A few weeks ago, I visited our new members class in order to talk about our congregation's youth ministry.

None of the people in this class have high school aged kids and yet I went anyway, believing it's important for everyone in our...

Nov 19 · 5 min read

Stuff You Can Use: Help! I'm a Student Leader Ch. 7 Discussion Questions

Last summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 7 of Help! I'm a...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 15 · 5 min read

Review: When We Were on Fire by Addie Zierman

Last week, I sat on a plane and wept (Think ugly cry) as I finished Addie Zierman's When We Were on Fire . I'm sure my poor seat mate thought I was crazy but it couldn't be helped. Addie's words moved me deeply.

Having followed her blog for quite...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 14 · 5 min read

What's on my bookshelves

One of the greatest gifts my Mom gave me is a love of reading. I grew up in a house that was loaded with books and I loved reading, even as a small child.

Today, my house is the same way. We have books everywhere: Three dedicated shelves as...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 13 · 5 min read

Identity vs. Application

In his recent blog post, Application vs. Information , Chris Wesley suggests when they go to church, teens wonder, “What does this have to do with my life?” According to him, “The tendency is to fill their head with doctrine, church history and...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 12 · 5 min read

Follow footsteps, not doctrine

There's a story in the Gospel of Matthew about a woman who hemorrhaged for twelve years.

It's not typically one we pay much attention to.

Why would we? In it's entirety, this woman's story comprises three verses. As with so many of her female...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 11 · 5 min read

Stuff You Can Use: Help! I'm a Student Leader Ch. 6 Discussion Questions

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 6 of Help! I'm...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 08 · 5 min read

Stuff You Can Use: Help! I'm a Student Leader Ch. 5 Discussion Questions

This summer, my student leaders & I read and discussed the book, Help! I'm a Student Leader by Doug Fields. Using the questions below, we had some incredibly powerful discussions about leadership and faith.

Questions about Ch. 5 of Help! I'm...

Jen Bradbury

Nov 07 · 5 min read

Everyone Answers

My youth ministry discussion tanked on Sunday. Every question I asked fell flat. Despite my efforts to pry responses out of my students, they remained universally unengaged.

As a veteran youth worker, I know these days happen. Even so, they’re...