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1. Halloween
2. Haircut
3. Family gathering
   
4. Class
5. Teacher
6. Music
7. Religious experience
8. Movie
9. Feeling
10. Food
11. Travel experience
12. Rule or Law
13. Attempt at something new
14. Trait about me
15. Family
16. Place to travel
17. Childhood memory
18. Time of year
19. Sport
20. Discussions

1. Food I gag on…
2. If an imaginary friend became real, I would want…
3. Something I carry or wear that holds meaning is…  because…
4. Three favorite words that describe me are…
5. My favorite technology is…  Frustrating technology is…
6. My least favorite haircut was…
7. If I could win an award, it would most likely be for…
8. If I didn’t have to sleep, what would I do with my extra time?
9. One thing that takes up way too much of my time is…
10. The grossest thing I tried to eat…
11. My most unique relative is…
12. If I were famous, it would most likely be for…
13. If I got to endorse a brand, it would be…
14. If I had a superhuman power, it would be the power to…
15. If you looked in my closet or school locker…
16. My “go to” snack food is…
17. I procrastinate when it comes to…
18. Three things I love to smell…
19. If I gpt to choose the pizza toppings, they will be…
20. My morning waking up routine…

1. Education should focus on…
2. In order for the church to survive…
3. Peace can only happen when…
4. People mostly think about God when…
5. Three words that describes the whole human species…
6. Human morals everyone should follow are…
7. People with vastly different beliefs and cultures…
8. A person who lives life to the fullest is…
9. 42,000 religions. Christianity divided into 30,000 versions, probably because…
10. In order to eliminate poverty…
11. For a society, music, art, theater…
12. In 1,000 years, people will…
13. The best ways to help people in need are…
14. The biggest waste of human energy is…
15. Justifying the taking of a human life…
16. Every human should have the rights of…
17. Fertile soil for hatred is created when…
18. Morality is decided by…
19. The difference between knowledge and wisdom is…
20. Faith in God comes from…

1. My faith is…
2. One of the deepest things I often think about is…
3. I worry about…
4. My life has been made better because of…
5. I could be described as quirky because…
6. Sometimes I don’t tell everyone… because I am afraid they might…
7. I feel uncomfortable when…
8. Something I carry or wear that holds meaning is…  because…
9. One thing that makes me very angry…
10. A couple of important things on my bucket list are…
11. I am passionate about…
12. One thing I do to fit in is…
13. I have a hard time with people when…
14. Some things that make me anxious are…
15. I feel most genuine, most real when…
16. I feel I have to pretend, put on a mask, perform for people when…
17. I used to believe… but now I…
18. The last time I cried was because…
19. Things that give me meaning, purpose, and hope are…
20. I measure my own life by…

• Where are you from?
• Where else have called home?
• What do you like most about your neighborhood? Town? Area?
• If I considered moving there, what would you tell me?

• What do you enjoy doing in your free time?
• What are you most passionate about?
• How did your interest begin?
• What is most satisfying about…?
• What do you hope to do in the future with…?

• What is a favorite life experience or event?
• What life event has shaped you? Or defined who you are?
• What is something at your church, (school, family) that has challenged you?
• What has been most significant (exciting or meaningful)?

• Do you know…?
• Who is a person you think I would want to know? Why?
• Who is one of your favorite people?
• How did you meet…?
• What do you enjoy most about…?
• What is your favorite memory with…?

• What is your favorite place to get away to?
• Any travel adventures coming up?
• Any travel mishaps? Something that didn’t go as expected?
• What drew you to go there?

1. What is the best thing about being your age? Most challenging?
2. Who and how has someone of a different generation influenced your life and faith?
3. What is an early memory of being included in your faith community? When did you hear or sense these words, “We need you!”
4. Age groups are often separated from each other. What could happen if age didn’t divide us?
5. What does your culture value about various ages? What do they not seem to value?
6. When might people feel dismissed, ignored, or not valued because of their age? Do you?
7. In what ways might an age gap be beneficial to our church? A hindrance?
8. What is unique about the people in your age group?
9. What has influenced values and interests of your generation?
10. What stereotypes do people have about various generations?
11. How does your generation feel about church? Relevant? Trusted? Important?
12. What does your church need to hear from your generation? What is your generation looking for?
13. What are the advantages of being in your age group? Disadvantages?
14. What types of things are people in your age group looking forward to? Hopes? Dreams?
15. What is some of the favorite music of your age group?
16. How does worship connect or disconnect people in your age group?
17. How does your congregation assist people of every age to discover and use their gifts in Christ’s service?
18. What are some of the opportunities already present in your congregation for all of the generations to gather together?
19. Where are there opportunities to build relationships across the generations?
20. How might your congregation be more intentional in linking the generations in worship, learning, service, and building community?

• Include one prayer experience as you conclude your circle.
• Use the whole circle time to share prayers with various people.
• NOTE… many of the ideas found in the CANDLE TIME prayer kit  <CLICK> could be used for this.

They are needed or they are gone. Youth have plenty of other groups who are anxious to use their talents. Every group from sports teams, garage bands, 4-H clubs, to the local street gangs are saying, “We have a place for you. We need you!” And here is the clincher. These groups actually do need them. They help develop talents and give them ways to use those talents immediately. There is no three year training program (often known as confirmation) that leads to… what? Lighting a candle? Going to play laser tag? Waiting until you are a real adult to sit on a committee?  Okay… maybe a bit sarcastic on my part, but the point is clear. If we do not give them a purpose, we will not see them.

Leadership can be defined many ways. In the church, kids most often define it by what they observe, and that can be summed up with the images of microphones and committees. If you are a “real” leader in the church, you preach, sing, teach, get elected or asked to sit and plan and organize stuff. Now, don’t get me wrong, these are important roles, needed roles, but they only fit a very small group of kids. Most just are not interested.

What is most important to youth? Their relationships!

Peer Ministry Leadership (PML) gives kids and adults the skills that engage them in using relational skills in the congregation and in life every day, everywhere, and in every relationship. PML is the Good Samaritan Story, but instead of preaching and teaching it, skills are connected to it. It is called relational service. This type of service is face-to-face caring and welcoming every neighbor. It is called Good Samaritan Leadership, the front lines “go and do likewise” kind of leadership that fits every kid who has a relationship of any kind. It does not matter if they introverts or extroverts, if they have many relationships or just a few, or if they are male or female. I believe this style of ministry is essential for all. Simply put, you are not doing youth ministry until students are doing ministry.

Empowering youth to respond to God’s grace and love by living ministry every day, everywhere, in every relationship is the bottom line. We hope it is one your top priorities. We hope by giving youth real skills for real relationships your ministry influence will last in the lives of your participants.

My greatest joy? It happens often when I run into people who say about Peer Ministry Leadership, “I don’t even think about the skills any more. I realize that it is just who I am now.”

I had the privilege to meet the St. Luke’s Peer Ministry team in Middleton, WI.

I get very excited when I discover a church that understands the importance of equipping and then takes the next step of allowing youth to lead.

Some of the things I heard!

• I love helping on 7th and 8th grade retreats! – Max
• I feel like we have become role models. – Danial
• We build faith-based relationships. – Kristen
• I am now leading the HS youth ministry nights. – Josh, (now a college Sr)
• It was keeps me involved in the church. – Emily
• We help others grow in their faith. – Grace
• I love seeing kids around town. I feel like I know them. – Katy
• It is fun being kids friend outside of the church also. – Lexi

These youth told me about leading sixth grade confirmation, about going on multiple retreats, about traveling with “Rollar-Coasters and Jesus.” (also a mission trip!) along with other church opportunities.

Here is what is happening! Confirmation youth will continue to be involved beyond their confirmation day, BECAUSE of the High School caring, and welcoming Peer Ministry relationships. As younger youth grow up in this church they will of course want to be leaders.

My prediction! St. Luke’s will soon be needing to create more and more HS leadership teams and opportunities as more and more youth hear from their church, “We need you!” and as they hear from older teens, “You too can be a leader!”

Yes, “Youth are either leading or they are leaving!”

This is not just another model, it is an essential direction for youth ministry.

What to do with this?

__ Say, “That’s nice!”

__ Look into to adopting this model

__ Contact PML <CLICK>