Category: Student Ministry
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Remembering Columbine… Never Again.
On April 20, 1999. Things changed. Not everyone that day knew just exactly how wide ranging those changes would be, but there was a huge cultural shift. The school shooting at Columbine High School in Colorado was one of stories that helped to form our current 24 hour news cycle. In fact, next school years…
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The 600th post…
In 2007 and early 2008, I had a crazy idea to start a ministry blog. I never imagined it would lead me through two different churches, seeing the addition of two more children to my family, through writing a book, and speaking and traveling all over the country as part of NNYM So here we are…
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The Purpose of Youth Ministry…
Yesterday, I attended my mom’s church in Southern Illinois. The Pastor gave a message based on John 4, the woman at the well. One of the statements that the pastor made summed up the passage well, but also encapsulated what we should be modeling as youth workers: “Jesus knew everything the woman had done, everything…
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Help Wanted…
Today’s teenagers are struggling with issues that I never would have dreamed of as a teen. Many of them also lack the home support system that most of us enjoyed growing up. Where are they getting their influence? Every town has several churches with youth workers that desire to reach today’s teenagers, but it looks…
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More Thoughts on The Future of Rural Youth Ministry…
In my book, Rural Youth Ministry, I spend some time talking about the future of youth ministry in rural communities. Almost three years out from the publishing of the book, I have seen some things transpire that show where I was right, where I was wrong, and what I didn’t see coming. No one knows…
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The Blogging Congregation…
I attend a small church in a rural community. I’m talking less than 150 on Sunday morning small. Yet, I see two trends in our church that I hope speak to the future of growing churches. The first is that the fastest growing and most engaged group is shifting from those in their 50’s amd…
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Don’t be a “Bath and Body Works” Youthworker…
Note to our female readers: This post is written by a male. We see things a little differently, and that’s ok. Hang with me, this satire makes a point… When I hear the words “Bath and Body Works” as a guy, two things come to mind. 1) The migraine-inducing mix of all the strong smells…
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One?
Youthworker, I’m going to ask a single question that I was never asked at the last church where I served, or the church before that, or even the one before that. However, it is vitally important to your ministry. Its a difficult question that should be asked after every event, every game night, even every…
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Five Ways to Show Appreciation For Youthworkers…
Youth ministry has changed in the last 15-20 years. For the most part, the days where the youthworkers mainly managed pizza parties and all night video game marathons are behind us. Instead we have youthworkers reaching out to overstimulated, overscheduled teens that are being bombarded with negative messages from society, messages like “you’re not ______…
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MinistryPlace.Net On the Road: General Baptist Mission & Ministry Summit
This week, Brent will be representing NNYM and presenting four workshops at the General Baptist Mission and Ministry Summit in St. Louis, Missouri. If you are attending the conference, be sure and stop by the NNYM table in the exhibit hall and say hello!
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Guest Post : Three Things I’ve Learned from Cross-Cultural Student Ministry…
Editor’s Note: This guest post is by Tim Totten. Tim is the Associate/Youth Pastor at Gibson City Bible Church in Gibson City, Illinois. ———————————————————————————————– It was nine years ago when I first set foot in in that little church in Smolensk, Russia, a city about 250 miles west of Moscow. There could not have been…