The Wardog Blog

Building Your Youth Ministry – Vision

2012-02-01T08:47:00.000-08:00

I often get asked how to revitalize or build a youth ministry program. For the average person, this can be an overwhelming task. Questions like: Where do I start?, and What do I do first? are the types of questions that most people begin to ask. And these are exactly the right types of questions to be asking. Throwing together a hodgepodge of programs and events with no specific goals or outcomes might satisfy the immediate need of the church for the community, however this type of approach will never last the test of time.

Developing a youth ministry requires careful planning. For the program to be strong and effective, you must begin with a vision. Just as if you were laying the foundation for building a house, you need to lay a strong foundational vision as to what your youth ministry is going to be all about. Without this, all you have is a gathering of young people doing events with no central purpose. Proverbs 29: 18 states, "…Without a vision (purpose, plan, etc.), the people will perish." Why does your church have a youth ministry? If your only answer is "because we've always had one," then it's time to reevaluate. Unless you know what you're trying to do, you'll probably never accomplish it.

There are lots of ways to discover a vision or purpose for your youth ministry (too many to articulate here). However, a good place to start is be realistic as to where you are and cast a dream of where you want to go. Things to keep in mind are:

What are the needs of our community?

What are our kids needs?

What resources (money, time, facility, people, etc.) do we have and what do we need?

One of the best resources that I can recommend for churches who are struggling to rebuild or build a youth ministry and define a solid vision for that ministry would be the book by Doug Fields entitled "Purpose Driven Youth Ministry." This book provides a systematic approach at developing a solid vision that you can implement and evaluate easily. Churches where I have use this book it has been a great success. There is also a training kit that includes 5 strategic teambuilding sessions that can be used alongside the book to help make the experience richer.

If you are a member of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church you can borrow this training kit from our resource center, Discovery Place (discovery-place.org) at no charge.

Mission Idea: Souper Bowl of Caring

2012-01-18T06:19:00.001-08:00

If you're looking for a good, easy missions opportunity for youth and young adults you can't get any easier than participating in Souper Bowl of Caring.

The Souper Bowl of Caring is a grassroots, faith-based crusade against hunger. It invites churches, schools, and other organizations and individuals across the country to fight hunger and poverty by collecting dollars in soup pots on Super Bowl Sunday. What is collected stays in the community to help fight hunger on a local level. Rev. Dr. Brad Smith, founder and executive director said, "It is a way for young people to put God’s love into action by developing a heart for helping others. The goal is for these young people to see they can make a difference and for them to continue contributing through volunteerism when they reach adulthood."

To learn more on how your church can participate in the Souper Bowl of Caring, you can visit their website http://www.souperbowl.org/

Bullying - A Spiritual Crisis

2012-01-04T05:00:00.000-08:00

When I was growing up I can honestly say that I was bullied. I was an awkward kid and from elementary school through junior high I never really fit into the cool crowd and found myself the but end of a lot of jokes and pranks. Some of the highlights of these include having my underwear frozen, waking up with shaving cream and toothpaste in my hair and being made fun of because I couldn't play sports like the rest of the kids my age. All that being said, I never remember being bullied to the point where I would contemplate suicide and I always had a group of friends that I could turn to even though they were bullied as well.

Bullying nowadays has taken on a whole new dimension. It's not just that you are the butt end of jokes and pranks anymore. Nowadays, bullying is much more vicious and with the rise of technology such as Facebook, blogs and text messaging hundreds of thousands of people can participate and see the ridicule that is dished out upon you. I would not want to be a young person in this day and age. And bullying doesn't just stop at school. More and more we are finding bullying happening in our local churches: a place that is supposed to be a safe haven from that kind of behavior.

Because of that I would like to recommend a book for every person who works in youth and young adult ministry to read. It's entitled "Bullying: A Spiritual Crisis" by Ronald Hecker Cram. This book, unlike other bullying books that are out there, looks at bullying from in spiritual perspective. It helps people of faith understand why and how this critical social issue is a faith issue as well and more for my how they can deal with bullying when it occurs. The best part of this book is not Cram’s thesis but rather the appendix that includes lots of resources that one can turn to help you better understand bullying and how to prevent it. I would highly recommend that everyone who works with youth and young adults get a copy of this book and familiarize yourself with it.

One last thought. I believe bullying is probably the most crucial social issues facing youth and young adults today. It's far outweighs the traditional social problems that we tend to think of with this age group. In fact I would go so far as to say that bullying has become an epidemic especially to the marginalized in our society. I believe that every local church youth program should have an absolute zero tolerance to bullying in its program and that you should educate youth and young adults on how they can combat bullying at school.

Holiday Blues

2011-12-21T05:00:00.000-08:00

The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy and excitement, and for the most part for most people that is exactly what they are. However, there is a segment of the population that dreads this time of year. The reason for that is because they have experienced a loss or tragic event in or around this time of year or within the last few months. It has certainly occurred in our area in Pennsylvania when 4 teenagers were tragically killed in a car accident only a few weeks ago. For their friends and family, this time of year is not going to be a joyous one. It is going to be a time of year filled with pain, tears and sadness.

As people who work with youth and young adults we have to be particularly mindful of youth and young adults who have experienced tragic loss with their family or friends around this time of year. It is important as we plan fun activities during the holiday season that we also carve out some time for those individuals that dread having to face a new holiday season without a loved one. Unless you have experienced it yourself, you can overlook this very important opportunity for pastoral care to youth and young adults. There are several ways that one can honor and respect the people who have experienced loss and it doesn't take a lot of time and energy.

One easy way is simply sending a card to the individual on the anniversary of their loved ones death. If it's a youth member, having the youth group do this is even a better idea. Having a special worship service to honor an individual that is no longer with them is also very appropriate. Several churches in our area celebrate a "Blue” Christmas service, specifically intended for people who have experienced a loss during the holiday season. These services can be a reminder for everyone that the holiday time is not always filled with joy.

As I think of those youth who died in a car crash, their friends, family and churches that will now have to pick up the pieces of lives cut short, I think how fortunate I am this holiday season. May God's peace, hope, joy and love greet you this holiday season. Merry Christmas!

Resource Review: E|Merge

2011-12-07T05:00:00.000-08:00

It can often be very hard to find good theologically sound youth resource material to use to instruct youth and young adults in a relevant and interactive way within our denomination. However, I came upon a good resource that I would like to recommend entitled "E|Merge." Developed at one of the largest United Methodist churches in our denomination, Ginghamsburg United Methodist Church in Tipp City, Ohio, this curriculum sets the standard for a learning style where there is a large group teaching and small group discussion.

At its core, it uses relevant everyday TV shows, movies and experiences to explain how you are to live the Christian life to develop you as fully devoted disciples. There are a total of three resources numbered 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. While a lot of the literature says that they should be used in concert with one another, after further review I could see you taking one unit as a stand-alone piece if you thought it would be appropriate. Each unit ranges from 3-5 lessons and is very easy to follow and use. The curriculum includes: the directors guide, younger youth guide, older youth guide and an interactive DVD/CD-ROM that includes the clip, handout and PowerPoint presentations use in the large group teaching.

In critique of this resource, it is very hard to find either at Cokesbury bookstore or on Amazon.com. I'm not sure if that is because it is out of print or not, but if you are looking to purchase this you're going to have to do some research. Also, it is slightly dated with a publication date that is approximately 5 to 7 years old, however, the units are well written, easy-to-follow and most importantly theologically in line with the United Methodist Church.

Reviewing Your Mentoring Program

2011-11-23T05:00:00.000-08:00

Heading into the Christmas season is a great time for reflection and evaluation. Certainly some of that energy needs to be focused on your ministry, but don't forget to make sure your mentoring relationships are in order, too. Here is one simple strategy to consider:

Look Forward – Who Is Leading You?

It is imperative that you find someone who is a little further down the path than you; somebody a little older, and a little wiser. Many youth workers are pioneers, but the benefits of a seasoned mentor shouldn't be overlooked. Being mentored from a distance is possible, but having someone in real-life is a better option. Being mentored through blogs and books is also a possibility, but without access to discussion the dialogue is decidedly one way. Because things slow down a bit over the holidays, it's a great time to connect, reconnect or start a relationship with a youth ministry mentor.

Look Around – Who Are You Leading With?

There is nothing better than sharing in ministry with a close friend. They might be an incredible intern, a parent who jumped in to help or a volunteer who is so like-minded people think someone cloned your brain. In addition to the mentor who is leading you, make sure you are "doing life" with another youth worker and are journeying together.

Look Back – Who are You Leading?

God is going to do something special with several of the students in your ministry. His Kingdom is going to be built because of these young men and women. Why not pick one or two of them to pour a little extra into? Sure, you can lead the whole group from "up front", through your programs, but what could it look like if you hand-picked one or two and gave them some customized mentoring? If you take a second to think about your own experiences growing up, no doubt there were several people along the way that distinctively shaped you toward becoming God's man or God's woman. Pass that experience on!

Very few good things happen by accident. Don't leave the concept of mentoring to chance; it's too important!

Resource Review: YS Games Video Addition

2011-11-09T05:00:00.000-08:00

There is a new resource put out by Youth Specialties entitled "Games: Video Edition-Explanations of 20 Great Games for Youth." If you want whacked-out, run-till-you-drop games, then here they are. What's unique about this resource is not only do you have 20 really great, unique games but all the games are explained in short video segments. All you have to do is pop the DVD in, pick the game you want to play and watch how the game is played and an example of what it will look like. These games are great for parties, informal gatherings or just about any occasion. They use simple supplies and products that most any youth director can get their hands on.

For over 30 years, Youth Specialties has worked alongside Christian youth workers in every denomination and have produced time tested products to help with youth ministry. This is another one of those great resources that you should get your hands on. If I have one critique of this resource it would be that there are only 20 games on the DVD. I wish they had put more like 40 or 50 games on it because you will go through these games rather quickly. Couple that with the cost of nearly $20 for this resource and it becomes a question of how much do you want this.

If you are a church or a member of a church in the Susquehanna Conference of United Methodist Church, I would point out that we have a copy in Discovery Place, the Conference’s Resource Center (discovery-place.org) and you can borrow this resource for free. However, overall this resource is in keeping with Youth Specialties’ long-standing reputation of producing great youth resources, so give it a try.

Simple Youth Activities Vs.Big Youth Events

2011-10-26T05:00:00.000-07:00

There is a lot of debate out there as to whether Big Youth Events are more successful than Simple Youth Activities. While Big Events do get large numbers of students to be involved and are great jumping off places for youth ministry, simple youth activities are where the meat and bones of transformational ministry occurs with young people.

When I was a youth, I grew up with Big Youth Events. They seem to be the norm. They were exciting, flashy and always got a crowd. Whenever I heard about these events in my area, I flocked to them. They were filled with lots of exciting activities like dances, concerts and legendary speakers. But what I discovered was that after the big event I would go home to my local church youth group and not know how to apply what I had experienced, so that I could capture the same feelings I had at the big event.

When I started leading youth ministry in the local church I found it challenging to get students who wanted to attend these big events. They were more interested in staying local and doing things in and around the community they were growing up in. This was especially true for small town and rural churches that I served. The big event just seemed to be “too big.” There are still a lot of great opportunities to have students get involved in large youth event gatherings both regionally and nationally. And I'm sure they have their place in a general youth ministry.

But as we are discovering more and more, putting on these large youth gatherings is becoming more and more expensive and they are becoming less and less productive at doing what the job of the local church is to do, which is to make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world. If I had to choose between doing a big youth event or doing a simple ministry in your immediate community, I would probably choose the latter. Regardless of what kinds of programs you should offer for young people, be sure that they involve making direct connection with young people and stick to the focus of what the mission of the local church is all about.

Resource Review : The Leadership Lab

2011-10-12T05:00:00.000-07:00

It is often this very hard to find a well done leadership program for young people. In the past, I have had to piecemeal together various parts from several different sources. However, recently the United Methodist church’s General Board of Discipleship’s Division of Ministry with Young People have come out with a leadership development resource for senior high youth entitled "The Leadership Lab”. This new program has been tried and tested over a two-year period and has proven to be an excellent program to help develop young people into leaders.

At the heart of this program it approaches leadership from a holistic perspective keeping a balance between improving leadership feels and helping young people grow in their relationship with others and with God. There are seven different modules that include exploring the principles of transformational leadership, discovering vital leadership skills and knowledge about oneself and how that relates to relationships, and practical active learning that will put what you learn into action.

Resources included are the following : (1) facilitators guide, (2) participants handbook, (3) PowerPoint presentations, and (4) handouts. All of these resources are on a CD-ROM that allows you to print as many copies as you need. I would highly recommend that you check this resource out to help develop student leaders in whatever setting you find yourself.

Imagining the Best of Yourself

2011-09-28T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was young, I was severely bullied and picked on as a young person. It deeply affected me in ways that I just now understand. When I see young people being bullied or thinking less of themselves for whatever reason, there is a part of me that hurts inside. As I grew up and went into ministry, I vowed that if I ever got the opportunity to work with young people that I would do my best to put a stop the ridicule and the bullying and look for ways to let those awkward young people know they were unique and special children of God.

Recently, on the show "America's Got Talent" a song was featured by Kirk Franklin entitled “Imagine Me.” While I had never heard this song before it was amazing! Kirk Franklin, a contemporary Christian gospel artist, writes in this song about how we should view ourselves, pulling from his own personal experience of self-doubt, abuse and neglect. As I listen to over and over to this song, I have imagined all of the young people who experienced themselves as "less than." Below is a Youtube link to the song. I highly recommend you use it in your young People's ministry to highlight the fact that regardless of how we might feel about ourselves, God sees us at someone unique and special that God created and loves.

Prayer Wall

2011-09-14T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here’s a great idea to help decorate your youth or young adult space/classroom and bring an emphasis to the power of prayer in our lives as Christians. Make a prayer wall.

Use one wall or part of a wall in your room or space. Get some butcher paper and attach it to the wall and decorate the center with scriptures or graphics having to do with prayer. Throughout the year, have your youth or young adults write up prayers or celebrations. Others can write encouraging comments alongside the prayers. Whenever you meet, encourage people to take a look at the prayers on the wall and to incorporate them into their daily prayer life. You can keep the prayer wall up for multiple years or put a new one up each year.

My Broken Palace: a Cool Web Resource

2011-08-31T05:00:00.000-07:00

I just discovered a great web resource that I wanted to let you know about. The website is mybrokenplace.com. Its purpose as stated on its website is as follows:

My Broken Palace is a non-profit organization of passionate people who want to help others in their time of brokenness. Our shared desire is that no one should ever have to deal with the crushing weight of loneliness, depression, anxiety, stress, abuse, addictions, or thoughts of suicide alone. Become part of the movement. Whether you are the one in need or someone who desires to encourage others in theirs, My Broken Palace embraces your participation.

“no one lonely, alone”

What is so exciting about this website is that you can leave prayers on their virtual prayer wall and you will receive uplifting text and e-mails based on the prayers that you leave. It has a list of places that you can go to get help on a variety topics from suicide, abuse, depression, etc. For those who are artistically inclined, It includes an art wall where you can upload your art work and look at others artwork that has brought you inspiration.

This is a must visit website for youth workers and students who are struggling with the messy stuff of life. I hope you'll check it out!

Resource Review: Messy Stuff

2011-08-17T05:00:00.000-07:00

Messy Stuff: Finding Hope in the Midst of Everyday Struggles, is a five-week small group video curriculum produced by Group. I recently had the opportunity to review it, and I wanted to share with you my thoughts on the curriculum.

First of all, most youth and children's curriculum that Group produces is top quality stuff and with "Messy Stuff" there is no exception. If you're looking for an easy to use, well-balanced Bible study or small group curriculum to use with Junior High or High School students, then look no further. In this five-week small group video series, your students will examine the realities of our messy lives-and discover how valuable they are to God, despite their messiness. They'll investigate the wrong ways and the right ways to handle this stuff that makes life messy and causes our pain and brokenness. And they'll be encouraged to invite God and other people into the process of change in their lives.

Topics include:1) Me, Valuable?, 2)Um, What Happened?, 3)How to Handle the Hurts? 4) Finding Hope in the Messiness, and 5) Remember, Life’s Pain isn't Permanent!

What you get out of the box is a DVD with guided lessons. You also get a CD-ROM that includes discussion sheets in both PDF format and Microsoft Word format, promotional ecards, postcards, posters and desktop backgrounds. You also will receive additional editable promotional elements that you can use to get your students to get involved in this curriculum.

I hope you get an opportunity to use this resource, I highly recommend it. If you are a member of the Susquehanna Conference the United Methodist Church you can borrow a copy of Messy Stuff: Finding Hope in the Midst of Everyday Struggles free of charge through our resource center, Discovery Place (discovery-place.org).

Spiritual Journaling

2011-08-03T05:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a great idea to start as you begin your fall program with youth or young adults to help foster some spiritual discovery and relationship building. We always want to grow closer with our youth and young adults, but is often hard to do and involves a tremendous amount of personal one-on-one time. Well here is an easy way to reach out to all students in a very intimate way as well as teaching them some good spiritual disciplines.

In order to do this you will need a bunch of one subject spiral-bound notebooks. (You can usually find these on sale at the beginning of the school year). What these one subject notebooks are going to become will be individual spiritual journals that each member of your group will be able to use. At one of your first meetings, pass out the notebook and have your students decorate and personalize them. After they have done that, inform them that these are now their spiritual journals that they can use throughout the year to share or reflect on things happening in their life. Every time your group meets, have your students take about 5 to 10 min. to share what they're feeling for that particular week in their journals. It can be as simple as how they're week is going to reflecting upon a spiritual passage that you have written up on a board. Encourage them to participate as much as possible, even if they simply write in them, "I don't have anything to write this week."

Inform them, that their mentor/counselor/pastor will be reading these journals and will be responding to their entries every week. Be very clear with them that only their mentor/counselor/pastor will be reading their entries and that they have been informed by the youth leader to keep what they read confidential. (Note: do not allow the students to take these journals or allow anyone the other than their mentor/counselor/pastor to read what has been written.) Tell your mentors/counselors/pastors to respond in the journals with supportive and affirming comments. If there student is not there on a particular week when you do this, have the mentor/counselor/pastor write a note saying that they miss them that particular week.

This can be a very powerful way to connect with your youth leaders and students. At the end of the year, have the students take the journals home. Good luck and happy journaling!

Youth Mission Trips

2011-07-20T05:00:00.000-07:00

Summer is usually a very active time in a successful youth program. There are usually a lot of activities and programs that happen during the summer. One of the most exciting is a Summer Youth Mission Trip. They are great opportunities to grow relationally with young people and have young people have an unbelievable experience that they can remember for the rest of their life.

A successful Summer Mission Trip however, takes a lot of time and planning to do well. Below are just a few suggestions I would have if you are considering doing a mission trip.

Plan Early - If you desire to do a summer mission trip with young people the best time to start planning is now! Depending on how elaborate your trip will end up being, you will need between six months and a year to make the event happen. I have seen too many groups try to do mission trip too quickly and the result has been a disaster.

Have a Clear Purpose - Don't just do a mission trip for any old reason. Have a clear purpose in mind as to why you want to participate in this particular mission trip. Maybe your purpose is to build relationships with your young people. Maybe your purpose is that your church has done a similar mission trip. Whatever the reason, be sure that your young people and you understand the reason why you are participating in this mission experience.

Fund-raise, Fund-raise, Fund-raise - Mission trips are usually very expensive. As you plan for your mission trip understand that you are going to be spending a large amount of your planning time trying to raise funding in order to do the trip. Don't wait until the last minute to fund raise. Plan good fundraising activities throughout the year that engage not only the congregation but the community in large as well.

Mission trips can be a lot of fun and as I mentioned earlier provide great experiences for young people. Talk to other churches or other youth groups who have gone on mission trips to gain insight, ideas and planning to make your mission trip go smoothly as possible.

Planning Youth Programs

2011-06-29T06:00:00.000-07:00

As summer is in full swing, now is the time to think about planning for next year’s programs and activities. The farther you plan and get activities and programs on the calendar, the more success you will have with those activities. For a lot of youth leaders, planning in advance is very difficult. We like to spend our time forming relationships with our students, rather than work on administrative planning. The truth of the matter is however, that if you don't have good plans in place it won’t really matter the types of relationships that you form.

If you're lucky enough to have good volunteers who are skilled at this, you can turn the planning over to them. However, as I discovered early on in my youth ministry, I had to do this task myself. So I came up with an easy way to help in my planning out the year’s activities, discussion programs and mission opportunities, as well as, a way to get student’s input. In order to do this you simply need a pack of 3 x 5 cards and pens or pencils for all your adult leaders and students. (If you can find different color cards to give the adult leaders, this will help you keep their ideas separated from the students.)

Then at one of our largest activities (usually during the summer) I would gather them together and have them do this: on 1 side of the 3 x 5 card have them write down three questions of faith that they would like to discuss or learn more about. Examples could be, "What does the Bible say about suicide?" Or "How can I share my faith?" They could also list books of the Bible that they would like to study. The point was to get them thinking about what they would like to talk about over the next year. Once they had done that, on the other side of the card they were to write 2 fun activities that they would like to do and 2 mission opportunities that they would like to do. Give them 5 or 10 minutes to complete this. Now you have a whole stack of ideas to work with and begin your planning for the next year.

Note: Sometimes you will get some real duds, but by in large you will have a wealth of ideas to work with for the next year. It goes without saying that if multiple people ask for the same thing, then you definitely want to make sure that you do that sometime during the year.

Good luck with your planning and have a great year getting to know your student’s by drawing them deeper in their faith.

Youth Leadership

2011-06-15T18:21:00.000-07:00

Last week I participated in my Conference’s Annual Conference Session. This is our annual meeting of all of pastors and church, usually held in late May or early June.

As is our custom, we invite youth and young adults to participate in these sessions as voting members. We have done this for a number of years and see it as important because it allows the youth and young adults within our churches to express their opinion about the issues that we face as a church.

Having their opinion and presence at these gathering is incredibly important for a number of reasons. First and foremost, their involvement is critical in making decisions for our church because they are full members of our church. Youth and young adults are not just part members or affiliate members, they are full members with all rights and privileges that any other adult member of our church has. If we treat them as less than full members, then we are essentially telling them that they don't matter.

Secondly, having youth and young adults be a part of the decision-making process of our church is necessary so that we get everyone's opinions into the decision. No one would ever consider not allowing women to speak at meetings or not allowing anyone over the age of 65 to speak and share their opinion. However, I have heard it suggested and modeled that young people should be seen and not heard; they are pushed to the sidelines because they do not have the capability of making the right decision. When we do this in the church we send a very strong message to the young people of our churches that we don't want them or need them.

Finally, their involvement and participation in these gatherings and meetings is important so that they will learn how these meetings and gatherings work. Adults have the responsibility to mentor young people. When we ignore those responsibilities, we set up a system by which the church loses its future leadership. If we do this long enough, there will be no church in the future.

The piece of advice that I would have for you in the local church would be this: make it a high priority to have youth and young adults serve on decision-making committees or ministry teams. Don't use excuses like their opinion doesn't matter or that they should be seen and not heard. Instead, value their opinion and help them learn in the best ways possible.

25 Great Graduation Gifts that Graduates Will Actually Use

2011-06-01T10:25:00.000-07:00

I received this message via e-mail from one of my followers on my blog and I have had a chance to check out website in reference to my last blog posting. There are a lot of really great gift ideas that she has and I would encourage you to check it out. Below is what she sent me and a web link to her site.

Her name is Katina Solomon. thanks Katina reading my blog and I hope people will visit your site!

---

Hi,

I’m a frequent reader of your blog and wanted to let you know that I just posted an article on my site that I thought you might find interesting “25 Great Graduation Gifts That Graduates WillActually Use” If you think your readers might like it, too, would you consider sharing or mentioning it on your blog? I’d appreciate it if you have time to check it out.

http://www.collegedegree.com/library/college-life/25-Great-Graduation-Gifts-That-Graduates-Will-Actually-Use/

Saying Goodbye - Graduation Gifts

2011-05-18T06:00:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year when young people in both college and high school are graduating. As people who work with young people on a regular basis, we have spent a lot of time mentoring and loving these students and developing long-lasting relationships with them. As we began to say our goodbyes and wish them well on to the next stage of their life, we often think about getting them the gift to help them remember their time with us. But too often we choose cheesy things that don't properly express the magnitude of the life-changing experiences that we have had with the students over the years.

I am not a very good gift giver (just ask my wife). There are certain people who are gifted with the gene or some 6th sence whereby they know exactly the type of gift to get someone. Well, I'm sorry to report, I just simply don't have it and so it frustrates me at this time of year when I want to acknowledge the relationship that I have built up with these young people that I've worked with and the magnitude of what they have meant in my life. I have caught myself in Christian bookstores looking at picture frames with Scriptures on it or bookends or other trinkets that in a matter of years will mean absolutely nothing to these young people. And so I go to the person who is a Zen master at gift giving, my wife and beg and plead for her help.

The one thing she has taught me over the years is this-be authentic. Find a gift that expresses the authentic relationship that you have between you and the other person. It doesn't have to cost a lot nor does it have to be the latest and greatest thing that's out that everyone else is getting. When I think back to my own graduation, a friend of the family bought me an NIV study Bible when I graduated high school. This many years later I still have that Bible and use it for my daily devotions. I guess he saw something in me that he knew that I would need a good study Bible. And he was right! That study Bible has gotten me through many a good sermon, devotion and Bible study over the years.

So as you say goodbye to your seniors whether they be in high school or college be authentic with them. Express the emotions that you were feeling. And try to finding gift that they will remember 15 to 20 years from now that they might be able to share with others.

Relational Investment Vs. Relational Engagement

2011-05-11T06:00:00.000-07:00

This is always a tough problem for people in ministry to wrestle with; especially those who work with young people. We want to personally investe in the lives of every student or young person that we come in contact with, however that is physically and emotionally impossible. I know a number of pastors who try to do ministry in this way, thinking that this is how ministry is done. But what ends up happening is that they burnout very early in their ministry and they are no good later in their ministry to anyone.

However, there is a way that we can be in ministry with young people and have a very meaningful impact on their lives. This way is relational engagement. I got this idea by attending a youth worker training event this past spring and it was one of those things that I had been doing for years but I never really put words to it. What the presenter tried to argue was this: it is virtually impossible to give 100% of ourselves to 100% of the students and young people that we are in ministry with. However, we can engage 100% of our young people in short, but meaningful ways.

The example he gave was attending sporting events, school concerts or school plays. While you won't be able to spend a whole lot of time with the young person, if you make a concerted effort to see the young person after the event letting them know that you were there and that they did a good job or made a good play, they will remember that forever. In my own ministry this rang true with a young girl who was bounded determined to hate me. I had followed a pastor who had been appointed to that church for over 20 years. It was the only pastor she had ever known, and she wasn't about to let me into her life. She was a field hockey player, so I found out her field hockey schedule and went to one of her home games. At the end of the game I made sure to say hello to her and her parents. After that encounter, her whole demeanor changed. It was as though I was could do nothing wrong and I instantly became her favorite pastor.

In ministry we are not going to have all of the time or the energy to invest in the people we want to. We could quite literally kill ourselves trying to do that. However, strategically engaging people in simple ways can make the world of difference to those youth and young people who so desperately need to be loved. Try it sometime!

Connecting With Young People

2011-03-31T08:56:00.001-07:00

Young people crave relationships. The fastest way to make a connection with young people is to form a relationship with them. However, some people don't think they have the skills to know how to relate to young people. They often get tongue tied or feel awkward talking, so here is an easy acronym to remember when talking with the young person on how to connect with specific meanings in their life. The acronym is F.R.O.M. (as in "where are they from")

F stands for Friends - One of the easiest things to do to get to know young people and to make a connection with young people is to ask about their friends. Who are they? Where did they go to school? Do they go to our church? Etc. If you show an interest in who their friends are, it's an easy doorway into their lives.

R stands for Relatives - Another very important part of getting to know young person is knowing who their family is. Asking things like, who is their mother and father? Do you have living grandparents? Aunts and uncles? You need to be careful in asking a lot of these questions because they may be embarrassed about the family they come from. They may come from a nontraditional family where they are being raised by a single parent or they maybe living with grandparents because their parents can't take care of them. But if you can find out this information in a nonthreatening way, it will tell you a lot about the young person and how better to relate to them.

O stands for Occupation - This can get a bit tricky because a lot of kids don't work, however there are kids who do work. If they work at a local restaurant, making time to visit the restaurant when they're working can be a great "in" to their lives. If they're too young to work, ask them about their hobbies or interests. Did they play sports? What sports did they play? Again if you can find out some of this information, you can use it by visiting them at a game or by making a connection with a particular hobby like hunting or fishing.

M stands for Memories - This gives you an opportunity to ask a young person about moments in their life. Examples could be a favorite holiday, a favorite vacation, a favorite place to eat, etc. This then gives you an opportunity for you to share one of your favorite memories. Maybe you have similar memories and you can make a very strong connection with a young person.

Now you don't have to go in order asking them first about their friends than about their relatives and so on. Nor do you have to cover all four in any one conversation. This acronym is only there to help you touch on various aspects of a young person's life when you are stuck with what you say. Have fun! Who knows you just might make a difference in a young person's life.

Bullying: Learning How to Love

2011-03-16T05:00:00.000-07:00

When I was growing up, bullying was a problem in my community. I remember as a child being bullied after school or on the playground by other kids. But it seems that in recent years bullying has become an even greater problem and continues to get worse year after year. It used to be, that people only had to worry about being bullied when they were at school. But with the rise of mobile technology like cell phones, twitter and Facebook, bullying becomes a 24-hour, 7 days a week, 365 days a year event. Essentially, there is no safe place to escape being bullied.

This constant bombardment of bullying is known as "Cyber Bullying." Essentially, cyber bullying is having harmful statements or pictures posted to websites, Facebook pages, text messages, etc. The reason it is so pervasive is that in a matter of seconds by a simple touch of a button, hundreds of thousands of people are exposed to these harmful statements. No longer is bullying limited to a small community or school. Now bullying can be worldwide in a matter of seconds.

I recently attended a training event sponsored by the United Methodist Church where the issue of bullying was discussed. One of the presenters lifted up a passage from the Bible which is commonly known as "The Golden Rule." This passage states, that we are to love the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, strength and mind and to love our neighbors as ourselves; the key being the last part love our neighbors as we love ourselves. I believe, and so did the presenter of this workshop, that bullying is on the rise because kids and adults are having difficulty loving themselves. It's as though they find themselves unlovable and to help lift themselves up, they tear others down.

We who work with children, youth and young adults can help by teaching people that they are loved by God and that they should love who they are. I have always believed that if you don't get anything else out of church, you should get the fact that we should be about loving others and ourselves. So if you know of those persons who are being bullied, surround them with your love and support as much as you can but most importantly remember bully, they need love too!

Game Ideas: Minute To Win It

2011-03-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

One of the most difficult things to come up with in youth ministry is fresh new games for youth group to do. Well it seems that network television has come to our rescue. If you have not seen the show "Minute To Win It" on NBC, then you truly are missing a great opportunity to get some great ideas on fresh new games that you can play with any size group. I'm not the first to blog about this phenomenal program. In fact, if you were to type in Google “blogs on Minute To Win It”, you would probably end up with hundreds. So let me tell you just a little bit about the show.

Essentially it is a game show, modeled after the game show “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”, where contestants are invited to play a variety of different games in which they only have a minute to complete. If they complete it, they move on. The more games they complete the more money they win. What's great is that most of their games use simple household items that you can buy very cheaply and use (ideal for youth budgets.) What's also really neat about this game show is that it has an interactive website where you can play games as well. The show airs on Wednesday nights at 8 PM Eastern on NBC and if you are currently not watching it or DVRing it, I highly recommend. The website for the game is below and I hope you'll check it out.

http://www.nbc.com/minute-to-win-it/games/

Love Isn't Love, Till You Give It Away

2011-02-16T12:49:00.000-08:00

Recently I've been listening to some old school Christian rock that I grew up with. Specifically, some old school Michael W Smith. (In case you're unaware of him, Michael W Smith is a Christian artist that had the height of his popularity in the late 80s and early 90s). One of the songs that I have been listening to is entitled “Give It Away” from his Change Your World album. A reoccurring line at the end of each verse is, "love isn't love until you give it away."

This song has got me thinking about our job as Christians specifically working with youth and young adults. Let's face it, there are some youth and young adults that are very trying and are very difficult to love. If I were truly honest, these individuals would be my least favorite to be around and I would look for any excuse not to be around them. But I am sure Jesus experienced the same with the people he dealt with in his ministry on earth. Not everyone that he formed a relationship with could have been easy to love, yet he did it all the same. Loving people who are easy to love, is no problem; we do that almost out of reflex. But loving those persons who are the hardest to love, can take great patience and skill.

Because one of the most important aspects of youth and young adult ministry is forming relationships with youth and young adults who crave them, this means that we need to practice loving the unlovable. I know a camp director who made a comment to a youth director who had brought his junior high youth to their camp. Her comment to him went something like this, "Oh I hate junior high youth… They are so difficult to deal with!" I often wondered if one of the junior high youth had overheard that camp director making that comment to my friend. How would they have taken that? What would they have thought?

The chorus of that Michael W Smith song is just below. I offer it up as a prayer for all of us to realize that there will be those youth and young adults that are the hardest to love. However, our responsibility as Christians (especially Christian leaders) is to go the extra mile and try our hardest to overcome those difficulties. When you find yourself having a hard time dealing with those persons who are hardest to love, I would invite you to listen to this Michael W Smith song and use it as a prayer.

As we live… Moving side-by-side…

May we learn to live…learn to sacrifice!

Resource Review: Videos That Teach

2011-02-02T05:00:00.000-08:00

I am always on the lookout for good resources that youth directors and youth pastors can use. One that is been around for a while is called "Videos That Teach” by Doug Fields and Eddie James . The basic premise of this resource is to take teachable moments from modern-day movies that you can use as discussion starters, sermon illustrations, r complete programs on various topics.

Currently there are four volumes of this resource that cover about 75 modern films in each volume. They are broken down by movies (in alphabetical order) or quick clip locators by topic or Bible reference. There's a section on how to best use this resource in each volume written by the authors. Each clip gives you information on the movie (specifically what the rating), when the clip starts and when the clip ends), Bible passages that relate to the clip and a list of 6 to 8 questions that you can use to help get the discussion started.

What makes this resource so appealing is its versatility. If you are teaching on a specific Bible verse or topic you can search very quickly to see if there is a video clip that can be used to help drive your point home. Another appealing aspect to these resources are that they are very affordable costing about $13 per book. If you are in a local church within the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church our resource center, Discovery Place, has all four volumes available to be checked out.

I highly recommend these resources and wish you luck in your creativity in how to use them in your youth ministry.

Relating to Young People

2011-01-26T05:00:00.000-08:00

This weekend the staff of the conference hosted an event to talk about the various ministries that we can offer to local churches. One of the workshops that I hosted was on dealing with how to engage ministry with Young People (youth and young adults). Two questions that kept coming up in the workshop I was leading were, how can we relate to young people?; and how can we get young people to be a part of our congregation? Both of these questions were good questions for congregations to ask.

To the first question, how we can relate to young people?; My first response is that you need to get to know the young people of your community. You'll be unsuccessful in relating to any demographic if you don't first understand what they like and the struggles that they face day-to-day. With young people this can be widely varied , and it might be hard to center on one or two things. The most obvious answer is ask young people in your community what they like and what they need? After you discover those two things, you need to practice radical hospitality to young people. A great example of how to do this can be found in the Scriptures as to how Jesus offered radical hospitality to the people he interacted with. That is, loving people for who and what they are just as they are. In story after story in the Bible we see Jesus relating to people of all walks of life without casting judgment on who they were or what their past might be like. If more churches did that with young people, they might begin to see more young people as the children of God that they are.

The second question of how do we get young people to be a part of our congregation?; That may be a little more straightforward. The first thing not to do is to demand young people to conform to the traditions and worship practices that older generations hold dear. Some young people may like that, but most do not. You need to incorporate worship styles that appeal to young people and engage young people in ministries that they would be interested in, primarily missions. Young people live out their faith by "doing ministry." Inviting young people in your congregation and in your community to participate in local, national, and international mission trips is probably the fastest way that you can get young people involved in the ministries of your local church. Once they have participated in a trip, make a special time for the whole congregation to learn about what their experience was and make a big deal out of it.

If you put some of these suggestions into practice, you might just be surprised that young people want to be a part of your congregation.

Bible Translations for Youth

2011-01-19T06:00:00.000-08:00

As a pastor I often get asked, "What's the best Bible translation or version that I can get for my youth or young adult?" This is kind of an open-ended question and one that I would respond similarly to anyone who would asked me.The best Bible translation or version that anyone could ever get is one that you understand!

A lot of people get hung up on denominational recommendations and think that they have to follow those recommendations to the letter of the law. But when you read a Bible translation and you have trouble understanding it, then what good is it? The point of owning a Bible is to be able to read the Scriptures and understand what the Scriptures say to you for your life. When you spend more time trying to decipher what the Scriptures are actually trying to tell you, it defeats the purpose. All that being said, I do have a few recommendations of some Bible translations that I think are good not only for youth and young adults, but for anyone.

1)The New Living Translation (NLT). In general< the New Living translation is a fairly new translation. It came out about 12 to 15 years ago.What I like about the NLT is that it is common ordinary everyday language that most anyone can understand, but doesn't lose the integrity of the original languages. As many will know the Living Bible, its predecessor, was a paraphrased version that did not use the original biblical languages.

2) the New International Version (NIV). The New International Version is a great mainstay and is widely accepted by most every denomination. While its language is not as inclusive as it could be, it's biblical interpretation is very well thought out and you can find the NIV in a wide variety of study Bibles and youth sensitive Bibles like "Youth Walk."

What you want to stay away from if you want a good solid Bible are the paraphrased Bibles (The Message, The Living Bible, etc.) While these are great second Bibles to have on hand to get a better understanding of the Scripture that you're reading, they do not make good study Bibles and they do not directly come from the original Greek and Hebrew so their meanings are somewhat skewed.

Good luck in picking your next Bible for your youth or for yourself. It is something that can be kept for a lifetime!

The Art of Listening to God

2011-01-12T13:52:00.000-08:00

Listening for God’s voice these days can be a really tricky endeavor. With all of the distractions that we face in our day-to-day lives like phone calls, e-mails, text messages not to mention family responsibilities, it's a wonder that God can get through to us at all.

Now imagine that you are a young person (someone between the ages of 13 to 20 something). Those distractions have now doubled, tripled or even quadrupled in the frequency and intensity. How are we as people who work with young people supposed to help them focus on God through so many distractions, when we ourselves can't focus?

I bet you were hoping that in this paragraph I was going to give you a three-step process to make listening to God easier, however that's just not going to happen. There is no easy process to listening for God's quiet voice. It has to be an art form.

For some, quieting the distractions around them might be the answer. They go away on a retreat and while on that retreat they can seem to focus better and can hear God more clearly. For others, they might get flashes through all the distractions and can somehow peace those flashes together so as to make sense of it all. While still others just happen upon what God wants them to do as though it was "magic."

I am often envious of those people who can connect with God so easily. It's as if they have a direct connection with God 24 hours a day 7 days a week. They make it look so easy while the rest of us struggle to make out in the quiet whispers what God wants us to be doing with our lives. What I have learned about listening to God is that for everyone the answer is just a little bit different.

So as you help young people discern God's calling in their lives, it is not a simple matter. Help them. Guide them. The truth I realized is that you know God is speaking to you when God touches your heart. When that happens, don't ignore it. Don't worry… If you don't hear God the first time he calls, God will keep trying until it gets through!

Therefore be it Resolved

2011-01-05T08:50:00.000-08:00

As we begin the new year, a lot of people make New Year's resolutions. Last year's New Year's resolution for me included losing weight and joining a gym. As per usual, I started out well going to the gym about 2 to 3 times a week. But by the second month I only went about once a month, and by month six I wasn't going at all.

Such is the case with most New Year's resolutions. We make them trying to set a high goal for ourselves, but undoubtedly we fail miserably. The same could be said for youth and young adult ministry. After the rush of the holiday season, many in youth ministry or young adult ministry make grand plans for the next year. They say things like, "This year will be different than last year" or "Just think what we can do if we really put our time and energy into these ministry areas." In the first couple of months we do very well. We hold vision team meetings, we take surveys and we genuinely try to make a radical change invigorated by what a new year brings.

The problem is that we fall into the exact same trap that we do with our own New Year's resolutions. We set our goals way too high and way too grand. What I have learned is that we need to use the "K.I.S.S." principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). While we might be tempted to do something grand by way of youth ministry or young adult ministry at the beginning of the new year, we need to keep those ideas relatively attainable. Instead of making grand plans, try making a simple plan that can be done within two months. Once that is accomplished, make another small plan, again something that can be accomplished in two months. You will find by doing that, you will be much more successful in moving your youth or young adult ministry forward and you won't get frustrated as quickly.

Good luck and may the plans that you make in 2011 be attainable and achievable!

Being vs. Doing

2010-11-10T05:00:00.000-08:00

In a lot of churches much time is spent on figuring out what to do by way of activities and programs and very little time on getting the right people to lead. As long as there is a warm body in a classroom that's good enough. The reality however, is that there are plenty of great programs that practically teach themselves. What there is a shortage of is dedicated, spiritual individuals who have a heart for teaching and leading youth and children.

Therein lies the tension between "being" and "doing". Doing youth ministry programs or teaching a Christian Education class in reality is not that hard. There are plenty of great places to get curriculum on a variety of topics. These programs or curriculum are very well put together, theologically sound and easy to implement. In some cases, most of these programs will practically lead themselves. But to have the right people who are comfortable with their spirituality and to know who they are, is a very rare thing.

When I go around and speak to various churches about their youth or Christian Education program, one of the first questions is usually always "What do we need to do?" I would contend that that isn't the first concern that needs to be dealt with. What they need to be discussing is who is going to be involved in leading our teaching program and helping these individuals discover the very special and unique person that God has made them be. By doing that, they invest in the core of the program (the leaders) and begin to change a program from the inside out. For too many people who lead Christian programs don't appreciate the person God has made them to be. They don't know who they are because they haven't spent adequate time figuring that out. All they know is how to "do." Which leads me to the point of this article. It is not about "doing" it is about "being." Anyone can "do" but it takes a very special and unique person to "be."

What the church can learn from Eminem

2010-10-27T06:00:00.000-07:00

I have always been a fan of hip-hop music. One artist in particular has fascinated me since he hit the mainstream in 1999. That artist is Eminem.

Eminem has been a very controversial figure in hip-hop. That could be due to the fact that he is a Caucasian in a predominantly African-American genre of music or because most of his music is filled with foul language and intense emotional anger. But I firmly believe that the church can learn something from this hip-hop artist about how to reach young people who are struggling with their own personal demons.

Eminem grew up in Detroit, Michigan on the border of a very difficult part of town called "the 8 mile." In a recent interview on CBS's 60 minutes he described how difficult his childhood was, moving from home to home, growing up very poor and and surviving a very difficult home life where he never had a father figure and where his mother was somewhat neglectful. Eminem dropped out of high school and repeated the ninth grade two or three times. He fathered a child out of wedlock at an early age and struggled with addiction to cope with this popularity.

Despite those adversities, Eminem eventually hit it big, and has become one of the most popular hip-hop artists since the late 90s. His largest following of fans are youth and young adults and I believe that is because his music resonated with young people in a real way. I mention all of this because Eminem's music has touched the lives of youth and young adults in a way that the mainline church has failed to do. Do not misunderstand me. I am not lifting up Eminem as a saint, however his ability to connect with the emotional feelings of disenfranchised youth and young adults is something the church should sit up and take notice of. Maybe as those who work with young people we need to pay attention to the fact that there are hundreds of thousands of young people today that are hurting. We need to do less moralizing (condemning their behavior) and more grace giving.

In his latest album titled "Recovery" one of the tracks is entitled "I'm Not Afraid" where he shares his struggles throughout his life in a heartfelt way and offers to others who might have experienced the similar things a away out. Here's the chorus of that track:

I’m not afraid to take a stand
Everybody come take my hand
We’ll walk this road together, through the storm
Whatever weather, cold or warm
Just let you know that, you’re not alone
Holla if you feel like you’ve been down the same road

if only we in the church that offered the same promise.

Showing Extraordinary Love

2010-10-20T06:00:00.000-07:00

My experience in youth ministry as a youth was foundational to my call to ministry. Had it not been for the unconditional love that I felt from my church's youth program and from the conferenc's youth program, I might not have ever heard God's voice calling me into the ordained ministry.

I have recently been listening to a song called Extraordinary Love by the Wayne Kerr band, a contemporary Christian band that I first heard at a large youth gathering in New York. The chorus for this song goes:

All Glory Praise and honor

Is Due You

I'm Taken by Surprise, by an Extraordinary Love

Our job as adult youth workers is to bestow upon all of our youth that "extraordinary love" that the band sings about. I vowed when I became a pastor that I would do all in my power to make every youth that attended my youth ministry feel special and accepted just as they were. Youth culture often times isolates youth who don't fit into the mainstream and the end result is that it makes him feel worthless and unloved. If there is only one thing that we could do as adult youth workers it is to express this unconditional extraordinary love on to every single one of our youth. I am fully aware that this is easier with some students than others.

Towards the end of the song Wayne Kerr quotes a piece of Scripture from Ephesians 2:10 which says, "God has created us a new in Christ Jesus, so that we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." This week I would encourage every youth worker to share that passage with every youth you are in ministry with.

Ministry Idea: Trunk or Treat

2010-10-13T06:00:00.000-07:00

As Halloween draws closer, here's a ministry idea that your youth can lead for the children of your community. It's called "trunk or treat" and this is how it works:

Instead of having families go door to door in your community "trick-or-treating", you have them trick-or-treat from a specific location (the parking lot of your local church) and have them "trick-or-treat" from the trunks of people's car: thus "trunk or treat". This program is especially effective in rural areas where the space between homes is further away and safety is concerned having kids walk on busy country roads. That being said, this program can be done at most any church.

Have the youth put this program together inviting members of the congregation to provide a "trunk." The more you get the better, but you can have a successful program with a half dozen trunks. Even the youth could provide a trunk or two that they run. Encourage the members of the congregation who volunteered to provide a trunk to decorate their trunk in various themes. To makes the experience all the more exciting you can also couple this program with the festival of some sort providing games, costume contests, etc.Be sure to have one of the trunks be a welcome center and handout literature about your church's ministries. This is a great opportunity to share information about the church's mission and ministry and to evangelize to people who may not have a church home.

This is an easy missions outreach program that the youth of your church can coordinate and lead. It might also get other people in your church excited about doing out reach in your community. Good luck and have fun!

Youth Ministry Space

2010-10-07T11:00:00.000-07:00

Everybody likes having their own space. Youth specifically like knowing that there is a place in the church that they can call their own. This can be difficult in a church that has limited space and uses most of their space for multiple tasks. But if it is possible, carving out one room in your church that is specifically for the youth is a great investment.

Once you have set aside that special place for youth, you should encourage the youth to truly make it their own by having them paint it in colors that they appreciate and allowing them to decorate it with posters, pictures or other things that are meaningful to them. Be sure inform other groups within the church that this is sacred space for the youth of the church and should be respected as such. As you think of that sacred space, encourage the youth to come up with a way to tell the history of the youth program at their church. Having one wall in this space where each youth member gets to put their handprint and name on the wall with the years that they participated in the youth program is one way. Another way is designating one youth or youth worker to take pictures during youth events throughout the year and then make a collage that can be posted in this space from year-to-year, highlighting the many accomplishments and experiences that each group had.

The reason it is so important for youth to have their own definable space in the church is to make them feel valued and important to the life of the church. It may seem like a little thing, but it goes a long way to encouraging the youth to continue to explore their faith even after they graduate from the youth program.

We need Young Adults, What do we do?

2010-09-22T07:54:00.000-07:00

In almost every church that I work with, people say, "We want to have a young adult ministry but we don't have any young adults in our church, what should we do?"Often the motivation behind the question is a survival-mode mentality. It is easy for leaders to be consumed with keeping the church doors open, that they believe if they can just get younger folks in the door that will solve their problem. However, this is the wrong motivation.

Young adult ministry is one of the most challenging ministries that a church can undertake. Because of this challenge, not every church will be successful at launching and maintaining a young adult ministry. That being said, it does not mean that local churches can not be engaged in ministry with young adults in other creative ways.

The first thing that a local church needs to do is to figure out if there are young adults who live in their immediate area to which they can minister. There are many ways to find this information out from the very basic, knocking on doors and doing a door-to-door survey, to the high-tech of tracking U.S. Census data and statistics through free and/or subscription-based websites. Regardless of which way you go, you need to know what is going on in your community so that you can make the best ministry decisions for your church. If you find out that there are very few if any young adults in your area, trying to develop a young adult ministry in your church could find you frustrated and disappointed.

For churches who find that there are not young adults in there immediately area, you can still be engaged in ministry with young adults. Try connecting with other churches that do have young adults in their immediate area and help them with a collaborative ministry. Connect with a campus ministry at a nearby college or tech school and collaborate in ministry with them. A lot of campus ministry programs struggle financially so if there is some sort of financial help that you can provide them, in some small way you are being in ministry with young adults.

One of the biggest assets of the United Methodist Church is our connection. It allows many local churches to be in ministry in significant ways with a wide variety of people. To be the most effective in reaching young adults today, we need to seize on this asset. Just because “my” local church doesn't have young adults in it, doesn't mean that we can’t be an equal partner in ministry to young adults throughout the denomination.

Mentoring Youth

2010-09-15T05:00:00.000-07:00

One of the most important programs that you can offer in your youth ministry is a solid mentoring program. Because youth crave relationships there is no better way to help satisfy that craving than with well developed long-lasting relationships with youth

I would like to highlight the difference between mentors/counselors and chaperones. Regardless of how you refer to them, there are two types of adults who work with youth. Chaperones are adults who show up once in a while to help transport youth to events or act as extra eyes and ears during events. Typically chaperones don't develop long-lasting relationships with youth and usually only come to one or two programs a year. Whereas mentors/counselors invest time and energy in getting to know the youth in a particular youth program. They are heavily involved in the youth program and participate fully in the life of the youth ministry program. Both of these adult helpers are needed to develop a strong well-balanced youth ministry, however for the purposes of this article I'm going to be focusing in on mentors/counselors.

There are lots of biblical examples of mentors They include but are not limited to Moses and Aaron, Paul and Timothy, and Jesus and the Disciples. The main reason for having a mentoring program in the youth ministry is to provide youth another adult that they can approach when they need to reach out about a problem or situation that they may be going through.When thinking of the youth mentoring program there are a few basic things that you should keep in mind. This certainly is not a complete list.

1. Picking the Right People- Unlike chaperones, mentors need to be picked with specific skills in mind. They need to have a love of youth ministry and be willing to develop relationships with youth. They should be of the highest moral fiber that you can fine within your local church and they themselves should be able to articulate their faith in a cohesive and meaningful way. Don't just pick warm bodies!!!

2. Basic Training - Before starting a mentoring program, do some basic training with your mentors. That training should include a basic course on keeping children safe. A very good program the United Methodist Church uses is "Safe Sanctuaries" by Joy Thornburg Melton. A program like this is going to help mentors who have never done it before know the ins and outs of what they should and should not do with you. Other programs have similar trainings that you could look into using as well.

3. Develop Meaningful Relationships - The whole point of the mentoring program is to develop solid relationships with youth within your local congregation. Having children understand that there is at least one other adult in the congregation who loves them and cares for them other than their parents goes along way in satisfying the need to connect and develop lasting relationships. As I think back on my youth experience, I still keep in contact with several youth directors that I had and youth mentors who helped me develop a sense of myself.

Youth mentoring is not for everyone. Picking the right people to mentor the youth in your youth program is going to be critical and should be done with care and prayer.

Resource Review: Credo Confirmation Program

2010-09-08T05:00:00.000-07:00

As a United Methodist pastor, I am constantly looking for creative and innovative programs to use for my confirmation classes. Now more than ever, churches and church leaders need relevant tools to help reach the youth of today and make it exciting for them to want to be a part of the Christian church.

There is a new confirmation curriculum that has recently hit the market entitled "Credo." This program is structured around three core principles: knowing your story, confirming your faith and living your commitment. Within each of these core principles there are six sessions (lessons) making a total of 18 sessions. The kit includes a director’s notebook, participant journal and a guide for parents, mentors and adult leaders.

This program includes several exciting parts, including the three core principles. Several other options on how to present the material in the solid mentoring program places his confirmation material miles above others that have been used before However, the proof is in the pudding. For each session it outlines exactly what supplies you will need, what the overall lesson will include, an emphasis on worship and a way for the kids to take what they've learned and put it into active service. The lessons are straightforward and easy for anyone to lead.

Overall I would rate this program pretty high. Compared with the other options that are available, this program has great potential. If there is a negative that I could find, it would be that it is a bit expensive. But if you look at it being a resource that you will enjoy for many years to come, the price is worth it.

Creative Programming: Interview with an Atheist

2010-09-01T05:00:00.000-07:00

As most youth leaders know, trying to come up with creative discussion programs is very challenging. You will be able to get youth out to fun activities and possibly even service projects, but getting them engaged in a good discussion-style program is very challenging. The trick is picking a program and "marketing it" in a way that gets the youth and their parents talking.

Several years ago, I was serving a local church that had a pretty active program. I had no problem getting youth out to do fun activities that we planned, but it was like pulling teeth to get them out to Bible studies or discussion programs. One of the challenges was that most of the youth had difficulty sharing their faith with others. Now I could have developed a program, called it "Faith Sharing 101" and lead a very good program on how to witness to others. But I knew that would've gone over like a lead balloon.

Instead, I discovered an intriguing idea from the Youth Specialties Ideas Library. One of the program discussion ideas was to have an "Interview with an Atheist." The basic idea was to get someone to play the role as an atheist. You would invite them to come to one of your programs and be interviewed like one of those late-night talk shows.You could ask them questions like "Why are you an atheist?", "What do atheists believe?", "How long have you been an atheist?", etc. Then after you spend some time "interviewing" you would get the individual to share their own faith story.I was shocked at how popular this program was. I had parents who wanted to come and hear what the atheists had to say, and I had kids who got upset when the atheists shared why he believed what he believed. They were by default defending their faith without realizing it.

Needless to say, it was the most well-attended discussion program I had during my whole time at the church.To make it more believable I invited a my father-in-law, who they had never met, to play the role as the "atheist"(it also helped that he had an acting background). So if you like me had difficulty getting youth to come out for discussion programs, try doing something creative like this to hit home the values you want them to learn. The sky is the limit.

Word of Caution: Be sure to clear any creative program like this with the senior pastor of your church or the youth advisory board that you use to help with your planning. It will save you a lot of headaches in the future.

On Your Marks, Get Set, RACE!!

2010-08-25T05:00:00.000-07:00

I'm kind of a reality TV show junkie. I started by watching "The Real World" on MTV, back in the day and today I try to watch as many as I can. From "Survivor" and "Project Runway", to "Top Chef" and "Hell's Kitchen," I I love them all. But my all time favorite reality TV show is "The Amazing Race."

For those of you who have not seen this show, let me tell you a little bit about it. 12 teams of two race around the world together and check in at Pit stops along the way. During each leg there are a variety of challenges that each of the teams must complete. The last team to check in on each leg is eliminated until one team remains as the winner. The two reasons this is my favorite reality TV show are because of all the interesting places around the world that they visit and the fact that it's about the team that can complete the challenge is the fastest, not about the "backstabbing" drama of other reality shows.

Abington Press has seized on the same idea of "The Amazing Race" and produced a Christian education program entitled "The Amazing Bible Race." Like the show, this curriculum is divided into "Legs" (6 in all that are 12 weeks long). And while you don't travel around the world to exotic locations, you do race through the entire Bible reading it from cover to cover. So here's how it works. Each group signs up a team (larger churches can have multiple teams.) Participants in the race earn points for completing daily Bible readings, a weekly reading bonus, weekly challenges and participating in quizzes which they call "Hurdles." There is usually a weekly team meeting to see how everyone is doing which can meet during your youth fellowship time or a youth Sunday school or Bible study.

There are some interesting components to this curriculum including web-based quizzes, the ability to upload pictures and have messages sent between the team members. This program is perhaps the most comprehensive biblical reading program out there for youth.

I encourage you to check it out and see how you could use it in your youth ministry program. There are options in how to use this material, including,doing one leg for a 12 week intensive Bible study, or selecting daily readings and quizzes to develop into a retreat. If you are a church who is a member of the Susquehanna Conference of the United Methodist Church in Central and Northeastern PA, you can preview copies of each leg from our resource center, Discovery Place or check out their website at www.amazingbiblerace.com.

Good luck, and don"t be the last team to arrive, because you may be eliminated

Starting or Restarting a Youth Ministry

2010-08-18T05:00:00.000-07:00

As the summer comes to a close and the new school year is just around the corner, now is the perfect time to think about starting or restarting a youth ministry. To get you started on figuring out how to do this, I listed a few key things to keep in mind.

Determine a Need - A lot of churches want to have a youth ministry, however there is no need for youth ministry at their church. Before you even begin to start a youth ministry, you need to discover whether or not you have youth in your church or in your community that you can minister to. This can seem kind of basic, but you would be surprised at the number of churches who want a youth ministry because that's what every other church in their area has. However the makeup of their church and the surrounding area does not lend itself to having used in.

Develop a Purpose - There is a passage from Proverbs which says, "Without a purpose, the people will perish." This is true with churches and ministries within the church. If you do not understand why you are doing a particular ministry, the ministry will never sustain itself for the long-term. So if you are starting or restarting a youth ministry within your church, spend some time developing a solid purpose for what the ministry is going to be about.

Start Small - There is an old adage that many people know it's called the K.I.S.S. principle (Keep It Simple Stupid). This is a very smart principle to remember when starting or restarting the youth ministry program. People think that youth ministry programs need to be totally put together and healthy from the onset, but that simply does not need to be the case. If you start small and do simple ministry events, you can grow a program over time that will be healthy and will meet the needs of your church and community.

Don't be Afraid to Fail - When you're starting or restarting a new ministry, not everything is going to work the first time. If you are afraid to do an event or program because it might fail, you are limiting the potential for God to work through you. If you try a program in ministry and it doesn't work, evaluate it and see if you can change it to make it work better. If it bombs completely, you have learned valuable information. Take your failures as a learning process.

I hope some of these tips will help you in your goal to start or restart your youth ministry program. These same principles can be applied to young adult ministry programs as well. Good luck!

Good Sex 2.0

2010-08-11T05:00:00.000-07:00

Let's talk about sex!

Sex saturates the world our students are growing up in. Everywhere they look (or listen) they can hear all kinds of messages about sexuality, and most of it probably isn't helping them develop a heathly understanding of how their own sexuality fits into God's plan for their lives. In Walter Mueller's book "Youth Culture 101", he cites the latest research from the US Centers for Disease Control concerning teenagers engaging in sexual intercourse. Among High Schoolers in the United States:

34% of ninth graders are sexually active

43% of 10th graders are sexually active

51% of 11th graders are sexually active

63% of 12th graders are sexually active.

For young adults, 80% of College students (students 18 to 24 age) are sexually active.

In Good Sex 2.0, you'll find tools to help you (and parents of teens) involve your students in understanding, enjoying and talking responsibly about their sexuality without lecturing and moralizing. This seven-session program is broken down into the following topics: Sex Messaging, Sexual Identity, Intimacy, Desire, Boundaries, Responsiblity and Do-overs. Recently updated, it includes a DVD, reproducible handouts, scripture references on sexuality. Produced by Youth Specialties, a trusted resource for youth ministry for many years.

Good Sex 2.0 is available from Youth Specialties (youthspecialties.com.)
I would highly recommend this program for any youth group!

WUWH - BTW - LOL...HuH?

2010-08-04T08:40:00.000-07:00

Effectively communicating is a challenge in this day and age. We are all bombarded with a constant stream of communication through phone calls, e-mails, TV, radio, the Internet, and the latest text messaging. You would think with all the technological advances that have occurred, that we would have gotten better at effectively communicating with one another. However, I have found that this is not the case. I find it a daily challenge to communicate with the people I work with, the people I am in ministry with and just people in general.

I have noticed an interesting phenomenon in communicating with young people. I thought they would love to respond to e-mails. It is an easy way to communicate with people, there is a record of the communication and it is fast and easy to do. However, what I found out is that e-mail is probably one of the least effective ways to communicate with young people these days. Their preference-text messaging.

(A short disclaimer) Text messaging is not my favorite. I do not type very well, especially on a small mobile device. I also have a hard time keeping track of more than about two conversations at one time. If that were not bad enough, the shorthand that most people use to communicate through text messaging is like deciphering the code from an international spy. That being said, I know that if I want to reach the young people that I am in ministry with that I am going to have to overcome this shortfall.

It is a little confusing to me that young people will not just pick up the phone and call the person that they want to communicate with. They have the phone in their hand, it would seem to me that it would be faster. However, when asked a few young people why they prefer text messaging this is the response I got. From their perspective, text messaging is a fast and easy way to carry on more than one conversation at a time, to communicate while you were doing other activities and to communicate on the sly (bring back the days of passing notes!)

So here are a few suggestions that I would offer up. First, if you do not have a cell phone that can send and receive text messages, get one. I believe you to be at a severe disadvantage in ministering and connecting with the young people of today if you do not have the ability to contact them via text messaging. Secondly, I would encourage you to invest in a text messaging plan that is unlimited. Young people send a lot of text messages. One of the youth that I work with regularly sends upwards to 20,000 a month (And no, that is not a typo.) If you do not have a plan that covers an unlimited number you can be overly charged with additional fees from cell phone providers. Finally, get a text message shorthand crib sheet. I have one that is a poster hanging in my office. Or you can just simply Google "text shorthand help" and there are several websites that you can get help with deciphering text message shorthand.

I wish you luck in communicating with young people via text messaging. It's taken me a little while to get used to it, but it can be a very effective way of communicating.

One Voice

2010-07-21T05:00:00.000-07:00

This spring I attended a youth event in upstate New York called 4-Word. This event is a large gathering of youth from the four former New York Conferences of the United Methodist Church (Western New York, Central New York, Wyoming, and Troy). The featured musician was the Wayne Kerr Band. This band was currently working on a project called "One Voice," a new live worship album they were recording the audience singing various worship songs.

They recently completed the album and I got a copy to listen to.What was amazing was how the band had blended all of the concerts together into "one voice." This project got me thinking.

Christianity is a world religion. What I mean by that is, it is not just found in one particular part of the world. There are Christians everywhere. Whether it is in Africa, Asia, Europe, or America, Christians are all united by the belief that Jesus Christ is our Lord and Savior. What was fascinating about this album was that I was listening to Christians in 18 cities, eight states, two countries, but we were all singing as "one voice."

In America it is easy to lose sight of the fact that Christianity is a world religion. We get so focused on the things happening in our own neighborhood, city, or state that we forget that there are millions, if not billions of Christians all around the world. And while we might dress differently, or talk differently, we all hold the same basic belief in Jesus Christ. What might happen if we united our voices together to take a stand for justice or worked at ending world poverty or did something else to change the world? Think of the possibilities!

It was an honor to be a part of this project. I would highly recommend this album and other music by the Wayne Kerr Band. Thanks, Wayne, for an amazing experience!

All in a Moment

2010-07-14T11:39:00.000-07:00

This week I came to work on Monday thinking that it would be a typical Monday, but there was nothing typical about it. Our staff meets every day to have devotions and prayer before we start the workday. It was my day to lead them, and when we got to the part where we lift up prayer joys and concerns that's when I heard the news.

There was a terrorist attack in Uganda, the day before. The mission team from a church in our conference was in Uganda and happened to be at the restaurant that was bombed. The entire team sustained major injuries, and our local guides were killed.the part that really shook me up was that I personally knew one of the team members. He was working with me on the ministry project for the conference. And there in that moment, my world stopped spinning.

I watched on television about these terrorist attacks happening all over the world. Each and every one of them is horrific and scary. But for the first time I knew the victims. That whole morning I was in a state of shock. Would my friend live or die? When would he be home safe? How bad were his injuries? As I learned more and more of the details, I couldn't believe that this was happening. I feared for my friend's safety and I had this overwhelming desire to get on a plane to go and be by his side. I wanted him to know that there were many who were praying in caring for him. But all I could do is sit here and watch news updates.

This summer, thousands upon thousands of young people will travel overseas to participate in various mission trips. Most of the trips will occur in countries that are completely safe to travel to. However, that safety is never guaranteed. We forget that traveling can be very dangerous, especially when we are traveling to a foreign country. I know firsthand what it is to travel abroad. It is very exciting and can be ultimately life-changing.

My prayer today is for these six individuals who were serving out God's mission to the world by bringing the light of Christ to a corner of the world that so desperately needs it. I pray for the family and the friends of all six of these individuals, that they may find peace as they wait for their friend or loved one to come home. I also pray for all of those young people and leaders who will travel abroad this summer on mission trips. May God watch over them and care for them while they are away.

Kris, know that I'm praying for you. I look forward to a time we can sit down and have coffee soon.

Summer Worship Festivals

2010-07-07T09:56:00.000-07:00

Summer is one of the busiest times for youth ministry. Between summer mission trips, summer camps and regular weekly activities, there a lot of opportunities for youth to be in mission and ministry during summer.

A popular youth activity in the summer in my area of the country isSummer Worship Festivals. These are three or four-day events that happen out in a large open space where various Christian music artists and well known national Christian speakers come and hold a revival of sorts. One of the largest of these festivals, Creation, happens very close to me in Central Pennsylvania. While I have never attended that particular festival, I have attended a similar type festival produced by Salt and Light Youth Ministry, an affiliate of youth ministry within the Susquehanna Conference.

What's great about these festivals is they are usually huge spectacles that get a large number of Christian young people together to worship and learn about living life as a Christian Coming back from these experiences can be very difficult for young people. For many this is a mountaintop experience that they can not have anywhere else but in a huge event like these festivals. They come and hear phenomenal speakers that challenge their way of looking at their Christian life and encourage them to make a re-dedication to that life.

However, like most mountaintop experiences when these young people go home and get back into the regular routines of life, they forget about that experience over time. As youth leaders, is very important that we do follow up with young people who have significant experiences at these festivals. To let these life-changing experience pass them by, is not fair to them.

If you recently attended Creation or will be attending a similar type festival later this summer, do some one-on-one follow-up with the young people that went. Let their local church pastor know of the experience that they had as well with a phone call or letter, so that the they can do their own follow up. It's vitally important that when kids have a mountaintop experience, that they get some time to reflect on that experience.

The Inaugural Post

2010-06-29T19:05:00.001-07:00

Hello... Hello... (is this thing on?)... Hello. Well here goes!

Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls... Welcome to the first ever post in of my first ever blog! As you can probably tell I am new to blogging.I have never done this before, but have always wanted to try. Some new adult leaders who are part of a ministry council thought it would be a good idea, so here I am giving it a try.

I know the secret of the good blog is to keep it regularly updated so I'm planning on updating this blog every Wednesday. As you will come to find out, I'm a pastor in the United Methodist Church currently serving on the conference staff. For those of you who are not familiar with the United Methodist Church structure we are an international church connected by geographic boundaries called "conferences". Every conference is made up of approximately 800 to 1000 churches. Every pastor within that conference serves in a variety of ways, predominantly as a local church Pastor. We are assigned to our local church by a resident Bishop. For about 10 years I served as a local pastor in a local church, but now I am serving on the conference staff as the director of Young People's Ministry and Christian education.

In that position I get to consult with local churches and help them with their Christian education programs as well as their youth and young adult ministry. Hence why I am doing a blog. I want to share with pastors, youth, young adults and those people who work with youth and young adults about what I have learned about being in ministry with youth and young adults. I by no means have all the answers, however, I hope to point some people in the right direction who might be struggling with developing solid, healthy youth and young adult ministries.I would love followers to interact with my posts and challenge me on various ideas that I have. I believe that we can all learn how to be in ministry together, so I look forward to hearing from you. But for now, that's all.