A VBS Gift When planning your Vacation Bible School, be sure to map out what the weeks following the big event can look like, too. This part of the VBS puzzle is easy to leave off the priorities list, but it holds so much potential, when planned intentionally. Like a speeding train you couldn’t stop…
Let’s talk about it – youth ministry budgets. If we could all be honest, not many of us are rolling in the youth ministry dough. Most likely, you’re living on a shoestring budget and organizing, once again, the annual spaghetti dinner, pancake supper and car wash so your students can go to camp and have…
Introduction Have you ever been part of a BIG building project – one that required real blueprints? Or have you ever been involved in site development for a multi-building plan for a park or camp? I’ve always loved building things, and along the way I’ve learned that every really good result starts with a really…
It’s summer, which means it’s time for cookouts, pools, youth camps, and internships. Every summer, youth ministries all over the country host interns in some form or fashion. Maybe they’re paid, but more often they’re volunteer. Maybe they’re seminary students, or maybe they’re graduating seniors from your youth ministry. Regardless of who they are and…
Many churches with which I’ve worked, especially those doing ministry in small churches that don’t have a very strong presence of young people, find themselves wondering what more they could do to attract youth. They recognize the benefits of having youthful energy and long for a thriving youth ministry. Why? Perhaps they feel like a…
I remember as a kid how much I wrestled with what I would be for Halloween. Whatever costume I chose had to be the perfect fit. It had to fit my personality and no ordinary costume would do. Minnie Mouse? No. Superwoman? Eh, maybe. A giant whoopee cushion? Yes, yes, that’s the one. Searching for…
I hear a lot of questions from youth ministry leaders I meet across the country. A few questions seem to pop up in nearly every youth ministry conversation though. These questions stem from common problems and tensions that we all face in youth ministry. I hear them from large churches, small churches, and all sizes…
Introduction On March 1, 2018 Michael Dimock, President of the Pew Research Center, shared in an article called “Defining Generations: Where Millennials End and Post-millennials Begin” that the Pew Center would use the year 1996 as the last year of the Millennial Generation. And while there is some disagreement amongst experts in the fields of…