Youth Ministry News

41. Youth Worker BOOST: A Perspective On Sin

From youthministry360 on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 @ 6:16 AM PST
in the "Resources" Category.
ym360 knows youth workers. We know what an incredibly rewarding, yet incredibly challenging job youth ministry can be. There are days when your spirits are sky-high, and there are days when you could use a bit of a "pick me up" from God's Word . . . That's why we're happy to offerYouth Worker Boost, one of the many valuable resources on the ym360 Blog.Boost is a short, weekly piece of encouragement designed to, well, "boost" your spirits and encourage you as you minister to students. We consider it yet another great opportunity to serve you and your ministry.CLICK HERE to have the Youth Worker Boost delivered right to your inbox whenever we publish a new one! We call these the E-BOOST! "Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother's eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, 'Let me take the speck out of your eye,' when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother's eye."--Matthew 7:3-5Would you feel confident taking some monetary advice from a financial planner who had to declare bankruptcy? Or hire a lawyer who had been disbarred?Advice from people who struggle in their area of expertise usually is not very good advice.We have that problem. Jesus didn't. Jesus often dealt with religious leaders who loved to offer spiritual advice even though they refused to deal with their own spiritual issue of sin. Some people think Jesus' plank illustration is speaking to perspective; our sin, when place right in front of our eyes, looks bigger. wOthers say Jesus was talking about the amount or degree of sin. Whatever the interpretation, the idea is a powerful one: how are we supposed to talk about sin in the lives of others and ignore our own? Sin is a big topic when it comes to teaching and counseling teenagers. You don't have to be perfect to teach on it. Just make sure you are correctly dealing with your sin before offering advice to other's on how to deal with their sin.And more than anything, put the attention on God's Word as it teaches us how to contend with sin.Our prayer for you: Our prayer is that you would contend with sin in a way that leads you closer to God, and gives you more authority to speak to your students about dealing with sin in their lives. Look for a new Youth Worker Boost each Wednesday on the ym360 Blog.Last Week's BOOST: You're Not AloneNext Week's BOOST: Instant Gratification Get more BOOST articles HERE! Read More...

42. The Youth Ministry Comparison Game

From YouthMinistry.com on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 @ 6:02 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Have you ever said or thought any of these? (That's rhetorical; we know the answer.) I could do great ministry if I had those resources, too. I'm in the shadow of the megachurch in my city. I hate ___________________ (insert name of camp, speaker, parachurch ministry, etc here). That youth pastor's wife is so much more supportive than mine! I'm just not as good a speaker as he/she is. ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ Download "I Want To Be More Like" By The Skit Guys For More Tips ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ I wish I could find a husband like that who gets youth ministry. I wish I had better ideas, like her. Did you see their youth room? Even Jesus would think it was a little over-the-top. She's a youth pastor rock star; I'm not even qualified to be a roadie on her tour. Our friend Doug Fields burned this phrase into our noggins: "When you compare, you lose." Right now you're nodding your head in agreement because you've felt the pain of the comparison game. Here are some responses for when you find yourself playing this little game:read more Read More...

43. Six Reflections From My Trip Back To England

From YouthWorkTalk.com on Wednesday, June 5, 2013 @ 5:00 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Yesterday, I returned from a twelve day trip back to England to visit my family and friends. We took the whole family to see my mom who is failing in health with stage 5 Alzheimer's. (Maybe I will blog about this trip another time...) To be honest, I did not think too much about ministry [...]You just finished reading Six Reflections From My Trip Back To England! Read More...

From Youth Specialties on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 @ 11:44 PM PST
in the "Resources" Category.
This week's links include types of people needed in a leader's life, what drowning actually looks like, students and the desire to be "in the know," ways to make summer experiences stick, and gallup poll results on Americans and religion. Links: 4 Ways to Make Summer Experiences Stick (CYMT) Drowning Doesn't Look Like Drowning (Slate) Leader: Do You Have These People in Your Life? (Doug Fields) From YOLO to FOMO (Jonathan McKee) Most Americans Say Religion is Losing Influence in U.S. (But 75% say American society would be better off if more Americans were religious) Read More...

From youthministry360 on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 @ 8:36 AM PST
in the "Resources" Category.
Here's the latest edition of the ym360 Trends & Culture Update, a twice monthly look at research and articles designed to keep youth ministers, adult volunteers, and parents in the loop on what's happening in youth culture. (Read why we think it's important here.) We Want To Equip You And Those You ServeConsider using this article to equip your community in the following ways:Use the PRINT and/or EMAIL buttons at the top and bottom of the page to share this content with your ministry team and especially your students' parents. (For a real-life example of what this looks like, check out this post from ym360 Contributor Aaron Kirkpatrick.) Repost it on your blog or church websiteSHARE IT with your youth ministry networks. This is a great way to help your peeps!Without further ado, here are some relevant links we think you should know about. Social Media & TechnologyPipe App Finally Brings File Transfer to FacebookTumblr's Porn Can Stay, Suggests Yahoo CEO Marissa MayerStudy: Teens favor Twitter, share more infoTumblr Brings More Ads To Users' Dashboards, Rearranges Buttons & Teens Freak OutFour in ten teens and college students said they've played a game on Facebook. Culture & EntertainmentOh, This Is Fattening? Teens Ignore Fast-Food Calorie CountsReligion Is Losing InfluenceInteresting first-person perspective on millennials and entitlement.Insurance companies give parents ability to track teens driving.The Truth About Millennials (in Boomer Eyes) Is USA finally kicking its sugar habit?FCC proposing to allow more sex and profanity during kids' television viewing hours Three Things Girls Must Know About Their Sexuality Teens and Abortion. . . There's An App For That. What movies are your students and/or their friends watching? Click here to check out which movies won the weekend. Stay in touch with what your students and/or their friends are listening to. The Billboard Hot 100 tracks songs across all mediums. By clicking here you can listen to and watch the videos for the most popular songs in the country right now. (NOTE: Use discernment when previewing this content as, sadly, much of it is objectionable.) A Glance At Recent ResearchInfographic on suicide statistics. Sleep-Deprived Teens Make Poor Food ChoicesWhat's Behind The Drop in U.S. Teen Birth Rates. How Does Internet Porn Affect Teens? New Study Says: We Have No Idea!Latest Pew Research on Teens, Social Media, and Privacy. That's it for this edition of the ym360 Trends & Culture report. Look for another one the week of June 17. [**Note: By nature, some of the articles and subject matter we deal with in Trends & Culture often conflicts with our beliefs and ethics as Christ-followers. Our purpose in linking to this type of material is to simply give you the option of knowing the culture your students are surrounded by. Use discretion to determine which links to click on.] Want more ym360 Trends & Culture? Sign up for a ym360 User Account and receive Trends & Culture Updates in our bi-weekly ym30 Newsletter. Read More...

47. Transitioning Your 8th Graders: You Say Goodbye and They Say Hello!

From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 @ 7:16 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Over the years, our ministry has developed a fairly effective strategy for transitioning our 8th graders into the high school group. The overriding philosophy is simple: A healthy transition takes effort from BOTH departments. We ask the junior high department to joyfully "push up" and we ask the high school department to aggressively "reach down". "PUSH UP": Beginning in early May (we don't promote until late June) the junior high department starts to consistently brag to 8th graders about how awesome the high school department is. They introduce them to high school leaders, encourage them to sneak into a high school service and start promoting all the amazing plans the high school ministry has for the upcoming summer. Our high school team works hard to make sure 8th graders are familiar with our high school ministry, and its leaders, far before promotion Sunday arrives. If they wait to care about students until they are officially "theirs", they've waited too long and the chance of kids falling through the cracks increases dramatically. "REACH DOWN": Around the same time, the high school team begins it's assault on the 8th graders! They purposely interrupt announcements to promote a summer high school event, they guest speak in our weekend program, and they seek out 8th graders before and after the services. Because our junior high ministry only has their students for two years, it would be understandable that they would try to hold onto them as long as possible. But because they have a "long view" and believe that their success is largely determined by how many of their former students stay involve in high school it's shockingly easy to begin to hand them off to the high school team a few months early. Transitioning from junior high to high school is often an intimidating and awkward time for students. Sadly, many youth groups make it tougher than it needs to be by not having a strategy in place. Read More...

48. Transition Through Connection

From YouthMinistry.com on Tuesday, June 4, 2013 @ 7:11 AM PST
in the "Blog" Category.
Too often, our goal is to transition our kids into a church service, rather than the life and body of the Church (with a capital C). High school grads' biggest need is remaining connected to the body of Christ, not necessarily our local congregation or ministry (although that would be great, as well). Whether or not your students leave for school, intentionally fostering a connection in your ministry (and/or a church near their campus) beyond just you and their parents is vital. Far too often we fail to recognize that truly loving our students requires us to help them connect beyond us individually. Here are some practical ways you might do this: 1. Have a dinner/barbeque for your graduates, but invite a couple or two from the church as well. This couple is there just to hang out and talk. Nothing more. Age doesn't matter, but this couple needs to be relational, down to earth, and mature in faith. This can provide an opportunity for your students to connect with people they never would've otherwise. Simply introduce them as your friends and let your students know they wanted to be there because they were going to be praying for them as they transition into the next phase of life. (I'd recommend telling your students individually, keeping it authentic and relational; if articulated in a group setting it could create awkwardness, with the perception of being forced.) Emails and phone numbers may be exchanged, but this should happen naturally rather than institutionally. 2. Host a weekend retreat for your graduates where you invite some older, more mature adults. Again, age doesn't matter but they should have the same qualities as the folks you invite to the barbeque. Have a lot of down time just to hang out, but have these people share their testimonies at some point. It's important that they articulate their personal story and are careful not to give the typical "I want to tell you all the things you should not do," teacher-to-pupil type of testimony. They are real people with real stories. Graduates can apply their stories to themselves. They need to see these peoples' hearts (besides, they already know what not to do). 3. Meeting with our students one-on-one is vital, but sometimes it's better if we're not the ones they meet with. There are times when another leader in the church can help them just as much as we can, possibly even more. As much as possible, connect your students to these other people. When an issue comes up in a conversation with a student, talk to her about it—but at some point let her know there's someone you want them to talk to who's dealt with the same thing. If your student trusts you, she'll meet with this person. In all of these situations, constantly pray that mentoring relationships are being formed with young people beyond just you. Read More...

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