This week always slows me down in the best way.
I look around the ministry I serve in and think about the students who show up with open hearts, the volunteers who keep saying yes, and the families who trust …
It always happens at a moment you don’t expect.
You’re chatting with a volunteer, walking through plans for the night, and they quietly admit that they really don’t enjoy the fun parts of youth ministry. Games stress them out. Loud …
There are moments in ministry that catch you off guard, and a student telling you that your teaching is not deep enough is definitely one of them. It hits a little harder than you expect. Part of you wants to …
If you’ve been in youth ministry long enough, you’ve felt it. That sting of disrespect. Maybe it came from a student rolling their eyes, a parent questioning your decisions, or a church member making a cutting remark. Disrespect hurts because …
I just had lunch with a parent with students in our ministry. They were at their previous church for eight years before moving to ours. They were new so I wanted to connect and make sure they were fitting in …
Every youth pastor has faced it at some point. You’re standing in the church lobby and someone says, “Wait, we have a youth ministry?”
If your church is new or your student ministry feels smaller than the rest of the …
You did it.
You survived the travel, the late-night Taco Bell run, the endless sessions, and the emotional rollercoaster of worship + free coffee refills. Now you’re home, your brain’s full, your heart’s inspired, and your inbox is angry.
Before …
After sixteen years in youth ministry, I resigned from my position during one of the messiest seasons of my life.
Usually, when I tell that part of my story, people ask where I went after I resigned from my church. …
Because “thanks for serving” only goes so far
Somewhere between the fall kickoff and the Christmas party, ministry can start to feel like a treadmill. The energy that fueled the first month is running low, students are buried in school …
Youth ministry without parent communication is like planning a party and forgetting to tell the guests. You can have the best events, the most creative series, and the funniest game ideas, but if parents do not know what is going …