So you’re ready to kick off a youth ministry drama team? It isn’t as easy as it seems. Take it from me (a person who “launched” a youth group drama team like five times). Teens are not committed by nature. They need persistent adults to keep them driven and excited about the task at hand. [...]
Youth Group and Church Websites Start to Finish
Regardless of the size of your youth ministry or church, you absolutely need a website. People of all ages are online now, and in order to remain relevant, you need a presence in the digital age. To top it off, a lot of things have changed over the past decade. A plain information page doesn’t [...]
Youth Group Back to School Ideas
It’s that time of year again. Summer is winding down and kids are slowly trickling back into a regular schedule. Youth groups often see a sharp decrease in attendance during the summer months, but teens come back to youth during the fall. This is also a time when you might see new faces from kids [...]
Kerusso Coupon Code
If you’re a Christian t-shirt junkie like us, you’ll appreciate this coupon code from Kerusso. But hurry, its only good through the month of July. Use the link below and type in “July2010″ in the coupon code box to get $5 off a $30 purchase. $5 OFF of $30 Purchase or more Coupon Code: JULY2010
The Furious Love Movie that Everyone Should See
This movie, Furious Love, is a sequel to Finger of God. You could show it in service, or pass it on to your senior pastor. It’s powerful. Check out the trailer here: Furious Love Official Trailer from Wanderlust Productions on Vimeo.
Youth Camp Speaker
When you are hosting your own summer camp, finding a guest speaker can be a daunting task. Do you take the recommendations of others? Book a major national speaker? Or do you just wing it and trying speaking at it yourself? Here are a few tips to help you find the best youth retreat guest [...]
Teaching Youth About Abortion
The abortion battle is stronger than ever. Unfortunately, we seem to view it more and more as a political issue rather than a people issue. Abortion is wrong, no doubt about it. The Bible says that God knew us before he even formed us in the womb! He designed us, gave us a purpose and [...]
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Youth Group Games
Youth Group Icebreakers
Being in youth ministry for several years, I know what it means to have to relentlessly come up with group icebreakers for services each week. And inevitably, at least half of them were total duds. It gets quite tiring and frustrating after a while I recently found this icebreaker book by Ken Sapp and Joshua [...]
Youth Group Ideas
Youth Summer Camp on South Padre Island: Camp Padre
Let me just start off this post by saying that this is not a paid advertisement and I am not getting some kick back from recommending this camp to you. Camp Padre rocks my world. And I mean that. Last January we had the opportunity to meet Jaroy Carpenter, camp director of Camp Padre. He [...]
Leaders Only
Discouraged in Youth Ministry
There is a reason that the turn over in youth pastors in the average church is higher than that of other ministries. For every pastor it’s a different story. Maybe it’s meeting the high demands of parents. Maybe it’s the constant back and forth between the requirements of eldership and financial boards. Or perhaps it’s [...]
Fun Stuff
Teen Texting Abbreviations, Lingo and Slang
Teenagers text. A lot. It is no wonder that parents and youth pastors are left in the dark on what teens are talking about today. Here’s a quick guide to texting get you started. I like to call this teen lingo “teen speak.” Some are easy to decipher such as “OvR8d” and the overly used [...]
Starting a Youth Ministry
Starting a Youth Ministry from Scratch (part two)
So if you read my previous post about taking over a youth ministry (Starting a Youth Ministry from Scratch, Part One),you should have a good idea of how to create a game plan for your first year of ministry. After you have analyzed, planned and begun connecting with kids, its on to step two: being [...]
Youth Discipleship and Growth
The Three Types of Youth Ministry
There are three types of youth ministries that can describe 99% of all youth groups today. Of the three, one of them has the substance to develop students that become humble servants that lead in the Kingdom of Heaven. I am a firm believer that the atmosphere of a youth ministry is directly reflective upon [...]
Youth Discipleship and Growth
3 Ways to Deal with Tough Issues for Teenagers
Part of being a youth pastor is being culturally relevant. Just like adults, teens come from all backgrounds, customs and families. They have also developed all sorts of habits, insecurities and problems. I decided to throw together some tips for becoming more understanding in listening to teens talk about their problems and to also deliver [...]
Starting a Youth Ministry
Low or Small Budget Youth Ministry: Media, Lights, Software and More
So you have a great group of kids and you are psyched about what God is doing in the youth ministry. But there’s just one hitch: you have a low budget and don’t know how to keep up with other ministries that have all the bells and whistles. Well…don’t worry about, do something about it. [...]
Starting a Youth Ministry
Planning a Weekend Youth Retreat
Use this handy youth retreat checklist to help plan the perfect getaway with your teens.
Youth Group Games
Fun Indoor Group Game: Ranger, Bear, Dog
In our many years of youth ministry, no indoor youth group game stood out more, nor was requested more than Ranger, Bear, Dog. Now don’t get me wrong, the game was not my idea, so I do not take credit for it. ( I actually have no idea where I picked it up.) But none [...]
Youth Group Ideas
Youth Ministry Series Idea for February: Love, Dating and Sex
February is just around the corner and we all know what that means: Valentine’s Day. For middle school and junior highers, it’s a giggle fest. For high schoolers, it’s an opportunity to get mushy gushy with that “special” someone. I have always been a proponent of optimizing this time to talk about the pressures, expectations [...]
