Mark Howard was a youth pastor for five years before joining Elam Ministries, an organization that seeks to strengthen and expand the church in Iran and surrounding areas. Through Elam, he’s had the opportunity to work with Iranian youth as well as talk with American churches about God’s work in Iran. Mark has his M.A. in Theological Studies from Wheaton College Graduate School and serves on Rooted’s steering committee.
Mark Howard brings us this piece in anticipation of the 2013 Rooted Conference in Atlanta, GA on October 10-12. The theme of Rooted 2013 is Hope in A Time of Suffering. Rooted offers a simple conference which considers…
Unless the Sunday school lesson we’re giving is particularly boring, the youth we work with probably aren’t thinking much about eternity in any concrete way. In truth, we probably don’t give eternity much concrete thought either. But I’ve…
This article by Mark Howard previously appeared at The Gospel Coalition. I was happy in my previous job as a fundraising consultant. I never dreamt of full-time church ministry, and I definitely didn’t think of myself as a…
When I first began working with youth, the first Percy Jackson series was all the rage. Greek gods, adventure, and awkward teen drama had captured the imaginations of youth all over the country – and some at my…
We want to feel necessary. We want to feel important. An easy way to fill these desires as a youth worker is to make our youth ministries about us. We even do what I just did — call…
In one sense, what we do as youth ministers is unique in the world of church ministry. Our job definitely includes some of the most fun – and perhaps, also, the most heartbreak. But in another sense, our…
