This year in my youth ministry, I wanted to try utilizing student-led small groups.
Notice the operative word there: TRY.
In theory, I believe that student-led small groups are a good idea.
Yet, in reality, I feared they would prove disastrous.
...
This year, our junior high Sunday School class is learning about each of the five promises they'll be making 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 the...
What the book's about: Jesus is Better Than You Imagined is about how the God we've construed (oftentimes in our image) compares to the God of Scripture. It's a book that juxtaposes Jonathan's own stories of Jesus with those found in...
I first met Kitty when I was still in grade school. As the associate pastor at my church, Kitty was stuck running our youth group, a job she didn't like - at least not at first.
Over time, however, we trained her (or maybe she trained us; I'm not...
A male youth worker recently bemoaned the fact that he could think of only two female youth workers to invite to speak at an upcoming event. He told me how he believed it was important to have a female youth worker on stage for all the female...
Recently, my high school teens and I discussed God's gender.
During this discussion, small groups made a list of God's characteristics and classified them as masculine, feminine, or gender neutral. As we did this, my husband and I, who were...
This year, my adult leaders and I are reading and discussing Sticky Faith together. At our first meeting, we wrestled with the chapter on the Sticky Gospel. As part of this, I asked leaders to share their reaction to how teens defined what it...
As a woman in youth ministry, I face some unique challenges.
I wish that wasn't true, but it is.
Most of the time, these unique challenges no longer bother me. I'm confident in my call. I wholeheartedly believe that I'm fully using each and...
In a recent blog post, Andy Blanks offers 20 ways to spruce up your Bible study. His suggestions are good and well worth a read.
That said, I struggled with one of them.
“Let students teach--Adapt your lesson so students are teaching each other,...
I'm a strong believer that belonging precedes belief. This means that if we want teens to take ownership of their faith, we have to first help them belong.
To be clear, belonging doesn't happen accidentally. Helping teens belong takes time,...
