If you’re a volunteer youth worker who needs to take a break, this article might help you. If you’re a youth pastor with maxed-out volunteers, this article might give you perspective. I am a longtime volunteer youth worker and full-time staffer at my church in a non-youth ministry role. …
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.…
“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.…
Patrick Mahomes is 23 years old, fresh off his first full year as a starting quarterback in the NFL, and is already considered the most feared player in the game. He’s just won the NFL’s 2018/19 Most Valuable Player Award, the youngest to do so since Dan Marino in 1984.…
Teenagers are living in a rapidly shifting morality landscape, fueled by a “your truth is yours and my truth is mine” mentality. Meanwhile, anxiety and depression are epidemic among these over-scheduled, hyper-busy kids—whose addiction to social media has made vulnerability their greatest fear. …
Let the students lead… Claire is a sophomore in my ministry. Last year, she and her mom bought tickets to the Jason Aldean concert in Las Vegas—yes, it was that concert. A gunman in a hotel room above the concert venue opened fire, killing 59 people.…
Today our hearts and prayers are with the city of Charleston and the members of Emanuel. The horrific shootings that have occurred in our communities, remind us that we live in uncertain times. Yes, we should pray for the people involved, and we should also seriously think through the safety of our students and ministry.…
I can’t believe how many opportunities I’ve wasted taking students on mission trips. I know I’m not the only one. Mission trips are an amazing idea…but what we tend to do with them (or not do with them) is the real issue.…
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.…
For years, I prayed for the “right one” to come along. I can remember sitting across from my friend John and telling him about the other guys I really liked. Then somehow in the span of three years and in spite of my move to another country, we became best friends and realized how much we could just be “ourselves” with the each other.…
