Like many ministries, our high school youth ministry held it's winter retreat over Martin Luther King Jr. weekend. This year, our theme was Naked and Afraid: Vulnerability in Relationships. Throughout the weekend, the book of Ruth served as our...
I like to think that I'm pretty good at communicating with the parents of teens in my youth ministry. I send out a weekly e-mail filled with details about upcoming events. I make sure to include announcements in our Sunday bulletin. I post updates...
It's January. That means that once again, it's time for K-Love's 30-Day Challenge – something I have some concerns about. In response to my concerns, today I'm continuing to critically evaluate some of the songs that K-Love...
My youth ministry's winter retreat is rapidly approaching. As part of this, each adult leader gives a short devotion in response to a prompt related to our theme.
The beauty of this is that it allows each leader a moment in the spotlight,...
My church does not own vans. This means that with the exception of our summer trips (when we rent them), we depend on the goodwill of parents to drive us to and from various events, including our winter retreat.
Often, this means that teens are...
Earlier this year, this youth minister meme began showing up everywhere in social media:
While it made me chuckle, I couldn't help but think, “This confusion is real.” People really don't understand what it is we do.
And this is true not just of...
We were on the way back from a junior high retreat when it happened.
We began complaining about everything we disliked about our church.
Of course, our view was unique.
We were, after all, only in 6th - 8th grade; I was an...
Several years ago, my Qualitative Analysis Professor, Dr. Terry Linhart, mentioned using photos in research. He said this as a comment made in passing, but I wrote it down, intrigued by the notion.
His comment percolated for the next month...
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...
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...