I'm in countdown mode. My fall programming starts in 5 weeks... And I'm on vacation for two of them. Needless to say, that means I'm knee-deep in program prep for the fall. I'm recruiting adult leaders, tra...

The longer I do student ministry, the more I realize that the school year really kicks off student ministry. In our church, over half of our students are gone during the summer on vacation or at camps, but wh...

Check out these culture snapshots pulled from the pages of YouthWorker Journal.  Teens Smoking Less (But They Still Text a Lot) There was a bevy of good news in the new National Youth Risk Behavior Surve...

At a recent youth worker convention, one presenter made the observation that the average youth pastor has a four-year tenure before experiencing frustration, failure and burnout. This is a sad commentary on the...

When I told some of my friends that I would be attending a meeting of the Society of Christian Philosophers at Westmont College, their responses fell into three basic categories: • Horror: "What? Why? That ...

Silly Sloppy Slingshot Scrabble is a favorite around my middle school and junior high ministry. It has taken on various forms and challenging levels, but it is a guaranteed blast! Supplies: - Water balloon ...

Disorienting. That is the most accurate word to describe the experience of working in a local church without a Senior or Lead Pastor in place.  I have experienced it three different times in my career.  Ri...

For this wet and wild outdoor game you simply need a water hose attached to a spigot, various-sized water containers, and a stopwatch (or app on a cell phone).  The game is best played on a hot day, with two o...

Encouragement is one of the greatest blessings you can give to others in your youth ministry (or outside of it for that matter). In English, it’s related to the word ‘courage’ but in Greek it has a far ri...

There are few things more exciting to a ministry minded individual than arriving at a new job or ministry assignment.  Seeing new faces, new possibilities, and praying new prayers about what God could do throu...