(Here’s the 2nd installment from Brent Lacy from his new book, Rural Youth Ministry. Enjoy! – Stephanie) Article 2) The Value of your Community in Rural Youth Ministry You won’t be very long in your new place of Rural Youth Ministry before you hear some form of the following statement – “you’re just a transplant; what do you know? 
It’s important, of course, to pay attention to the “best practices” of youth ministry. It’s equally important to discover and uproot the ministry habits that masquerade as effective but are more like malpractice. Here’s the third installment of my malpractice starter list—I’ll post the final installment next week… Malpractice #3—Treating Relevance As If It Outranks Intimacy Another buzzword in youth ministry that sounds slam-dunk crucial to our effectiveness is relevance.…
Are small groups part of your student ministry? Are they working? The traditional small group model may be the last sacred cow of today’s church. Statistically, we know that young people are now the largest, most irreligious generation ever on the rise.…
Before the next school year starts, I dare you to set the kind of high-level ministry goals that will revolutionize your impact. But remember, goal-setting is different than planning. Planning a summer retreat is not a goal; it’s a task. Extending your reach to 10 teenagers in your community who are not currently involved in your ministry is a goal.…
By Rick Lawrence I was driving home from a writing retreat, where I’d been off the grid for four days—no Wi-Fi, no cell service. I called my wife to let her know I was on the road, and I heard that edge in her voice that I know all too well… “Rick, there’s an active shooter situation happening right now, at the STEM school that’s 10 minutes from us.…
What’s your big dream for your youth ministry this year? And can you sum it up on a T-shirt? Leadership guru Peter Drucker made the “T-shirt” challenge famous—his argument was that big goals should be so easy to understand that they fit on a T-shirt.…
The online adventure game Fortnite is exploding in popularity among adolescents—no surprise there. But its popularity is even more stunning with adults—it’s the favorite addiction of celebrities, professional athletes, and cultural influencers of all stripes. Ninja, a famous Fortnite player and Twitch gamer (Twitch is a website dedicated to all things gaming, a YouTube-like service for streaming and viewing video games), reportedly makes $500,000 a month playing Fortnite.…
A mission trip is like the Olympic steeplechase: You run as fast as you can over every imaginable obstacle to get to the finish line. Maybe your obstacle is the girl who shows up with five large luggage bags. Or maybe it’s the guy who’s wearing clothes that won’t work well in your context.…
Messes, I have made them in ministry. I have made incorrect choices that would make you break into a cold sweat and hives. I have made mistakes, and some big ones along the way. I have not thought out plans, and paid the price.…
Like many of you, I’ve got ministry friends all over. When the rumblings of a quarantine first started, I reached out to a few of my closest friends to mine their perspective on what might happen. When reality set in, I reached back out to see what student ministry would look like inside our new reality.…
