(the most read article I have ever posted here-updated) The question comes up from time to time. What makes for an anglican approach to youth ministry? I’ve heard people try to articulate it but end up not saying much that differs from other traditions. In the years I served the Diocese of South Carolina, I…
I found this on my computer recently. I shared this in 2015 with a staff team that wanted to get to know me better and hear what God was doing in my life and ministry. I’d like to weave together a journey that I have been on for a good long while. In this we…
The following is an expansion of one of the five principles mentioned previously… When I was 22 years old and brand new in youth ministry, parents intimidated me. These were folks that tended to either be very pleased that their son or daughter was enjoying youth group or angry that I was somehow not meeting…
Comedians can sometimes nail the truth in such a way that we not only find humor in it but also cannot deny its reality. Such was the case as I was reading a book that starts off commenting on our mortality. The author stated it in various creative ways. One was along the lines of…
I had the opportunity to teach this a few years back at a conference… A quick illustration to start… A university professor in a lecture hall stood behind a table with a giant clear jar before him. He reached under the table, pulled up a bucket of large stones, and poured them into the jar.…
We all know there are some cringey or cheesy aspects of this season. Christmas sweaters come to mind. So Nate Morgan Locke and Glen Scrivener decided to do a music video parody of a song that is popular in the UK every time the world cup comes into season. The original song is called “Football…
I noticed an unusual article from a few years ago trending on The Gospel Coalition Blog. It’s an interesting topic… 10 Hymns Youth Groups Should Sing. I think I shared the article here back when it first caught my attention. Some of the 10 Hymns I am not even familiar with but the point of…
Over the past year and some odd, I have encouraged churches to add this prayer (or something similar) to their weekly prayers in worship. Many have done so. The prayer has also been shared nationally to wider audiences. It is my hope that God will move in our hearts to engage younger generations with the…
[Last month I had the opportunity to teach grandparents at our grandcamp. The first session I did was titled “Leaving a Legacy” and looked at Psalm 78. The other session I focused on the challenges of generational differences that exist today which did not really exist when we were growing up. This is from my…
(I had the opportunity to teach at St. Michael’s Church, Charleston a few months ago. This is the rest of what I shared there) 2. A postmodern and post Christian culture has emerged. In the late 1990’s, anyone doing ministry was hearing the experts warn of this idea of postmodernism. It was described as…