It’s time to lean into the grind. What does that mean? Read on to find out! Youth ministry is hard. Of course, it’s also fun—I love what I do, even when it’s hard. But some seasons are harder than others. In our context, Winter feels like downtime, with the pace of life a little slower (except for Christmas).…
Julie’s a 10-year youth ministry vet. That means she’s sailed her ministry ship into the doldrums over and over. The doldrums, as it turns out, is a real thing—it’s the name sailors have given to the Intertropical Convergence Zone, where the northeast and southeast trade winds converge into a stifling calm.…
Socrates said: “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Likewise, our unexamined study-prep rituals can lead to teaching that isn’t worth delivering. The back-to-school season gives us a good excuse to revisit them. That’s what Ralph Paige, a veteran youth pastor, does every year.…
Each summer for the last three years, our youth ministry has served our city through a weeklong local mission trip called “I HEART LINCOLN” (or I❤LNK). Our teenagers pay a $100 fee and are placed on a team with two leaders—each team is assigned a pre-arranged service project organized by a local organization in our city.…
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.…
Relationships are messy. And relationships are the context for our calling. Put two and two together and you get a “messy calling.” Because relationships do not run on formulas, we have no universal rules or guidelines to follow. In fact, even the best relational suggestions are often helpful only once or twice.…
Who are you “supposed” to call today? Which teenager “should” you hang out with this week? How many of your own family’s activities do you “need” to show up for this month? Look, we’re all busy—it doesn’t matter whether we’re full-time, part-time, or a volunteer.…
I was relational before relational was cool… Way back in the day, I invited kids in my youth group to run errands with me, signed on to be a substitute teacher to earn street cred with kids at school, and invited the families of my teenagers over for dinner.…
“Helloooooo!!!” I greet teenagers as they walk up the stairs to our middle and high school student ministry area. There’s a platform at the top of the landing where kids gather before they make their way into the youth room. I love this space.…
I have hundreds and hundreds of bookmarks saved in the various web browsers I use. I’m sharing 15 of my favorites—the sites I visit all the time. Some will seem like “no duh” sites, but check out my “why description” before you skip them.…
