the    sides

We’ve talked about the importance of having a lexicon in youth ministry. It’s not a question of IF you have a lexicon inside your youth group, it’s a question of have you codified it. If you’ve codified it - it allows you to accept new people faster.

You can quickly tell them - here’s how we talk, here’s how we roll. In ultra-fundamental circles this gets labeled as a covenant of membership rules. But we don’t have to get that sticky or serious.

Take Sunday for example. I have a couple of friends (who also happen to be teens) that make sure they encourage me every time before I teach.

“Grant….don’t suck.”

Now, you can’t get much more encouraging than that, can you? It’s just part of the encouraging atmosphere that is Grace.

The other piece of tradition is the conversation circle. We’ll stand around, in a circle with hands folded across chest or in pockets. Talking. Now…one must be careful in this position. If someone walks up, the circle must naturally morph to include them but without verbally acknowledging that is what we are doing. If someone gets a ‘back to the face,’ that’s bad karma and the conversation needs to change, circle remorphed. Are you following this?