This resource provides a framework for youth leaders to use in organizing group meetings. Purposefully left rather generic, the framework can easily be adapted to fit almost any setting and group demographic. Loosely based upon the template of a ninety-minute meeting, the following five stages are outlined: High Point/Low Point (individual reflections on the prior week), Administrative Issues, Game Time, Worship, and a Parental Update. Emphasizing its primary importance, the period set aside for worship is further subdivided into six steps that cover a scriptural reading; a discussion of the reading; a conversational “sermonette” delivered by the group leader or minister; an offering of individual/group prayer concerns; and a concluding song. This guide offers a number of helpful suggestions for topics that might be explored by a youth leader during the “sermonette” section of Worship. For use during game time, an extensive selection of recreational options is also provided that includes Bible jeopardy, running Pictionary, lost sheep/sardines, and others. The particular sequence of stages described above is suggested because it balances the overall flow of energy and facilitates the group’s movement between periods characterized by different levels of activity.
