In life and ministry, measurements matter. We measure things that are important to us, and when we don’t things can get out of hand quickly. Think about it, most of us measure our bank accounts and weight pretty regularly. Stop doing that for a little while and see how things turn out! Odds are you…
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…
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…
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…
What do you think of when you hear about setting goals? Many think of resolutions, especially this time of year, but goals are much more than that! Resolutions don’t stick, but goals do. We also think of goals as a personal thing. We think about setting goals as an individual, but not for our ministries. Setting ministry…
It is not easy engaging teens. Sometimes we feel like we have to have some kind of formal to be attractive and appealing. In my many years of working with teens, I have found that there are three realities that ring true when trying to engage teens. I like to call them the 3 R’s….
The Uncovered Dish Christian Leadership Podcast is a bi-monthly podcast on Christian leadership by the United Methodist Church of Greater New Jersey that uncovers stories, equips leaders, and changes the world. In this gospel-centered podcast hosts James Lee and Kaitlynn Deal invite guest on the show to share, discuss, and journey with listeners on what churches and congregations…