06. Making sense of Youth Ministry Resources

By Emlyn Williams

‘The SU network provides a vast amount of information and resources, but we could do much more to help each other’

Too much information? Information overload? Type “youth ministry” into Google and you’ll get almost 3.5 million results. The same search on Amazon.com finds over 3,000 youth ministry books in the Christianity section – and that’s just in English! Yet still people cry out for more program resources.

How can we help each other? This article is the start of a journey. The SU network provides a vast amount of information and resources, but we could do much more to help each other. Clayton has asked me to get the ball rolling – to suggest some resources and give some clues about how to choose. We aim to have an information bank on the SUI website which will grow and develop as we share what we know.

How do you choose?

There is a lot of material out there, in print or online, but the quality is very variable. Being selective is vital. Here are some questions I ask:

· Does it use the Bible? It’s amazingly easy to keep young people away from the Bible without meaning to! Without getting too legalistic about it, look for resources which really engage with the Bible text.

· How does it use the Bible? I don’t want to simply quote the Bible to young people. I want them to become involved with it in a way which will change their lives. Sadly, a lot of resources simply toss in the odd verse here and there, with no real thought as to whether it’s appropriate. Ask some hard questions.

· Will it work? Some ideas look great until you try to use them! The best stuff is tried and tested. Even then there’s the question of whether you can use it in your situation. You are the expert!

· How will my group respond to it? Once again, your expertise is crucial. People are different and what works in one situation might not work in another. And remember that, even within your group, people are different. Not everyone loves crazy games all the time!

· Does it fit or reflect the culture of my young people? Most resources come from the US or the UK, and reflect these cultures. Movies and TV have made people familiar with US culture in particular, but isn’t it better to work from within your kids’ own culture? That’s where they have to live the gospel!

· How can I improve it? Make the resource fit your situation, not the other way round. You’re the expert – don’t let the resource rule!

What can we share?

Publishers are – understandably! – always keen to sell us new things. To be fair to them, they provide a great service in making resources available, but the internet has made sharing ideas much easier. One great example is Max 7 (www.max7.org). It’s a website for both youth and children’s ministry, and relies on people uploading their own resources. It has material you can download free, but even more importantly you can share resources which you have created. One great thing about Max 7 is its global reach. There are already English, French and Spanish versions of the website, and material is being translated into Hindi, Portuguese (standard and Brazilian), Bahasa Indonesian, Tamil, Ukrainian and Arabic among others. Scripture Union has had significant input into its development – we can help it grow further by sharing what we have created.

Absolutely new is www.youthworkinternational.com. It’s an offshoot of the British Youthwork magazine (www.youthwork.co.uk) and really is international, with news and articles as well as program resources. What’s really important is that it’s about creating a community and is looking for users to provide content. Give it a try!

Within Scripture Union there are some really valuable online resources. SU Scotland has a great site for young people called Ignite (www.suignite.org.uk). To access the whole site you need to have been on an SU Scotland holiday, but there’s still plenty to see! SU England and Wales have launched LightLive (www.lightlive.org.uk). Like Max7 it’s for children’s and youth ministry and has a vast amount of material from SU’s archive (more than 10,000 activities already).

I asked John Stephenson from England for his favourite youth resources sites. These are his three recommendations, all from the US:

· www.simplyyouthministry.com has a load of free material as well as lots to buy, much of it inspired by writer and speaker Doug Fields.

· www.youthspecialties.com is a publisher of youth resources who seem to have been around forever.

· www.youthministry.com is from Group publishing, another reliable youth ministry source. And you can preview Nooma videos (brilliant short films on DVD with discussion guides) – go and look!

How do you find the more obscure and interesting stuff? Look at other people’s lists and links. You’ll have to hunt a bit, and you’ll find broken links and things on the way, but it’s worth it. Here’s a great one to start with – www.funandgames.org. It’s low budget and was started by a church youth worker in England – just shows what you can do. Enjoy hunting!