Have you ever been in a teaching funk? Most teachers have, and it feels like I’m in one now! I love teaching God’s word and I am fortunate enough to be the primary teacher in our junior high ministry. Like most pastors, I’m critical of my own teaching.…
Blog by Dave Sippel Apparently a student in Melbourne, Australia tested the 10-second rule. You know…you drop a morsel of food on the floor. If you pick it up within 10-seconds it’s still okay to eat. Well, we now know that this is simply not true.…
The past few years in ministry have changed the way I disciple students. If you would have asked me just a few weeks ago how discipleship works I would have told you that once a student comes to Christ, spend time with them, eat meals together, ask the hard questions, support their sports teams, and get connected with their family, then you will see fruit.…
Summer is quickly approaching, and many church leaders are busy planning summer trips, camps, and retreats. When I was in young adult ministry we would spend our Spring anticipating the changing season and plan out our Summer and Fall retreat environments.…
Part 3: FAQs [Part 3 of 4] So far we’ve addressed misplaced priorities in families, and overcoming three of the top challenges in developing a spiritual growth plan in families. While I’m certain we’re making progress, the list of questions generated by this topic feels exponential.…
While having my spiritual retreat day at a local coffee store I ran into one of my youth group kid’s dad. He actually has twin girls. I was on FB and noticed what one of them said about the other: “I have the greatest sister in the world.”…
Every great organization has great leadership… period. It’s going to be nearly impossible to become great if your leadership is sub-par. Believe it or not, this relates to churches as well. Many times, in church work, we find ourselves in a tough spot; desperate for help, so we compromise in the area of leadership and we get ‘Volunteers’ to serve in our ministries instead of ‘Leaders.’…
It had been a rough night with our middle school youth. I was talking it through with some of my adult leaders when I had an interesting thought. Often we want kids who already “get it.” They don’t talk back; they do what we ask them to do, etc.…
Here is a confession of this youth pastor; I am NOT wired for junior high ministry and I never have been. I can pull off junior high camp, events, connect with leaders, but the week-in and week-out just isn’t me.…
One of my favorite roles as a youth pastor is taking students out of their environment to experience a retreat or to serve their community. When this happens, more times than not, discipleship can more easily happen. To make these trips, events, retreats, and camps happen, we must clearly communicate through our promotions.…
