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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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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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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I woke up with a ton of thoughts in this area, and wanted to try and capture some of them. I think there is a big split coming in the way most folks will experience church, and I think the two ways will become increasingly dissimilar. That’s my premise. By that I mean, that the…
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When I first heard that term, I had no clue what this guy (Jeff Dunn Rankin, VP of Youth Ministry Architects) was talking about. The phrase sounded both creepy and sad. He even had a picture to go w/ it of the outline of Mickey with an ear missing. Here’s how he ‘splained it to…
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I’ve been told by well-intentioned youth and parents, “I will be at UMY if there is nothing on my schedule.” Really? Is that supposed to make me feel better? You’ll be at UMY if you have absolutely nothing better to do? Thanks…I think. We all experience it. Every week thousands of members of youth groups…
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Some of this is tongue-in-cheek, but even I’m at a loss to figure out which parts. Years and years of vibrant/relevant/fruitful/vital/+your buzzword youth ministry have only seemed to shine a spotlight on the growing “missing generation” of young adults that are for the most part simply not coming to church anymore. Healthy youth ministries are…
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The to-do list for the Youth Valentine’s Dinner and Auction event I inherited was extremely detailed and even divided into subcategories – things to do for the meal itself, for promoting the event, for decorating, for soliciting donations, for organizing the youth, for ticket sales, for setting up and for cleaning up…you get the idea.…
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Want to know something crazy? Normal people get two days off of work every week. Youthworkers usually get none. Don’t think I’m right? Check your calendar. You might be saying, “I get Mondays off” (except for those two hours of staff meeting…) Or you get Fridays off (except any weekends with a retreat or a…
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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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Last week I was privileged to be a part of the second annual gathering of National UMC Conference and Jurisdictional Youth Ministry staff persons. 41 folks met in Kansas City, Missouri at Saint Paul School of Theology to re-think what we…
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Dr. Ed Trimmer Executive Director of the Cal Turner, Jr. Center for Church Leadership at Martin Methodist College There is a NEW report entitled Call To Action that you may be hearing about if you have not heard about it already. The Report based on research which was approved by the Bishops may attempt to…
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Recently, I’ve heard a few things said about “what needs to be done in Youth Ministry” that cause me to say “Oh really?” in my best sincere and slightly sarcastic tone. In case you didn’t know, sarcasm is definitely a fatal flaw in Youthwork so it should be used sparingly unless you are a Jedi…
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Worship Continues To Evolve Any close reading of the Old Testament and New Testament affirms the understanding that corporate worship has always been evolving and changing. Moses never came down from Mt. Sinai and said, thus sayeth the Lord, “this is how all people will worship from now until God comes again.” …
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ARTICULATING FAITH: Thoughts on “What do you believe? American Teenagers, Spirituality, and Freedom of Religion,” a video by Sarah Feinbloom Written by Amy Valdez Barker “A compelling educational peacemaking film without being didactic, sectarian, or doctrinaire. Every public school, congregation and youth program in the country should have a copy of it.” Rev.…
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The new buzzword in The United Methodist Church is "effectiveness." … [Read More...]
Well, it seems every year about this time there is a lot of work done … [Read More...]
When I first came to my church, I discovered, much to my dismay, that … [Read More...]
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