I despise fill-in-the-blanks.
They annoy me.
More importantly, I don't think they're particularly useful.
Needing to complete a bulletin filled with fill-in-the-blanks doesn't make me listen more attentively to the person talking – especially when...
My high school youth ministry is called FLY, which stands for Faith Lutheran Youth. It's a name I inherited and truthfully, it's not one I love... Especially since I'm surrounded by much cooler sounding youth ministries:
The Edge.
212.
Fusion....
This weekend is my youth ministry's annual winter retreat. During it, my high school students and I are exploring the book of Revelation.
After learning what our topic is, I've lost track of how many times someone has asked me, rather...
At the conclusion of my junior year in college, I studied abroad in Moscow, Russia. Despite the fact that at the time, Russia was safe, to my parents – who came of age during the Cold War – Russia was a very scary place. The idea of their daughter...
This fall, my high school teens and I have been discussing various “isms”. On the first week of this series, we wrestled with materialism, using the story of Jesus and the rich young ruler to do so. In this story, a rich young ruler asks Jesus...
My teens care deeply about issues that affect the marginalized in society. They long to make sense of what their faith says about such things and wrestle with how they can make a difference in regard to these issues. To that end, my student...
Whenever we come into contact with other people, there’s a temptation to play the comparison game. This is true of theology as much as anything else.
Theological differences are often especially apparent during events like the 30 Hour Famine,...
Sweet Girl -
This is the week of your baptism, an event which is a big deal to your dad and I.
Baptism is a strange thing for us... Something we both have some baggage with.
Our parents had each of us baptized when we were babies. Me at your...
One of the leadership axioms I adhere to is that leaders cannot take people further than they are themselves. In order for teens to consistently grow in their faith, student leaders must do so too.
To challenge student leaders to grow, ask them to...
Ever since the Vanity Fair article, Call Me Caitlyn, broke earlier this week, my Facebook feed has been filled with people's reactions to it. My progressive friends are overjoyed; My conservative friends are horrified. Opinions seem to abound...