I remember the first time I heard someone describe himself as a lifer—not a right-to-lifer or a Miller High Lifer (come on…)—but a youth ministry lifer. I was finishing seminary, had just take...

As a youth minister working with volunteer leaders, there are two approaches you must avoid. I call these two destructive approaches Users and Doozers.A User is someone who simply uses his or her leaders to acc...

One of the givens of being a youth pastor (in addition to the consumption of a good deal of pizza and the never-ending supply of free T-shirts) is that you probably will be asked to officiate at a fair number o...

"It was pretty difficult to sit through the discussion questions on Sunday," said one of my small group leaders in an e-mail about his group of freshman guys. Two weeks into the new school year, it was clear he...

It has been a joy watching Tommy's faith grow. Raised in a nominally Catholic home, he was invited by a friend to our youth ministry, was immediately drawn in by the worship teams, gave his life to Jesus, and e...

When I was a college freshman, it was downright depressing how many of my Christian friends had left their faith behind by the end of the year. It is not uncommon for many college students to go through a phase...

Years ago, a pastor wrote a book with this subtitle: Making It Hard for People to Go to Hell from Your City. I don't love the tone, but I agree with the sentiment, particularly as it relates to the students who...

I almost lost one of my best leaders. I never saw it coming; but once I realized what happened, I learned a valuable lesson in leadership.I had hired a part-time staff person who was responsible for overseeing ...

Sometimes church youth groups are easier for loud, outgoing teenagers. Awkward situations don't intimidate them. When they walk into a room, all they see is the potential for a great time.However, youth groups ...

"I'm having a hard time getting Chelsea to youth group. She says she doesn't feel welcome there."I'm sure you have had these conversations with parents. The first thing you need to understand about such convers...