You suffer through it every year with a sense of guilt, frustration, and pressure. May is notorious for what I like to call the “Senior Slump”. The senior slump is the presence, or lack thereof, of seniors who are slacking off on their commitment to just about every aspect of youth group.…
One night when I was in high school my youth pastor handed each student in our youth group a little sheet of neon-colored paper. On it was a list—a list he hoped would encourage the junior high and high school kids he cared so deeply about. …
Small Thinking Can Make A Big Difference! Any time youth workers get together one question emerges: “So, how many you running these days?” As a species, youth workers are infatuated with numbers. We talk about how many students went to camp, how many first-time visitors we’ve had, how many percentage points our average attendance increased.…
Note: You might want to watch this episode of Let’s Talk Youth Ministry before or after reading today’s post to get a broader sense of the context. Whether or not I’ll cast a vote to put the first female in the oval office in a few months remains to be seen, but when it comes to creating a youth ministry culture that is female-friendly…I vote YES!…
Christian gossip. “Did you hear what Andy Stanley said about small churches? Oh, I know he apologized but that isn’t enough; his statements revealed his true heart. Let’s write an open letter!” “Did you know that Rick Warren is the founder of Chrislam, a new religion aimed at combining Christianity and Islam?…
Our high school ministry is in the middle of what has become the highlight of their youth group calendar every year. We call it “You Own The Weekend (YOTW)”, a six-week “series” in which the students from six different local high schools run the entire weekend service.…
I’m an evangelist at heart. I like planting seeds. And while I’m not the guy who is eagerly looking for an opportunity to share the Romans Road with my barista or hang out at the skate parking looking for the chance to drop a spiritual law or two on unsuspecting hoodlums, I do have an innate desire to expose as many teenagers as possible to the good news of Jesus.…
Youth Ministry 101: Let’s Talk About What We Should Talk About Pretend a junior higher comes to youth group every week without fail. In two years she will sit through about 100 lessons. A committed high schooler will get about 200. …
“Shoot for the moon, and you just might hit the street light!” I’m not sure where I first heard it, but that pithy little quote has served me well over the years. I think it’s a perfect reminder for all of us as we head into a new year of ministry. …
More Rest. Less Stress! For the past decade, our family has had a Christmas vacation tradition. Before dawn on the morning after Christmas, we hop into an RV and join some of our closest friends for a week of camping and riding dirt bikes in the beautiful, wide-open Southern California desert. …
