All roads may lead to Rome but not all youth programs lead to discipled young people. Youth Pastors have all kinds of words to describe their youth program, some call it youth group, others call it youth ministry, some call it student ministry but these titles don’t really give a true picture of what is…
I was always taught Summer Jump not Summer Slump. This means that while other churches shut down/wind down for summer, our church was going to grow. I just had to figure out how to make that happen. For the past ten year and two churches I have used the TRIBES outreach program. The 10 week…
This article, as well as graduation forms graduation gift ideas graduation service sample and graduation song suggestions (over 40) Are a part of Launching Well: Graduating Your Senior Class In Style resource. If you are not subscribed to the Youth Ministry Round Up newsletter, subscribe now and receive all these graduation resources. My wife gave a metal impression kit…
I spoke at my friend Steve Swisher’s church, Essential in Virginia Beach, a while back and I thought, “some other church may need this message”. So, I am putting my notes, along with some extra commentary, for anyone who would like to use it with their congregation, youth group or small group. You can watch…
Moment of honesty. I am writing this because I am in the octagon with discouragement right now, and he’s known for cheating. The questions is, who will tap out first. Discouragement in teenagers is not much different from discouragement in adults; it’s simply amplified. Teens can become discouraged because they: – Don’t have as many…
Although we call them spiritual disciplines or habits, we can’t let the “check list mentality” creep into our walk with God by becoming legalistic about it. I think we can agree that the goal of starting spiritual disciplines in the first place is to create a deeper intimacy with God, not keeping a list like…
Photo Credit There are no good holes are there? I mean, look at the all the bad holes there are: pot holes, sink holes, and black holes, none of which we would want to fall into. Consider the phrases we use, like, “I just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.”. or ” I…
In the previous posts I shared how the different ways students could graduate. Now, the gate has been narrowed. Most states offer some sort of exit exam. What is the point of an exit exam?
“to make sure no students graduate or move on to other courses without proving they have mastered what they have studied.”
This begs the question “Have our students mastered what they have studied?” Never mind mastering what have studies, but what have they studied? How do we know if a student is ready to leave our youth ministry?
…before they had out into the world. This article, as well as graduation forms graduation gift ideas graduation service sample and graduation song suggestions (over 40) Are a part of Launching Well: Graduating Your Senior Class In Style resource. If you are not subscribed to the Youth Ministry Round Up newsletter, subscribe now and receive all these graduation resources.…
It’s currently 2023, and even though I wrote this in 2011, things have not only changed but gotten worse. It is now a foregone conclusion that graduates will not be back to church any time soon, but, our calling as youth pastors and college and career directors hasn’t quit just because they have. Where we…
