All About the Heart and Soul of YouthWorkers (and we're obviously doing some redesign)
KEVIN ALTON :: the tall one @ the youthworker circuit
youthworker :: musician :: friend :: twitter:
www.kevinalton.com :: www.youthworkercircuit.com
twitter @elvisfreakshow
Understand this from the beginning: I don’t mean to equate what I’m about to do for Lent with real poorness, nor do I think that being poor is something touristy to do. At a recent youth event I sat in a workshop on ministry with the poor as the youth were engaged in a discussion…
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Ask in the right circles away from the hubbub of the youth room and you’ll quickly learn a simple truth about the confirmation process in Methodist youth ministry: no single effort carries more weight in the spiritual life of a UM youth. It’s where they’re outfitted for life, carefully and painstakingly trained for the journey…
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I met Frank Schaeffer at a planning retreat for the Wild Goose Festival a few weeks ago. His story is a fascinating one–his family established the L’Abri community in Huemoz, Switzerland and became oddly influential in the rise of the Christian Right political movement. After the passing of his father Francis, Frank found himself heir-apparent…
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In Chattanooga, TN there is a support organization for youth ministry called the Chattanooga Youth Network (the name probably didn’t take most of the initial meeting). They sponsor training, retreats, and other events for youthworkers in the Tennessee Valley area. The executive director of that entity, Tony Souder, has become a friend over the years…
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A couple of things right off the top: The tone of this article is greatly subdued compared to the “live” version I was editing in my head over the weekend. “The Methodists” reference in the title does not refer to the institution of the United Methodist Church, but rather the members of the local congregations…
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I’m having a hellish month of scheduling, which means I’m not able to process life events in real time. For example, last Monday I got to spend breakfast explaining to my 4 & 6 year old boys how mommy was going to go to the doctor because some stuff was broken inside. They needed to…
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On purpose. Here’s the thing. There are times in life where you need to support a thing beyond what you get from it. We kinda feel like the Youthworker Movement is one of those things. The Wild Goose Festival is definitely one of those things. The kind of thing that you should find a way…
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So I got a call from a couple of members of our Staff-Parish Relations committee last week. They were just checking in with me to find out how my certification process was going–was I finding it rewarding? how long would it be until I was finished? I thanked them for following up. Get it? See…
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For Christmas this year, my mother-in-law requested that I write for her a Christmas story. Here’s what she got: Jesus rubbed his forehead and closed his eyes. “Explain it to me one more time, Gloria.” “It’s Christmas,” said the angel. “Not here, of course. On earth. This is what they do.” They walked from…
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Usually around this time of year I’m brushing up on arguments in defense of not having Santa around for our 4 & 6 year old boys. Or trying to slow the onslaught of gifts coming from grandparents. Or… I don’t even know. For me, the problem with Christmas is that it’s never really been whatever…
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This article was originally published November 15, 2011. It goes without saying that youth ministry is always changing. (Oops. Well, it would have.) I grew up in the land of the forgotten nightmares of Unsafe Sanctuaries. “Chubby Bunny” was the least of our worries. Our adults were encouraged to take kids off alone; we’d go…
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So, we had this tornado. A little over six months ago our small community of 3,000 in northwest Georgia was gut-punched by a series of storms that culminated in an EF-3 tornado that touched down in the heart of Ringgold then forever scarred the ridge at the south of town. It came back down on…
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We spend an awful amount of time focusing on how to avoid conflict and job-related stress and in doing so we’re ignoring a percentage of our audience that clearly wants to get fired. If you’re floundering around getting close to termination but not quite pulling it off, this one is for you. Don’t be too…
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A quote from Perkins School of Youth Ministry in January has stuck with me all year (voiced by our own Charles Harrison, no less): “I’m sick and tired of youth ministers getting fired for the wrong reasons.” He was talking about all of the idiotic, careless, & wholly avoidable reasons that good youthworkers often exit…
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The Life of a Disciple in the World 7 Deadly Sins Session 7: Lust- … [Read More...]
I had a reality check six months ago while sitting in a volunteer … [Read More...]
Ask in the right circles away from the hubbub of the youth room and … [Read More...]
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