Whomp, whomp, whomp… That's the sound of the rotors turning on “helicopter parents.” You have them in your ministry and frankly they can drive you crazy. The “whomp whomp” of their questions can begin to sound like the drone of ...
Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Crystal Kirgiss' personal blog: Miley does not define 20-year olds (or: six people you should know). It is reprinted here with permission. by Crystal Kirgiss Well. Fifteen hours after millions of people watched 20-year-old ...
Miley Cyrus's life, morals, upbringing, and example have been brought to question all over the internet. I know several youth ministers who are planning to tackle "Miley's moment" this week at youth group or Bible study. As I have watched ...
by Jason Sansbury I was Miley Cyrus’ youth director. Or at least, I used to joke that I was. Several years ago I started to work at a church where, several years before that, Miley Cyrus and her family attended. ...
by Erin Hicks I want to share two things that led to me write this article: On Twitter recently, I noticed that Harriet Tubman was trending. After clicking on the trend to read some of the tweets, I saw that ...
by Stephen Ingram I work in a community that has a great running park alongside the road I take to get to the church. I also work in a community where running in this park is something that EVERYONE does. ...
Editor’s Note: The following is a conversation with two youth ministers: one who left a position under positive circumstances and one who left under duress. We have elected to not reveal the names of either. The intent of this article ...
by Jason Sansbury In June 2012 I was finishing up a week of summer camp with senior high students in Panama City when I wound up in the Intensive Care Unit of a local hospital. I was in ICU for ...
by Julie Richardson Brown “Oh Julie...I don’t know. I don’t have anything to say that they’d care about.” “But I’m too old for that.” “Are you kidding? They don’t want me around. They want younger folks to take them on ...
by Andrew Mochrie I entered into youth ministry when I was between eighth and ninth grade. I stumbled my way awkwardly into a youth group because of an invitation to a summer camp from a friend. I have followed Jesus ...
by Sarah Arthur It’s Sunday morning and my toddler has a fever. Again. For the fourteenth time this winter. Clingy, sweaty, he hovers by my thigh as I dial one parent after another. All the usual volunteers are unavailable. Someone ...
by Tony Akers You're getting ready to go to the church to pick up your child who has been away on a mission trip. You're thinking of the incredible experience he must have had, or the debriefing session that you'll ...
by Lesleigh Carmichael A coach is someone who cares that people create what they say they want and that they follow through. The coach is there to hold people accountable and keep them moving forward toward their dreams and goals. ...
by Joanna Cummings Youth and children’s ministries both require early prep for the busy summer months ahead. In children’s ministry this means early recruitment of volunteers to help keep the ministry going during the chaos of summer along with thinking ...
by Jason Sansbury Click here to read the companion to this article, How2: Hire Summer Interns for Your Ministry. Once you have hired someone for the role of intern, there is still work to do! Here are some ways to ...
By Center for Youth Ministry Training 5/28/19 We polled our CYMT alumni and coaches for some summer programming ideas—the little things that they do during the summer that don't require fundraising or packing a suitcase. Try a "Bible Do." Instead ...
by Jason Sansbury For most youth ministries, summer means a great deal more activities and programming. Additionally, most youth ministries suffer some level of loss of their regular volunteers to vacations and normal summer plans. One solution to the increased ...
by Mike Langford We've heard it. We've said it. And when we were teenagers, we lived it. Adolescence is really hard. Adolescence is not hard merely because of the particular cognitive, social, ideological, cultural, and physical challenges faced during that ...
Volunteers, a precious resource we can't afford to lose. —Denise Penn Do your volunteers know how much you appreciate them? They should. Lack of volunteer appreciation is a major reason for high turnover rates among volunteers, and appreciation can be directly tied ...
by Stephen Ingram I love to read. I love to read about all sorts of things, but I especially love to read about ministry and how we have the ability to shape it for the future. Some of the most ...
