The No Prep Plan

There have been a few times in my career that I went to youth group without being prepared.  “What”? You say.  “Hypocrite! You just posted on always being prepared.”  No.  It was a rare time and I did have a plan. the idea came from a close friend and mentor in youth ministry – one of the most creative I have known.  I stepped in front of the group at the start of the meeting and said “I have not planned anything for tonight…(dramatic pause for effect – students knew this was not the way I rolled) because I want you to decide what we will do tonight and why”. Now you should know that the look in students eyes conveyed either shock or disbelief. They knew it was not in my norm to be unprepared, so some actually thought I was just saying that and had a meeting ready in my back pocket.  I did not though. I felt I needed to be honest when I made the statement.  Yes, I was freaking out because the risk involved was significant.  This was a church with very high expectations for professionalism.

We then talked about what we normally do and why we do it before we set out to have the meeting.  It was very effective for communicating the why of youth group and giving students some ownership. Everything had to pass the why question up against the vision for the youth group. Any silly ideas were tossed aside because they did not fulfill the goal of “growing together in Christ”. Again, it was a rare event.  In nine years at that church I only did it two or three times. Each time was a productive evening of making sure we all understood why we did each aspect of our typical youth group meeting. It also spurred the group towards helping lead the meetings, something I always have valued.