Earlier this week, my youth ministry was asked to deliver a Welcome Pack to a newly arriving refugee family of three from Bhutan.
Even though I consider myself to be a refugee champion and even though we had the supplies on hand to do this...
In recent weeks, student leadership team interviews have taken over my life. These one-on-one meetings are follow-up conversations to the written application filled out by each applicant. They typically take about an hour each.
I know that's a LOT...
Ever since my congregation stopped kidnapping people, we've had to find new, better ways to transition our kids from one ministry to the next.
One of the best things we've done is institute an 8th grade orientation. Truthfully, we borrowed this...
Today, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker‘s Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
This week's prompt: Grateful .
Last week, I spent 45 minutes on the phone discussing a...
What the book's about: Once again, the subtitle of Wild Mind - Living the Writer's Life - is an accurate description of it. The book blends stories from Natalie's life with practical advice as well as exercises to try in your own...
When I started my job, I inherited a student leadership team that was elected through a popularity contest. As a result, the team was one giant clique, interested far more in what they wanted than in what was best for our youth ministry.
After...
Today, I'm linking up with Lisa-Jo Baker‘s Five Minute Friday. The rules: Write for 5 minutes flat – no editing, no over thinking, no backtracking.
This week's prompt: Mess.
I woke up this morning to a mess. The bathtub was filthy. Wet towels...
What the book's about: Godbearing Life is a classic book in youth ministry. In it, Kenda Creasy Dean & Ron Foster discuss, as it's subtitle suggests, "the art of soul tending for youth ministry." Published in 1998, it's withstood the...
Every Monday night, my high school students run a program for refugee kids called Kids Club. Each week, what the kids look most forward to is snacks.
When it comes to Kids Club snacks, we have one rule: Everyone gets exactly the same thing.
That's...
Recently, my senior pastor had our staff watch Simon Sinek’s TED Talk, How Great Leaders Inspire Action . The basic gist of Simon’s talk is that if you want people to follow you, you’ve got to tell them why you’re doing what you’re doing. You’ve...