Learning Styles and Youth Ministry

I enjoy a good lecture. I have always been intrigued by a well-thought out, concise dialogue of language. To have someone connect the dots of a problem or better yet, to be taught how to connect the dots myself is how I absorb and learn knowledge. Not everyone is like me. Many teenagers today are especially not like me. We are in a world of fast paced and fluid attention span that is captured in the dogs from "UP" and their "SQUIRREL!" antics. The point is that it doesn't matter how great our content is as teachers if we can't communicate it effectively. All of the knowledge and brilliant theologizing is useless with messengers adapting the message to the recipients. Now, the tension that arises is how (or maybe just an if) we emphasize teaching/learning styles and still trust the Spirit to move amidst our imperfect attempts at teaching/preaching/theologizing.

First, we must acknowledge that the Spirit is going to communicate the message to someone, somewhere, at sometime regardless of our efforts. God is the rescuer, we are merely heralds, messengers, servants, participants. However, we must also acknowledge that it is extremely unfaithful to ill-prepare to speak God's word when we have control of a situation (i.e. youth group, sunday school, random lesson, etc.). Enter, learning styles and effective communication.

Some of us are visual learners (learn through seeing), some audio learners (learn through hearing), and others kinetic learners (learn through motion, movement, touch). When I write a lesson, I write it to lecture. It's how I learn. I need correction. If we can make our lessons so dynamic, not necessarily in a charismatic way but in a learning rich style, we will be giving more people a better chance to understand the content that we work so hard to communicate. It is no wonder that music rich, canvas painting, journal writing forms of interaction are so popular and helpful today in our services. I will begin to write curriculum in an interchangeable style that the content of any of the sections (I typically have scripture, shared story, and praxis (action/reflection)) could be swapped with any learning style. This isn't a new thought, but it is new to me and my own development and I wanted to share. Thanks for listening.

Holy Drama

When thinking about church, I'm always reminded of what "my" church has been like. I reminisce on the places I've been, the congregations and teens I've served with, and the structures that were in place. It is hard for me to think that a church does things poorly on purpose. The good intentions are always there, but somehow the point can always be missed. The point being, "How does our gathering represent the body of Christ? What practices do we have that are particular? What behaviors make us explicit or implicit? How do our worship services convey just that, the worship of God and an orientation for service?" My church is very imperfect; the churches I've always gone to have been imperfect. At what point do we embrace the tension of imperfection and yet cling to the hope of being made perfect? When do conflicting ideas for the sake of orthodoxy bend and conform to the practice of orthopraxy?

In my opinion, to settle on "good intentions" is admitting that you are embracing an ethic of failure. To embrace only what's "human" is to give yourself and avenue out of hot water. No, we need to embrace an ethic of Christ-likeness, loving-kindness, grace and mercy. We are being made holy only by being in the presence of the holy - do we often cling to our sinfulness because we don't spend enough time with God? with God's people? in God's word? in holy conversation? in confessing our sins? in Sabbath rest? in complete dependence upon our Savior?

We participate in a holy drama that reinvents our imaginations to believing that the world can be redeemed through Christ. We "worship" because God deserves it. We hold "service" so that we remember that life isn't about "us" but is always about loving the Lord our God with all of our hearts and our neighbors. Stop giving yourself an easy out and take on the life that God is calling you to - but then again we would have to be listening to hear that, right?