Ever had students show up to youth group, and they look like a deer caught in head lights? They know no one, and feel super awkward. We’ve definitely experienced this in our ministry, and especially with freshman. So we did a few things to help them out this year.…
This week we are still talking about small groups.This week we bring in one of our veteran volunteers to talk about training, leadership, and care for our small group leaders. We had a lot of fun. Check it out!! Hope it Helps, Kurt & AC…
A few days ago I wrote a post on the pros and cons of having a youth group name. Check it out here. If you are thinking about giving your youth group a name, here are a few things I would think through before naming my group: Think about the purpose or mission of your youth group.…
Yesterday I had a conversation with a new youth worker who just got a lead youth ministry position. The conversation was on when should they change the name and thought I’d share a few of my thoughts. To be honest, I believe there is a strong case to have or not to have one, so I thought I write some pros and cons that I see to having one.…
One thing that I get to do in pastoral care is meet with parents. It is super great when the conversations are awesome, but it’s the worst when tough conversations have to happen. So I thought I would list a few mistakes I’ve made concerning dealing with parents and my learnings.…
Here’s a quick post about something I’ve been thinking about and trying to do in as many areas as possible concerning student leadership. And that something is give away as much of student leadership as possible. In our high school and Jr high ministry we’ve tried to give away as much of the ministry as possible.…
Being in youth ministry I’ve had the privilege of learning a lot. And I can honestly say out of all the things I’ve learned there are some learnings that I feel like I will never stop growing in. Now, when I started this list I easily thought this could be a 10,000 word post, but no one would read a post that long.…
I’ve just relaunched our student leadership program and it’s been a ton of fun. This is a program designed to help students lead within the ministry. I would encourage you to start something for your students that would allow them to lead in some capacity.…
Making connections through conversations is something that I’ve been really thinking about. Every meaningful connection that I’ve made in my life started with a conversation. I think in the past I’ve put more emphasis on connecting, and not enough emphasis on how important it is that we have conversations.…
I’ve been leading and influencing young people for a long time, both in a church setting and also as a public-school coach. And threaded through the thousands of conversations I’ve had with students is one overriding need—to belong to something bigger than themselves.…
