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...
It's been a long, COLD, snowy February in the Chicago area, making me extremely thankful I purchased a winter maternity coat.
Reading:
Cold, snowy nights have been perfect for curling up with a book by the fire. This month, here are...
What the book's about: From Moses to Jesus, in The Prophetic Imagination, Walter Brueggemann highlights the prophetic vision found in Scripture and explores what it means for us today.
Why I read this book: After a friend recommended this...
There are typically three ways to choose your youth ministry's student leaders.
1. Vote. Similar to student council elections at school, peers elect those teens they want to be student leaders.
2. Select. The youth pastor or a team of people...
This year in our confirmation Sunday school class, we're discussing the five promises we ask teens to make at their confirmation:
- To live among God's faithful people.
- To hear the word of God and share in the Lord's Supper.
- To share...
This fall, my high school youth ministry watched and discussed clips from the movie, "Noah". Despite the fact that this movie angered plenty of Christians, I found it invaluable for sparking conversation about a story that we oftentimes...
This fall, my high school youth ministry watched and discussed clips from the movie, "Noah". Despite the fact that this movie angered plenty of Christians, I found it invaluable for sparking conversation about a story that we oftentimes...
When I took my first job in youth ministry over a decade ago, the idea of building a student leadership team was everywhere - in books, magazines, and at conferences. Since then, however, student leadership seems to have gone out of fashion. Sure,...
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,...