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Original poster

How can I keep the teenagers in Church entertained?

26 replies

JuniperDewdrop · 07/11/2004 13:20

I usually prefer doing SS with the younger kids but I have the older ones to occupy next week. I've done it before but have run out of ideas. It can be quite informal and doesn't have to be Church related. Any ideas much appreciated!

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Lonelymum · 07/11/2004 13:25

Ages?

pixiefish · 07/11/2004 13:27

a news item- for tv. Using significant religious events. Was it about now that the census was called????

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 07/11/2004 13:37

Good idea pixiefish, cheers.

they're 11-16 and very vocal!!

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muddaofsuburbia · 07/11/2004 13:38

Could you video it and show it to the rest of the church at a later date?

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 07/11/2004 13:40

Yes that's a good idea too They love performing so maybe it could be a drama with a reporter? We could maybe reinact some modern event?

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MarsLady · 07/11/2004 13:41

vocal teens are good because you get good conversation and feedback. Make sure that you know where you want the conversation to go (roughly) and know the points that you want to make. I think Pixiefish's suggestion is great. Might use it myself (though tonight I'm doing the creche).

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 07/11/2004 13:43

We have a lot of teens in our church and they're all friends too.

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morningpaper · 07/11/2004 14:47

I might use the chance to teach them a bit about current religious conflicts e.g. Israel/Palestine, or educate them a bit about Islam. If you need basic information about conflicts, the CBBC Newsround website usually has very simple Q&A pages about recent new items, written for children (also useful for cribbing for dinner parties where everyone is more intelligent than you).

Lonelymum · 07/11/2004 14:56

Lovely that you have so many teens to work with in your church. I went to church today for the first time in ages and there were only middle aged and old people there, plus about 8 children, and no teenagers or people in their 20-30s at all. Very depressing.

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 07/11/2004 15:00

I think it's quite unusual though lonelymum. I'm on a course with people from other Anglican churches and we seem quite unique which is a shame.

thanks for that morningpaper, I'll take a look.

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mumwithnoname · 07/11/2004 17:47

Do you have "Youth for Christ" near you? they seem to come up with some good resource material.
Our youth group meet every other sunday- this week they're all at a big joint event (monthly) called "youth Alive" so we only have to come up with ideas once a month- and we struggle!! I think it's hard sometimes too to make it NOT like an RE lesson in school. I've also found that if you try to "be" one of them they just dismiss you for trying too hard!!! Could you maybe get them to look at the scripture reading the rest of the church are looking at, discuss it and the share their ideas with the adults? Are little church (under 11s) love tell us what they've been doing on a sunday morning!!

ladymuck · 07/11/2004 18:19

I was going to suggest videoing a play/skit too. The nice thing with this one is that you can find things for the shyer/quieter ones too - eg filming/prompting/narrator etc.

shortcake · 07/11/2004 18:33

Drama night always goes down well with our lot - perhaps ask them to pick a verse from Proverbs and act out a scene to illustrate it!! We did ready, steady cook with our teenagers last week - it was very messy!!

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 08/11/2004 16:43

thanks for these ideas too. I think we will do some sort of sketch and I'll have to remember to charge the batteries on the video camera. I want to make it fun for them as they're such a lovely crowd.

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mumwithnoname · 09/11/2004 14:31

Hi how did it go?

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 10/11/2004 14:02

do you mean me? it's this sunday and i haven't planned it yet I need to get my skates on tho!

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Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 10/11/2004 14:15

I just found a good christmas script online so I'm printing it off

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Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 10/11/2004 14:33

I just printed off 36 pages and had put exactly the right no. of peices of paper in

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mumwithnoname · 11/11/2004 18:15

Let me know how it goes It's my turn on the 21st and the other 2 leaders are away!! Frantically looking for a guest speaker!How many do you get? We had around 20 last year but the numbers seem to have shrunk to around 7 since September.

muddaofsuburbia · 11/11/2004 18:19

Youthwork magazine is a brilliant resource if you don't already subscribe. They've always got complete sessions laid out with photocopiable resources and cringe free activities.

It's here: Youthwork magazine

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 11/11/2004 18:31

cheers muddaofsuburbia.

i'll keep you posted mwmn

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Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 11/11/2004 18:31

meant mumwithnoname

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mumwithnoname · 12/11/2004 18:28

Brill, I'll take a look!

Original poster
JuniperDewdrop · 14/11/2004 15:43

Well I did it today and it went really well. I found a sketch on christmas and consumerism. I got them to chat informally about the above in general and we just chatted about lots of stuff and they munched the mix of sweets I'd brought . Then I handed out the scripts and they chose their parts. We read through it and they all said they could use it in Church as their usual leader was looking for something to do. I suggested changing some of the wording to fit in more with our ways and they're going to make it more 'local'(their idea)
I finished by lighting a candle,one of them reading something relevant from the bible and then I prayed.

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shortcake · 14/11/2004 16:50

Glad it went well - where did you get the sketch from - we are always keeping our eyes out for resources!! WE have a fancy dress night tonight with a mildly MUPPET theme! Joy oh joy!!