Hey Simply Insiders! We have another great guest post from Chris Roberts of Christ in Youth (CIY)! In his last one, he gave 5 Steps to Helping Students Find Their Identity. Today, Chris talks about how excellent worship can be the key to bringing your Jr.…
The past two weeks, Leneita Fix and I have been trying to expose some of the big elephants within the youth room – all of our youth rooms. One of the last ones I would like to highlight is the issue involving our students and our supposed ownership of them.…
This year with my small group I decided to try somethings that I didn’t do with my last group, and boy has it paid off. So I thought I’d share with you five things that I’ve tried this year in my small group that has brought them closer, and has also made them more interested in their life with God.…
Being a small group leader is great and scary at the same time. I took a group of guys from freshman year to senior year. It was great, but there were some things I had to learn to be okay with throughout the four years that I wish I knew at the beginning.…
Every Tuesday I eat lunch with our Children’s Ministry Pastor. I do it for three reasons…He’s a good friend, an extremely strategic thinker and every youth pastor needs to be in cahoots with the Children’s Pastor. Last week, while I chewed on a bun-less chili burger (Yes, chili burgers are totally healthy if you exclude the bun), Steve shared four key questions he asks about his ministry on a regular basis.…
One thing that I get to do in pastoral care is meet with parents. It is super great when the conversations are awesome, but it’s the worst when tough conversations have to happen. So I thought I would list a few mistakes I’ve made concerning dealing with parents and my learnings.…
We are living in a connection driven world. Every day it seems technology is advancing to help us better stay in touch with those we love. The upside of this is that those high school reunions are way less awkward now that we can deal with all the drama before we ever get there.…
I can recall my first major small group fail vividly from about 17 years ago. I had been in youth ministry for a few years by then, so I thought of myself as a little bit of an up-and-coming relational expert. …
I had the privilege of taking a few of my student leaders to a workshop where they were a part of a Q & A panel. There were youth workers there asking questions about their experience in youth ministry. Now, they had a few of the questions beforehand, but I didn’t prep them nor did I shape their answers.…
When I talk about identity, sexuality, and the gloriousness of God’s grace, I continually go back to two passages of scripture: Paul’s words in 1 Corinthians 6:11, and John’s words in 1 John 3:1-3. To me, these passages highlight a lot about the ground we stand upon, God’s love, our new identity, and the freedom offered through Christ.…
