Sometimes You Don’t Have To Move
Three times during my 20 years in youth ministry, I've reached a point of needing to move to find a better fit. I came to my current church seven years ago. I love it and have found it the best match yet. Two y...
Teens Decompress from Stress
The teenagers, among two dozen Fenway High School freshmen arrayed in a semicircle beneath a basketball hoop, breathed deeply as a stress-reduction trainer instructed them on how to relax. New Age music floated...
Video Rocket is Next Big Thing
It’s official! VideoRocket.com, the site formerly known as MonsterPod.com, is now part of the FrontGate Media family. Direct Email. Video Ads. Contests. Oh my! VideoRocket provides access to a v...
Babies to Blame for Forgetfulness?
Holly Massingill noticed the little slip-ups first.The Austin mother, who once had an "almost photographic" memory, began to stumble over friends' names when introducing them. She would hop in her car and forge...
Going Green for Lent
"Many Christians sacrifice a personal pleasure such as chocolate, liquor, or cigarettes to mark Lent, the period of penance and prayer before Easter. This year, Nina Scott is giving up carbon. "Religious envir...
TOOLS: Spotlight Review in Youth Ministry
The New Christians: Dispatches from the Emergent Frontierby Tony JonesJossey-Bass, 2007, 257pp., $22.95, www.josseybass.com Over the past decade many of us have asked: What is the Emergent movement all about? ...
A Tale of Two Students
Wandering into an Italian Bakery and Cafe in Panama City Beach, Florida, this summer, I met Olesea Z. behind a counter and surrounded by drop-dead gorgeous marzipan pastries and ice cream. As I indulged in a ch...
The Urban Take: All in the Youth Ministry Family
On many occasions I have talked about a holistic approach to youth ministry. In the urban context this means there must not only be a focus on evangelism and on spiritual formation or discipleship. There also m...
Sight Unseen: The Power of Negative Thinking
I’m going to take a shot at writing this column from where I’m actually at, rather than where I’d like to be.Christian writers should be able to do this—show life as it really is, warts...
Stirring It Up: Stop Abusing Stats in Youth Ministry
My quest for accurate statistics began with a 2003 column by Mike Yaconelli on this very page of YouthWorker Journal titled “The Failure of Youth Ministry.” Following issues contained articles by mi...