Youth leaders often struggle with how to incorporate scripture and the learnings of the Bible into youth ministry programming. It can be even more frustrating to get youth to engage in the word through Bible study. There can be a temptation to back off of incorporating the Bible into the lives of our youth and to instead fall back on games and community building. While these are important components of ministry to youth, they are not the only building blocks our youth need to form their faith foundations and practices. Bible study for youth should be experiential, and youth leaders shouldn’t shy away from using technology to help expose students to scripture and to a regular practice of reading the Bible.
This course is designed such that each section may be completed in one gathering. If every section were to be completed, with the group meeting weekly, this course would take four weeks to complete. It is also possible to complete the course in a shorter period of time by combining sections based on your team’s availability. Similarly, it could be expanded, and the focal Scripture passages—merely used here as a discussion starter, and a backdrop for the youth ministry topics— could be used as a jumping off point for a whole Bible study for each gathering. We are hopeful that the person leading this effort will feel free to adapt what is provided to their particular community’s needs.