In his book Taking Theology to Youth Ministry, Andrew Root poses the question, “If youth ministry isn’t for keeping kids good, for making them into servants, or passing on tradition, what is youth ministry for?” What say you? -jpserrano
A common problem I often hear from congregations regarding youth ministry is that it’s disjointed from the other ministries in the church. People generally feel disconnected from the youth ministry mainly because they don’t know what’s happening. Good communication from the youth ministry does several things. First, it let’s the congregation know what’s happening. Second, it let’s parents and grandparents prepare for upcoming events before they happen. Third, it reports on how the event Read More …
Often in churches the youth room is converted space. Meaning that it was a Sunday school room, office, parish hall, basement etc. that has been made into the youth room. But, just because the youth room is an afterthought does not mean that a youth minister can’t do some good things with it. So here are my tips for having a good youth room: 1. Keep the youth room clean. Youth can be a tornado of messiness Read More …
A friend asked me what I thought about this article- Youth Pastor Panel: The Joys & Pains of Spiritual Growth. Here is my response: I think that self-care is an extremely important issue for people in ministry. Our job in ministry is to walk with people in their spiritual journeys and guide them along God’s path. So, I appreciate that this article realizes that in order to do this, the minister must first care for their own walk with Read More …
Going on trips is a necessary part of any youth ministry. After my first couple years of taking youth to Christian Family Night at Magic Mountain, I learned that something freeing seems to happen on these trips–youth talk waiting in lines. At theme parks young people open up in ways that they just don’t do when sitting in an office. This applies to being in your office as well. I’ve found that if a youth Read More …