Every youth pastor has been there. It’s Wednesday night, your sermon isn’t finished, and the clock is ticking. Maybe you’ve got a solid outline, but something’s missing. Maybe you’re struggling to connect your message to real life. Maybe you’re just hoping students don’t tune out five minutes in. Here’s the hard truth: The way we […]
As I sat there with my family late into the second quarter, disappointed by an underwhelming Super Bowl game, I thought hard about whether or not we would tune into Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show. Even as a youth pastor (and a black one at that), I don’t know Kendrick Lamar’s music very well and felt […]
Biblical Support For Empowering Teenagers To Lead I am sure you’ve read this verse from 1 Timothy before. Maybe you’ve even taught a sermon on it or used it to encourage a student. The beauty of this verse is that it echoes the heart of the gospel of God’s Kingdom. God is the ultimate adult […]
Before we talk about conflict in youth ministry, let’s establish a universal truth. There are two types of people in this world: those who run away from conflict and those who run into it head-on. Personally, I’ve always been the former. The people pleaser in me would simply like to agree, avoid, or avert in […]
Not to brag, but my leaders are pretty great at creating a welcoming youth ministry environment. Last Sunday, for instance, one of my small group leaders created (from scratch) an Armor of God Escape Room experience for his middle school guys. I’ll pause here so you can give a proper applause… That kind of creativity […]
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve sent six parent emails, three parent text blasts, and four handouts home to parents, and yet the day of the event, you have Jimmy’s mom calling you to ask where the event is and how much it costs and why you aren’t providing transportation from the church to […]
It’s camp season. Best time of the year. But as you start buying an absurd amount of pool noodles and beach balls and scour Amazon for a pineapple themed Bluetooth speaker, there’s likely a small, negative thought nagging at you in the back of your mind. If you’ve been in youth ministry for a few […]
I’m an incredibly imperfect student pastor, and the youth ministry environments I create are imperfect, too. One of the areas of weakness I’m working on right now in my youth ministry is creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Students are naturally inclusive on all kinds of social issues, but when it comes to just […]
Let’s talk for a few minutes about mentoring in youth ministry. I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Brent Aiken on the Student Ministry Conversations podcast the other day (the episode releases in a few weeks). The conversation was around evaluating curriculum in the world of youth ministry. It was a really amazing […]
I’m going to be honest. I hate fundraising. It’s probably my least favorite aspect of youth ministry. But I think that’s actually why my perspective on fundraising may be helpful for you—especially if you hate fundraising too. For a long time, I thought I hated fundraising because it’s a lot of work. Fundraising events are […]
