Youth Ministry and Background Checks…Help me out…

I have never done these but feel compelled to have ALL those who chaperone and volunteer to do this. But, I need some feedback... What is the best company to do this with? Cost-effective... Do you keep this stuff on file? How do you deal with the criticism of "Well I guess you don't trust …

How do I write curriculum for Youth Ministry

Like many of you, we have a set curriculum flow in our ministry and we use LIVE curriculum from the guys at Simply Youth Ministry. It has been an awesome tool for us to use and simply to put in the hands of our teachers who have material that is engaging, biblical, concise and relevant. …

Youth Ministry and Evangelism – Part 3 – Mistakes

Often we know what to do by what not to do. For example, Heather and I have told Samuel over and over not to touch the eye on the stove as it will burn him. Two year olds do not comprehend directions and the implications of danger. Sometimes they just have to learn it themselves. …

Evangelism and Youth Ministry – Part 2 – The Call

You can read the previous post here. I am concerned now about what motivates us to do evangelism. In other words, if I were to sit down with a teenager and ask them, "Why should you evangelize?" I wonder what responses I would get: What is evangelism? (With shrugged shoulders) I don't know. Because I …

How to speak at Chapel, FCA events and Other School-Sponsored Events

Yesterday I had the opportunity to speak at Goodpasture Christian School during their chapel time. I have probably spoken there 20 times since I have been at Main Street. I have also had the pleasure of speaking at numerous FCA events all over the county. It is a daunting task to speak in front of …

How to NOT Recruit Volunteers in Ministry

I read an excellent post by Aaron Helman who writes for his blog "Smarter Youth Ministry." He wrote a post for the guys at Youth Ministry 360 entitled, "4 Traits of a Healthy Volunteer Team" which is worth your read. The blog post lead me to reflect on how I have recruited volunteers and I …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Final Reflections

I have had little time to process all of the lessons, classes and discussions.  I thought I would relay some meanderings here that might help participants of NCYM, fellow youth ministers, church members and everyone else. I wish to do this in a sort of "lessons learned" format. For Youth Ministers, there is much to …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 3

I am writing this from the Denver airport as my time to fly is upon me. I will give a few highlights from Day 3. Wednesday Morning Mike Cope “Community in Lars and the Real Girl” - Hebrews It’s a movie about church, it begins in church and ends in church. Hebrews Imagining a world …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 2

Great day I experienced with classes, super-sessions and keynote messages from some of the finest people in Christianity. I typed 10 pages of notes yesterday so I cannot include everything here but I want to give you some highlights that stood out to me. Tuesday Morning, Mike Cope “Spiritual Intubation: How Community Keeps Us Alive” …

National Conference on Youth Ministries – Day 1

Yesterday the sessions started with an per-registration meeting with Patrick Mead that I missed (boo) but I decided to go to Agia Sophia's coffee shop (see yesterday's post). After that I did a little detour to visit a couple of places... Manitou Springs This is home of Pike's Peak Cog Railway which was, much to …