Many of us work with people very different from us. Our supervisor might have very different expectations of how ministry should look. They may also have different life experiences they bring to table, giving them a different approach to how they relate with people. This affects how you do ministry together and can very quickly…
I remember one night I had six kids show up for junior high youth group. That’s right, SIX KIDS. Normally, we’d have around 25-30, so six was pretty shocking. A few of my leaders were making negative comments about where all the kids were. Instead of dwelling on who wasn’t there, I decided this was…
Two years ago my family and I picked up and moved to a new city and a new church. It’s been a crazy good couple of years for us, and we’ve loved every second of it! However, the transition didn’t come without it’s challenges. Over the past couple of years, I have discovered three must haves…
Introduction I was talking with a very faithful, loving parent the other day, a parent whose faith journey I admire and whose opinion I greatly respect. I asked her, “If you could say one thing to the people at your church who work in youth ministry, what would it be?” Knowing that she comes from…
Youth ministry is hard, and the odds are you will want to quit at some point this year. We’ve all had bad ministry moments, and it’s not uncommon to end up in your car at the end of the night wondering what in the world you’re doing. We all struggle, and it’s normal to think…
I just blinked, and it’s December! What an incredible time of year. We have less than 30 days left to accomplish our goals for the year. We have an incredible opportunity to impact lives for God. It’s a season of nostalgia and traditions and joy. Joy. We associate it with the holiday season. It’s displayed…
I remember when I first started out in youth ministry. It was all about the numbers. I felt successful when I could brag about the amount of kids I had showing up on a Sunday night. This gave me a false sense of validation and patted my growing ego. I soon found out though, that my…
We don’t hate church meetings as much as we say we do. We just hate lousy church meetings. At least that’s the contention of Patrick Lencioni, author of “Death By Meeting.” When a fellow youth pastor recommended Lencioni’s book, I assumed the author was handing out tips on how to have shorter meetings and to…