We all know youth workers who have lost credibility with their students. We often pass judgment on them and know personally what we would have done differently. However, what makes a youth worker credible in a teenager’s eyes may be different from what a youth worker thinks will make them credible. …
Sometimes, youth ministry is like a bulldozer that plows stress-upon-stress onto your shoulders. If you let it keep piling up, it will bury you. So in the thick of stress, you need stuff you can do, not just stuff you can think about.…
I’ve worked with LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered) youth as a youth pastor and counselor for the last 15 years. Because I’ve listened to their stories for years, I know the world looks alienating at best and hostile at worst to them.…
Discussing suicide is never an easy conversation. With suicide getting more attention in the news lately, it has been revealed that there is a lack of resources to effectively discuss the subject with our students. It is important to have these discussions but it is equally important to have good discussions.…
A student’s suicide can be emotionally devastating. Using and modeling healthy coping strategies — such as seeking support — will help you and others on the journey to healing and acceptance. When a student dies, your grief may be heart wrenching.…
Stages of Grief To get us started, let’s just get rid of the word “stages” of grief. The very word “stages” implies order and progression. I would like to move away from that concept and use the word “dimensions” of grief instead. …
I am all too familiar with grief. It has been a constant companion in the work I do, working with the addicted, mentally ill, homeless, and youth. I have a background in emergency medical care first working as a paramedic and then later in an ER as part of a trauma team. …
Because of the difficulties students have in early and mid-adolescence to manage strong feelings of intimacy, the new experience of having someone who listens and whom they can trust sometimes lead them to believe that they are in love with their youth worker.…
This happens more often than not in ministry and we can justify it by claiming we are doing “God’s work” or “Kingdom work.” But too often those we love most sit home while we “run the race set before us.” Christians are divorcing at a rate comparable to non-Christians and I think neglect is one of the bigger offenders.…
In most professions there is a level of supervision that is required to ensure fidelity to certain expectations and to make sure that the company’s employees are “hitting the mark”. At best, in many churches, there is the annual performance review but the one performing the review is either way too removed to be helpful or too involved to remain objective.…
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