"How to Welcome Doubts and Questions" is perhaps at once the most interesting and most relevant title for a youth ministry blog post that I have encountered in quite some time. The article, written by Youth Specialties staff, list six ways that youth ministry leaders can create an environment that welcomes doubts and questions. This "how to" list fails to mention what I have found to be the most helpful piece of advice on the topic: there are many aspects of the Christian faith for Read More …
student ministry
Signs You’re Failing (#0430)
Steve Ingold, High School Director at Cornerstone Fellowship in Livermore, CA, wrote a guest post on Josh Griffin's top-ranked youth ministry blog, More than Dodgeball, about signs that indicate a youth minister is missing the mark. Ingold's list of thirteen items includes: … if I put the ministry ahead of my relationship with God. … if I put the ministry ahead of my relationship with my wife and family. … if don’t invest in meaningful friendships outside of youth ministry Read More …
Defining Success in Youth Ministry (#0313)
Danny Ferguson serves as an area director for YFC/Youth Unlimited, which is an expression of Youth for Christ International. Yesterday he wrote about what success looks like in youth ministry. Ferguson asked youth ministry leaders to provide "their 140 character definition of success" via Twitter and published several of those responses, including: Enabling young people to come alive in joy and to be everything they were made to be!! - that's an attempt!! – Read More …
Observe then Engage: Youth Ministry 101 (#0311)
Brooklyn Lindsey is a pastor who currently oversees the middle school ministry at Highland Park Church in Lakeland, Florida and has recently written two books: Oppposite Day: Upside-Down Questions to Keep Students Talking and Listening (2009) and Confessions of a Not-So-Supermodel: Faith, Friends and Festival Queens (2008). She recently blogged about some advice she offered the leaders in her congregation who work with middle school students, which she suggests is helpful for those working Read More …