FAITHBRIDGE STUDENT MINISTRY
Curious Team Huddle:  October 25, 2009

Team Huddle Agenda:
1.  Mission
2.  Philosophy, Direction, and Vision for Student Ministry
3.  Important Dates & Evaluation
4.  Break Up

1.  Mission: KNOW God, OWN your faith, and make Him KNOWN
What is at stake?

2.  Philosophy, Direction, and Vision

3. Important Dates:
November 2:    Renovation
November 3:    Parent Vision Talk
November 8:    Parent Vision Talk
November 15:  Team Huddle / Student Vision Talk
November 25:   NO CURIOUS / Thanksgiving
December 2:     LAST CURIOUS
December 6:     All Call Student Ministry Vision Talk / Time Change
December 9:     Leader Christmas Party
December 27:   NO HIGH SCHOOL REALIFE
January 13:       CURIOUS Starts
January 15-17:  HS WEEKEND RETREAT
March 17:         NO CURIOUS
March 19-21:    JH “OUTBACK” Retreat

4.  Break Up:
-JHigh / The Game Room
-HS / The Loft

1.  CONNECTION – How are you connecting with your students?
2.  DIG – How are you using Scripture to support the book study?
3. APPLY – How are your students applying God’s Word in their everyday lives?
4.  PRAYER – Are you consistently praying for your students?
As a leader you must be CONSISTENT, COMMITTED, and PREPARED.  Evaluation is a key ingredient to growth as a leader. We all need to receive honest feed back about our performance as leaders, as the mark of a great leader is one who is not afraid to hear what others think of him/her. This month we will be meeting with each of you individually to evaluate how you are doing as a leader.  This is not a test, but rather a chance for us to rejoice, encourage, pray, navigate obstacles, and talk through areas of improvement.

When and where will the evaluations take place?
Our goal is to meet with each of you before our next Team Huddle October 25th.  We will set up a meeting place that’s convenient for you.  Expect a call ASAP!
Who will you be meeting with?
I have asked Niki Pellegrin to step in to the role of Adult Volunteer Coordinator for the “OWN” aspect of our Student Ministry Mission.  Niki is a gifted leader and has had extensive training in equipping and encouraging leaders in many areas of ministry. Therefore, High School Women Leaders will meet with Niki Pellegrin, and High School Men Leaders will meet with Eric Hill.
What will we talk about?
Attached is a document with questions pertaining to the 4 Areas of leading a successful small group.  Please fill this out completely as we will walk through this during our time together.
We also want to know we can improve as a ministry?
1. Do I know what’s expected of me in this ministry?
2. Do I have the materials and equipment to do my job right?
3. Is there someone in the ministry who encourages my development?

Got Questions? | www.gotquestions.org
An easy to use site that contains answers to thousands of theological and biblical questions. A great resource to have on hand when high schoolers ask you random questions like, "Why didn’t Jesus come as a woman?"

Bible Gateway | www.biblegateway.com
Need to look up verses, but don’t have a Bible around? Bible Gateway has over 50 translations and an easy to use concordance for all your referencing needs.

The Center for Parent/Youth Understanding | www.cpyu.org
A one-stop shop for all things related to youth culture. This Web site keeps a close ear to the heartbeat of youth culture trends and happenings. You’ll find tons of great articles and research all about teens and how they are affected by culture.

Fuller Youth Institute | www.fulleryouthinstitute.org
Tons of research and articles about teens and how to effectively minister to them.

Youth Worker | www.youthworker.com
The online version of Youth Worker Magazine. It’s a great site for anyone who works with teens.

In order to evaluate your progress as a leader regarding our small groups, here are the four elements that we have identified and defined for evaluation sake.
1. CONNECT
2. DIG
3. APPLY
4. PRAY
We are committed to helping you grow as a successful “Unconditional Cheerleader” in the lives of our students.  Being Consistent, Committed, and Prepared will show them you are serious about being a part of their lives.  Here are the key reasons we identified and defined these specific elements of leading a small group.

1. Common Ground – In order to be successful, expectations need to be clear and measurable.  We all have room to grow, no matter how long we’ve been doing this!  
2. Common Language – We look forward to meeting with you on a monthly basis and talking through these specific areas of your small group.  Instead of asking, “How is your small group going?”, we can ask, “How is your CONNECT time going?”.  “What has been the greatest challenge in helping students APPLY it to their everyday lives?”.

Each week we will give you specific tools and resources to help you grow and be successful in each of these specific elements. 

This weeks resource comes from an idea that Rob Stephens and Jon Goodale suggested on Sunday during our Team Huddle.  They have been giving their small group guys weekly / daily devotionals to help them grow and OWN their faith.  We had a great talk about taking specific scripture from each upcoming chapter in our books, and using the SOAP method, help them learn how to have a consistent daily devotion with God.  Below is a sample that Rob sent me yesterday, A DAY after we talked about it!  Awesome!  Great idea guys!

QUIET TIMES ALONE WITH GOD
JEREMIAH 15:16
THEME: Chapter 3 of Crazy Love:  God is a loving Father

SCRIPTURE:                                      Matthew 7:11
OBSERVATION:  How does this passage relate to the theme?
When I reflect on this passage, does it primarily convict, encourage or challenge me? Explain why:
APPLICATION:  How will I apply this passage to my life in the coming week and is there anything I can do today to make this passage a part of my Christian life?

SCRIPTURE:                                      Jeremiah 1:4-5

OBSERVATION:  How does this passage relate to the theme?
When I reflect on this passage, does it primarily convict, encourage or challenge me? Explain why:
APPLICATION:  How will I apply this passage to my life in the coming week and is there anything I can do today to make this passage a part of my Christian life?

SCRIPTURE:                         Ephesians 2:10, Jeremiah 1:6-10

OBSERVATION:  How does this passage relate to the theme?
When I reflect on this passage, does it primarily convict, encourage or challenge me? Explain why:
APPLICATION:  How will I apply this passage to my life in the coming week and is there anything I can do today to make this passage a part of my Christian life?

I pray that you will continue to find new confidence and a deeper understanding of leadership through continuing to “make” time each day for your own time of study and prayer with the Lord.

5 Steps for Dealing with Conflict within Your Group

1. Expect it.
Conflict surrounded Jesus during his ministry…and he was God. It’s coming your way. Paul and Barnabas had conflict and had to separate. If the guy nicknamed “encouragement” and the guru of theology are going to disagree…guess what? Students will too (And so will you). Expect it to be part of your ministry and leadership.

2. Watch For It.
All behavior has meaning. Every move our students make is telling you something important about the condition of their hearts. While teens certainly struggle to verbally express how they feel, their actions and behaviors are communicating what is going on in their world. Always be on the lookout for signs of conflict between your students.

3. Prepare Them For It.
Your students should hear from you that conflict is a normal thing that we all face. They should also know that there are healthy ways to deal with conflict that both glorify God and bring peace to our relationships. Let kids know that you expect conflict, you’re watching for it, and you’re ready to help them deal with it.

4. Walk Them Through It.
Students will tell you about a problem that they have with someone else and then expect you to handle it for them. Don’t try to solve conflict on behalf of your students. Students need to “own” their part in the conflict and the resolution.

WEIGHING IN ON CONFLICT:  ROUND 1

1. Glorify God:  See conflict as an opportunity-God can use it for good (see Romans 8:28-29)

2.  Get the log out of your own eye:  One of the most challenging principles of peacemaking is set forth in Matthew 7:5.  There are generally 2 kinds of logs you need to look for when dealing with conflict.  First, you need to ask whether you have had a critical, negative, or overly sensitive attitude that has led to unnecessary conflict (see Philippians 4:2-9).  The second kind of log you must deal with is actual sinful words and actions.  Because you are often blind to your own sins, you may need an honest friend who will help you take an objective look at yourself and face up to your contribution to a conflict.  When you identify ways that you have wronged another person, it is important to admit your wrongs honestly and thoroughly. 

One way to do this is to use the Seven A’s of Confession:
-Address everyone involved (Prov. 28:13; 1 John 1:8-9)
-Avoid if, but, and maybe (don’t make excuses; Luke 15:11-24
-Admit specifically (both attitudes and actions)
-Apologize (express sorrow for the way you affected someone)
-Accept the consequences (Luke 19:1-9)
-Alter your behavior (commit to changing harmful habits; (Eph. 4:22-32)
-Ask for forgiveness

GETTING IN THE RING:  ROUND 2
1.  Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff:  Overlook minor offenses!  Another key principle of peacemaking involves an effort to help others understand how they have contributed to a conflict.  Before you rush off to confront someone, however, remember that it is appropriate to overlook minor offenses (Prov. 19:11).  As a general rule, an offense should be overlooked if you can answer “no” to all of the following questions:  Is the offense seriously dishonoring God?  Has it permanently damaged a relationship?  Is it seriously hurting other people?  Is it seriously hurting the offender himself?

2.  Don’t Spread the Big Stuff:  Talk in Private!  If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, an offense is too serious to overlook, in which case God commands you to go and talk with the offender privately and lovingly about the situation (see Matt. 18-15).  As you do so, remember to:
-Pray for humility and wisdom (1 Peter 5:5)
-Plan your words carefully-think of how you would want to be confronted (Prov. 15:1-2; 16:23)
-Anticipate likely reactions and plan appropriate responses-rehearsals can be very helpful (Prov. 20:18)
-Choose the right time and place-talk in person whenever possible (Prov. 16:21; 27:12

5. Follow It Up.
Tensions rarely disappear after one round. Check in with students that have struggled with conflict to see how they are doing at maintaining peace in their relationships.