In youth ministry, there’s no shortage of rough patches. You think you’ve got the lock-in planned, scheduled and effectively organized, and the location calls at the last minute and cancels your res...

Several years ago, I learned a lesson.  It's a hard lesson, and like most hard lessons, it hurt to learn, and it's a valuable lesson, and like most of the good lessons, I sometimes need to re-learn it.  So, i...

God works through small groups. At least that’s what we hope, don’t we? There’s a joy that comes with seeing students come together to dig into God’s word and each other’s lives. When small groups fu...

If you’re like me, small group ministry with students has been a bit of a challenge. In at least one of the ministries I’ve lead, my entire youth group would have been considered a small group. (ha!). Mor...

Small groups are one of the best ways for students to belong to your youth ministry. They make a large ministry feel smaller and a smaller ministry feel more personal. Among so many other things, small groups ...

Divide the group into two equal teams, and have them stand across from each other in a typical Red Rover style. Choose one team to start, have that team choose one person from the other team to "come over." Aft...

Quick question: Can you recite the Golden Rule? Follow-up questions: Do you know where to find that rule in the Bible? Are these words actually in the Bible? Why is it called golden? The What While the prin...

Quick Backdrop If you were to Tweet through the Bible one Tweet a day, it would take more than 60 years to cover all the verses. Obviously Scripture was not designed to be experienced 140 characters at a time,...

  I offered to just buy the coffee table from the host home family. Why, you ask? Because one of the small group members managed to discreetly carve his initials in it during our short stay in their hom...

You'll need: Army men, cotton swabs, drinking straws. Divide your group into two or more smaller groups, giving each an adequate number of straws, a box of Q-tips, and a set of plastic army men (or farm animal...