In junior high, I began accompanying my school's weekly chapel service on the piano. It was a way for me to use my gifts to serve and glorify God even as an introverted kid. It was also what made hours of practicing the piano start to feel worth...

A few weeks ago, we looked at 3 types of parents that you'll work with as a youth pastor. Today, we'll continue looking at strategies for dealing with each type of parent. Here are 7 strategies for working with airplane parents, those parents who...

Twice over the weekend, people told me that I should see The Good Lie, a 2014 movie starring Reese Witherspoon about some of the lost boys of Sudan – children who fled Sudan as refugees without either parent.

As someone who's stood in a refugee...

In youth ministry, summer is the prime time for attending camps, conferences and mission trips. Regardless of what type of summertime activity you participate in with your youth, it's important to process your experience with your teens. Here's...

Eight weeks ago, I had a baby girl, Hope.

My pregnancy was wrought with all kinds of trouble and fear.

As a female youth worker, one of my early fears was how my church would react to the news.

I hoped it would be unashamedly excited for me,...

Last week, we looked at 3 types of parents that you'll work with as a youth pastor. Starting today, we'll look at strategies for dealing with each type of parent. To begin, here are 7 strategies for working with helicopter parents, those parents...

Discussion Questions based on Alexia Salvatierra

1. Describe your reaction to Pastor Alexia's initial story about the gang member.

2. How aware are you of the immigration crisis that Pastor Alexia described? What has influenced your awareness...

Discussion Questions based on Eric Barreto

1. Eric said, “My faith taught me many wonderful things.” What wonderful things has your faith taught you?

2. According to Eric, “My church also taught me one big lie: That I was not different. That I...

Discussion Questions from the Ford Field Intro - Night 2:

1. Describe your reaction to the spoken word from tonight.

2. What did you learn about Detroit from the spoken word?

3. The spoken word artist talked about God being on an extended lunch...

Discussion questions based on Dean Luke Powery

1. Read Mark 16. Answer Dean Powery's question: “What kind of ending is this for Mark's gospel story?”

In what ways is this ending unresolved?

Why do you think Mark leaves his story unresolved?

2....

Discussion questions based on the “Why?” spoken word

1. “Why did you go to Detroit?” How would you answer that question? What expectations do you have for this week?

2. “This isn't just a gathering. This is a movement. This is a place where we...

For those looking to process tonight's opening session in Ford Field at the ELCA Youth Gathering, here are some discussion questions you can use with your youth ministries. 

1. Bishop Eaton said, “The places the world calls godforsaken are...

The other day, I ran into a youth ministry graduate who's now coaching summer sports. His job brings him into lots of contact not just with his students (who range in age from 5 – 15), but their parents. As we talked, he began reflecting on his...

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:

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...

As it turns out, you watch a lot of TV while breastfeeding (or at least I do). Having always heard people rave about The Gilmore Girls, it's one of the series I've been making my way through during early mornings and late nights with my baby girl....

One question I'm commonly asked in regard to student leadership teams is, “Are people grandfathered in?” In other words, once someone is on your student leadership team, should they remain on it indefinitely?

My answer is an emphatic “No!”

No one...

Over the years, I've sat in a number of counseling workshops and classes. Inevitably at such places, we talk about the importance of establishing boundaries with the teens we serve as youth pastors. As part of this, trainers often suggest that you...

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...