One of the questions I hear most frequently from the older people in my congregation is, “Where are all the youth?”
I’ll admit, this question frustrates me. Underneath it is typically one of two beliefs:
I recently spoke about The Jesus Gap. Afterward, a youth worker approached me and said, “If you’re as into discipleship as you think we ought to be, you’re probably not a very good youth worker.”
“Why?” I asked him.
In …
Recently, a student arrived at our youth ministry’s gathering significantly early. So I asked him about his day. Specifically, I asked, What was the worst part of your day?
Immediately, the student responded, “Someone hit me.”
Needless to say, I …
We kicked off our fall programming this year by wrestling with the question, “Does God exist?”, a question prompted – at least in part – by the fact that some of our freshmen are adamant about their belief that God …
This year, I’m particularly excited about my adult leadership team because it includes a combination of returning and new leaders. Last week, we discussed five contributions veteran leaders make to your team. But the truth is, new leaders contribute valuably …
One of the things I’m most excited about this year in ministry are my leaders. We met last week for training and I walked away thinking, “There’s one word to describe that meeting: Holy.”…
I recently went to a youth ministry event at a local, well-known Christian college. I arrived at the event on-time only to remember too late that youth workers seldom arrive on-time to anything. The school’s greeters directed me to the …
A week ago, I held a logistics meeting for our combined junior high and high school mission trip. This is an interesting trip because it’s filled with a mix of students, some of whom are going on their first ever mission …
I love Jesus.…
In a recent project for Arbor Research Group, a Bible teacher at a Christian school talked about the moment “when the lightbulb goes on” for the kids in his classes. In the weeks since, this phrase has echoed around my …