The Conversation, Not the Talk… When my son turned ten and entered 5th grade, during the summer, we had what many parents call “the talk”. It is the classic father-son moment talking about birds and bees. You can picture the scene sitting on his bed, talking about all the details of life and answering a […]
Doing Minsitry Your Way? Ten of the WORST Reasons for doing youth ministry the way you are doing it? 10. It is what my own youth group did when I was in youth group. 9. It is what the church has always done? 8. I just don’t feel like being creative? 7. It is the […]
We all know the time-honored phrase and what accompanies it, “Why are you hitting yourself?” It is repeated by older siblings, classmates, and others as they grab our hand, overpower us, and beat us silly.
While it may not happen physically to us, as we get older and stronger, it still does sometimes happens in adulthood, even in ministry settings. It continues through micromanagement and controlling leadership that beat us up emotionally, socially, and spiritually.
Building Blocks of Constructive Teaching, as we face a continued conversation about the deconstruction of faith. Maybe it is time we, in youth ministry, reclaim our place in the conversation and actually claim our place pre-deconstruction. Is it possible that the seeming flood of well-known Christian voices grew up in an era of youth ministry […]
Talking to Students about School Shootings. Ministry is about a lot of things, but a growing need in youth ministry in our current era is to help teens process crisis-based tragedies like school shootings. Events like what happened again this week are happening more and more often, and students have questions, anxiety, and concerns about […]
Sunday Experience or Sunday Service… A few years ago, I was at a church that INSISTED on using the word “EXPERIENCE” in describing their Sunday morning gathering. The staff was not allowed to use the word “SERVICE; it was considered old fashion and outdated. Listening and observing, I had thought about it quite a bit as […]
Mistakes Communicating with Leaders– As ministry leaders, most of us are paid communicators. Our churches and organizations give us the mic and turn up the volume when we have something to say. It is our job to be the upfront and loud person. For some reason, though, many leaders are just not very clear when […]
Ten MORE Youth Ministry Programming Misses, Another Quick Top Ten List Of What We Aim for and Often What We Miss in the End. 10. Aiming to Attract SHOPPERS, Missing Building Faithful MEMBERS. 9. Aiming for SUCCES, Missing BLESSING. 8. Aiming for more BODIES in SEATS, Missing HEARTS for ETERNITY. 7. Aiming for TEACHING, Missing […]
Raising the Bar in Ministry, four key areas in youth ministry that are essentials that deserve a higher standard. Youth ministry as a career and a profession is now being recognized. Great schools offer higher levels of education and degrees in the study of youth ministry. There are now professional-level, executive-style search companies helping churches […]
Youth Ministry Programming Misses, A Quick Top Ten List Of What We Aim for and Often What We Miss in the End. 10. Aiming for QUANITY, Missing the QUALITY. 9. Aming to SPEND, Missing STEWARDSHIP. 8. Aiming for Old TRADITION, Missing New TRAJECTORY. 7. Aiming at PLANNING, Missing at PRAYER. 6. Aiming for a SOCIAL […]
