Practicum Evaluation

When I first declared my major, here at Indiana Wesleyan as a “youth ministry major”, I had no idea, or any knowledge of what a practicum really was. When I heard that I had to do one, I was a little shocked, especially when I heard that we had to find a church, in Marion, in which I’ve never been in before. This semester was my first semester at Indiana Wesleyan. And the fact that really made me nervous was that we had to get 40 hours in this church, this semester.
I called up a church, First Christian Church of God, and I jumped on that. I went in to talk to the youth pastor, Jeff Brady and he was a very nice guy, very pleasing and had a great sense of humor. He told me that the church was in a growing state, and the youth group was a very small size, on a good Sunday, five to be exact. That fact, kind of scared me because I had expectations to be involved with a big youth group and I didn’t really know how I felt about a super small youth group. I have always enjoyed bigger youth groups, but I just told myself that God did this for a reason, and wanted me to be involved with this church.
The services were very mundane and were mostly hymns and very slow piano driven music nothing is wrong with that, it was just a slow moving church. The congregations average age was 65 and tradition was a major part of the worship, the age and the generation reflected that.
So all in all, I had a good experience with my first practicum. I would give myself an average rating and I learned a lot. the slow services were a good change from the average mandatory chapel at Indiana Wesleyan. I’m very thankful that I had the opportunity to do this practicum.

Week 10

This week we had the opportunity to help out the church with their rummage sale. we got a chance to meet with more of the church's members and learn about their involvement with the church. It was really fun helping all the people with their purchases and carrying stuff to their car. It was a new experience, which i enjoyed.

God Bless

7 Hours ( Youth group)

7 Hours


Personal Reflection :
I loved working with the people of the church, it taught me a lot of how the church works and how the money is spent.

Spiritual Reflection :
This rummage sake taught me how to serve others. It taught me that serving others would bring joy to me and to the people i am serving.

Week 9

This Sunday the service was a little different. Instead of having the original, same service like they do every Sunday with hymns, a sermon and then communion . Instead, the youth group (3 kids) lead the service. They played contemporary worship and it was a really nice change, and i think, for the most part, the congregation led it =)

God Bless

2 Hours ( Youth group)

2 Hours


Personal Reflection :

I really enjoyed the service. It helped me see how the older generation would act towards the "youth movement", many thought the beats were pretty fast , but again, its a new experience for them, and it really moved me, seeing the three or four different generations merge together and form to praise God. :)

Spiritual Reflection :
Seeing the youth group engage in church activities has really been a blessing for me to be a part of this, because this is the first time they ever attempted anything like it and it just goes to show ya' God works in sooooo many ways =)

Week 8

This week it rained, and thus we didnt have a chance to play basket ball or soccer but we did get to spend time together inside the youth room. We played their version of pin the tail on the donkey and had a small lesson.

God Bless

2 Hours ( Youth group)

2 Hours


Personal Reflection :

Right now at this point, the youth has really started to warm up to us and we're becoming a part of the youth group. Inside jokes are starting to come up and more good times.

Spiritual Reflection :

The fellowship level is starting to rise and its really starting to be encouraging.

Week 7

This week was a little different, it was sunny out and we got to have youth group outside! it was a nice change. We had the opportunity to clean out the churches garage and learn a little bit about each other through conversation while we worked. We also learned a bit about eachother's strengths and weaknesses. We had a good talk about boyfriend-girlfriend relationships and got the kids' point of view.

God Bless

2.5 Hours (Met and Cleaned out garage)

2.5 Hours


Personal Reflection :
I learned a lot about how dedicated the kids are to working and helping out their own community. And i also learned about myself, about how important it is to be a servant to people.


Spiritual Reflection :

The main spiritual point that i gained today was about how important it actually is to have a servant attitude and how we should serve others and have a good, positive attitude all at the same time.

Week 6

After two weeks of spring break I finally got back into thee swing of things, quite easily actually. This Sunday we took a trip to Winterjam. Winterjam is a christian rock tour that had bands including Hawk Neslon, The Afters and Toby Mac. It was an awesome experience and I had a great time with the kids, learning that music is a huge inspiration for them.

God Bless

5.5 Hours ( WinterJam)

1 Hour (Preperation )

1.5 Hours ( Drive)

8 Hours


Personal Reflection :

I gained alot of knowledge about the kids musical style and preferences. Ii really enjoyed worshipping God and rocking out at the same time at Winterjam.


Spiritual Reflection :

The spiritual aspect was pretty amazing this week being at this Christian music festival. I worshipeed God in hip-hop and rock and even in a gospel style. It was awesome. A really nice change from the usual youth group, especially when building a tolerance when your on the road with the kids and in the van for several hours with them . :p

Week 5

This week we had a normal Sunday youth group, we had a Bible study and then we had snacks and the kids shared some of their personal stories. We only had 2 kids at youth group so there wasnt much discussion, but it was nice to hear a little from the kids.

Also on I attended and shadowed the youth pastor for the Ash Wednesday service, it was quigte an interesting experience. I learned that there was so much more work that goes into a service then i thought. Most of the work actually goes on behind the scenes in pastoral work.


God Bless

1 Hour ( Meeting with Jeff)

1.25 Hours ( Board Meeting)

2 hours ( youth group)

4.25 Hours


Personal Reflection :

This week i learned a lot about the kids that we have in this youth group. Personal stories really helped in the processes of getting to know the kids.


Spiritual Reflection :

This week I really grew from learning to gain tolerance and patience for other people in the church, especially in the "behind the scenes" aspect of the ministry.