I recently had an interesting conversation with a person who has worked with teenagers for over forty years. He said, “Until the last few years, I never encountered a child struggling with what gender they were. Now, it…
Quite a few years back, my son (a second grader at the time) bounded down the stairs early one Saturday morning excited about his baseball tournament. It was going to be a beautiful, sunny day and our family…
Church Planting as Youth Ministry is an ongoing column which draws together insights from two crucial spheres of ministry: youth ministry and church planting. Authors such as Tim Keller have quantified the effective disciple-making that happens through church…
Being sensitive to the fact that church can be difficult will likely help the altered family reintegrate into the community more comfortably.
We moved into a new house a few months ago. My youngest sat in her new bedroom, and the smell of fresh paint was as vivid as the tears on her face. She told me she was crying…
I had found myself in a place in ministry I had yet to tread, a place which honestly had me doubting my ability to press on in the work.
Dear Student, I’m not sure how often you’ve heard this, but you are of infinite value: a human created in the image of a God who would stop at nothing to bring you into relationship with Himself. You…
In spite of the fact that my youth group students regularly tell me that I am ancient, I would consider myself at approximately the halfway point of my career: I am in my 45th year. As is typical…
“Hey man! Welcome to the Student Ministry! How are you?” “I’m good.” “Awesome. Is this your first time at church in a while, or have you been going somewhere else?” “Yeah I grew up in the church! But…
