When I was in grad school, author and professor, Steve Gerali, taught me about how important rites of passage are in the faith formation of young people. Since then, I've been a big fan of including these experiences in my youth ministry. I'm also...
What the book's about: A year into my career in youth ministry, I interviewed at a church. During that interview, I was asked about my feelings about the whole "postmodern thing". It was the early 2000s and at the time, I knew little about...
What the book's about: Jesus Centered Youth Ministry is about creating youth ministries that are, in every way, rooted in Jesus. This book is a revised edition of the book first published by the same name 8 years ago.
Why I read this book:...
During my first year in youth ministry, the thing I looked for most in student leaders was spiritual maturity.
Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding teens who you could call spiritually mature.
This makes sense when you realize high school...
Over the course of the last few weeks, I’ve spent time visiting incoming freshmen and their families in their homes. During these visits, I ask teens to reflect on their experience in our junior high ministry. I also share information about our...
Tomorrow night, my adult leaders for the coming programming year will meet together for the first time.
My leaders won't be the only one's attending this gathering.
Instead, our confirmation (junior high) leaders will join us as well.
For years,...
As is often the case, my students got emotional during the final worship service of our recent mission trip – a meaningful, poignant foot washing service. Tears still streamed down many of their faces as we left the worship space and went to ...
Over the last several months, my small group and I have been slowly making our way through Henri Nouwen's The Return of the Prodigal Son , a book that has helped me to better understand and appreciate the story of the Prodigal Son (Luke 15:11-32)....