My daughter, Hope, recently turned four. Of course, we wanted to celebrate her well, with a duo of Frozen themed parties, one for friends and family, and one for a handful of her school friends.
Having gone to a number of toddler parties in...
The other day, I was asked whether confirmation should be held in the spring or fall – a common question for congregations that offer confirmation. There are pros and cons to each practice.
Confirming teens in the spring gives families a sense of...
I blogged recently about 5 marks of a justice-focused trip and was immediately bombarded by questions about where you find such a trip. Youth workers immediately jump to this question: "Which mission trip organizations are focused on justice ...
At a recent mission trip meeting, my teens wrestled with whether or not our summer mission trip currently focuses on serving others (meeting needs) or on enacting justice (recognizing, understanding, and addressing systemic brokenness).
By...
Since taking a new call, my responsibilities have expanded to include youth and family ministry. As such, I’ve become much more intentional about ministering to parents than I ever have been before. I’ve also become much more aware of resources...
A student recently told me, “We used to like going on the mission trip because it was relaxed. There were no rules.”
She was referring to a mission trip I inherited.
Truth be told, I’d suspected this was the case for a while but never had someone...
I live in Barrington, in the shadow of Willow Creek. I’ve long been familiar with the service they offer called, “The Practice”. As a youth worker in the ELCA, I’m intrigued by an evangelical community dabbling in a more liturgical style of...
I’ve lost track of the number of times in my career in youth ministry when a high school senior has confronted me because they don’t like the direction our ministry is going. This confrontation always comes after a transition – usually within the...
In my work as a youth pastor, I consistently use a variety of commentaries to prep discussions for my midweek high school program as well as to prepare for my preaching responsibilities on Sunday. Since we follow the narrative lectionary, I knew...
I’ve been a fan of Matthew Paul Turner ever since he wrote ADULT books. Back in the day, his book, Relearning Jesus, made for great fodder with my student leadership team. I’ll admit, when he switched to writing children’s books, I was a bit...