In addition to requiring student leaders to read, another way I train and equip students for leadership and in particular, for creating a culture of welcome is through blogging. Blogging forces teens to intentionally think about their faith...
Shortly after returning from a mission trip to Rwanda, one of my teens called me in tears. She’d just returned from a bookstore, where she’d noticed less than a row of books about the entire continent of Africa and none about Rwanda. “Don’t people...
I used to believe there was such a thing as a perfect church. Then I became a youth pastor and started working for the church. I quickly realized just how imperfect the church is.
Of course, this shouldn't be surprising. The church is made of...
What the book's about: The Girl's Still Got It is an exploration of the book of Ruth. It's a commentary that doesn't read like one.
Why I read this book: I first discovered Liz Curtis Higgs in college when my campus ministry used her book,...
I'm a big believer in the power of experiential learning. To this end, instead of giving a talk about prayer, I'd much rather create a series of prayer stations designed to give students the opportunity to pray in a variety of ways.
Over the next...
Last week, my high school youth ministry finished it's discussion of Gospel Journey Maui by wrestling with the question, “Who is Jesus?” Because I've used this curriculum before, I searched my computer for our “Who is Jesus?” discussion from five...
When I first interviewed for my current position, I remember asking the pastors, “How are youth involved in worship?”
Their answer to this question was important to me because I was coming from a non-denominational setting wherein we had a...
Throughout high school, I was actively involved in my congregation's youth ministry. This was, in many ways, the activity that was most important to me during that time period. Even so, I rarely invited friends from my high school to join me for...
I am a big believer in the power of experiential learning. To this end, instead of giving a talk about prayer, I'd much rather create a series of prayer stations designed to give students the opportunity to pray in a variety of ways.
Over the next...
Yesterday, this question popped up in a youth ministry forum I'm a part of:
Do you believe that a Master's Degree is worth it (professionally and economically) for youth pastors? Do the Pros outweigh the Cons? More education is always positive,...