Christmas can bring out the best in us. Unfortunately, it can also bring out the worst in us. (Need convincing…watch a Black Friday video where someone gets trampled so others can save $20 on a TV.) I find I often forget that part of my job is to also help students understand Christmas.…
Max’s four years in our ministry haven’t been pain-free. He often causes trouble around church and has been sent home from several camps. Max has tried to “be better,” but it never really sticks. We’ve tried everything. I’d love to tell of Max’s life transformation, but right now that isn’t the reality.…
One thing that I think youth workers are really good at is embracing change. We are trained to watch trends in culture, and we’re always attempting to adapt. Look at how quickly we embraced social media, and began using it to better our communication with our students.…
Let the students lead… Claire is a sophomore in my ministry. Last year, she and her mom bought tickets to the Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas—yes, it was that concert. A gunman in a hotel room above the concert venue opened fire, killing 59 people.…
Last month we did our big fall outreach, in one night we had two big events. The first part of the night was Laser Tag for middle schoolers followed by a huge game of Capture the Flag for high school students.…
Confrontation is not my favorite part of my job, but it is definitely part of the work of youth ministry. Hypothetically, when you have both a student and a parent calling out one of your student leaders for poor choices, it is time for you to step in and deal with it.…
I love reading books. I believe in constantly challenging myself to grow and learn as a youth worker. I’ve recently read two books by one author that have made such a huge impact on me as a follower of Christ, a parent, a spouse and also as a youth worker.…
It would only take us being friends for a few hours (maybe minutes) for you to know that I have a deep passion for seeing teenage girls encounter Jesus in a real way. And in my most honest opinion I believe that the church has at times missed caring for them.…
In a few days we’ll load up a few buses and cross the border into Canada for our High School Houseboat camp. I love camp; it is one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love that we spend almost as much time with our students in this one week as we do in the whole year at our programs.…
Being a teenager can be stressful. Studies show that more students struggle with depression and anxiety now than ever before. It is important to remind ourselves of this reality as we work to build a youth ministry that is safe for students.…
