As I think about caring for and training volunteers and leaders I can’t help but remember the days when I was one of those weary and worn volunteers myself. Then again, I still volunteer quite a bit (as do a lot of youth ministers) with youth camps, retreats, and of course lock-in parking lot patrols.…
One of the keys to keeping new leaders and continually improving the skill set of your volunteer team is to keep them trained. Here are a few ideas to help you get your team ahead: Take everyone to a conference Few youth budgets in the world can handle the strain of flying a team of volunteers across the country to one of the large youth ministry conferences.…
What and Why….I can still hear the owner of the old camp that I once worked at. During staff training he always taught a class called “Interpersonal Management Skills.” He knew that my staff would be working in very close quarters for 8 weeks.…
For fans of The Office, you already know. But for those who don’t watch this show, for whatever reason, Robert California is the new CEO of Sabre’, and works half the time out of the Scranton Branch. With the recent premiere, and our first episode with the new boss, he had a great leadership principle that played itself out in the episode.…
An angry parent can be intimidating and overbearing. Whether the encounter is planned or by surprise it is so important to check your heart. An angry parent is most likely coming to you because they want the best for their child, not to take you down.…
From time to time we’re going to take a pause from the normal format and answer a few questions from you: the youth ministry nation. Here are two we received recently: What are the differences between a typical Jr. High program and a High School program?…
The beginning of a new school year is a great time to do a quick youth ministry “check up” . A perfect question to ask is, “Why does our youth ministry exist?” If you can’t clearly define why your ministry exists, then you will likely be tossed about by the most recent trends, the coolest fads, and the loudest voices. …
When crisis hits your youth group … think of it as an incredible opportunity to serve your students and their families. Time to jump into action! In future articles we’ll cover some specific things to say or to avoid – this is more of a take from 50,000 ft.…
Last week we talked about debriefing your summer calendar, and we got a great response from it (largely asking the question, “how?”) and thought it might be good to devote a whole article on the topic. So today we’re going to list 20 questions to help you begin to evaluate your summer youth ministry calendar: ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Equip your adult volunteers & students to grow as leaders in your ministry.…
Summer. A time full of camps, retreats, pool parties, bbq’s. In most places, we scale back. Me? I scale back a lot. I take the summer to scale back, plan for the coming school year, and focus. This week’s SYM Today helped me reflect over the last 5 summers… My first one, I filled up my calendar “to keep the kids busy.”…
