I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… A healthy relationship with your senior pastor is a core part of a healthy youth ministry. I understand this isn’t often the case, and you may wonder most days what’s happening in his or her head. …
Fifteen years ago, I found myself unexpectedly let go from a full-time youth ministry role. I didn’t see it coming, nor was I prepared for what to do to provide for my family. Typical of these sorts of traumas, I saw myself as the persecuted hero and my church as the insensitive villain. …
Years ago, I made amazing youth ministry calendars. Jealous? Between finding the right fonts and Photoshopping students into clever clip-art, each calendar took about 10 hours to create. My hope was that if one of our students accidentally dropped the calendar at school (because what student wouldn’t carry around such an amazing calendar?),…
How good looking are people on staff? Do they root for the same sports team as I do? Do they serve good coffee? Now obviously, these questions should be low on your priorities when trying to decide your first or next church to work/serve.…
Years ago, our youth director shared something that I still think is brilliant. She shared about the pain and fatigue any of us can feel in serving God through church: When someone is hurt by a church organization, it’s a special kind of pain… there’s something deeper and kind of unique about the hurt that comes from realizing the imperfections of an organization that is supposed to be God’s representation on the earth.…
Once upon a time, George Lucas was the creator of Star Wars. Some would argue he still is. Unfortunately, most of us know better…sort of like how it is in any kind of church ministry. Depending upon how old you are, you either grew up with Star Wars or inherited it from the generation before you.…
I’m taking a week off from youth ministry. It’s not because I’m going on vacation. It’s not because I have too many things in my schedule. It’s not because I no longer love students. I’m just about ready to rip some of their heads off… that’s all.…
Ned Nederlander. Franck. Jiminy Glick. These popular fictional characters were given life through the creative mind and talent of Martin Short. And then there’s Ed Grimley… Martin Short’s first breakthrough character. You may not know the backstory of how this greasy-hair-cowlicked-vertically-in-the-air, teeth-baring hyperactive manchild came to be… let alone how it all relates to the nerves and presumptions we all wrestle with in struggling to say something profound. …
Once upon a time, I thought it would be a great idea to fill a hot tub full of milk, sardines and pigs feet. Who hasn’t, right? It was one of those crazy youth ministry program nights where our leadership team thought up absurd things we thought we could get students to do.…
Job interviews are so stressful that they can cause pain. We think through every word, over-analyze the questions, and beg God to tip the scales for us. And I’m describing what employers like me, not just applicants like you, must endure… In almost 20 years as a pastor (and a veteran of youth ministry myself), I’ve interviewed a lot of potential youth pastors.…
