On a recent call with Alan Roxburgh, author of Structured for Mission, I heard Al say two really compelling things. First, people are no longer hardwired to go to church like they once were. Second, given this changing culture, those of us who...

In grad school, I took a class called Theology of the Church taught by Dave Rahn. During it, we talked often about the form and function of the church. Dave's point was that form should always follow function, not the other way around. In other...

I blinked and suddenly it's fall, I'm back at work, and Hope is 4 months old. Where oh where did maternity leave and the summer go? Since I somehow missed doing several monthly recaps, we're going to take July - September in one fell swoop. 

What the book's about:  Unlocking Mission & Eschatology in Youth Ministry is part of the series, "A theological journey through youth ministry", which tackles pressing theological issues as they relate specifically to youth...

Reading:

Fiction:

Truthfully, I imagined I'd be reading much more during my maternity leave than I actually am. Between my exhaustion and a steady-stream of visitors, I only read three fiction books this month: The Bright Side Of Disaster...

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...

What the book's about: Jesus Centered Youth Ministry is about creating youth ministries that are, in every way, rooted in Jesus. This book is a revised edition of the book first published by the same name 8 years ago. 

Why I read this book:...

On Sunday, my 7th and 8th grade teachers trickled into the Youth Room after Sunday School. On this particular week – the last of our program year – they'd also been joined by one my high school youth ministry's alumni who remarked there was a...

It's been a busy month. To say that I'm exhausted is an understatement. There's a time I would have been proud of this. Not anymore. Here's hoping for a slower April! 

Reading: 

Due to the busyness of this month, my reading took a hit....

Last week, my high school youth ministry finished it's discussion of Gospel Journey Maui by wrestling with the question, “Who is Jesus?” Because I've used this curriculum before, I searched my computer for our “Who is Jesus?” discussion from five...

In response to last week's post about how a fear of offending people keeps teens from talking about their faith with others, a reader reminded me how at that age, even if he'd wanted to talk about his faith with others, he wouldn't have known how....

Throughout high school, I was actively involved in my congregation's youth ministry. This was, in many ways, the activity that was most important to me during that time period. Even so, I rarely invited friends from my high school to join me for...

This year in our confirmation Sunday school class, we're discussing the five promises we ask teens to make 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...

Yesterday, this question popped up in a youth ministry forum I'm a part of:

Do you believe that a Master's Degree is worth it (professionally and economically) for youth pastors? Do the Pros outweigh the Cons? More education is always positive,...

Today, I'm linking up with Kate Motaung's Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.

This week's prompt: When. 

As a youth worker, I often hear teens say things like, 

-...

Reading: 

Between a vacation at the start of the month and a doctor's ordered modified bed rest last week, I read a lot during January. 

Fiction: 

The Secret Keeper: I've lost track of how many times I've seen this book on...

When I began my first job in youth ministry, the church I worked at was in the midst of worship wars: Fighting constantly about whether to have “traditional” or “contemporary” music.

Young, naive, and convinced we were right and traditional music...

It's January. That means that once again, it's time for K-Love's 30-Day Challenge – something I have some concerns about.

One of my concerns about K-Love's 30-Day Challenge is that it seems to invite people to thoughtlessly consume Christian...

If you walk into my house, you'll notice stacks of books everywhere - evidence that I'm an avid reader. 

Much to my dismay, I read fewer books this year than last. As my husband pointed out, though, I also wrote one so I guess I can't be too...

Although I failed to see the movie, God's Not Dead, when it was in theaters last spring, knowing the basic plot - A Christian kid decides to defend the idea that “God's Not Dead” to an atheist philosophy professor – I made a note to myself to...