Some Advice for Youth Ministers

Dave Hinkley serves as Director of Children and Youth Ministry at University Reformed Church in East Lansing, MI. He wrote this insightful article at the Gospel Coaltion blog with four valuable pieces of advice for youth pastors. (We…

What the Lord Taught Me at Rooted

I write from “The Left Coast” as I reflect upon how the Lord impacted me at this year’s Rooted Conference.  We are known here in Pacific Northwest for liberal viewpoints, coffee, and LOTS of rain.  But we are…

Hugo and the Orphaned Teenage Soul

Rooted contributor, Cameron Cole, recently posted this piece on the Mockingbird Blog (an absolute slam dunk gem of a blog for pop culture examples of the Gospel) offering insight into the orphaned teenage soul via the movie, Hugo….

Are Mission Trips Biblical?

The Gospel Coalition has just run a fantastic series contributing to the ongoing debate surrounding the effectiveness and biblical basis for short-term mission trips.  As youth groups everywhere spend their summers on trip after trip, often the crux…

Mike Horton on Ministry to Youth

Mike Horton, whose book Christless Christianity was part of the impetus for Rooted, writes about how “narcicism is unchurching the church” in “Generation Me and Youth Ministry Today” over at the White Horse Inn, and gives some suggestions…

Youth Groups in the Digital Age, Part 2

Our youth ministry at the Church of the Advent has experienced a similar trend in students having little interest in Sunday night large group events. At the same time, we have observed a positive trend in another direction….

Youth Groups in the Digital Age

Nate Birkholz, the assistant pastor for Lakeside Baptist in Grand Rapids, MI, posed this insightful question to the Rooted blog regarding declining attendance at large group and its relationship to social media and the digital age. Dave Wright…

The Evolution Issue, Part 2

Jarett Van Tine continues his article on how to teach our students about biblical creation in a  secular world. Start off with Part 1 here. Let’s examine the principle for determining truth conveyed by many public school science…