What's the catch?

Slip 1

On Saturday, my youth ministry gathered together to play the summer's hottest game: Slip 'N Slide Kickball.

One of my seniors, a student leader in my ministry, came up to me at the start of the event, eager to share with me her experience of inviting her younger brother – a freshman – to it.

According to her, in response to her constant invitations to join her for Slip 'N Slide kickball, her brother grew more and more skeptical, constantly asking, “What's the catch?”

At first, she couldn't even figure out what her brother meant. This is a teen who loves our youth ministry. The thought of there being some “catch” to attending an event was crazy to her.

Her brother saw it differently.

He was convinced that since this was a church event, there had to be something more to it than kickball. So he kept asking his big sis, “Are you sure there's no catch? We're not going to have a discussion at the end of it, right?”

Ironically, my student leaders and I had talked about doing just that but we'd elected not to so she confidently reassured him there would be no serious discussion following kickball. He then said, “I bet Jen's going to blast K-love the whole time, right?”

Read the rest of this article here. 

Jen Bradbury on Youth Ministry

Jen serves as the Minister of Youth and Family at Atonement Lutheran Church in Barrington, Illinois. A veteran youth worker, Jen holds an MA in Youth Ministry Leadership from Huntington University. Jen is the author of The Jesus Gap: What Teens Actually Believe about Jesus (The Youth Cartel), The Real Jesus (The Youth Cartel), Unleashing the Hidden Potential of Your Student Leaders (Abingdon), and A Mission That Matters (Abingdon). Her writing has also appeared in YouthWorker Journal, Immerse, and The Christian Century. Jen is also the Assistant Director of Arbor Research Group where she has led many national studies. When not doing ministry or research, she and her husband, Doug, and daughter, Hope, can be found traveling and enjoying life together.

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A Mission That Matters: How To Do Short-Term Missions Without Long-Term Harm

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Unleashing the Hidden Potential of your Student Leaders

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The Real Jesus

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The Jesus Gap

What Teens Actually Believe About Jesus

Based on National Research

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