Facilitating Good Small Group Discussions

Here are 6 tips for facilitating a good small group discussion in youth ministry:

1.  Environment

-Limit the group size

-Sit in a way where everyone can hear and participate fully (ie. All sitting on chairs, on floor, standing)

2.  Tone

-You set the tone as the leader

-Start with a  prayer where appropriate and have everyone introduce themselves

-Pledge confidentiality

3.  Navigate

-Your job is to keep the conversation on track

-Don’t focus on one person and don’t let one person monopolize the conversation

-Give people the option to pass

4.  Facilitate

-Your job is to wrap and connect points, and keep everyone involved

-Share from your own experiences when appropriate, but don’t preach and don’t feel you have to comment on every single answer given by a group member

-Be prepared to summarize the group discussion if necessary

5.  Silence

-Silence is not always a bad thing

-Let the members think about what they are going to say

-Don’t always jump in to save the discussion

6.  Encourage

-Affirm the members for sharing

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo     

Keys to Effective Christian Leadership

Last week our Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry offered YouthLeader – a week-long program designed by the Center for Ministry Development. The purpose of YouthLeader is to empower young people for Christian leadership in Church and the wider community.

I have been blessed to serve as a trainer for YouthLeader for the past 4 years, and it’s always special when I get to train youth and adult leaders in my home archdiocese. I’m looking forward to helping many of the 57 youth and adult participants implement the skills they learned into their church and school communities.

Each of the 9 learning sessions were centered around a “key”. I will be expanding on a few of these keys throughout the next few weeks but I thought it would be valuable for all readers of this blog to see them as a whole.

Key 1: Effective Leaders and Principle-Centered

Key 2: Effective Leaders are Proactive

Key 3: Effective Leaders Listen and Communicate

Key 4: Christian Leaders are Called to Follow Jesus’ Example

Key 5:  Effective Leaders Help Groups to Work Together

Key 6: Youth are Called to Use Their Gifts

Key 7: Effective Leaders Think Win/Win

Key 8: Effective Leaders Plan to Meet the Needs of Others

Key 9: Effective Leaders Know and Live Their Mission in Life

Clayton Imoo is husband to Gail and father to sons Sean Isaiah and Jacob Isaac and daughter Kayla Marie.  He has served as the Director of the Office of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Vancouver for the past ten years, helping parishes develop their own youth and young adult ministries.  When not doing ministry, Clay enjoys spending time with his family, playing music, playing sports, playing naptime, and writing blogs on topics such as family, faith, and the Vancouver Canucks.  Learn more about him at http://www.claytonimoo.com or follow him @claytonimoo