by Dietrich “Deech” Kirk When I was younger, I sometimes got confused about who was in charge of the church. I seemed to be the only one who knew the church had problems, and if a few others knew, well, I knew how to solve the problem. It was a lot like going through adolescence with my parents. One […]
When conducting Intentional Discipleship planning retreats, I get asked this question every time. For that matter, I get asked this question every time I sit down and talk shop with another youth minister about their program for more than 15 minutes. I personally believe that there are some developmental factors that should influence our […]
Recently, I had the distinct privilege of teaching our church’s Parents of Teens Sunday school class. I taught a three week series which gave me a good amount of interaction time with the parents. During the first week, I spent the class teaching about the distinctions of this generation and some of the trends that sociologists are […]
One of the challenges facing the Church is the division among believers. The Church continues to divide itself along both doctrinal and theological lines as it seeks to be “right.” Although I am in favor of seeking to be faithful in our call to follow Christ, I pray for unity instead of division. We are […]
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on rethinkingyouthministry.com and is reprinted here with permission. by Brian Kirk I’m not a big fan of big back-to-school bashes. They are sort of the bait-and-switch of the youth ministry world: We bring them in with noise, activity, and entertainment; then when they come back the next week, […]
Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on rethinkingyouthministry.com and is reprinted here with permission. by Brian Kirk I’m off to church camp in a few days. So as my staff and I put the finishing touches on our planning for the week, I thought I’d pass on a few nuggets of wisdom for any […]
This is the second in a three part series on how to create a curriculum plan for your youth ministry. In Part 1, we developed lists of what we want our youth to know, feel, or do while they are in the youth ministry. Now, we must take that information and organize it into buckets […]
Teaching youth is a major part of any youth ministry and whether you are teaching yourself or equipping others who will teach, preparation is essential. Follow these steps to be well prepared to teach youth or adults. Being well prepared will help you become a better teacher by freeing your mind from worrying about what […]
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 going on in the room (whether youth are sleeping, texting, talking to each other, looking at you confused, intently listening, or looking bored). […]
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 four days with a bad case of blood sepsis and pneumonia. At the end of […]
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