountable with finishing on time! This is helpful for whatever happens after groups.
12. Review
Chat with the other leaders about how the session worked. What went well? Why? What could be improved for next week? How?
