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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In my last post I wrote about what I think is a critical flaw in the approach that Vital Congregations used in gathering a list of potential metrics – namely that the metrics to consider must be available, in other words, already being collected. I don’t know that I made a strong enough case in…
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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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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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Students are going to text while you speak no matter what you say or how many texting spies you place in the audience. Why not use this evil distraction for good? That’s where Poll Everywhere comes in. It’s a really simple process. You don’t even have to sign up to try it out. You put…
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Dear Current Youth Worker: We mean no insult by generalizing your name in this fashion. You are an individual of the highest order. But if you’re new to youth ministry, you might be curious to know why we address your incoming mail in this fashion. So here are a few reasons: 1. There was somebody…
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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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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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Your phone rings right after the youth event is over. It’s a mom. She reads to you from the same script again, “My son/daughter is making everything so hard. We’ve been arguing non-stop, and today I found out that he/she has been smoking/drinking/sneaking out/insert rebellious action here.” You console; you offer reassurances, but the bottom…
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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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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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Over the last few weeks, we have been examining the 7 promises of the We Love Our Youth Worker Covenant, an agreement between covenant churches and their employee-youth workers. This week we are going to delve into Promise 7 – a promise about celebrating the youth ministry of your church. From the church’s point of…
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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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A tornado destroyed our Arlington, Texas, church building today. … [Read More...]
I've known Hank Hilliard since 1995 when I was doing short term … [Read More...]
When I first heard that term, I had no clue what this guy (Jeff Dunn … [Read More...]
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