Like it or not Fall is upon us. The weather might still be warm (alright boiling hot for some of us) and the sun thankfully is still setting well into the evening. Weekends can still be spent at the beach or cooking out. …
The eyes of our students have shifted from camps and mission trips to the daily grind. If you are one of the lucky few who get to start post-Labor Day, that first day of school is looming right on the horizon.…
As a youth worker, you know it’s important to communicate well with parents. You may have learned that lesson via the School of Hard Knocks, maybe from a frustrated parent, or from 14 billion phone calls regarding something you should’ve conveyed with a quick text or email.…
Ministry to “special needs” kids is a big, big topic in the world of children’s ministry. If your ministry focus is grade-school kids, you can find dozens of books, workshops, magazine articles, and digital resources to help you come alongside the developmentally disabled.…
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.…
Youth ministry is shifting and changing. It is morphing into something it has never been before, and I am not sure any of us know what it will become. We know that there are some students who want to be at youth group anytime the doors are open, and others that seem to fade in and out.…
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.…
The other day a youth pastor friend asked me a question that pinpoints a major shift that’s changing his ministry landscape: “How do I get my kids to care about worship? Nothing seems to be working.” My friend isn’t alone. The “worship problem” is quickly spreading, and deepening, in youth ministry.…
Researchers now say the key to happiness is wanting less. If you don’t want much, the theory goes, you won’t be disappointed. According to Barry Schwartz in The Paradox of Choice, the abundance of choices today leaves us feeling less satisfied overall.…
Editor’s Note: The church-planting movement in America is growing exponentially, fueled and driven by an army of former youth pastors. Attend any church-planting conference and you’ll ram into a sea of youth workers who’ve migrated out of their niche and into the Wild, Wild West of broader church leadership.…
