resources for effective youth ministry

---

Resource Review

    Over the past few months I have had the wonderful opportunity to review and use some amazing and genuinely effective resources from Serendipity House Publishers.  Serendipity House publishes a variety of tremendous Bibles, Study Guides and Computer Programs designed to help you develop a truly effective small group ministry with the teens in your youth group.  We will take a look at these resources below, but I want to encourage you to get your hands on these resources and use them because if you do, you will see the lives of your teens, and adult leaders, change in real, noticeable and measurable ways.
 
 

Serendipity Leadership Training Seminar Presented by - Serendipity House Serendipity 8-Hour Retreat Author - Lyman Coleman Publisher - Serendipity House Publishers

    Serendipity has developed their curriculum around the small group format believing it to be an effective way to build relationships and to encourage growth in the lives of the small group members.  However, small groups are not the style of teaching most of us are familiar with, so they also developed a training program to aid the small group leaders to better understand how and why small groups are effective.  These training sessions are available as a seminar you attend, led by a Serendipity trainer or as an event you can lead in your own church with the help of the "Serendipity 8-hour Retreat" and training video.
 

    Favorite Features:

• provides opportunity for church leaders to not only hear about small groups, but rather to actually experience a small group as they participate in a small group with other people to activly discover each stage of small groups and how they enable you to develop and build a close community of believers who care for one another - excellent!
• also available on a video which allows churches to fully train volunteers who are unable to attend an actual seminar
• video walks leaders through a complete Serendipity Training Seminar - tells you where to stop, what to say and do
• like the seminar, the video allows leaders to experience what the goals of small groups are so they will better understand how to effectively lead a small group
• complete information to help you plan and promote event included in the "Serendipity 8-hour Retreat" booklet
• each session includes information on objective, setting, time, materials, point, agenda and directions with options
• extremely active, interactive and relational to totally involve participants so they will genuinely understand and learn

    Any church serious about developing a genuinely effective small group ministry should participate in a Serendipity Leadership Training Seminar, as in so doing they will truly learn what small groups are all about and how to be successful with small groups in their church.  These seminars are brilliantly designed and planned to help attendees actually experience small groups by walking participants through each step as they find themselves in a real small group, interacting with people they don't know - or know very little - so by the end of the seminar they have had the opportunity to truly get to know each other as they studied God's Word, participated in activities and learned to care for each other.

    Serendipity Leadership Training Seminars are a powerful - and as the pastors at my church say - a genuinely life changing and unforgettable opportunity all who participate in will count as truly valuable.  I highly recommend this seminar, and the training video as well, for anyone who wants to understand small groups.  I also encourage college students preparing for ministry to make a priority of attending at least one Serendipity Leadership Training Seminar.  Extremely well done Serendipity House.
 

• For information on current Serendipity Leadership Training Seminar schedules call, 1-800-525-9563 or check on-line at:  www.serendipity house.com

---

 

Serendipity Bibles
 

Publisher - Serendipity House Publishers

	Serendipity Group Bible for Leaders New Testament		Serendipity Student Bible
	Serendipity Bible for Groups

    Favorite Features of the Group Bible for Leaders, New Testament:

• NIV text for understandability
• In-text group studies with options for light or heavy Scripture teaching
• in-text study helps, ice-breakers, guided questions, flow questions

    Favorite Features of the Bible for Groups:

• NIV text for understandability
• studies for 10 group types
• margin questions to help groups, families or individuals study Scripture with cup questions to help get the conversation started, Bible questions for study and understanding Scripture and heart questions to help with application
• two levels for study - beginner questions and deeper level questions
• excellent choice for family devotions

    Favorite Features of the Student Bible:

• NIV text for understandability
• excellent resource for youth leaders as well as an effective study Bible for teens
• built in studies from eight issues kids face in their everyday lives - excellent!
• each category provides many topics to choose specific studies to meet the needs of your kids
• each topic has two options - light or heavy study
• in-text flow questions start with easy, non threatening questions and move to deeper questions designed to help group members open up and truly get to know each other
• center section includes ice-breakers - 86 to help get kids ready for Bible study and to get to know one another

    Any of these Bibles would make an excellent choice to help small group leaders effectively guide their group through real Bible study for genuine application while the group also learned to build relationships with each other - as Jesus modeled with His disciples.  I highly recommend these Bibles for group leaders, group members, parents - anyone serious about Bible study.  Extremely well done Serendipity House!

---

Serendipity Youth Identity Series
 

Author - Lyman Colman
Publisher - Serendipity House

Up Close - Who am I? - my personality Belonging - true friendship Hassles - causes of heartache Choices - decisions that shape you Pressures - things that bring you down Hot Issues - critical topics you face Beginnings - starting the Christian life Confirmation - fundamentals of the Christian faith Challenge - challenges you must face Coach's book

    Favorite Features:

• nine separate studies - each cover seven weeks - deal with relationships, moral issues and spiritual formation
• leader notes and helps in the margin
• each session broken into three parts - crowd breaker/conversation starter, Bible study and caring time
• each study includes ground rules for participants to commit to
• each activity states how long to go and how many in a group
• "A Word to the Youth Leaders" - helpful information
• Coach's Book provides extra help for each session

    These studies are designed to bring kids together and into God's Word so they will be able to grow in their own walk with God as they learn to develop real and caring relationships with one another.  Teens who know what they believe and who have deep, affirming relationships with other teens are much more likely to make wise choices based on these beliefs and mature in their faith.  These resources are excellent tools to utilize to bring about these types of results in your teens.  We are using these studies in our church with our youth small group ministry - the kids really do open up and more than just answer the questions, they genuinely talk about the issues and what it means to their lives.  The Youth Pastor at my church gave me some feed back on the Serendipity resources - he found them to be extremely comprehensive with the three parts, crowd breaker, Bible study and caring time - the structure is designed to truly be effective in breaking down walls and building relationships.  Pastor Wagner said he truly appreciated the inductive Bible studies with questions to help you understand and apply Scripture like no other resources he has utilized.  The sharing time is an excellent way for teens to experience fellowship and learn to care about each other.  He also found the materials to be extremely user friendly and easy to train even inexperienced volunteers in a few hours so they are ready, able and prepared to be effective in leading their small group.  I agree with all these points and highly recommend Serendipity Small Group Resources.  Extremely well done Serendipity House Publishers!
 

---

 
 

Authors - Lyman Coleman & Steve Sheely
Publisher - Serendipity House Publishers

	Ice-Breakers  & Heart Warmers		Jump Starts  & Soft Landings
	Interactive Bible Studies		Youth Crowd Breakers

    Favorite Features:

• combined, these resources bring you hundreds of ideas to utilize with small groups
• reproducible resources
• icons to indicate type of activity, group intended for, type of group, and applicable topics - excellent!
• include helpful hints and tips
• Group Covenant - excellent!

    These resources are flexible enough to provide you with either the perfect start, end or part of a lesson or to be combined to provide the actual complete lesson.  These are the kind of resources you put on your self, but do not leave there as the wealth of ideas, information and actual lessons are sure to be used often with the result of building strong, affirming small groups where the members grow toward one another and God.  Very nicely done Lyman, Steve and Serendipity House Publishers!

---

 

Publisher - Serendipity House Publishers

Serendipity Encyclopedia Author - Lyman Coleman & Steve Sheely

    Favorite Features:

• complete reference resource for ideas, activities, lessons and more to aid in developing a successful small group ministry
• helpful - "how-to" directions to plan, prepare and promote special events
• chapter on the theory for building relationships - explains why small groups work covering vision, design and skills
• wealth of interactive Bible studies
• keys to a healthy small group
• ideas for family events
• ideas for youth events and retreats
• "pulling it off" section wraps up each event section and provides helpful ideas to make it work - excellent!

    This resource covers a wide range of topics related to small groups and goes beyond providing only the information needed to develop and maintain effective small groups to also providing the ideas and resources to insure small group success!  The theory behind small groups is sound and well explained and the activities and lessons are written to help the small group participants experience the lesson as they develop strong, affirming relationships with one another and in so doing learn to live God's Word as they grow in their walk with God.  Extremely well done Lyman, Steve and Serendipity House!

---

 

Publisher - Serendipity House Publishers

Serendipity Small Group Designer for Youth CD-ROM

    Favorite Features:

• extremely easy to use - even I could figure it out so I am amazed and completely impressed! Excellent!
• flexible format allows you to design your own lessons
• four categories for lessons by felt need, group type, church year or Scripture reference - excellent!
• 540 lessons and 75 courses
• ability to print out lessons makes this an extremely economical resource!

    I can not say enough positive things about the Serendipity Small Group Designer for Youth CD-ROM!  Every church truly needs this resource - if they have it they absolutely are certain to use it all the time.  Churches with no budget problems will love this resource.  Churches with small, tight budgets will love this resource.  This CD is so complete, it literally provides enough resources, lessons and ideas to meet the needs of any youth ministry.  Not only is the CD designed to be extremely user friendly, but it is filled with brilliantly effective lessons sure to help small groups - or any group of teens - genuinely come to understand God's Word so they will be able to live God's Word while also learning to develop healthy, solid, caring relationships with other teens and caring adults.  I have the joy of reviewing many extremely well designed resources for youth, but the Serendipity Small Group Designer for Youth CD-ROM is one absolute must-have resource as it will be used and will make a genuine, noticeable and lasting difference in the lives of all the teens who benefit from being in a small group where these resources are utilized.  I use this resource in the small group my husband and I lead and the teens absolutely love small group and are genuinely beginning to grow in their walks with Christ.  This really works!  Extremely well done Serendipity House Publishers!
 

---

Table of Contents

---

About The Youth Department

Copyright © Lynda Freeman
Last Updated June 3, 2001
Web Page by Lynda Freeman
Send an e-mail to Lynda at lynda@roundabouthechurch.com
 

---

Back to Home Page