Summer Is a Liar
In a ministry context, summer is a serial liar. I mean, summer is NOT a slower time for youth ministry, and it’s NOT chock-full of margin. We won’t have a more relaxed schedule, and we won’t have time to catch our breath.…
Tag: summer
Summer Ministry’s C+ Temptation
Youth ministry in the summer has always been a struggle for me. Ministry momentum slows way down because my teenagers re-focus their time on… Summer jobs Family vacations Camps Trips to grandma’s house Attendance is frustratingly inconsistent—without warning, we can go from 24 kids to 87 kids any given week.…
Oh No! Where Did Everyone Go?
This has never happened to me before in ministry… It’s summer, and at least half of the adult leaders I serve with are unplugging from their roles until the fall. And a large chunk of our youth group also won’t be around because they’ll be “at the cabin” for most of the summer.…
Summer Ministry Survival Guide
The Levert Summer Ministry Survival Guide The ministry life is year-around-busy, and summer often puts an already activity-driven lifestyle into full-on beast-mode busy. Below are some of our “do’s” and “don’ts” for surviving the summer ministry schedule. DO work hard and play hard.…
Scaling Back or Scaling Up for the Summer?
You need a break, right? Of course you do. The struggle is real. Ministry is hard and demanding. You’re running a church-within-the-church that likely has its own worship team, small group ministry, administrative needs, and teaching cycle. Toss in the larger church calendar, and you’re one busy youth worker.…
Back-to-School: The 7 First Steps
In an extended pick-your-brain session with longtime youth pastor Ralph Paige, I sat with a group of young youth workers eager to learn from Ralph’s veteran wisdom as another school year rockets off the launching pad. In Part 1 of this series, Ralph focused on the foundational importance of prayer.…
Downshifting Your Summer Strategy
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. …
The 5 Must-Have Adults on Any Mission Trip
We’ve been here before… Our annual summer mission trip is just around the corner and we’re pulling leaders out of our….directories. How did this happen again this year? I was so good at planning ahead. Then badda bing, badda boom, it’s May!…
When Teenagers Raise the Bar for Sharing the Gospel
Sponsored content from our friends at Dare 2 Share Apathy. It’s a sneaky killer of passion that can sideline even the most vibrant of churches. It’s how on-fire Christians can ever so slowly become completely ineffective for God’s kingdom. And teenagers are known to have a pretty bad case of it.…
A Summer Event That Outlasts the “Spiritual High”
Sponsored content from our friends at Dare 2 Share Have you ever really taken stock of where your students are at spiritually months after your big summer event (camp or a short-term missions trip)? • Are they still excited about exploring God’s Word on their own?…
