Tipping Point

Just read The Tipping Point by Malcolm Gladwell.  Funny name he has, isn’t it?  Anyway, great book.  I will be blogging about how it relates to preteen ministry, one chapter at a time.

Introduction – The basic premise of the book is to analyze the spread of trends, epidemics and movements.  Why do certain fashion styles, concepts and products spread like wildfires and others don’t?  Gladwell suggests that BIG changes happen as a result of SMALL changes being made.  When the SEEMINGLY INSIGNIFICANT thing is tweaked, a tipping point can create big growth rapidly.

What does that have to do with preteen ministry?  Many churches are acknowledging the need for preteen ministry.  The more that lead the way, the more contagious the very idea becomes.  The more that find successful ways of reaching preteens, the more effective we become.  The more preteen’s lives are changed, the more convinced others become.

What about you and I?  We each have to be creative and innovative in order to discover how to best reach preteens in our community.  What works here in Souther California might not work in Florida.  There is no one way of reaching preteens that works 100% of the time.  It’s our job to find out works best through trial and error, being led by the Holy Spirit, networking with other preteen leaders and seeing what’s been successful for others.  What small changes can you make that might be successful?  What little things in your large group format can you change to better communicate to preteens?  How can you make small group more interactive and relational?  What new approach to doing events can you try?

Last Wednesday Night we made a small change in our teaching format.  Instead of doing large group and small group, we did something completely different.  We showed a few video clips about the topic of temptation and gave preteens a series of questions to discuss in small group afterwards.  Small group leaders acted as facilitators and directed the conversation appropriately.  No “teaching” occurred from a communicator.  They learned a lot from each other.

Little changes can make a big difference

What one little change can you tweak this week?

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