Presbyterians in Education (P.I.E.)

I have been asked to lead a class about youth ministry on a shoestring (or no string) budget. The church I am the youth leader at as no budget. It's an unfortunate reality that many churches are in the same spot these days. I've heard many people blame it on the current economy, which to a point is true, but in the my current church, we haven't had a youth budget for more years than I can remember. We've always had to do fundraisers so we could do the activities we wanted to do. A few years ago we went on a mission/work trip to Puerto Rico and it took us four years to raise the funds for 18 people to go. We are currently talking about another trip and if it takes us that long to raise the money again, the youth we have in our group now will be close to graduating high school (some of them will have graduated).

So, my plan for this class I'm leading is to offer some low cost and no cost ideas on things to do with the youth groups. I'm also going to touch on some fun games that can be played and some ideas on realting to 21st century youth.

The games will focus on some classic games as well as some new games that have come around. The youth of today have changed and playing the same games we played 5 or 10 years ago doesn't cut it anymore.

Relating to 21st century youth is going to be a big challenge for many. The leaders I will be meeting with are going to need to stretch their focus. In addition, some will have to step outside their comfort zone. Relating to youth of today requires some amount of transparency. It means being "real" to the youth. For instance, the youth that I work with know they can text me at any time for any reason and I will respond. However, they also know that I shut my phone off at night. I share struggles that I have dealt with to help them better understand what they are going through. I also plan to touch on the various ways to communicate that are available (texting, facebook, twitter, blogging, vlogging, youtube, etc) while again cautioning about too much sharing.

I'm going to put together a list of websites and blogs that I have found helpful as well as books that have been helpful.

I'm really looking forward to this class and I'm so grateful for the opportunity to share ideas with other leaders. My hope it to walk away with some new ideas also.