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 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…
It’s 2018, and social media is here to stay. Students are using it, and if we want to reach them so should we! Whether or not we personally like social media or not, we can’t afford to ignore it. Unfortunately, too many youth workers are either not using social media or aren’t using it well….
Introduction Like many churched children, I was one of those who received my first “real” Bible when I was very young. It was my birthday, and it was also Easter, the perfect time to receive such a gift. I remember thumbing through the pages and being just a little distressed that there weren’t more pictures,…
The capital letter “C” church has been a part of my life since I was about eleven years old. I have worked in churches, volunteered with ministries, gone to seminary and surrounded myself with Christian fellowship. While I have been active in many different churches over the years, I have more often than not felt…
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…