FFS 303: DELIVERY METHOD: Divide and Conquer

Today on the podcast, Sean speaks with Makenna about dividing and conquering in ministry.

In Elevate this is done a lot on Sundays. In Elevate’s first Sunday service they divide out the 6th graders and send them to a separate room and Pastor Chris and his wife Jaime lead them. In Elevate’s Step Up service, discipleship service, the preteens are split 3-ways. The preteens in leadership go into their own space and then the remaining preteens are offered two other choices, like memorization or being a part of the church (All Time Greatest Team, Deeply Rooted Curriculum). Some of you might be concerned with the space you have, but Sean believes that even if Elevate’s space was limited they would still do it this way. There are benefits to splitting the preteens up:

Connection and relationship building with the preteens because of the smaller group. Harder for preteens to go under the radar and be missed because there are less to be called on Able to change the delivery of the message based on the preteens that you have present (ie. Immature 4th graders compared to 5th or 6th grade leaders) More leadership opportunities with the need for more teachers Ownership of a ministry for your volunteers makes them more dedicated Offers preteens choices making them more invested in it

Although preteen ministries are already divided by dividing even more you are allowing the preteens more choices and more investment into the ministry.

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