A few weeks ago, I visited our new members class in order to talk about our congregation's youth ministry.

None of the people in this class have high school aged kids and yet I went anyway, believing it's important for everyone in our...

Last summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 7 of Help! I'm a...

Last week, I sat on a plane and wept (Think ugly cry) as I finished Addie Zierman's When We Were on Fire . I'm sure my poor seat mate thought I was crazy but it couldn't be helped. Addie's words moved me deeply.

Having followed her blog for quite...

One of the greatest gifts my Mom gave me is a love of reading. I grew up in a house that was loaded with books and I loved reading, even as a small child. 

Today, my house is the same way. We have books everywhere: Three dedicated shelves as...

In his recent blog post, Application vs. Information , Chris Wesley suggests when they go to church, teens wonder, “What does this have to do with my life?” According to him, “The tendency is to fill their head with doctrine, church history and...

There's a story in the Gospel of Matthew about a woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years.

It's not typically one we pay much attention to.

Why would we? In it's entirety, this woman's story comprises three verses. As with so many of her female...

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 6 of Help! I'm...

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 5 of Help! I'm...

My youth ministry discussion tanked on Sunday. Every question I asked fell flat. Despite my efforts to pry responses out of my students, they remained universally unengaged.

As a veteran youth worker, I know these days happen. Even so, they’re...

Linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker‘s Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking. 

This week's prompt: Grace. 

In the last several weeks, I've been ever so slowly working my way through Brene Brown's Daring Greatly . It's a book that's every bit as wonderful as everyone says it is. 

Last week, I read the chapter on Vulnerability Armory and was struck...

Whenever I walk into my neighborhood library, I run into a man. His tattered clothes, long scraggly beard, and excess bags reveal his identity as a homeless man.

A few blocks away, I often see another homeless man sitting on a bench outside the...

Like many of her fans, I fell in love with Sarah Bessey via her blog. Her writing is stunning; Her posts simultaneously heartfelt and provocative, oftentimes leaving me in both tears and deep thought.

Since I love her writing, I was thrilled to...

Youth workers live busy lives. As soon as one trip or program ends, the next begins. So it is with mission trips.

As soon as you pull into the church parking lot at the end of your trip, inevitably someone asks, "Where are we going next year?" or...

I’ve been in youth ministry long enough to know that eventually, students in my ministry will face crises.

Knowing this, I’ve taken steps to equip adult leaders to minister to students in crises. That way, when crises happen, we’re prepared....

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith. 

Questions about Ch. 3 of...

When I was in the third grade, one of my classmates had a habit of blowing on people. One day, our teacher caught him doing this, yanked him out of line, drew a circle on the chalkboard, and made him repeatedly blow into the circle for the rest of...

On a Sunday morning not all that long ago, I stood behind a young mom and her toddler-aged daughter as they exited church. When they reached the doors in the back of our church, the mom said to her daughter, “Say good-bye to the church.”

The...

As a youth worker, I'm constantly amazed at the mysteriousness of adolescence. One minute, I'm baffled by the immaturity of my teens. The next, I'm blown away by their insight. Somehow, in the adolescent world, immaturity and insight regularly...

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith. 

Questions about the Ch. 2 of...