Serving in youth ministry is both rewarding and challenging. As a leader, you’re a catalyst for helping teenagers grow as disciples of Jesus, a counselor who must deal with upset parents and discouraged adolescents, and an EMT who has to treat the occasional dodgeball injury. Often, all in the same day. As you walk through the ups and downs of your calling, we’re here to support, encourage, and equip you with ideas that will fuel your journey as a Jesus-centered leader.
What You’ll Find
Our leadership topics are designed to give you the knowledge and skills to confidently guide your ministry. We’ll cover the must-know areas—including working with parents and volunteers, planning and productivity, and the broad range of skills you need as an adolescent specialist in ministry. And, most important, we’ll help you grow your own relationship with Jesus so your leadership flows out of a “deeper well.”
Check out this new episode!!! Congrats to Josh Hurley the “WINNER” of the(WHAT IS THIS?) contest!!! Email Bag: 1.I’m new. What do I do? 2.Website or nah? 3.How to get students to participate? Also: Check us out on Itunes!!! Hope it helps, AC & Kurt…
Ramsay’s Kitchen Nightmares is one of my all time favorite shows. In this reality show classic, famous chef and restaurant guru, Gordon Ramsay, visits failing restaurants and tries to turn them around in just one week. The show is appropriately titled.…
In case you missed the first in The Volunteer Cycle series, check it out here: It Never Ends! Youth ministry is a team sport. There are no Lone Rangers in youth ministry. Our job is to equip the saints for works of service.…
It seems that other than figuring out how One Direction is still so popular, few things weigh as heavily on the mind of the youth worker than volunteer leaders. The specifics vary from ministry to ministry, but the themes seem to be the same: “How do I find more leaders to join our team?”…
I’d like to tell you two stories. The first story involves how bands shift players around. It’s just the way it works. It’s rare to find the original group together like they when everything started. Audio Adrenaline, a Christian rock band that rose to fame in the mid-nineties, is no exception.…
I realize the title of this post is a bit invasive. It assumes you’re hiding a particular sin. I once worked with someone who thought this way and spoke out often on the subject. He’d say to just about anyone, “I really have a hard time believing that you’re not hiding something sinful.”…
High-maintenance parents. Early in my youth ministry career, I would have rather juggled chainsaws while blindfolded than deal with the parents in my ministry who were impossible to please. You know the type: – “Summer camp is too expensive.” – “My daughter didn’t get in the small group she requested.”…
Sexting. You can talk about this until you’re blue in the face. Still, a large majority of teens and adults see nothing wrong with it: “Our only way of being alone was to do it over the phone.” – one teen, about why she began sexting It doesn’t help that people students look up to find a reason to justify such pictures, even in the midst of public embarrassment.…
I’m thankful for my “home” church in Whittier, California. In addition to giving a 21-year old his first shot at full-time ministry, it’s where I gave my life to Jesus in high school and where I met my wife, Rachel. But it’s also where I was taught not to doubt.…
Strategic Youth Ministry; nothing new about that idea. Doug Field’s classic book, Purpose Driven Youth Ministry, began it’s quest for youth ministry world domination almost TWENTY years ago. And while it outlined the most popular (and in my experience extremely effective) youth ministry paradigm, it certainly wasn’t the first or last.…
