The phone rang.

Upon seeing it was the parent of one of my teens, I immediately took a mental inventory of what I might have done to anger or upset this mom.

You see, my experience has taught me that when a parent calls, I've almost always done...

Over the past four weeks, my youth ministry has been experimenting with student led small groups.

Truth be told, this experiment was birthed out of a shortage of adult leaders. In an effort to keep the size of our small groups small, I invited...

Last night, my husband and I saw the new musical, Amazing Grace, in it's pre-Broadway Chicago run. As you might guess from the show's title, it's a musical about John Newton, the man who wrote the beloved hymn, Amazing Grace, after turning from a...

This year in my youth ministry, I wanted to try utilizing student-led small groups.

Notice the operative word there: TRY.

In theory, I believe that student-led small groups are a good idea.

Yet, in reality, I feared they would prove disastrous.

...

This year, our junior high Sunday School class is learning about each of the five promises they'll be making at their confirmation:

- To live among God's faithful people.
- To hear the word of God and share in the Lord's Supper.
- To share the...

What the book's about: Jesus is Better Than You Imagined  is about how the God we've construed (oftentimes in our image) compares to the God of Scripture. It's a book that juxtaposes Jonathan's own stories of Jesus with those found in...

I first met Kitty when I was still in grade school. As the associate pastor at my church, Kitty was stuck running our youth group, a job she didn't like - at least not at first.

Over time, however, we trained her (or maybe she trained us; I'm not...

A male youth worker recently bemoaned the fact that he could think of only two female youth workers to invite to speak at an upcoming event. He told me how he believed it was important to have a female youth worker on stage for all the female...

Recently, my high school teens and I discussed God's gender.

During this discussion, small groups made a list of God's characteristics and classified them as masculine, feminine, or gender neutral. As we did this, my husband and I, who were...

This year, my adult leaders and I are reading and discussing Sticky Faith together. At our first meeting, we wrestled with the chapter on the Sticky Gospel. As part of this, I asked leaders to share their reaction to how teens defined what it...

As a woman in youth ministry, I face some unique challenges.

I wish that wasn't true, but it is.

Most of the time, these unique challenges no longer bother me. I'm confident in my call. I wholeheartedly believe that I'm fully using each and...

In a recent blog post, Andy Blanks offers 20 ways to spruce up your Bible study. His suggestions are good and well worth a read.

That said, I struggled with one of them.

“Let students teach--Adapt your lesson so students are teaching each other,...

I'm a strong believer that belonging precedes belief. This means that if we want teens to take ownership of their faith, we have to first help them belong.

To be clear, belonging doesn't happen accidentally. Helping teens belong takes time,...

We were on the way back from a junior high retreat when it happened. 

We began complaining about everything we disliked about our church. 

Of course, our view was unique. 

We were, after all, only in 6th - 8th grade; I was an...

What the book's about: Wonderstruck by Margaret Feinberg is about cultivating wonder in your life through creation, rest, prayer, friendships, forgiveness, and gratitude. 

Why I read this book: I have been a fan of Margaret Feinberg ever...

What the book's about: Speak by Nish Weiseth is about embracing, telling, and using your story to change the world. 

Why I read this book: I'm a big fan of Deeper Story, the online storytelling community founded by Nish Weiseth....

My first year in ministry, I was haunted by a girl I never met.

Her name was Laura and she never attended anything.

She didn't come to our weekly youth ministry gatherings.

She didn't come to our special events – regardless of whether they were ...

Over the weekend, I watched an episode of one of my favorite TV shows, The West Wing. In it, two Native Americans show up at the White House and refuse to leave until they get an answer on an application their tribe submitted… fifteen years ago.

...

A few weeks ago, I sat down next to an eighth grade boy. Wanting to engage him in conversation, I asked, “How's school?”

I got a typical junior high boy answer: “Good.”

So I asked him a follow-up question. “What's been good about it?”

To which...

Throughout my career in youth ministry, people have occasionally asked me if my husband would be willing to do something.

I used to answer these questions on his behalf, (always saying "yes"), sometimes without first even checking with him.

You...