As a youth worker, one of my roles is to come alongside families during times of struggle and provide pastoral care. As part of this, others often ask me, “What can I do for Person X?”

During times of crises, people want to be helpful but they...

I'm a Lutheran Youth Pastor who, until now, could count on one hand the things I knew about Martin Luther, a key player in the Reformation and the person for whom my tradition is named. 

1. He believed in the importance of Scripture alone.
...

As a parent, I've been astounded by how much I'm already learning from my 20-month old daughter. For that reason, when I saw Amy Julia Becker's book, Small Talk: Learning from my children about what matters most, I was intrigued.

Small Talk is...

Whenever I ask teens what they want to talk about in my youth ministry, they respond with enthusiasm, “SEX!”

As a youth pastor, I've lost track of how many times I've taught on sex or done a Valentine's Day sex series in my high school youth...

One of my consistent struggles with Christianity is that it can feel as though there is no place for those who struggle, for those who doubt. So many Christian books are written from this struggle-free perspective.

I remember being acutely aware...

Much of my husband's family lives near Springfield, IL, as do several of our friends from college. Several years ago, many of them began sharing blog posts from a local woman named Courtney Westlake whose daughter, Brenna, was born with a serious,...

In this never-ending election cycle, immigration has been a source of constant debate amongst our candidates. As a long-time refugee champion, I have some definite feelings about refugee policies & quotas. Yet, I'll be the first to admit that...

Like most families, mine has been touched by terminal illness. I've lost grandparents and an uncle to cancer; Another grandparent to the horrific Lou Gehrig's disease. During each of their illnesses, I depended on my faith and inevitably...

My favorite comedy is Friends, I think because for years, I longed for the kind of close-knit friendships depicted in the show. Thanks to an amazing small group experience a decade ago, I found those kinds of friends – friends that have been with...

When I was in grad school, author and professor, Steve Gerali, taught me about how important rites of passage are in the faith formation of young people. Since then, I've been a big fan of including these experiences in my youth ministry. I'm also...

Sarah Bessey is a writer's writer. Her words are beautiful; Her language, poetry. She's someone I read when I need inspiration. 

Needless to say, my expectations about her second book, Out of Sorts, were incredibly high, so much so that I...

I first heard Brenda Salter McNeil speak when I was the Youth Pastor at a multi-ethnic congregation in the suburbs. Knee-deep in the (often) painful reality of cross-cultural ministry, I found her words both challenging and inspiring.

Now, in a...

I majored in Electrical Engineering in college – a major that seemed logical for me since I was good at math and science and knew engineering could lead to a lucrative job.

The only problem was that engineering was definitely not the career God...

Reading inspires me. So as part of my work on my next book – a devotional for teenagers about Jesus based on the research published in my first book, The Jesus Gap – I picked up Tony Jones' Did God Kill Jesus?: Searching for Love in History's...

As a young child, I much preferred playing with stuffed animals to playing house with dolls. As I grew older, I had far more dreams related to careers than motherhood. It took my husband several years to convince me that parenthood was something...

For the last several years, I've participated in the One Word 365 project, selecting a word to anchor my year. My word for this year has been hope – chosen during a scary pregnancy related stint in the hospital in January.

In addition to...

As a youth pastor, I'm privileged to walk with teens as they transition from high school into college. Typically, teens leave high school with huge dreams and aspirations, feeling as though they can conquer the world. All too often, four years...

I first heard Becca Stevens speak several years ago at the ELCA's Youth Ministry Extravaganza. That year, she also spoke at the ELCA's triennial Youth Gathering. I was intrigued by her work. She's an Episcopal priest who founded a non-profit, ...

I used to believe there was such a thing as a perfect church. Then I became a youth pastor and started working for the church. I quickly realized just how imperfect the church is.

Of course, this shouldn't be surprising. The church is made of...

I'm a book junkie. Just ask my father-in-law – who recently spent the better part of a day moving my library upstairs to make room for Baby Bradbury downstairs.

I wholeheartedly believe that you learn by reading. Even so, for a variety of...