Youthworkers are always asking the same question.
How can I get more help?!
It doesn’t take you long as a youth worker before you figure out this is the whole youth ministry game: recruiting, training, and deploying leaders. You are only as good as your team. You can only reach as many students as you ha
Each year our ministry talks about the role of how families impact teenagers. Really youth ministry circles have been talking about youth and their families for over two decades. My bias is that Dr. Karla Powell and Dr. Chap Clark are clearly kicking butt in leading the charge in equipping youth workers to work with families.
So in a very brief 20 minutes at our monthly In-service we do a big perspective / general idea about family systems thinking. I use a powerful visual for this.
With graduation right around the corner, it's an important rite of passage to honor our seniors and send them into their next phase in life with some resources. Here are four ideas for you to consider:
Are young people really leaving the church in droves as some studies say? If so, what can we do to develop deeper ties between youth and communities of faith?
In this months digital issue of YouthWorker Journal we sought answers and articles from: Kenda Creasy Dean, Mike King, Heidi Hagstrom, Dick Hardel, Dave Rahn, Kara Powell, Brad Griffin, Drew Dyck, Lars Rood and more!
We pray you and your students find this material helpful!
Ever judge someone just by looking at them? Of course, we've all made snap judgments about people. But what if we really got to know them? How would our opinions change? And what if we were forced to become them... how would the shoes fit then?
Pro football star Jake Walker is living the dream… or so he thinks. The veteran tight end is a fan favorite and on pace to set the all-time receiving yards record that will guarantee him a spot in the Hall of Fame. While working out at training camp, Jake receives an unexpected call from his brother Dean – their father Frank has suffered a major heart attack. Jake immediately leaves practice and returns to Riverton, North Carolina, the small hometown he’s avoided for nearly 15 years. Memories of glory and regret flood his mind as he returns to the family and friends he abandoned in pursuit of his career. Jake dutifully visits with Frank and Dean, but hurt and misunderstanding from the past begins to resurface, leaving him counting the days until he can return to his team.
WOMEN OF FAITH has a fantastic new program, called WOMEN OF FAITH GIVES BACK, they’ve implemented in efforts to bless their cities.
With 21,634 first time decisions for Christ just last year, they know that to maximize what God is doing they need to partner with others in their city with the “Same Heart”, in bringing more of Christ to our cities! SO they are joining forces with NNYM in efforts for their ticket sales to be able to bless us financially.
Our first opportunity is for the event in Anaheim, CA, but we must act FAST as our deadline for this offer is Monday, August 16th!
Would you consider sharing this with the ladies to join us at WOMEN OF FAITH which will in turn bless NNYM financially in some pretty significant ways.
HERE ARE TWO WAYS YOU CAN HELP US REACH OUR GOAL!
We have partnered with Moms 4 Family TV, a bunch of regular moms working to make televesion relevant. Instead of complaining about the lack of good family programs they created the Family Movie Night initiative.
Family Movie Night has reached millions of viewers all across America. The most recent movie, Field of Vision, was a significant success on Saturday, June 11th. Over three million households watched the movie and many lives were touched by the messages of honesty and empathy.
The opportunity to watch great entertainment with "teachable moments" has created a wonderful way for families to interact and discuss important universal truths like trust and forgivness. Now the latest in the Family Movie Night series, Who is Simon Miller?, is set to air August 6, 2011 on NBC.
One of the banner passages of scripture we cling to at the Chattanooga Youth Network is John 17 where Jesus is recorded praying a dynamic prayer for believers and unbelievers. Our heart is to help the Church experience a dynamic oneness that will announce the reality of the Gospel.
In the 17th chapter in the Gospel of John we get to be a fly on the wall of Jesus’ prayer life. The Gospels record Jesus pulling away to be alone with the Father. This prayer flows powerfully from the well of Jesus’ deep heart for those who believe and those who will one day finally rest in the cosmic reality of God’s great invitation into holy brotherhood and sonship.
Is the Bible historically accurate?
The Scriptures claim to be an inspired message from God — but can students (or their parents) confidently and reasonably defend biblical beliefs—and the Bible itself - when peers or university professors challenge their worldview?
From the creators of The Truth Project comes TrueU, an engaging DVD series that presents undeniable facts supporting a Christian worldview to equip youth to defend their faith, especially in public university.
When my sons were four and six, I was at church on a Sunday morning. (I was at work, I was the youth pastor.) The head usher came up to me after the service and said, “Did you see what your kids were doing during the service?”
I responded that “I had no idea what my kids were doing, they were in their class.” He said, “Your kids--the high school kids.” I said, “They are not my kids, you should talk to them or talk to their parents.”
Have you ever felt that part of job description was to control students? Or do you think that controlling students is part of the job of youth ministry?
I will confess that there was day when I would get a little nuts when students acted inappropriately or behaved badly.
Last year we partnered with Moms 4 Family TV, a bunch of regular moms working to make televesion relevant. Instead of complaining about the lack of good family programs they created the Family Movie Night initiative.
In just one year, Family Movie Night has reached millions of viewers all across America. The most recent movie, Truth Be Told, was a significant success on Saturday, April 16th. Over three million households watched the movie and many lives were touched by the messages of compassion and self-sacrifice.
The opportunity to watch great entertainment with "teachable moments" has created a wonderful way for families to interact and discuss important universal truths like honesty and empathy. Now the latest in the Family Movie Night series, Field of Vision, is set to air in June 11th, 2011 on NBC.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month in the United States. I was thinking about this last night as I was giving my three year old a bath. Ok, I should probably disclose right up front that I have ADHD and am usually thinking of multiple things at any given time. I was also thinking about the four teen suicides that have taken place in my community since September. The youth pastor in me aches for the families and friends dealing with these losses. The daddy in me weeps at the thought of one of my three boys ever feeling that suicide is the only answer to their problems. I was further saddened by the statistics I had read that according to the Center for Disease Control, suicide is the third leading cause of death in 15-24 year olds, and fourth leading in 10-14 year olds.
What is your favorite “secret sauce” from a special restaurant you enjoy?
You know what I mean: You are eating with friends at PF Chang’s. Your waiter appears and offers their special blend of a spicy/hot/zesty sauce for your meal. Or, you are sitting in the drive-through line at your local Chik-Fil-A ordering the #1 chicken sandwich meal with an extra large sweet tea. We are all very aware that it’s the secret sauce that keeps us coming back for more.
There is even a web site dedicated to helping us to replicate the secret sauce from our favorite dives. [Click Here for Secret Sauces]
But what is the secret sauce in your student ministry?
Understanding Cutting and Other Self Injury Behavior
In March, the Chattanooga (Tenn.) Youth Network hosted a new event with youth leaders focused on the issues related to "self injury behavior" (SIB). The leaders live in a community where several suicides had recently taken place. Our hope when we present on topics like these is that we would be helping youth leaders, parents, teachers and students to “Notice and Navigate the Evidence to Teens in Crisis.”
Biblical Truth, Brotherly Accountability, and Godly Love.
3 Day Respawn is a ministry which aims to provide Godly fellowship, companionship, and Biblical direction by offering a method of connecting with others through the video games based website, community events, and resources for anyone who plays games or knows someone who does. The ministry is based on a social media (Facebook) style community website which helps christian video game players connect with one another. The result is an experience of fellowship and mutual christian edification which is in stark contrast to the average video game playing experience. Our goal is to make disciples of all nations.
Ministry to families is a task that should almost be indistinguishable from youth ministry. While a youth pastor or Sunday school teacher can have a pivotal relationship with a teen, the parent/child relationship is by far the most influential relationship in most kids' lives. If things aren't right at home, you'll have a hard time trying to disciple a kid in your youth group.
A small groups leader’s greatest tool is a partnership with a parent.
Parents are the primary faith influencers in the student’s life, so if you want to make a spiritual impact, you better have a partnership with Mom and Dad. Many of you may think the parents don’t care, but that doesn’t change anything in my mind.
YW.net Editor's Note: Listen as Geoff Horn talks about the need to involve other adults into reaching youth, beginning with small steps to raise awareness in adults' lives to the youth that they naturally interact with all the time.
In the best scenarios, I maybe get about 30 hours a month with a kid if they are on my student leader team. Other kids maybe only come in around 15-20. Compare that to a parent who averages about 180 hours a month. Now obviously that number will flex based on schedules, jobs, extra curricular activities and more but even if a parent does only half that time, it still triples the max amount of time we get with a kid!
Bottom line: The parents will spend more time influencing, teaching and guiding their kids than we will!
Editor's Note: Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, a ministry dedicated to creating tools and resources to enable youth workers to develop students into leaders. Doug's blog, www.dougfranklinonline.com, has a wealth of insights.
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One of the largest problems we are facing in youth ministry is that our students are way overbooked. They are involved in everything under the sun. And its definitely the largest problem facing those of us who want to develop students as leaders – there is no time! How do we get out in front of this time problem? Let me give you three ideas.
Do you really know how the youth in your community or ministry feel about God, church, ethics and sexuality? 
How would it affect your strategies for ministry if you had a “snapshot” of their REAL beliefs, values, and behaviors? What would you do differently if you knew exactly how the felt about your church?
These areas are explored in a new national survey, and NNYM members and their friends have been invited to participate.
Lots, actually. The most current research paints a picture of the risks that teenagers deal with, including family issues, physical and mental health concerns, and developmental factors that underscore how important mature, steady adults like youth workers are to help provide direction, encouragement and stability in their lives. Here are some of the issues:
Young people are experiencing family breakdown. According to contemporary statistics, 51% of first marriages in 2006 ended in divorce, and 50% of all divorces involve children under 18. In 2007, 22% of all families with children under 15 years old were one-parent families.
Smart, beautiful, and the life of the party, Abbey was only 20 years old. She had a permanent smile and whenever she was near; you could not help, but be drawn to her. As it turns out, Abbey was an opiate addict. In March of 2009, six of her friends carried her casket to her grave site, a life cut short by a prescription drug overdose. Abbey was my cousin.
The good news is that pot, alcohol, cigarettes, meth, ecstasy and LSD are being abused less nowadays by American teenagers compared to the 1990s.
Our young people are hungry for God but what are we filling them up with? For many of us, our motives are pure and we are considered a success based on our numerical attendance or the enjoyment that the kids get from our programs or events. But what if what we are actually doing is hindering kids from having a deep, personal and profound relationship with Jesus Christ? What are ways that we hinder our youth?
When my wife and I look at the journey of our dating years and marriage, we like to refer to the “holymess” of our relationship. Our marriage is a holy, great, awesome thing that has taught us a lot, but that is in part due to the messy times we have faced…and are still facing in some regards. The holy parts of a relationship go hand-in-hand with the messy parts. In fact, to have a truly deep and godly relationship, you can’t have one without the other.
The following letter was in our local paper, written by 10 freshmen from the Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah School District in Wisconsin:
We wanted to share an experience we had recently while celebrating during our homecoming week. On the night of our dance, ten of us went to dinner at an area restaurant, The Lake Street Café. As the SCCA regional races were in our area, the restaurant was very full. We were sure some tables initially were not thrilled when ten teenagers walked in the room as they were planning to have a nice, quiet dinner ay a very nice restaurant.
Austin Duncan, the high school pastor of Grace Church in Sun Valley, California, offers his personal apology for being in ministry to teenagers:
I love student ministry because:
1. I love evangelism (Matt 28:19). The wise youth minister is an evangelist at heart and desires to see young men and women give their lives to Christ. The students in our churches pose a tremendous opportunity as a mission, an unreached people group of sorts, in our own church.
We've heard the mantra of "separation of church and state" for so long that we often think there's nothing we can do to make a difference. In fact, there's a lot we can and should do!
You might consider sending this information on to any mothers that you know...praying moms might be one of your best allies to reach the schools in your community.
Moms In Touch International is hosting a historic prayer event, “Arise! Cry Out!” on November 14, 2009, inviting Christian mothers from around the world to “Arise! Cry Out!” for the generations. Click here to watch a 90 second video about Arising and Crying Out!
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This post was inspired by a question asked to me by one of my long term friends and fellow youth workers, Joel Lusz - Youth Pastor, Sun Tree UMC. "In your opinion, what must youth ministers do in order to create deeper youth ministries?" Here is how I responded: