Relational ministry can seem like a no-brainer. It’s simply being “in relationship” with students, right? Well yes…and no. It IS being in relationship with students, but how we evaluate that is everything. Simple things, like sending a student a well-worded text message or showing up at a football game or choir concert, are great places to start relationship.…
When you prep your talk, think about three audiences in your youth group. It doesn’t matter if they’re all actually in the room or not, thinking about them will prepare you for when they are. As you look to an application of your talk, consider these three people in the crowd: The “So What?”…
This month we’re introducing a new series here on the Simply Youth Ministry Today newsletter. We’ve talked Top 3 screw-ups (and who couldn’t add to that list, right?!) We’ve taken a look at three stellar resources on apologetics. And after being married to the Glass House Spouse for 21 years, I have a few Top 3 lists of my own—starting with the Top 3 ways to make your spouse hate youth ministry.…
Hopefully yesterday you took some time to think about the tightrope of ministry and how challenging each step of the journey can be. So what are some practical ways you can do youth ministry life well? Glad you asked! Here are 4 ways we try to put into practice ourselves: 1) Talk through the calendar before you go public with it.…
Occasionally Kurt and I take the time to take on “the 3” and this week our topic is what we are each learning right now about ourselves and ministry. I’ve picked out things I’ve learned in the past…or I think I’ve learned them in the past because it seems like all three of these are old and new at the same time.…
Why does your youth ministry exist? For a longer and fully developed book on the subject, we highly recommend Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry by our friend Doug Fields. Today we want to offer up a few key thoughts as you put yours together, or evaluate the one you inherited from the previous youth worker.…
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.…
How many times have you planned your lesson on a Saturday night while also trying to watch SNL? How often do you pray for red lights on the way to mid-week so the Holy Spirit can “lead you” to come up with something to talk about once you get there (as if the Holy Spirit can’t lead you a few days ahead of time!)?…
This week, Josh and I are each going to share a few things we’re thinking about this summer. We purposely aren’t looking at each other’s thoughts, so there could be an overlap or two. If that’s the case, then maybe we’re thinking about worthwhile stuff!…
I remember telling my mom that I was nervous about raising “pastor’s kids” because I had seen a fair amount who had not made healthy life choices. I clearly remember her saying, “Erik, you will raise them the same whether you’re a youth pastor or a plumber.”…
