A while back, I got an email from the parent of a kid that hadn’t been part of our ministry in years. They just stoppedRead More
Category: Students
© pekkic at Fotofolia.com We have teens and young adults in our church who are gay, bisexual, and transgender. At one point not tooRead More
It can be really hard to tell if you’re #winning as a small group leader. Showing up week after week to lead sometimes seemingly meaningless discussions onlyRead More
We’ve all been there. Whether it’s the kid who needs a ride home after youth group or the kid who can’t get a ride toRead More
If you’re in youth ministry, you will inevitably encounter a teen who is at least somewhat suicidal. It’s a scary thing that must be taken seriously.Read More
I’ve been in youth ministry for more than 20 years and have come to realize that there is no end to the steady stream ofRead More
A major part of me hates recruiting volunteers. It takes a lot of energy just to work up the motivation to ask people to volunteer.Read More
The #1 skill that a pastor should master is RECRUITING.* You might say that the #1 skill that a pastor (or any other ministry leader) should master is preaching. A pastorRead More
There’s a big difference between organizing ministry and mobilizing ministry. The more we grow, the more gears there are to grease, the more issues weRead More
The Problem: How I Did Missions Then For years, I took students on annual mission trips. Some were domestic (in the U.S.) and some were internationalRead More
Four Things that DON’T Grow Your Youth Group 4. Fun Games It’s fun to play games at church or youth group. In fact, fun and laughterRead More
Ask them to read scripture during worship services, youth group, and small groups Ask them to pray during worship services, youth group, and small groupsRead More
It seems to me that there are four pressure points I experience on a weekly basis that seems to be common to all pastors andRead More
It’s your responsibility to gain and retain the attention of the students in your group. I don’t think you can expect students to automatically grant attention toRead More
I’m convinced that there is a sequence to building a great small group experience. One step leads to the other. Unfortunately, many small group leaders,Read More
1. Leading Worship – I used to do that, but now someone else is doing that. 2. Giving the Welcome and Announcements – I usedRead More
This is being posted on a Wednesday. Hopefully most of you have already planned your message/lesson for tonight. But, if you’re looking for some last minuteRead More
Over the years I’ve experimented with a variety of formats for running youth group. And, I see a lot of other people experimenting, as well. OfRead More
7. Some people are better at teaching than me. 6. I need a break from the rigor of teaching so often. 5. Kids need aRead More
So for the last few months, I’ve been pushing a little harder to see our team put more energy into making sure that every student in ourRead More
Every year, this is how we plan our curriculum for the next year. It’s all laid out in advance but, of course, we make changes asRead More
Like I said in my last post, I’m convinced that God designed the Church with the Spirit-driven desire and the innate ability to grow inRead More
I can’t help it…I’m humming the now famous song “Let it Go” performed by Idina Mensel, the voice of Elsa in Disney’s Frozen. We’ve seenRead More
A girl I know took her own life last week. She grew up in our church and was part of our youth group during theRead More
Another thing we’re trying to develop is a better approach to helping our seniors transition to college. We now ask all our 12th grade smallRead More
The more recent conversation in our Student Life Leadership Team has been about defining our roles (this post) and focusing our meetings (next post). NowRead More
If you were to visit our church, you’d see students involved in just about every area of ministry at just about every level. On WednesdayRead More
What are we doing to help our students form a Sticky Faith? We Partner with Parents. Building a partnership with parents is vital to anyRead More
I love to use mnemonics! 4 words that start with C. The first letter of each word in a sentence or series of points thatRead More
Our annual Senior Banquet is coming up soon. It’s a milestone…a rite of passage. We invite graduating seniors and their immediate families to a niceRead More
Pushing back from the table is the best part of a meal with friends. That’s when the really good conversation comes out. That’s when youRead More
We haven’t taken students on a mission trip since 2007. Prior to then, my personal practice was to take students on mission trips every year.Read More
So, right now I and our youth ministry are on the edge of several growing points. These are things that are currently in development. TheRead More
I love using stories in my messages. I usually “hook” them (I use the Hook-Book-Look-Took method) with a personal story from my own life…preferably oneRead More
The black eye gave it away. There’s no hiding it from mom when you’re 10. Wearing sunglasses is a habit I won’t have developed forRead More
Our growth started reaching into a certain direction the last couple of months. But, it’s too much for us to handle well. So, we hadRead More
Yes… …we all know that kids learn & grow effectively in a variety of ways. They learn by doing & practicing. They grow through extendedRead More
My personality is the type that’s always looking ahead. I have vision documents with goals and objectives from four years ago with projections that areRead More
As our youth ministry has grown there have been a few things that we’ve had to let go. Some of them were difficult to letRead More
I think I’d like to share in the next few posts some of the biggest changes that we’ve experienced and that I’ve personally experienced asRead More
To help our small group leaders stay in control, we use simple a four step process for behavior management (4 R’s inspired by Josh Griffin’sRead More
Risk. It’s always there. It’s something that every ministry leader has to calculate almost every day. Calculating the risk of releasing responsibilities is for sureRead More
…but I don’t. I’d really like to spend more time meeting with them, talking about the kids, their struggles, their successes, strategic steps for disciplingRead More
I’m frustrated with our follow up strategies. It worked just fine a few years ago but not so well anymore. I’ll tell you what weRead More
I try to share the gospel as often as I can. Sometimes it’s with individual students. Sometimes it’s on a special bring-a-friend-to-hear-the-gospel night. Sometimes it’sRead More
I’ve always seen my role as a youth pastor as having four major objectives. Pastor the People. Mobilize the Ministry. Cultivate the Climate. Voice theRead More