Tips for leading big group ministry
At New Wine Ireland kids and youth we believe that everyone can pray, receive the Holy Spirit and use His gifts. We believe that there is no ‘Junior Holy Spirit!’ And believe that everyone gets to pray! This can be undertaken in many ways, which we are sure that you are already aware. We always want to be open and responsive to where the Holy Spirit is leading and have drawn up a guide to help.
1. Explain what you are going to do before you do it! e.g. “We are going to spend some time now chatting with God and catching what he is saying back to us. I am going to say some words that you may like to repeat in your head or out loud. Then I am going to go quiet so that you can chat to God and see if you can catch from him. Remember, catching form God can happen in many different ways etc.”
2. Begin by inviting the Holy Spirit. A way in which we do this is that we invite everyone to hold their hands out ‘Like they are receiving a gift’ and then pray ‘Come, Holy Spirit.’
3. Encourage children who wish to respond to either say it in their heads (God can hear even our thoughts!), or out loud or whisper it into their hands.
4. If we are leading a time of ‘Chat and catch’ lead the children in simple steps, leaving time between each point to allow for children to respond. E.g. CHAT: Tell God what you love most about the world…tell God what made you laugh out loud this week…tell God one thing that makes you sad…tell God what your favourite game is…CATCH: Ask God what He loves most about you…ask God what made Him sad this week… ask God how you can help him with that sad thing…ask God what His favourite game is… Try to vary between ‘light’ things and ‘heavier’ things.
5. We always need to think about what we ‘catch’ from God. We can ask three questions to helps us: 1) Does it sound like God/is it in his character (e.g., is it kind, encouraging and loving)? 2) Does it make me feel closer to God? 3). What do my friends and family think – do they think that it sounds like something God would say?
6. We always invite children to pray, we never insist! It is their choice, but we do ask that those who are not wanting to encounter God, to respect those who do and allow everyone to worship God in their own way.