In the often-chaotic cloud that is everyday youth ministry, one goal always rises to the surface—growing disciples who follow Jesus with an all-in commitment. You’re after life-changing, inside-out transformation—driven by a passion for Jesus that spills out onto the lives of others.
What You’ll Find
The Discipleship section offers practical ideas and insights about effective discipleship in youth ministry. We explore the method and models and strategies your ministry can use to help “seed” a generation of teenagers who are all-in for Jesus.
The story goes that street performer Jesse Rya was doing what he does best, playing guitar and singing. Jamie Maldonado of Dallas was headed to the grocery store when he took notice of Jesse, liked what he heard and started to video him.…
Life is not easy when you are the fat kid in Middle School. But in 1984, that is exactly who I was. I was a short, pudgy roly-poly with a bowl cut and glasses. Needless to say I was a very easy target for bullies.…
*Read PART 1 here!* Left to their own devices, children with Asperger’s Disorder will often go through life like a train on a track: one way, straight ahead, never varying, and avoiding the unexpected. It is hard to live a life of faith without the flexibility to take-risk, something that is difficult for an Apsie.…
This past weekend about 75 people from our church went away for the weekend to talk about discipleship. I want to share some quotes from this past weekend, but before I do, here were a two things about discipleship that we constantly drive home to the people in our church: It is not separated from evangelism. …
In a setting which relies heavily on spoken and written words the Asperger’s child is at a disadvantage. With a growing awareness of Asperger’s and its nuances youth ministries need to adjust some of their practices to make it more accessible to those who have traits of or a diagnosis of the disorder.…
Many teenagers are wandering away from faith and/or church upon graduating from high school and moving out of our youth groups. What, exactly, can we do about it? We can do nothing, and we can do a lot. We can do nothing in that the reality has always been that some people who are close to Jesus wander, deny, struggle, deny, and abandon him.…
Below is excerpt of an email one mom sent to another. Both mom’s are walking the journey of raising a gay child. I thought what my friend shared with this particular mom was info more moms and dads need to read.…
It is not enough for a youth ministry program to simply be ready to serve the Disabled Youth Community. Rather, the ministry should be proactive in making the Disabled Youth Community aware of its accessibility. It is hoped that any ministry targeting youth with disabilities will be in contact from the outset with any known families or organizations serving them.…
Read Faith Abandonment: Part 1 here. While I tend to think the “statistics” (I put them in quotes because everybody knows that 75% of statistics are wrong 85% of the time.) citing how many students actually walk away from faith/church upon graduation are an overshot, I would have to have my head buried in the sand to pretend it’s an issue that those of us called to minister to teenagers can ignore.…
Accommodations for students with cognitive impairments can include the use of visual cues, mixed media, and the repetition of major points. Experiential exercises are often effective for a young person with intellectual or cognitive disabilities. Role-playing works well for a person with developmental disabilities – the process of playing a role themselves helps them to internalize it.…
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