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.”…
The fall is one of our favorite times in our youth ministry. Summer is over and everyone gets ready to go back to school. And in our ministry – it also means “back to church” (we have church during the summer but attendance is much, much lower)!…
Recently I met with some college grads to talk “best practices” in youth ministry. At the end of our time we closed in prayer. The room quieted as each bore their souls to their beloved Savior. They repented for the time they do not seek His face first. …
Even though summer is not over until late September, for youth workers it’s over once school starts. Hopefully you have had some time to get ready for this coming school year, completed all your summer activities, and somewhere in there found time for vacation. …
Our student ministry’s leadership team is currently reading the book Creating Magic by former Walt Disney World CEO Lee Cockrell. A wonderful insight into leading and working with people littered with great stories of the happiest place on earth. And in that book we found a tool that we have changed slightly and employed with our ministry.…
Volunteers suck…literally. They’re draining. Sometimes they suck the life right out of me. Wouldn’t it just be easier to do this all myself? NO WAY!! Are you kidding me? Volunteers are what make ministries run…and I don’t just mean the ‘nuts and bolts’ stuff paid people hate doing (like buying 78 cans of Silly String at four different Wal-Marts, or making 112 sandwiches for the next youth event – 64 of which won’t be eaten because they are pimento cheese!)…
We’ve all heard the jokes and stereotypes about the problem kids in church—their parents are pastors and elders—so whenever I meet a pastor’s kid I actually want to be around, I ask their perspective on growing up in the church. Last year was the first time I became my daughter’s youth pastor.…
Serendipity is defined as the occurrence and development of events by chance in a happy or beneficial way. Reading this article and finding out all who complete it receive $1,000 would be serendipitous. That won’t happen, but it sure would be great.…
It’s inevitable. A parent pulls the pin and throws that grenade right into the middle of your office. Actually, it’s probably a bonus if it’s thrown into your office and not in the middle of the hallway of the educational wing or the church foyer.…
I attended a workshop led by Craig McNair Wilson several years ago. Conference attendees and I were greeted by a sign at the door that instructed us to put away our pens or pencils and pick up a crayon for taking notes.…
