Dear Youth Worker: Get Trained Dear Theologian, Yes. You are a theologian. Anytime you open the Bible and read the scriptures, anytime you talk about God or your Christian faith, you do theology. It may not be intentional, but it’s ...
It Happens: Budget Cuts By Josh Bishop When I became the student ministries pastor, I inherited a team of 11 staff members. Less than ten months later, only six of us were left—not because of power struggles or moral failings, ...
Teenage Anxiety Can’t Be Ignored by Youth Ministry By Andrew Zirschky Teens today are soft. Teens need to toughen up. They’re kids—what do they have to worry about? We love our youth, but perhaps the statements above have run through ...
Prototyping Can Fundamentally Shift How Your Ministry Rebuilds By Meghan Hatcher I’ve heard countless stories lately from ministry colleagues, friends serving in local churches, and others working in non-profit organizations that this fall is a particularly challenging ministry season (after ...
Why are parents the way they are? These two things will help you better understand parents By: Rev. Dietrich Kirk When I was a youth pastor in my twenties, parents would regularly tell me that I would be a better ...
“The Kid Who Questions Everything” by Cory Peacock There’s an old Calvin and Hobbes comic strip, written and drawn by the comic genius Bill Watterson, in which the precocious six-year-old Calvin has a nice father-son talk about things scientific. Calvin ...
Understanding the WOW Theological Method By Dietrich “Deech” Kirk I was walking down the row of hungry people when a man said to me, “Hey, I know you.” And that statement transformed my life. We arrived at ...
8 Tips for Keeping Youth Involved and Listening Let’s just be honest with the fact that not every lesson is going to be a success, and sometimes we will lose our youth. It’s important to always be aware of what’s ...
By Anastasia Pumphrey Trinity UMC in Homewood, Alabama, hosted its most successful and golf tournament scholarship fundraiser to date on August 5, and this year it was led by a current CYMT resident! Rhys Ferguson, class of 2024, has ...
Urban Youth Worker as Relationship Builder by William Parker In the Search Institute’s report on Positive Developmental Relationships, Peter L. Benson writes, “After decades of forming hypotheses, conducting surveys, crafting and rewriting definitions, analyzing data, and writing journal articles, Search ...
Successful Retreat Planning 101 If you’re planning a retreat this year, use this free guide to make sure you’ve got your bases covered–whether it’s your first or hour one hundred and first event! Prayer and Purpose: Why? Begin ...
Welcome to Youth Group! Helping Students and Parents Transition Into Youth Ministry By Andrew Davis As youth pastors, we must be intentional about how we welcome our new 6th or 7th graders into the youth ministry. Church involvement can be ...
Snow Plow Parenting By Rev. Regina Girten I remember the first time my daughter fell while learning to walk. Our house was not carpeted and as I watched her tiny body topple over my heart skipped several beats. My instinct ...
Whose needs is your Back-to-School Sunday really meeting? By Meghan Hatcher, Innovation Lab Director When I began a new ministry role as Community Engagement Pastor midway through the summer, my first major project was to plan and lead Back-to-School ...
It Happens: When Youth Talks Go Wrong By Matt Laidlaw In order to generate some enthusiasm around teaching the Prophets of the Old Testament to our high school students, we began our Wednesday evening together with a game we ...
Stress & Anxiety Case Study Teenagers are stressed out and over-scheduled more than ever before, creating students who often want to come to youth group but can’t figure out how to “fit it in” amongst a host of other extra-curricular ...
Imperfect Churches By Dietrich “Deech” Kirk Every church is a work in progress. That realization has led me to believe that working at the church might just be harder than working anywhere else. Why? Because we expect it to be ...
Setting Aside Assumptions to Listen to Your Context Throughout my years in ministry, I have seen faith communities (churches and religious non-profit organizations) create and implement well-intentioned and well-informed ministries that met the needs of their wider communities and ...
If you have attended one of the Center for Youth Ministry Training’s graduate residency intensive retreats in the past three years, you know the importance of comradery to this group. Eating and studying together is not just eating and studying ...
Meet Hannah Cooley. Hannah Cooley is a 2nd-year Graduate Resident at CYMT who serves at University Presbyterian Church in San Antonio, TX. Hannah recently took her youth group to Camp at Mo Ranch in Hunt, TX where she was able ...
