RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY

Hope this activity goes well for all that try it. ...

2010-03-05T08:58:43.611-06:00

Hope this activity goes well for all that try it. If you'd be willing to share some of the results of your students postcards, we'd be honored to share them here on the blog.

Thank you! I'm planning to use this exercise tonig...

2010-03-05T04:28:34.649-06:00

Thank you! I'm planning to use this exercise tonight--great idea!

Never do anything for young people they can learn ...

2010-03-04T08:12:58.376-06:00

Never do anything for young people they can learn to do themselves!

Jason, thanks so much for the feedback. Glad to kn...

2010-03-02T15:08:31.752-06:00

Jason, thanks so much for the feedback. Glad to know some of this is of use to fellow youth workers! Hope your Lenten journey is a great one. Peace.

Brian, Thanks SO MUCH for the work you put into p...

2010-03-02T09:51:41.532-06:00

Brian,

Thanks SO MUCH for the work you put into posting these ideas. I'm a 20 year youth min vet, and it's our first year teaching through Lent. We're doing a series we're calling "40" with our sr high, and we're using many of your ideas from your blog. What a gift and resource your work is. Thanks man!

great idea! I am a new youth leader at a small chu...

2010-02-27T18:39:54.919-06:00

great idea! I am a new youth leader at a small church and this idea is one that I think will be very beneficial!

Excellent idea, Joshua. Thanks for the suggestion....

2010-02-24T13:03:40.134-06:00

Excellent idea, Joshua. Thanks for the suggestion.

These are good ideas. Simple reality checks like ...

2010-02-23T19:09:46.603-06:00

These are good ideas. Simple reality checks like this can be powerful. In one of my current classes the prof wrote the words God, Self, Marriage/Relationship, Work/Job, Church on the board and asked us to prioritize them according to the ideal and then to our reality.

Perhaps a similar exercise could be done with youth with such words as God, Self, Friends, School, Family, Prayer, etc.

Thanks, Brian.

Justin: clearly, scheduling time for church activi...

2010-02-23T09:26:59.189-06:00

Justin: clearly, scheduling time for church activities is becoming more difficult in our busy culture. As Sayward points out, sometimes we are even forced to compete with our church activities!
I think ultimately we have to figure out what works best on a church by church basis. If Sunday is the best night when you can be fully present as an adult mentor and your youth are flexible enough to make it work, I say go for it. Ultimately, you may want to make it clear that your are in a position of having to choose between a paying job or asking the youth group participants to be flexible in their scheduling.

I am actually the lead youth worker but I happen a...

2010-02-23T09:05:19.989-06:00

I am actually the lead youth worker but I happen also to be a volunteer. I need to find additional employment and have a great job prospect but that would mean moving Thursday night youth group to Sunday night as the job goes until 6pm Monday-Friday. Many of the kids in the group can't come on Thursday due to school activities but I am just not sure what I should do. Of course getting a salary from the church would be nice but at this point I don't believe that is possible. The other option may be to start at 7pm and find a person who is willing to drive the van route.

great stuff guys. keep the refreshing ideas and e...

2010-02-19T10:48:18.533-06:00

great stuff guys. keep the refreshing ideas and encouragement coming. I am 46 and been doing full time youth ministry for 22 years so "rethinking" has to always be at the forefront of what I do and who I am.
Tom with Exemplarym.com

Jason, thank you for sharing your views. You help ...

2010-02-18T16:54:38.553-06:00

Jason, thank you for sharing your views. You help to illustrate how diverse a faith Christianity truly is. While you are certain that scripture does not allow female pastors, others are just as certain that scripture indicates that women were indeed leaders and full participants in the Jesus movement and early Church. Additionally, part of Christian diversity means that not all Christians look soley to scripture to discern the way to go. Many movements within our faith also look to tradition, experience, and reason to determine how to be faithful followers of Christ in a modern world very different from that of the ancient near east that produces the writings of the new testament.

Anyone who thinks that a pastor should be a woman ...

2010-02-18T13:56:10.284-06:00

Anyone who thinks that a pastor should be a woman needs to have what I cal a come to Jesus meeting. If you look in the word of God none of the Disciples were women. None of the Books of the Bible were written by women. There were great women in the Bible, yes, however they are not to be authority. God's Idea for authority rests in a Man. Which is what He was, the Holy spirit was, and Jesus was. Now, it is very vital to understand this role of Youth Pastor is the exact same as a pastor(Bishop)Teenagers need that male to look up to. Grant it they would do good to have a Youth Pastor's wife for spiritual guidance as well. However, that is an extra not an only. The Man is the position and his wife is the help meet. A woman has no right or no calling from God to be a youth leader,pastor,preacher,teacher, or counsellor.

Hi Sami. Glad to be of help. I'm planning on using...

2010-02-14T14:50:43.201-06:00

Hi Sami. Glad to be of help. I'm planning on using it tonight at youth group, though I've tweaked the opening activity and we are decorating and putting messages on heart-shaped cookies rather than the candy hearts.

thank you for this. I intend to use it for our con...

2010-02-14T13:21:29.282-06:00

thank you for this. I intend to use it for our confirmation large group gathering tonight, and think it'll be perfect. thanks so much- love the song, and this devo.

Thanks, Brian. Appreciate this. I will use the i...

2010-02-13T18:06:59.078-06:00

Thanks, Brian. Appreciate this. I will use the ideas here a few times as I was planning on making this a theme for Lent this year.

Dios te bendiga!

Very cool, Hough. Thanks for sharing!

2010-02-10T16:47:35.579-06:00

Very cool, Hough. Thanks for sharing!

You can get the images for a fee through the Prous...

2010-02-10T16:33:48.521-06:00

You can get the images for a fee through the Proust website here:
http://www.proost.co.uk/index.php?option=com_virtuemart&page=shop.product_details&flypage=shop.flypage&category_id=2&product_id=240&Itemid=37

or see a few You Tube compilations here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P-6a25Yo2wE

or here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHXE9Wi6E9o

Here is an iWork Keynote I made from this lesson. ...

2010-02-10T11:40:29.578-06:00

Here is an iWork Keynote I made from this lesson.
http://dl.dropbox.com/u/2461650/Valentines%20Breakaway.key

I can't find the pic. for the power point, it says...

2010-02-10T11:00:37.344-06:00

I can't find the pic. for the power point, it says that they are no longer there....if someone has a power point done can you please send it to me? saintjcym@aol.com THANKS!!

I love this and am going to use it not only with y...

2010-02-09T14:39:06.961-06:00

I love this and am going to use it not only with youth, but my adults!!!

Mary, I'd be happy to send you the outline. Just l...

2010-02-09T11:36:00.037-06:00

Mary, I'd be happy to send you the outline. Just let me know how to contact you. You can reach me at brianskirk at yahoo.com.

Mtannie - thanks for stopping by. We held the parent orientation week's before the event in order to get their input. The retreat was the beginning of the process. We held several Sunday evening sessions after that retreat to continue the conversation. This way it was not a topic we talked about and then moved on but rather became a regular issue that we helped the youth navigate. It's not that we discussed it every week, but came back to it occasionally, which helped to keep the students interested.

Brian,I'm the UCC person who advocates for Our Who...

2010-02-09T09:01:23.596-06:00

Brian,I'm the UCC person who advocates for Our Whole Lives in the national setting. Thanks for lifting up Our Whole Lives. Am interested, too, in the retreat setting, how did you fit the parent orientation in? Mary, getting families to committ to 27 lessons is a chore. We opened with a day-long retreat with 3 lessons. Because we are doing the adaptation, it will last 12 weeks; however, I can already see that 12 lessons is not enough.

I find myself most agreeing with Chad. Brian said...

2010-02-08T22:41:00.259-06:00

I find myself most agreeing with Chad.

Brian said:

"Even well-organized martial arts activities in a gym have the air of violence, real or implied about them. It's tough for me to square that with the gospel."

Why? I certainly do not see martial arts as Gospel centric by any means... but where is the tension? What about HS wrestling?

In fact talk with anyone involved in 'hand to hand' type athletics like martial arts or wrestling and you will find a far higher level of respect for the opposition and teammates than 'non-violent' sports. Your opponent's safety is your responsibility and while you "pound" each other.

Honestly I think a martial arts ministry is a fantastic platform for the presentation of the gospel, and also of genuine community, and most who have been involved in one on one 'violent' sports clubs (martial arts, boxing, wresting, fencing, etc...) would probably agree that the non-gospel assessment of martial arts is off base.

Brian, We were just trained in the Our Whole Live...

2010-02-08T07:29:29.794-06:00

Brian, We were just trained in the Our Whole Lives curriculum and are facing our toughest challenge: figuring out how to get our kids to commit the time! Could you send me an outline of your retreat schedule? We were thinking of this as an option but couldn't imagine how to squeeze it all in! Thanks, Mary in Big Rapids, MI