If we’re going to be serious about ministry to youth and young adults, then we have to face up to the fact that the biggest thing standing in the way of that ministry is our own insecurities. Ministering to young people instantly throws us back to that stage in our lives and we long [...]
I was thinking as I got started on this final installment of the Youth Ministry series that perhaps this last piece should have in fact been the first. I’m guessing there’s a good number of you who are reading this, or skipping over them, and thinking that they don’t pertain to you because they’re talking [...]
After laying the groundwork for ministry to youth by understanding that God calls people of all ages, we looked last month about what it means to step into what often feels like a completely foreign culture: the world our teenagers inhabit. And so building on the concept that for youth ministry to be effective it [...]
Last post we looked at how the basic groundwork of youth ministry calls us to understand the truth that God gifts young people, calls young people and uses young people and therefore we must take seriously ministry to young people just as we take ministry to adults seriously. But as adults, ministry to other adults [...]
What basic understanding must be in place in order to provide good groundwork for the youth in that ministry? Throughout scripture we see examples of God calling young people to do his work. If God can use, and in fact, wants to use people of all ages, then we as the adult member of the [...]
Check this out. Thanks to Gavin.
… We talk about being “missional” and how attractional just isn’t cutting it anymore. Yet traditional youth ministry is nothing but attractional. We have events and tell kids to bring their friends to us. We feel like youth ministry has to have some sense of “attractiveness”. At the same time, [...]
I recently listened to a session from InterVarsity’s Urbana student missions conference (Dec. 2006) by Oscar Muriu. It hit me on a lot of levels as an Episcopalian and an Anglican, so I thought I’d share it with you all to see what you thought. This link (http://www.urbana.org/u2006.mediaplayer.pop.cfm?gotosession=3&clip=132) has a video, but it [...]
From the blog at Journal of Student Ministries:
Brian is about to become a new youth pastor and he asks this on his post…
The questions I have for you seasoned and experienced (or fresh out of the box) church workers are:
1. what am I getting myself into?
2. what makes ministry worth it?
3. should I EXPECT junk [...]
-by Dick Tubbs. Click here for the whole article.
Lessons from almost half a century of youth ministry
God Called You – Be Content.
If you’re leading young people because it’s an easy first call after seminary, the first step to your own Crystal Cathedral, then quit. Now.
If you need “professional standards” as a badge of respect, quit. Now.
If [...]
I’ve been thinking recently about how to listen to sermons, and I imagine that both we and our young people struggle with this, too. I grew up in a tradition that valued expositional, verse-by-verse, 45-minute long preaching. These sermons were long but pretty easy to follow. There was information being handed out, so it was [...]
