One of the core skills of a good small group leader is the ability to facilitate deeper relationships. Deeper relationships don’t accidentally happen, they typically begin with conversations and most conversations don’t begin deep. Leaders must learn to initiate conversation and some time getting conversations started can be tricky.…
The training of other leaders is a crucial element within a healthy youth ministry because there’s too much work for one leader to accomplish! Since there is no “one way” to train small group leaders, here are a few big-picture ideas that have shaped our thinking in training small group leaders: Keep the training short and simple.…
It’s summer and time for you to take a well-deserved break from youth ministry, whether it’s for two days or two weeks. I can attest that vacations and even short getaways are huge for “staying in the game” for the long haul.…
After eight years in youth ministry I recently stepped into a new role as a teaching pastor at a suburban church. If you’ve ever transitioned from one career path to another, you know how challenging it can be. Although I can point to many examples of effective ministry, I’ve been reflecting lately on what I would’ve done differently if I could do it over again….…
If you’re a leader you can’t escape it—you will be criticized. Criticism is aimed at leaders because everyone (including leaders) is imperfect and hurting and hurting people end up hurting others. At the beginning of one’s leadership journey it’s very difficult to try to separate personalized criticism into a truth or untruth category–criticism jumps straight to personal hurt.…
There is nothing simple about discipleship, but our simple to understand definition of discipleship is: obedience to Jesus. It’s thinking like Jesus wants us to think and doing what he wants us to do. A youth ministry that wants an element of depth will help teenagers live a life of obedience.…
“How do youth workers thrive amidst the demands of ministry?” That’s a question we need to ask—as early as possible—so that the ministries we’re a part of are characterized by both effectiveness and longevity. Often, we’re obsessed with effectiveness: “How do we run our small groups better?”…
In part one of this series we took the time to talk about areas in the pastoral leaders’ lives that will help them be the person God has called them to be. Now it seems appropriate to address areas that can be detrimental to the pastoral leader.…
Sometimes I wonder if I complain too much. It seems that I’m not very good at being content. There are days that I love what I’m doing and feel blessed that God is letting me do it, but even little things get in the way of me being truly joyful.…
