Youth Ministry Isn’t About Youth Ministers

The second Monday of each month I gather with several pastors in the area to pray, confess my sin, and fellowship together.  During our last meeting, my mentor brought us to 2 Corinthians 4:1-6.  It was an incredible…

The Biblical (Il)Literary of Teenage Believers

Richard Ross of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary offered this insightful and valuable article at www.christianpost.com. Here is an excerpt with a link to this pivotal issue in the landscape of American Christianity: Youth ministry researcher Chap Clark says,…

Rooted Recommends: You Lost Me

*There is a 43% drop off between the teen and early adult years in terms of church engagement (p. 22). I can honestly say that in the last six years of being a youth minister, I’ve seen the…

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…