Pens

Tuesday, July 29th, 2008 | Youth Pastor Toolbox

A mandatory staple in any youth room, pens are essential to youth ministry. The pens most often found in youth rooms are cheesy church pens, random construction company pens, or the generic Staples brand pen. My favorite church pen had a clear body with blue liquid and a miniature Noah’s Ark floating inside. I loved to shake that sucker around, pretending that Noah and his animal crew was being tossed about like the S.S. Minnow.

Regardless of what style the pen you pick up in a youth room, the chances that it works is about 60%. Those are decent odds, but think of all the uses that pens hold in a youth ministry:

Lesson Tool. Whether you have students fill out a survey, take notes on the lesson, or write in their Bibles, pens are very useful during lesson time. It becomes distracting when students must share pens to take notes.

Games. My favorite upfront games (Power Point trivia) always involve writing something down.

Spoons. No, not as utensils, but you could use pens in the game of Spoons.

I have been looking to get some of these Staples Gel pens for students. They write smoother than ballpoints, and have a higher operating rate.

The series “Youth Pastor Toolbox” discusses different tools of the trade for youth ministry. A new “Youth Pastor Toolbox” will be posted every Tuesday.