Yesterday, I met (virtually) with my VBS leaders to reimagine this summer’s VBS. When I ended the meeting, I genuinely felt excited.
What’s funny is I almost didn’t recognize that feeling.
It’s been SO long since I’ve felt excited about anything....
In my neck of the woods, we’re two weeks into a lockdown that doesn’t appear to have any end in sight… Which means, we met virtually as a youth ministry for the second time last week.
During our first meeting, our time together was good but...
Dear Future Self –
I want you to remember this week ten years from now.
This is the week you made a controversial parenting decision. Oh, don’t get me wrong. It isn’t the first you’ve made. It won’t be the last. But this is the one I want you to...
What the book's about: They Call Me Mom by Michelle Medlock Adams & Bethany Jett offers 52 encouraging devotions for every moment of motherhood.
Why I read this book: As a mom who's love language is words of affirmation, I'm...
I grew up with what can only be described as an eclectic Christmas tree: Gold ornaments from my grandparents hung alongside Hallmark ornaments as well as homemade ornaments. One of my mom’s all-time favorite ornaments is an angel I made when I was...
I love geeking out on research. And when that research is related to youth ministry, it’s even better. For that reason, I was excited to read David Kinnaman and Mark Matlock’s Faith For Exiles: 5 Ways for a New Generation to Follow Jesus in...
Like many youth workers I know, I make it a point of reading anything that Kara Powell writes. She’s brilliant and so is the research that she and Steven Argue do at Fuller Youth Institute. It continues to shape the way I do ministry and for the...
After attending her first night of our high school ministry, a new adult leader recently told me, “I can’t believe how much the kids talked!”
It’s true. My high school kids talk a lot.
Now, maybe they’ve always been like that… But I think their...
As another school year rapidly approaches, I’ve found myself thinking about two different pictures of youth ministry.
One comes from the first retreat I facilitated at a new congregation. During a meal where I was sitting with a group of...
One of the things that my teens most enjoy talking about is science and faith. Note that I said talking about; Not debating. Having facilitated this conversation a number of times in the past, I wanted to freshen up my approach with some fresh...