The Word in Youth Ministry Podcast Interview - Scope and Sequence for Student Ministry

I recently had the opportunity to be a guest on The Word in Youth Ministry Podcast with my good friend Kyle Hoffsmith. It was a delight to talk about scope and sequence and planning what you teach in student ministry. 

You can listen to the podcast episode at the bottom of this post. I highly recommend this podcast series if you are a ministry worker involved in any next generation ministries. 

Here are several of principles I would recommend. 

Principles for Planning a Teaching Calendar in Student Ministry 

• Start with a definition or description of a what kind of disciple you want to produce (Clarify the Win)
• Identify the primary areas, subjects, and behaviors you want to re-enforce (Narrow the Focus)
• Make a plan. Work the plan. (If you fail to plan, you are planning to fail)
• Consistently communicate the "Why" of the plan. Involve parents and lay leaders. Help them see the plan and ask them to partner with you. 
• Be flexible - Don't be a slave to the plan. Let God work as well (testimonies, guest speakers, prayer, etc.).
• Survey students and parents to find what subjects they believe are most important.
• Borrow from others. Don't try to reinvent the wheel. Find and use great curriculum plans. 
• Be thoroughly Biblical. If you aren't giving them truth from God's Word you are not bringing what is most valuable to them.
• Teach for life-change. Help students understand WHY they believe, HOW to live it out, and to know and love the WHO (Jesus!). Don't just teach them WHAT to believe. 
• Raise the bar. Don't lower the bar for the bottom 10% of your students, give opportunities to grow, learn, and lead for the top 10%. 

Some of examples of teaching plans we have used at Berean: 

Listen to the podcast below:

With Grace,

Phil Leineweber