Most of us have seen hot youth ministries or churches suddenly crash. Why does that happen? Business guru Verne Harnish has researched the same phenomenon in the business world. He noticed that rapidly rising companies often kill themselves at the same time they are growing like crazy. In fact, it’s because they are growing like…
There are three words that every successful youth worker knows. They don’t just know them either, they live by them. These three words reframe a leader’s perspective and fill them with gratitude and energy. Every successful youth worker knows these three words because they are perquisites for youth ministry success. So what are the three…
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…
I’ve never met a leader who dreamed of having a toxic culture. Leaders want to lead a healthy culture, and volunteers want to serve in one as well. Nothing will make a great volunteer or staff member run away faster than a toxic culture! I’ve had the privilege to work in some healthy cultures, and the nightmare…