Summer is here! Students are out of school, camp schedules are looming, personal vacations are coveted for a much-needed get away and before you know it the fall kick off will be here very soon. I tend to always feel an awkward ache when I can’t meet with every student or be able to see all our students and their friends during the summer.…
Today’s teenagers are glued to their tech devices. They have tablets, laptops, and especially cell phones that suck them in and demand their full energy and attention, often to the exclusion of other important things in life—including sleeping, live interaction with family members and peers, and schoolwork.…
I’ve been leading and influencing young people for a long time, both in a church setting and also as a public-school coach. And threaded through the thousands of conversations I’ve had with students is one overriding need—to belong to something bigger than themselves.…
Youth ministry in the summer has always been a struggle for me. Ministry momentum slows way down because my teenagers re-focus their time on… Summer jobs Family vacations Camps Trips to grandma’s house Attendance is frustratingly inconsistent—without warning, we can go from 24 kids to 87 kids any given week.…
We have been in the throes of graduations galore. Hats are thrown in the air, celebrations had, and gifts given. Then it’s over, but it’s not. The pomp and circumstance has died away, but students are still in a waiting space for the future to arrive.…
Ministry is amazing… We get to spend our greatest energy wading into the deepest pools of others—their triumphs and failures, joys and sorrows. And we have the honor of pointing them toward the Lifeguard/Swim Coach who’s teaching them how to be strong swimmers!…
For many years the longtime column I wrote for GROUP Magazine was titled “The Youth Ministry Drill Sergeant”—I guess I have the sort of opinions that fit best in a boot-camp setting. Translation: I’m very direct when I have something to say.…
Helping Teens Make Healthy Decisions By Duane Smith, Small Church Ministry Architects One of my favorite periodicals is Youth Culture Update, a monthly publication produced by the Center for Parent /Teen Understanding, to help parents and youth workers understand the influence of modern culture upon our teens.…
On a Friday night in 1998, after watching a comedy with friends at a movie theatre, my brother came home, kissed my mom goodnight, went into his room, and hung himself. We don’t know the exact reasons why Brandon took his life, but we know he wrestled with depression on a daily basis.…
Reaching Kids Experiencing Same Sex Attraction An article from Jonathan McKee at TheSource4YM.com “We are confident in our theology concerning sexuality. We are equally confident that how we’ve traditionally approached sexuality, and ministering to teenagers in all stages of their sexual identity, has been unintentionally hurtful, confusing, and alienating to a whole bunch of teenagers.”…
