I sat in an office with the head of the youth ministry committee, 2 youth ministry volunteers and my pastor and if you think Leonardo DiCaprio got mauled in The Revenant, you haven’t seen anything. I sat there for an hour as a list of my faults, issues and problems were declared as if someone…
I asked some youth pastors what their current needs were and this was one of their questions: How can I get a more consistent groups of kids coming to youth group? The answer is in the question. You get more consistent students when you are a more consistent youth pastor. Youth pastors who are always…
If you’re new around here, first of all, welcome. And I bet you’re observant enough to see that there are 2 previous posts to this topic so here is Part 1 and Part 2 for your reading pleasure. Now, we come to part 3 in this 6 part series and these are the questions you…
If you’ve been reading this blog for any amount of time you know I am an avid sports fan. I love college football, pro football and will watch a little basketball, at times. The rest of the sports are kind of in the background while I fold the laundry but I am always listening for…
I just returned from what feel like my 267th time at camp. It’s not far off. I’ve done camp ministry all my life and I believe in it’s power, in conjunction with the power of the Holy Spirit, to transform the spiritual condition of students. The most students I’ve ever taken is probably somewhere around…
I was wondering one day, “I wonder how much it cost to do car crash tests?” My mind is an ocean of meandering questions like this. I was thinking of this because I was thinking of doing a short term program change in our youth ministry where I saw our students leading small groups. You…
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?
Are you and your pastor on the same page when it comes to the definition of success? Success is a word that is truly open to interpretation and you and your Pastor could be inches or miles apart. Here’s what the wider version of a discussion about success could look like. Their version of success…
January 1 is day many people make commitments. Somewhere around February 14 these commitments have softened if not disappeared altogether. There are commitments though, especially for Christians, that should never soften or disappear, and I’m pretty sure you know what those are. What you may not know are the qualities students are looking for in…
Kasey Musgraves is a country music star not a Christian musician, In fact, she caught a lot of heat because of her 2014 song Straight Arrow which stuck a finger in the eye of Christian values. You may say, “Why then, Paul, would you want youth to listen to Deeper Wells if Kasey is not…
