Category: Youth Ministry

From Andy Morgan’s blog… Chp 1 – The issue for the authors is that the current method of student ministry is not working. The number of students who remain believers after college is dropping dramatically. The authors suggest 4 gauges which will indicate whether there is a problem or not: 1. Student retention rates2. Student…

One of the things I have been grappling with is exactly what might be the future calling of youth ministers. If we believe all that is being written and the studies that suggest the end of youth ministry as we know it, the question becomes “what is our future?” Mark Yaconelli wants us to get…

Noticing young people’s discomfort with adult forms of faith and desperately seeking to keep youth engaged, some churches develop ministries of distraction. Inspired by parachurch youth ministries from the 1950s, like Youth for Christ and Young Life (whose founder, Jim Rayburn, once wrote a book entitled It’s a Sin to Bore a Kid), ministries of…

I broke one of my cardinal rules yesterday. Namely, that of not reading feedback immediately afterward an event. I am prone to take things personally when they are really fresh on my mind and vulnerable when I have not had enough sleep. However, I broke the rule in order to get something into the next…

— Teenagers are “functional deists.” They believe God exists, created the world and set life in motion, but the only time He becomes involved with them in a personal way is to make their lives happier or to solve some problem. Fascinating article here

A survey is being conducted to find out just how much youth ministry is being done in the Episcopal Church. It will break down the findings by diocese and return the results to us. Time to boast about the good things that God is doing in SC! Take the survey here

I recently attended a workshop on coaching for folks whose job or desire is to coach others to more effective ministry. The bulk of the material presented revolved around learning to use strategic questions to help others see new possibilities and endless errors. In a sense, strategic questions are like the one that Dr Phil…

DDR meets contemporary praise music and your youth group could be forever changed (for a mere $2500). Take a look here. (meanwhile I need to find a porcelain bowl)

Walt Mueller writes the following comments which speak my thoughts exactly… I have long been concerned that we’ve socialized our Christian students into an understanding and experience of worship that is less than God-centered. In fact, I think that our current cult of Christian celebrity that centers on speakers and musicians can actually divert our…

Anyone interested in attending? Listen to the radio ad