My 20-year-old daughter just wrapped up an 11-week internship at the Global Leadership Summit on the Next Gen Team. I had the privilege of watching her lead a team of 25 other interns, ages 8 to 24, for the summit week. I watched her host, interact with, and lead meetings with presidents and CEOs of […]
Youth Group Lesson Take-a-Longs… Everything is mobile and portable in our world, why not your lesson? We all want our lessons to be remembered. We always say things like “take this with you this week”. I know I am always looking for ways to make the ideas and lesson topics stick with our students. Why […]
Multi-year curriculum mapping is a way for youth pastors to plan for their youth ministry lessons effectively for the long term.
Youth Pastor Survival Tips, A Randumb and Real, Monday Morning Top Ten List… 10. Never Fall Asleep During a Lock-In/Overnight Event. (do you like your eyebrows?) 9. Eat A Healthy Breakfast Every Morning. (skittles and a 24 oz Monster does not count) 8. If Attacked by a Group of Upset Middle School Girls, Curl Up on the […]
Partnering with Parents in your youth ministry is essential and huge! Walking beside them in their child’s life takes finding ways to encourage, engage, equip, and empower them. Often this takes on us being creative and going beyond what might be the normal scope of our ministry job description. This is especially true in our […]
Frustrating your volunteers is a quick way to lose them. We all want a great team of volunteers, that stick it out for the long haul. Unfortunately, often leaders end up frustrating their volunteers, causing them to quit, walking away disappointed. Here is a quick Top 10 list of ways leaders end up frustrating their […]
Ten Youth Ministry Mistakes… People always ask me what I would tell my younger self, starting out in youth ministry. What are the mistakes that you made that you wish someone would have told you about during your first year in youth ministry? The other question I get is what I observe as the big […]
The Youth Pastor Box and Bag: For years, I have created two things that have rescued my trips over and over again! Whether it be summer camp, a mission trip, or a short retreat, These two things have been my essential resource for close to 30 years. These are the “in-the-trenches” and […]
Successful Big Parent Meetings- Parent meetings can be intimidating but they do not have to be. So many youth leaders/pastor dread these meetings, as moments where they are put on the spot, questioned, or even feel like they are being critiqued. Often younger leaders feel threatened, put-down, or disrespected as they walk away from […]
Why Join a Local Network of Youth Pastors and Leaders? We are wrapping up our Chicago Area Youth Workers Hub Group for this school year. I have partnered with groups like National Network for most of my 30ish years of youth ministry. I believe that we are “BETTER TOGETHER” and that we survive as a […]
