Longevity
We all know the reputation: “The average youth pastor stays at a church for 18 months.” Ouch. And it was true and often still is true of our colleagues. However, Group Magazine’s research has shown that it’s actually more like 4 years.…
Tag: Pope
Puppy Love
I received the following email last week: Subject: new youth pastors and puppy 🙂 We just wanted to say we thought it was wonderful the new youth pastors were introduced to the entire congregation last Sunday. And we absolutely loved the puppy!!…
How Not to Treat Your Volunteers
I recently had the opportunity of going on a nature trip with my daughter’s 6th-grade class, and I must say the kids had a great time. My daughter came back with a huge smile and some great memories. Unfortunately we volunteer parents didn’t have smiles on our faces.…
If You Feed Them, They Will Come
My three daughters love animals. So it was no surprise recently when my oldest daughter asked if we could put up a bird feeder. I agreed to put up the feeder, but in the back of my mind I had my doubts.…
Long-Haul Love
I’ve counseled kids through almost every imaginable problem and cried through almost every type of tragedy. Solomon was right: There’s nothing new under the sun. So how do you keep your love for teenagers real? Back in college, I was on a bus returning from a ministry tour.…
Righteous Youth Ministry
Proverbs 21:2-3“All the ways of a man seem right to him, but the Lord evaluates the motives. Doing what is righteous and just is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice.” “But I’m doing youth ministry the way it should be done.”…
Confidence
As I’ve been watching students developed into leaders, I’ve noticed that their leadership skills grow in direct proportion to their growth in confidence. So how do we as youth leaders help our students grow in confidence? What are the intentional actions we need to take to help students believing in themselves?…
The Youth Ministry Draft
So a few weeks ago was the big NFL draft. With the first pick, the 0-16 Detroit Lions selected quarterback Matthew Stafford and gave him a 6-year deal that includes $41.7 million guaranteed—a record amount of guaranteed money for any player—rookie or veteran—in NFL history.…
7 Steps to Achieving Your Purpose
Are you experiencing what God has for you—both in your life and as a youth minister? Are you fulfilled and growing? Are you seeing results? Most of my coaching clients hire me because they aren’t fulfilled. Through my work, I’ve learned how frustrating it is to want to “live and lead from the inside out” but to have no idea how to get started.…
Watch and See
By nature I’m a “doer,” but lately God has been teaching me how to be a “watcher.” And it’s been humbling and encouraging and incredibly exciting to watch God at work in the lives of my teenagers. Here’s the challenge: Sometimes I get so preoccupied with programming and teaching and leading and even mentoring that I forget to step back and watch what God is doing.…