It’s day four. You’re sitting in a fast-food booth with three teenagers. There’s a greasy double-decker burger sitting five inches from your belly—mocking your pathetic “healthy eating” vow. It’s your third this week. The kid sitting across from you is drinking his milkshake, and you can tell he’s nearly done.…
In this excerpt from Rick Lawrence’s revised book Jesus-Centered Youth Ministry, our conventional understand-and-apply approach to spurring spiritual growth in students is skewered, in favor of a revolutionary rewriting of our job description. I was invited to have lunch with six youth pastors who’d been singled out by a seminary professor as men and women who’d managed to build long-term thriving youth ministries.…
Charlie Chaplin, the legendary silent-film actor, once entered a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest at a crowded vaudeville theater in San Francisco. Apparently the competition was fierce, because the real Chaplin lost. In fact, he didn’t even place among the finalists. Charlie’s own fans didn’t recognize him in their midst—even those who were trying to imitate him.…
by Steve Case What better way to celebrate the birth of the church than with a youth-led worship experience? This isn’t a long service—you won’t want to build an evening around it. The purpose is to capture the spirit of Pentecost (literally), and it can be incorporated into a regular morning worship service.…
Sherlock Holmes is a lot like Batman. Yes, they both wear an iconic “costume,” but that’s trivial. Here’s their crucial sameness: Lacking a “superpower,” they both practice an eccentric commitment to a skill-set that, in their own disparate ways, “sets captives free.”…
Editor’s Note: I met Jeanne Mayo more than a decade ago on a flight to the Canadian boondocks, where we were both speaking at a conference for youth leaders. She saw me walking back to the restroom on the plane, introduced herself, and asked if I’d like to hang with her.…
Too many times, too many youth leaders vastly underestimate the typical Christian teenager’s capacity to understand, embrace, and apply significant Christian theology. Perhaps this is due to the caliber and “depth” of many curriculum. Most lessons are running low on theology.…
Near the beginning of the 21st century, respected Christian pollster and cultural commentator George Barna dropped a big rock in the youth ministry pond. New research, he said, proves that just 4% of all Christians “take the plunge” when they’re teenagers.…
by Jeanne Mayo Ever feel frustrated that new opportunities pass you by—or never even become available? Here’s some advice I recently shared with a youth leader who was in that boat. Follow it to position yourself for advancement in God’s kingdom:1.…
It was a crazy night in the mosh pit. Fists and limbs swinging through the air—kids colliding, shoving, and rolling off each other. And, like Moses standing before the Red Sea, I needed these roiling waters to part so I could get through to the other side.…
