It’s that time of the year. Sometime soon, if it hasn’t happened already, people will begin to either root in or leave your church. It can wear you down… even if you attempt to see it all through a healthy metaphor.…
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.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, Rick explores five crucial practices that make it possible to “go into the cave” on behalf of students or their parents—five things that give us the foundation to offer real help in times of great trauma, tragedy, or challenge.…
Revisiting a Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, Rick explores five crucial practices that make it possible to “go into the cave” on behalf of students or their parents—five things that give us the foundation to offer real help in times of great trauma, tragedy, or challenge.…
Our “Wired Ministry” columnist Brandon Early is a longtime youth pastor who’s collected a few pet peeves along the way. Here’s one that’s focused on financial frustrations that orbit typical youth ministry trips—we asked youth workers who serve on our “In the Trenches” team to take a whack at answering Brandon’s question, below: “What’s the system you use to help students pay for trips and retreats?…
It starts innocently enough. She brings sandwiches for a Sunday-night event. She hangs out in the kitchen area, coyly watching all the fun and dreaming of what could be. Over the next few weeks, she strategically positions herself so she’s near the student room.…
I’m going to be honest and say I have not mastered what I’m about to share with you. I’m in the middle of this one-sided wrestling match with you. The school year will soon begin. Youth groups across the country will soon be having or are planning kickoff events.…
(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.…
There are preconceived ideas of who “people in ministry” are supposed to be.This holds especially true in youth ministry. You can make the stereotypical list yourself, I don’t think I even need to name the traits. The problem is that not all of us are capable of becoming the resident IT person.…
Your summer mission trip is on the launching pad—the countdown is on. Maybe you just completed your last leg on the fund-raising marathon (who knew teenagers could sell that many over-priced balls of cookie dough?). Your spreadsheet mapping the intricate details of the trip is filling up.…
