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FourFiveSix.org: Great Ideas for your Preteen Ministry

Looking for great (game, object lessons, worship, volunteer celebration, etc. etc.) ideas to take your preteen ministry to the next level? This podcast is created and curated by FourFiveSix.org, a community of leading voices in preteen ministry. Our goal is simple: a short (4,5, or 6 minute) podcast a few times a week (4, 5, or 6 times) that gives you a quick, easy, free idea that you can use in your preteen ministry THIS WEEK. Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast? Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Want to get more great ideas right now? Come join the community of preteen leaders at fourfivesix.org
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Now displaying: October, 2018
Oct 31, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Chris Santos the 6th grade, Pastor in Elevate regarding the production of Dry Bones.

One of the visions of the 6th grade ministry was to get the 6th graders more involved in the process of the ministry. The 6th graders were part of an illustrated message, which was only part of the actual service. This is taking the idea of having students act out a portion of your message when you call them up front, to having the students dance, sing and speak after weeks of practice and rehearsals.

There are so many benefits that can come from doing something like this. There is an impact on the students when they are a part of this small team doing a performance like this. Allowing students to feel like God is using their talents to speak to others can be very beneficial for their growth as well.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 30, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean talks with Zach Matchett about having a multisite preteen ministry.

Zach runs the preteen ministry for a church that has 11 sites of which 7 have preteen ministries. Through consistency, ability to work for any size environment, and adaptability the same information can be used at all of the preteen ministry at the various sites. By making the information fit for whatever the environment the leader might encounter, be it a portable (shared) facility or a set space, having the resources that they will need to succeed is most important to the success of a multisite preteen ministry.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 30, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Eddie Aviles from Washington about persistence in prayer.

Two years ago, Eddie and Sean met at the Northwest Ministry Conference in Washington. At the time Eddie’s church offered no preteen specific ministry but Eddie had a passion for preteens. Coming up on November 29, Eddie’s church is launching their preteen specific ministry.

Eddie began as a volunteer 5-years ago at the church working in the K-5th grade ministry. Eddie could see that there was a difference in the learning and conversations with the 4th and 5th graders. The preteens have always been on his heart and he felt a calling for them. Eddie began planting seeds in church leadership and parents about his vision for a preteen ministry. By asking parents who were enthusiastic about the idea to pray, the vision continued to grow. After 5 years of vision casting about his dream, and many times of wondering if it would ever happen, Eddie persisted in prayer and sharing his vision.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 18, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Louie from Morningstar Community Church in Oregon about a Q&A Panel he does in his ministry.

Once a quarter Louie brings in pastors and leaders from the church to answer serious and silly questions from the 4th and 5th graders.

This allows leaders in the church to see how deep the 4th and 5th graders are thinking. It also allowed the preteens to see different leaders and levels of pastors and leadership coming in to invest in them.

Louie has done this for the last couple of years once a quarter and the event is always themed. One of the events was pastors, and he brought in pastors like the Senior pastor, youth, worship, college, pastors from all areas of the church. Another event was living out their faith in school and Louie brought in teachers from the church.

Two Sundays before the panel Sunday he will have the preteens write down their questions so that he has them ready for the panel, also allowing him to weed through the questions. Most of the time Louie has just sprung the questions on the panel the day of, but this most recent event he sent the questions to them ahead of time because they were deeper, and he wanted scriptural backing for the answers.

Louie is the moderator of the questions and he also reminds the students that they brought the panel in to answer the question, so the students don’t attempt to answer. Having this type of event allows the pastors and leaders to become more real to the preteens and it opens the eyes of the pastors and leaders to who the preteens actually are.

Here are some of the questions Louie’s preteens asked during the last Panel:

Did Jesus have a choice to love us?

How long did Adam and Eve live?

How do I know other people believe in Jesus?

How does God know us all?

Why is the cross shaped like that?

How do you know if someone is growing in God?

When did you accept Jesus?

Is it possible to come back alive? How did Jesus come back alive?

Will I pick my age in heaven?

What's heaven like? Is it true that heaven has golden streets?

How do we stay connected to Jesus?

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 17, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean and Makenna discuss small group night that took place in Elevate recently with the 4th and 5th graders.

Over a couple weeks leading up to the event the Small Groups discussed ideas of things they would like to do together as a group on this specific night. For example, Makenna’s small group decided to go to John’s Incredible Pizza which is a all you can eat pizza and arcade type place. Other groups did the mall, ice skating, frozen yogurt and arcade/ Each group chose something they all wanted to do together.

Sean’s group wanted to just hang out at one of the boys houses to eat pizza and play video games and after go watch one of the other boys in the group play in his football game.

Everybody enjoyed themselves and it had a different feel that a normal event night because it was just the Small Group. They are able to bring friends as well.

This is the first time Elevate has done this and they learned some things from this time. On the podcast, Makenna and Sean discuss what they learned:

1. It’s good to have another adult present, whether it is another small group leader or even one of the parents.

2. It is important to know what each of the small group leaders is doing for their event so when parents ask what their kid will be doing you are able to respond with the appropriate information.

3. Give the groups some set choices up front, this is to limit the expense of the event.

Small Group Night was a nice time to have little to no agenda but offer a time to build relationship with the students. It offers a great connection time between leaders and students that will allow for better overall discussion in the long run in their small groups.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 17, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean and Makenna discuss small group night that took place in Elevate recently with the 4th and 5th graders.

Over a couple weeks leading up to the event the Small Groups discussed ideas of things they would like to do together as a group on this specific night. For example, Makenna’s small group decided to go to John’s Incredible Pizza which is a all you can eat pizza and arcade type place. Other groups did the mall, ice skating, frozen yogurt and arcade/ Each group chose something they all wanted to do together.

Sean’s group wanted to just hang out at one of the boys houses to eat pizza and play video games and after go watch one of the other boys in the group play in his football game.

Everybody enjoyed themselves and it had a different feel that a normal event night because it was just the Small Group. They are able to bring friends as well.

This is the first time Elevate has done this and they learned some things from this time. On the podcast, Makenna and Sean discuss what they learned:

1. It’s good to have another adult present, whether it is another small group leader or even one of the parents.

2. It is important to know what each of the small group leaders is doing for their event so when parents ask what their kid will be doing you are able to respond with the appropriate information.

3. Give the groups some set choices up front, this is to limit the expense of the event.

Small Group Night was a nice time to have little to no agenda but offer a time to build relationship with the students. It offers a great connection time between leaders and students that will allow for better overall discussion in the long run in their small groups.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 16, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean shares about a recent lesson idea he used in Elevate called Sleuth It Up.

As part of an ongoing preteen series called 30 Pictures of Jesus, Sean’s preteen group is taking a look through the book of Luke at various pictures of who Jesus is. Part of this journey was a lesson called Sleuth It Up. The students were invited to come dressed as detectives or spies.

During Preservice time, there was a mystery needing to be unraveled.

After the service started, preteens played a visual mysteries game with two buzzers.

Then the message began with Sean asking the question: what are detectives searching for? (EVIDENCE)

The Small Groups were given gallon size plastic Ziploc bags with an “Evidence” sticker on each bag and given 8 minutes to search for evidence that points to the existence of God and place in the bags.

After the “Evidence” hunt they transitioned into the story of John who was looking for evidence to prove Jesus was who he said he was. John was in jail and couldn’t see what Jesus was doing and was suffering which caused doubt in his mind that Jesus truly was who he said he was. John sends his own “detectives” to ask Jesus, “Are you the one or should we be expecting someone else?” In Luke it states that Jesus performed many miracles and then told the “detectives” to bring the evidence back to John.

The story led to a discussion about faith.

As a visual illustration Sean brought up a student and had him stand on the edge of the stage. He asked the student if he trusted him enough to catch him if he fell backwards off the stage. The student was only a 9 on a scale of 1-10 but he acted as a 10 and fell backwards and Sean caught him. After some more discussion about their faith in God, the groups were allowed to send one person up to share one piece of evidence they had found earlier.

As they left every student received a sandwich size bag with “Evidence” stickers to take home with them and continue their search for evidence that points to the existence of God.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

Oct 15, 2018

Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Zach Matchett from Indiana, regarding the Small Group Tool Kit that his team has created.

Sean first heard about this tool kit that Zach’s team created during a peer group meeting. Zach held it up and showed it off during the peer group video conference. This is one nice thing regarding peer groups, it allows you to see what others are using and get ideas that can help you in your own ministry. If you want more information about peer groups click here.

The tool kit is a product brought about by the Life Group Pod and Communication Team at Northview Church to help the small group leaders to win. The tool kit is based on the book Lead Small and its five principles:

  • be present,
  • create a safe place,
  • partner with parents,
  • make it personal, and
  • move them out.

The tool kit includes tools for each of these principles. For “be present,” they included birthday cards. For “partner with parents,” It includes a blank business card for leaders to fill out. There’s even event reimbursement for them to attend student events.

If you have questions or would like help creating your own small group tool kit you can contact Zach directly at Zach.matchett@northviewchurch.us.

Have a question about preteen ministry or a unique preteen ministry idea that we can feature on our podcast?  Send it to podcast@fourfivesix.org. Looking for a great community of preteen leaders that you can plug into? Join us at http://fourfivesix.org/.

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