Advent Lutheran Church in Arlington, Texas, started anew today. We focused on the value and importance of ministry to, with, and for children and youth. This was part of an ongoing summer series exploring the Jesus Priorities (based on a book by Christopher Maricle) Blessing of the Backpacks The entire service focused on children and youth, including the blessing of the backpacks as many students head back to school tomorrow and others in the days and weeks ahead (begins at Read More …
Youth Ministry
3 Powerful Words for Ministry with Youth (#1687)
Have you ever asked a teenager a question and received a yes or no answer? Have you ever asked a string of open ended questions and received a few words or a short sentence in response to each? Have you ever felt like at a certain age the ability for youth to speak openly and freely comes to an abrupt halt? A Different Question Brad M. Griffin, Director of the Fuller Youth Institute, wrote an in-depth article about a relatively simple yet incredibly powerful approach to extending, Read More …
Favoring Youth Over the Elderly? (#1469)
American Christianity has long been a graying religion. American Mainline Protestantism serves as an example of a group with a median age that significantly exceeds the median age in America. Given this data, one might assume that local congregations tend to employ more specialized ministers and program staff focused on mature/senior adults than on teens/youth. In reality, however, far more people serve in youth ministry roles. Tony Campolo, professor emeritus of Read More …
Youth Min: Exit Interviews (#1410)
Every congregation I have served has recognized students when they graduate from high school. In most cases this recognition has included both formal recognition in a Sunday morning worship service (or services) along with a more personalized celebration in the context of youth ministry. As these new graduates prepare to transition from the youth ministry (those devised for students in middle school and high school) into a college or young adult ministry, youth ministry leaders Read More …
The Best Youth Ministry Game (#0794)
Tim Schmoyer, founder of Life In Student Ministry, recently asked people to submit their favorite youth ministry game. From that list, he selected four: Cell Phone Pic Scategory Q-Tip Wars Fat Santa Shuffle Your Buns (If you are not familiar with one or more of these games, be sure to check out his post for explanations and illustrations.) So What? Every youth group has a few go to games that are always lots of fun. While I have been fortunate enough to be Read More …
High School Ministry – Defining Success (#0648)
Lutheran (ELCA) pastor Rich Melheim is the founder and chief creative officer of Faith Inkubators, which he describes as "a Christian education systems design think tank and resource provider dedicated to incubating faith every night in every home." In the February 22, 2012 edition of the Christian Century, he answered several questions regarding faith formation as a family matter, including one about high school youth ministry. Q: How do you define a successful church program for Read More …
Single Objective of Youth Ministry (#0601)
How would you complete the following sentence: The single objective of youth ministry is __________. Youth ministry expert Mark Oestreicher answered the question with Christlikeness. So What? Youth ministry is typically thought of in terms of what it offers its participants, especially in terms of programs and relationships. Youth ministry leadership teams would benefit greatly from taking time to explore together why they do what they do. The simple yet challenging Read More …
Attributes of Good Junior High Lessons (#0586)
Kurt Johnston is a junior high ministry expert; he has severed in a variety of junior high youth ministry roles for over twenty years, and currently serves as Junior High Pastor at Saddleback Church. Earlier this week he shared three attributes of a good junior high lesson: Short (20 minutes or less) Interactive Fun So What? I have spent enough time in youth ministry with junior high/middle school students to understand that teaching this age group is unique. This Read More …
Social Media Interaction with Students (#0552)
Earlier this week Slant33, a part of Barefoot Ministries, posted the responses of three youth ministry experts to the question: "Where do you draw the line on social media interaction with students? Why?" The responses vary widely: D. Scott Miller, director of the Division of Youth and Young Adult Ministry of the Catholic Archdiocese of Baltimore, has a personal policy to never friend anyone under the age of eighteen on Facebook. Additionally, he believes this is the best policy Read More …
Halloween at the Hell House (#0529)
Brian Kirk's recent article, "Christian Haunted Houses: Scaring the 'Hell' Out of Teens?," caught my attention for several reasons, including: fear based evangelism targeting teens remains a tactic used by fundamentalist Christians hell houses or evangelistic productions staged to "convert" teens and "save" them from hell are an extreme form deployed each year at Halloween I have been to the Hell House at Trinity Church (Assemblies of God) in Cedar Hill, TX (the "original" upon which so Read More …