How to run Stir in 20 minutes

There are several contexts where you may only have 15 - 20 minutes to run a Stir Session. Think: a school lunch-time group, a rowdy youth club or a small breakout at youth group for teens who are uncertain about faith.

Stir has been successfully run in all these settings! Trust the process. Although you may feel you didn’t accomplish much in a particular week, or that the point didn’t quite hit home, running Stir for just a few moments over several weeks will reinforce the key concepts and build the momentum you need to encourage individuals to keep exploring faith.

We suggest:

• Briefly introduce the aim of the session
• Playing a selected video clip
• Choosing either the reflection questions or the experience on a given week.
• Reinforce the intended outcome:
  • Pack 1: This longing or desire shows we are spiritual
  • Pack 2: When we Connect to God, we experience this benefit
  • Pack 3: Because Jesus was Fully One with God, he…
  • Pack 4: See the main aim on each card

You will not have time to cover it all and that’s ok! Often, in more energetic contexts, the reflective experience will be difficult to accomplish anyway. So, play the video, have a bit of discussion and reinforce the main takeaway.

Example: Stir 2 Card 3

Option 1 for a 20 minute session:

1. Opening Comments

“We want to keep showing you examples of people who are connected with God and how it helped their lives. At some point, we would love for you to connect with God, so we are helping you to see what that looks like.”

2. Play Video Clip

Choose the video from the website that seems best suited to your group.

3. Choose a few Reflection Questions to Discuss

We suggest the following:

• After watching that I feel…
• What different did it make for the person in the video to be connected with God?
• Can you think of someone who has hurt you?
• How could being connected with God help you?

(do not try the Experience)

4. Reinforce the Aim

“Because the person in the video was connected with God, he/she could forgive the people who hurt them. This helped them to feel free from bitterness.”

Option 2 for a 20 minute session:

1. Opening Comments

“We want to keep showing you examples of people who are connected with God and how it helped their lives. At some point, we would love for you to connect with God, so we are helping you to see what that looks like.”

2. Play Video Clip

Choose the video from the website that seems best suited to your group.

3. Experience

We suggest the following:

• Give each group of participants one cup of water and one fizzy tablet
• Encourage each person to think of one person who has hurt them who they can choose to forgive
• Put the words of forgiveness on the screen and give space for participants to say them as the fizzy tablet is dropped in the water

(do not discuss the reflection questions)

4. Reinforce the Aim

“Because the person in the video was connected with God, he/she could forgive the people who hurt them. This helped them to feel free from bitterness.”

5. Respond pastorally

Be ready to support participants who are feeling emotional from the forgiveness experience