One of the best ways we can engage our students with the mission of Jesus is through encouraging them to be part of a school prayer group.
You might have had a student express a desire to start a prayer group for their school. If you are wondering what to say check this out!
Here are the 5 P's for a starting a prayer group:
Peeps
Find at least one friend that would be willing to commit to praying with you on a regular basis. Most prayer groups in canada are not large but are made up of a few people who have committed to meeting together on a regular basis to pray. Perhaps this person is someone from your church, or youth group or someone at your school that you know has a heart for prayer. Together you can walk through the next 4 steps. Jesus and His disciples demonstrated the importance of working together. Remember, school prayer groups are not reserved for one church but are open to anyone who wants to meet and pray.
Permission
We want to respect the people who lead our schools, so getting permission is a respectful thing to do. Find a sponsor teacher. This is a teacher who you know and is willing to open their classroom to you and back you up. When you have a sponsor teacher, you can arrange a meeting with your vice principal or principal. Your sponsor teacher may want to do this for you or you will need to do it yourself(maybe bring along one of your peeps). In the meeting explain why you want to do a prayer group. Describe what would happen in a typical meeting, explain that everyone is welcome and that you will leave the classroom cleaner than before. If the school is not willing to give you permission, that is ok. We suggest that you find a nearby home or church and have your meetings there.
Plan
This stage is going to be happening at the same time as PERMISSION. Decide on a regular time and place. We suggest that you meet weekly. We also suggest that you gather before school so that your lunch times and after school time can be spent with friends. We are praying that we would shine – we need to be with people to shine!
Promote
The first idea that usually pops into our head is to put up posters around the school. This might seem like a good idea at first but it usually has very little impact and can be easily mis understood by others in the school. The best way to promote a prayer group is by word of mouth. Invite people face to face. Starting a Facebook group is another great idea. Another great idea is to write a letter to all of the churches in the area. In the letter, let them know when the prayer group meets and ask the youth pastor to promote this to students in their group.
Pray - This might sound funny but the final step is to pray. Often, our prayer groups turn into christian clubs or Bible studies. Those are not bad things but our greatest need is prayer. Christian clubs can become more about hiding from the school but a prayer group is designed to help us meet the needs of others. Instead of a bible study we would challenge you to start an additional meeting that is designed for outreach. Check out our resources like youth alpha and quest which are designed to help you create a safe place where people in any stage in their spiritual walk can discover Jesus.
Check out http://www.campusfire.com/ to find out more about student led prayer groups
You might have had a student express a desire to start a prayer group for their school. If you are wondering what to say check this out!
Here are the 5 P's for a starting a prayer group:
Peeps
Find at least one friend that would be willing to commit to praying with you on a regular basis. Most prayer groups in canada are not large but are made up of a few people who have committed to meeting together on a regular basis to pray. Perhaps this person is someone from your church, or youth group or someone at your school that you know has a heart for prayer. Together you can walk through the next 4 steps. Jesus and His disciples demonstrated the importance of working together. Remember, school prayer groups are not reserved for one church but are open to anyone who wants to meet and pray.
Permission
We want to respect the people who lead our schools, so getting permission is a respectful thing to do. Find a sponsor teacher. This is a teacher who you know and is willing to open their classroom to you and back you up. When you have a sponsor teacher, you can arrange a meeting with your vice principal or principal. Your sponsor teacher may want to do this for you or you will need to do it yourself(maybe bring along one of your peeps). In the meeting explain why you want to do a prayer group. Describe what would happen in a typical meeting, explain that everyone is welcome and that you will leave the classroom cleaner than before. If the school is not willing to give you permission, that is ok. We suggest that you find a nearby home or church and have your meetings there.
Plan
This stage is going to be happening at the same time as PERMISSION. Decide on a regular time and place. We suggest that you meet weekly. We also suggest that you gather before school so that your lunch times and after school time can be spent with friends. We are praying that we would shine – we need to be with people to shine!
Promote
The first idea that usually pops into our head is to put up posters around the school. This might seem like a good idea at first but it usually has very little impact and can be easily mis understood by others in the school. The best way to promote a prayer group is by word of mouth. Invite people face to face. Starting a Facebook group is another great idea. Another great idea is to write a letter to all of the churches in the area. In the letter, let them know when the prayer group meets and ask the youth pastor to promote this to students in their group.
Pray - This might sound funny but the final step is to pray. Often, our prayer groups turn into christian clubs or Bible studies. Those are not bad things but our greatest need is prayer. Christian clubs can become more about hiding from the school but a prayer group is designed to help us meet the needs of others. Instead of a bible study we would challenge you to start an additional meeting that is designed for outreach. Check out our resources like youth alpha and quest which are designed to help you create a safe place where people in any stage in their spiritual walk can discover Jesus.
Check out http://www.campusfire.com/ to find out more about student led prayer groups
No comments:
Post a Comment