All About the Heart and Soul of YouthWorkers
OK I know that sounds a little dramatic. Let me start Micro and move towards Meta. I also really want your input, so this is a conversation starter. Here it goes: Well for about two weeks now I have become the acting Children’s Ministry Director at the Church where I am doing Interim Youth Ministry.…
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You probably long for a day when everything falls perfectly into place. No hassles. No fires to put out. No problems with people acting out. No drama. You just go through your day with positive thing after positive thing happening all day long. But guess what? That’s just not going to happen. In fact, it’s…
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Dear NBC, I would respectfully submit that you have not yet realized the world has changed both culturally and technologically. I concede that you seem to be using all of the new technologies available to you. Let me compliment you on your easy navigation web-site and your Facebook fan pages and of course your deft…
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I was reading through the Call to Action, or maybe some other code word for a report that was on the vitalcongregations website a few months back, and something struck me as I read about the drivers and metrics and so on. The Bureaucracy Virus First, I think it is great that the UMC is…
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Spiritual formation begins in the home. Well, that’s at least according to the way Susannah Wesley raised her children. I believe that many of our U.M. Churches have relinquished this responsibility in equipping, encouraging and preparing parents to intentionally pass on spirituality and the language of the Christian faith to their children. That’s not to…
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As I made my way through Lent this year I was increasingly reluctant to post even on my own blog (even more so over here where there’s actually an audience). It was a deeply moving experience for me and difficult to wrap words around–you’d really have to do it to understand. To sum up, if…
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There have been some great pieces on the Youth Worker Movement lately about discipleship in youth ministry, and how we can be better about that work. Our focus of discipleship, or “disciple making” in youth ministry is rooted in the United Methodist Church’s mission statement of “making disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of…
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When I was in the local church, I didn’t pay much attention to General Conference – the every-four-year-mostly-legislative-meeting of United Methodist delegates to decide what would be in the next Book of Discipline. I taught about General Conference in confirmation, I read the headlines that would invariably show up in the press about the more…
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Continued from Part 1 Preparedness is the key to survival. Implementing a few of these things can make the difference between merely surviving during summer and thriving during the summer. Here are some helpful guidelines to make the most out of your summer ministry. Empower your leadership! Hopefully you have your own format of youth…
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When is it OK to stop growing? We’ve had a “vitality team” form and hold several meetings to develop our church’s Vital Congregations growth goals for the coming few years. As they wrestled with numbers for worship attendance, professions of faith, and people in missions an amusing report emerged from that room; apparently, one enthusiastic…
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Something old-something new! The life changing DISCIPLE BIBLE STUDY is now available for use with youth totally online. No manuals, no picking a time or place to meet, no transportation obstacles. In fact, youth from neighboring communities or even other countries can join in. If we are going to transform the world, we need our…
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You have great hopes, dreams and plans. So you go all in, work had to make them a reality and do everything possible to get where you want to be. But, along the way, something happens and what you want so much is suddenly no longer a possibility. That’s disappointing – perhaps devastating – and…
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It would be nice if life were easy. But it’s not. You deal with difficult people, tough issues, circumstances beyond your control and the fact that life keeps coming at you fast. You have several choices how to respond. You can give up and decide you’re a victim. Fight with everything you have and take…
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“Expectations of community and true community are never the same thing. You have to get rid of the first to find the second.” I ran across this quote the other day and for some reason it really convicted me. It made me consider what it means to practice true community. As a youth worker, I…
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The Duke Youth Academy for Christian Formation (DYA) invites youth workers interested in exploring innovative youth ministry practices to apply for a Duke youth ministry fellowship. Fellows typically possess undergraduate degrees and have fewer than five years of experience in a church setting. Fellows have the opportunity to learn from internationally acclaimed Divinity School faculty,…
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General Conference 2012 has ended and is in the history … [Read More...]
We did a Contemplative Christmastide Worship resource back in November … [Read More...]
I have been in conversation with several parents of adolescents … [Read More...]
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