Benefits of Co-Teaching in Youth Ministry

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Video Transcript

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There's been some discussion lately in some youth ministry circles around the notion of co-teaching, sharing the stage with two or more people to teach the large group teaching lesson for the night. I know that there are people who feel like it's really better if one person is communicating. There are people who feel to let as many people up there as possible. I would like to suggest that you think this through and what's best for your context for your group, but personally, I think it's an awesome idea to experiment with co-teaching.

I don't think it has to be a every week we do the exact same thing, but I do think you need to start embracing the idea that not only can you find other people in your church, other leaders who can help you teach a topic, but also the possibility that you could start using students to help you teach as well. The key for me in co-teaching is that you understand that both the benefits and the development of it will cost you a little more time. I know that's going to be hard, but I think the benefits outweigh the costs. Here are some benefits that I see.

First and foremost, I think it helps your students because it focuses their attention. When more people are on stage, when there's a couple of different people coming up and talking in front, it gives them the capacity to refocus their attention every time a new person comes up. It also gives variety, a variety of voices to what you're trying to teach. I'll give you a practical example. Use students who can tell stories that apply to what you're trying to teach. If you're teaching a lesson about making wise choices and you hear a student tell a story in small group or some other place about a wise choice they made, maybe just have them stand up and tell the same story to the group.

I also recommend heavily that there are moments when you're going to get into a topic that maybe you don't feel as strong in this topic, think about the possibility of inviting other people in. At one point I was teaching a discussion on drugs use and some really deep and dangerous things that happen when kids engage with drugs, but I never took drugs. How was I going to talk about this topic? Now I can talk about Biblical principles and I can talk about some of the statistics and some of the things I've read, but I couldn't bring a story to it. I didn't know how to personalize it.

I found a guy in our church who had been a drug user, heavy drug user, had really dramatically impacted his life. Then he met Jesus and for over several years, God had brought him to a point of restoration and redemption. It was a beautiful story and I could never tell it. I invited him just to come in and tell his story. I opened it up for him and let him tell his story and then closed it and we worked together to tell this amazing story about not only why you shouldn't do this, but also about how God redeems us even in our sin. That co-teaching moment couldn't have happened if I decided I think I can handle it all.

The last thing I want you to get is this. Co-teaching allows you the opportunity to begin to develop those speakers in your youth group who have been sitting on the sidelines playing second string, waiting for the opportunity. Most of the pastors, most of the leaders that I've ever met that taught in large group, told me that they only got the opportunity because their leader got sick or had to go on vacation or something like that. What if they didn't have to wait? What if you could use them right now? What if they could talk for five to six minutes? What if they were your opening and they did something fun that really got people into the topic? What if they were closing to do something dramatic where people understood exactly what was going on? What if your students saw another student teaching? How powerful will that be for them to really connect with something that feels very personal to them?

Co-teaching has a lot of possibilities, but truthfully the really, really difficult part about it is that it means that we, the people who teach on a regular basis, have to let go. That's hard because we're used to knowing we've got all the content, we know exactly how it's going to go. At the end of the day, I want you to know this. As you let go, as you allow God to use other people, develop other voices, you will begin to see not only the benefits to your group, but the benefits to you as a teacher. You'll see new insights and new ways of doing things. You'll see somebody try something or say something and you thought, "I've never saw that before." This is a phenomenal model for you and your group if you're just willing to let go and allow God to use multiple voices to impact your group.

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