People who work in youth ministry often struggle with the concept of rest. There’s always kids to Facebook or text, phones buzzing, paperwork to do, trips to plan, parents to calm, meetings to attend, and people to see. These things are necessary, yet many youth workers, their spouses and churches don’t schedule times of rest and Sabbath amidst all the chaos.…
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In Part 1, I discussed the importance of partnering parents in crisis (drug abuse, pregnancy, grades, etc) with parents who have been there. Here in part 2, I look at how to develop these partnerships. Long before the first parent comes through your door with a problem, you need a game plan.…
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.…
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.…
When I was in college, I was enrolled in a course called Philosophical Foundations for Youth Ministry. In this class, students were required to formulate their philosophy for youth ministry into words. I remember at the top of my list of priorities was “relationships.”…
Uh-oh. You’re supposed to give a Christmas message at a community party or youth event or at your Toastmasters meeting…and you forgot? No problem–here’s a quick message you can share in any setting. Merry Christmas! A Christmas Gift Christmas traditions abound.…
It seems as though this year has taken a toll on our community when it comes to dealing with death. In one of our local high schools we have had three student deaths in less than 8 months (two in one car accident, and one suicide).…
T.J. was one of those kids every parent prayed for. At 16 years old, he was strong in his faith, passionate about the mission field, full of joy, and a real practical joker. T.J. was a student who had been at our church for years and was loved by many!…
So as I dragged my laptop out to get some writing done in my home office today, I had to sweep aside four past issues of The Amazing Spider-Man, a geometry book that might as well be written in Japanese to me, and a calculator I’d need a master’s degree to run.…
