by Jason Sansbury Fundraising was my youth ministry kryptonite. Don’t believe me? At one of my earliest jobs, I ran a fundraiser that lost $2000. (On a related note, you should always make sure your middle schoolers haven’t laid their ...
by Steph Dodge We had just welcomed a new class of seventh graders into our youth ministry when a mother contacted me to let me know that her son, Kevin, would not be attending our youth group but was instead ...
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on the author's blog Large Church Ministry. An edited version appears here with permission. by David Thompson Being in ministry at a large church means we have a lot of students and a lot ...
In a recent church staff meeting, I found myself pleading for worship moments that model the faith for parents, youth, and children. We have a generation of parents who are highly invested in their children's lives, especially their academics and ...
"Organic" is certainly a buzzword in the 21st century and we often associate it with food products. According to the USDA, "Organic is a labeling term that indicates that the food or other agricultural product has been produced through approved ...
by Jason Sansbury After having been involved in youth ministry for over 20 years, I have a theory that says if you don’t occasionally get accused of having favorites in your youth ministry, then you probably aren’t discipling and mentoring ...
by Tony Akers Every Monday morning it happens. I walk into the room with my biggest critic. He doesn’t say much, he just stares back at me. He mocks me with his unspoken criticism. My time with him is usually ...
by Andrew Mochrie I can vividly remember sitting with my fiancee on the couch in her small house. We had been engaged for five months and our wedding was only three months away. At that moment, on that couch, I ...
by Lisa Long I grew up in a traditionally conservative denomination, one that does not allow women to be leaders or pastors or even teach men who are not younger than they are. Sometime after my parents' divorce when I ...
When I look across the struggle that is the church today, the greatest need I see is a church that is willing to hold each other accountable. We stand by and watch folks struggle with life, with faith, with depression, ...
by Mark Taylor Before some people see the word "flexible" and immediately think "relative" or "ambiguous," let me quickly define what I mean by a rigid faith and a flexible faith. A rigid faith is a stubborn, eyes-closed, arrogant, unwilling ...
by Lisa Long Our church celebrated its 100th birthday just a couple of years ago. For half of that century it has been located less than a mile from a local public housing neighborhood. Last year this housing community was ...
by Amy Jacober You know what camp love looks like. You've seen it more than once. Teenagers gazing at one another across the room. The carefully orchestrated seating so paths cross. The choice of free time activities hoping for "chance" ...
by Jason Sansbury Want to do an interesting experiment? Create a Google news alert that will send you a message every time the words “youth pastor arrested” show up in a news story. I did this experiment for a few ...
by Mike Adkins I hope you’re better than I when it comes to this, but I am majorly guilty of critiquing speakers when I listen as a part of their audience. Conference emcees, my senior pastor, the President . . ...
by Jenn Parrish Every time Youth Sunday rolls around my stomach ties itself up in knots. My hands start to shake and I swear I drink at least drink one pot of coffee throughout the morning to calm myself down ...
by Jayna Leitze Youth Sunday (yooth suhn-day) noun: Traditionally, a day during which the youth group of a church is in charge of the church service(s) on a particular Sunday of the year. adjective: A crazy idea, meant to drive ...
by Joanna Bellis When spring rolls around, I renew my love/hate relationship with a tradition that was passed to me in the church in which I serve: Youth Sunday. What’s to dislike about Youth Sunday? There’s always a possibility that ...
by A Youth Minister “Hate” is a strong word. I try not to use it very much, but there are times when it is the only word that conveys the way I feel about something. I hate sin and suffering ...
Theological Foundations for Youth Ministry is one of our core Master of Arts in Youth Ministry courses. Just one day in Theological Foundations will dismiss the idea that youth ministry is simply about fun, games, and devotionals. This course introduces ...
