The last time I went church shopping I was a freshman in college. My first Sunday on campus, I walked to the Methodist church that was a block from me. I’d grown up in the Methodist church and truly expected to find a church just like the one I...
Note: I wrote this piece a while ago, in connection with my new book, Called. In the days since when it live, however, I have accepted a new job with Fuller Youth Institute and so am now (ironically) in the process of transitioning out of my role...
I’ve seen several recent posts in various online youth ministry discussion forums about how we can get kids and tweens to read Scripture.
Several people have suggested instituting a “Bible Bucks” program. The idea is that when young people read ...
NBC news has recently been airing a series of reports about the mental health toll of the pandemic on young people. As a youth pastor, I’m well aware of these. I’ve seen the toll this pandemic has taken on the young people in my ministry. I’ve...
It’s school enrollment season and as the parent of a kindergartener, I’ve been thinking about education a lot.
A few weeks ago, I listened to a podcast by The Mom Hour in which they reflected on their school priorities. That got me thinking about...
I have fond memories from my childhood of curling up in my mom’s lap, in her big (ugly) green recliner and reading the Berenstain Bears’ books. They were classics that every kid my age loved.
I’ve loved introducing these books to my own girls,...
I’m an introverted youth pastor who has, for years, considered myself to be a pretty good listener. Sadly, I fear that I sometimes listen BETTER to other people’s kids than I do my own. Having recognized this in myself, I was excited to read Becky...
I’ve gotten a few questions about my post, 7 Things That Are Working Well in Virtual Sunday School, that make it clear I need to clarify how we do Virtual Sunday School.
In our context, virtual Sunday School is a LIVE event, held (almost) weekly...
We woke up to about 9 inches of snow on Sunday morning and all I could think was, “I’m so glad Sunday School is virtual this morning!” Had we been in person, we would NOT have had any kids. Instead, we had a lively and robust morning of virtual...
Recently, I’ve seen an increasing number of posts in various children and youth pastor’s forums about how to rebuild an adult leadership team that’s been decimated by the pandemic. It seems that as many people switched to virtual ministry, their...