In the News Ireland—A movement is underway to boost young people’s mental health by having them write positive letters to their future selves. ReachOut, a nonprofit group based in Ireland, began the “Note to Self” campaign on college campuses, and it’s since gone viral.…
It was two years ago—a typical student service on a typical Sunday night. We served the typical food and played the typical music and games right before I made our typical announcements and launched into one of my typical teaching times.…
First off, I realize this title may be the most obvious declaration in the history of column-writing. But I need constant reminding of this simple truth: [tweet_dis]Junior high ministry is about junior highers, not about me.[/tweet_dis] Let me paraphrase Abraham Lincoln, who said, “When I write a speech, I spend 75 percent of my time thinking about what the audience wants to hear and 25 percent thinking about what I want to say.”…
Summer is winding down. The students in your youth ministry are sadly putting away their beach towels and dusting off their school backpacks; they are about to trade their long days on the couch watching Netflix with long days behind their desks.…
Last week I looked into the eyes of some very apprehensive 11-year-olds. It was their last Sunday in “KidzTown.” Even though we made a big deal about “graduating them” up to youth group, still some pulled me aside and asked if they could have just “one more week” before they aged out of children’s ministry.…
(EDITOR’s NOTE: This post by Aaron Crumbey was written several years ago, in the wake of a string of brutal police encounters with African-Americans, setting off yet another crisis. What Aaron wrote then is still profound now.) I’ve been thinking about writing this post for weeks.…
I love seeing students be the church, and a great way they can do that is through our student leadership program. They really get to take ownership of our program and general ministry. We gave students a voice when we first started our student leadership program by letting them develop our mission statement and code of conduct.…
Dear youth pastor of my son who’s getting ready to graduate high school: Forgive me for being so preoccupied right now, as the last weeks of high school are finally here, and I can’t believe it’s almost over. I’ve been meaning to reach out and express my gratitude, but I’ve been so busy that I keep forgetting to say thank you for everything you’ve done for my son.…
Easter will be here before you know it! One of the most difficult things about ministry is the very few number of days between Sundays. Wouldn’t life be easier if we had a 10-day workweek? I think I would teach better lessons, lead better worship, and play more fun games.…
This has been an unusually busy season for my family. We all have them, there are those times when we feel the full weight of 24 hours in a day, five to eight of which are wasted in sleeping. If I could just harness the ability to never sleep, then I might get everything done.…
