by Rev. Stephanie Dodge Steph is a United Methodist Senior Pastor as well as a former Innovation Lab Cohort Participant. For more information on our Innovation Lab Cohort Program (which is registering new cohorts now) CLICK HERE. In 2016, Glendale ...
by Dr. Andrew Zirschky Starting in the 1990s, a focus on innovation and particularly disruptive innovation began to take hold in business schools and large companies worldwide. In the past decade, that interest has spread to the Church and to ...
DEI: Thoughtful Approaches to Youth Ministry By Dwight Johnson Approaching youth ministry through the lens of DEI will require partnership with an individual or consultant that can help you identify the spaces that need reflection, change and implementation. Research DEI ...
4 Tips for Utilizing Your Strengths 1. Research and understand both the positives and negatives associated with your strengths. This produces a deeper sense of priority and affirms one’s calling and direction. It also helps know where our ...
A Youth Minister’s Guide to Leading from Your Strengths by Stephen Ingram Many youth ministers struggle for a number of reasons. It may be due to overcommitting ourselves, difficulty finding healthy rhythms, or lack of support and training. However, most ...
You’re Not My Parent: A Youth Minister’s Role in Discipline By Dietrich Kirk I can remember in my first two years of youth ministry thinking that my role on a trip was to be youth’s parent. Not literally, but I ...
It Happens: Conflict Resolution at Its Best and Worst By Dan Lambert “The elders expect you to be in your office at church 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday through Friday, and 8 a.m. to noon Saturday. You have Monday ...
Tips for Consistent Communication with Parents and Adult Caregivers Don’t Assume Labels Be careful not to assume that the adults at home are the parents. When reaching out to the adults at home, do not assume they are to be ...
The Good Game - Reaching Gamers by Justin Bowers Minecraft. Destiny. 2K. League of Legends. D&D. Bioshock. Overwatch. Call of Duty. Half-Life 2. Mario Kart. Skyrim. FIFA. World of Warcraft. Magic the Gathering. Zelda. Pokémon. E3. Team Liquid. Furries. Overcooked ...
Setting Up Boundaries for the Long Haul by Samantha Tidball I remember wanting to wow the first church I worked for by making big impressive plans! I also didn’t want to let anyone down. Therefore, I often worked more than ...
It Happens: When Childbearing and Job Seeking Collide Dr. Kenda Creasy Dean I interviewed for my first position as a full-time pastor when I was three months pregnant. On the way to the interview (which was 20 minutes from my ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
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 ...
