two movies you should take your youth group to this Fall
When it comes to the spiritual development of teenagers often times we think about certain doctrines and spiritual disciplines. We ask ourself what do they need to know? Like schools, churches often have a curriculum set in place for students to learn that is often broken down into oral teaching subjects. The problem with some of this is that a large part of this curriculum if not most of it is often designed for oral learners. The truth is students learn and grow spiritually when they go on mission/service trips. Students learn and grow spiritually when they attend a Christian concert or in our case a Christian movie. When you think about watching movies you rarely think about learning, however watching movies enables the viewer to gain a certain type of intelligence called “emotional intelligence” where the viewer is actually learning emotionally. I’m not suggesting that youth leaders replace sermons with movies, however creating occasional movie watching experiences that emphasize positive Christian values can really help students process and learn spiritually something they may have never learned sitting in a lecture type enviornment. One of the best ways you can increase the EQ (emotional intelligence) in your students is to expose them to certain types of “Christian” movies on a periodic basis that they might not attend without your prompting or promoting. Students already see hundreds of movies a year, most of which are not worth their time, and so if as a youth group you encourage your students to see a certain movie every quarter you are not just suggesting a movie you are helping those students grow spiritually that learn better visually and through their EQ.
I had the priveledge to see screenings of both “the secrets of Jonathan Sperry“and “To save a life” both opening sometime this fall. Both films in my opinion are great options as you plan your curriculum and think about what movies will help students to grow spiritually. I personally would recommend the secrets of Jonathan Sperry to a younger crowd (middle school age) and To save a life to an older crowd (high school age).
- the Message Factor – a guide to understanding Christian films
- Taking Christian education online
- 5 movies every youth ministry leader should watch
- Teaching on Film and Faith
- SAICFF (san antonio independant christian film festival) Reviewed
