Recently, one of the big wigs in my denomination distinguished between “called” staff and “hired” staff. According to him, “called” staff are those who are ordained or rostered by our denomination. An entire congregation then calls them into...

I love to read books that challenge me to think differently about something. Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God: The Scandalous Truth of the Very Good News by Brian Zahnd did just that.

In Sinners in the Hands of a Loving God, Zahnd explores...

The world, and in particular, the United States is becoming more divisive.

Few people I know would disagree with that statement right now.

Yet, few people I know – including, or perhaps, especially – Christians, know what to do about that...

I care deeply about justice, as does the congregation I'm a part of. For this reason, I was excited to dig into J. Paul Nyquist's Is Justice Possible: The Elusive Pursuit of What is Right.

This book was a mixed bag for me. I loved that...

It's no secret that I genuinely love liturgy. It orders worship, creates familiarity (and therefore, for me, comfort), but most importantly, intentionally centers worship on Jesus.

Because I love liturgy, I was both excited and intrigued to read...

What the book's about: Coffee, the World, and Jesus is a collection of stories from Ron DeMiglio - an international coffee businessman - about his work, travel, and faith. 

Why I read this book: The synopsis sounded interesting to me...

Not long ago, I stumbled across a youth ministry curriculum called Answers Bible Curriculum.

Now, to be clear. This is NOT a review of this curriculum. I've never used this curriculum. As you'll see, I'll also never buy it.

Nevertheless, the...

What the book's about: Unleashing the Power of Rubber Bands  is a leadership book filled with short essays on what the author, Nancy Ortberg, describes as "non-linear leadership" (others might classify it as servant-leadership.) 

Why I...

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

This week's prompt: Play.

“Hope-girl, what do you want to do today?” I ask my two-year-old daughter.

Her lips...

After spending five years serving as the youth pastor in a church that held its weekly youth service during “big church”, I knew I wanted my next congregation to be one in which families worshiped together, where worship and faith formation (or...

What I'm Reading:

Fiction: 

Between our trip to Africa and my mission trip to Haiti, June was a SLOW month for fiction reading. 

Book I couldn't put down: The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I know, the...

As a youth pastor, as much as you might like to be the one who’s in charge of your church, you’re not. Whether it’s another person in the youth ministry or an associate or senior / lead pastor, you’ve got a boss who directly supervises you.

One of...

What the book's about: As the subtitle says, Hope Prevails shares "insights from a Doctor's Personal Journey through Depression." It emphasizes the spiritual nature of depression. 

Why I read this book:  As a youth worker, I always...

I've just returned from one mission trip and now my focus turns to the next one. This week is littered with several meetings related to our upcoming mission trip, one of which is our adult leader's meeting.

At this meeting, we'll cover logistics...

Worried first-time mission trip adult leaders often ask me, “What can I do to be a good adult leader?”

As someone who is not only a youth worker and a parent but also a former mission trip staffer, I have a unique perspective on this. I still...

My husband and I have traveled a LOT with our daughter, Hope. My in-laws joke that Hope has been on a plane more in her first two years than some people are in their entire lifetime. When people hear how much we've traveled with Hope, they often...

Before we had kids, my husband and I loved to travel together. As juniors in college, we studied abroad in Russia. Ever since then, whenever we've gotten the chance to go somewhere, we have.

One of my fears in becoming a parent was that we'd stop...

A few days after returning exhausted from a week-long mission trip, I woke up to the worst kind of e-mail, a nastygram from a parent chewing me out for a comment made on the mission trip.

Upon reading it, my first thought was “Seriously? I spent a...

What the book's about: Mack & Leeann's Guide to Short-Term Missions is just that: A guide to short-term missions, written by two InterVarsity Campus Fellowship staff workers who have directed numerous mission trips to Kenya, the Middle East...

At a recent event, I noticed a student sitting quietly off to the side, seemingly disengaged from her peers and the teaching. Her youth worker noticed too but chalked her disengagement up to the fact that she was an introvert and decided to just...