How2: Adapt Curriculum for your Context
COMPLETE: Adapting What Someone Else Wrote Here’s the thing, published curriculum and lessons are generalized and not for specific groups. Even if you like to use what someone else has done, you always need to rework it to fit your particular context. Pick a lesson or curriculum that someone else has written that you think […]
Confessions of an Unhealthy Youth Minister
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 […]
Coping with Suicide in Your Youth Group
by Erin Hicks Suicide is something you will never be prepared for. When I got the phone call last January that one of my youth had taken his life, but was still not legally dead, it wasn’t real to me. He was the youth who was always smiling, a teenager with a big heart. The […]
Peacemaking and Conflict Resolution are Important Skills in this Resident's Ministry
Randy Knighten is in his third year of the CYMT graduate residency program. He came to CYMT at the age of 35, married with two young sons. Being a more than a decade older than the typical graduate resident, Randy brings unique gifts and life experiences of teaching peacemaking and conflict resolution skills, pastoral care, […]
Preventative Maintenance Calendar
Your ministry needs a maintenance calendar just like your car does. When you buy a new car, it comes with a handy maintenance calendar with things like: Oil Change every 3000 miles Tune up at 60,000 and 120,000 miles Change wiper blades every two years A maintenance calendar is a great tool for you to […]
Take the High Road and Leave Well
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 is to focus on how to deal with leaving a church and leaving as well […]
How2 Follow Up without Seeming Like a Stalker
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. So on my way to and from work I will often stare at the runners […]
The Necessity of the Conversation in the Church: Race in America
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 a young African American identifying himself as a high schooler had asked the question of […]
I was Miley Cyrus' Youth Director. Sort of.
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. So when I arrived, thanks to my young cousins, I knew just enough Disney to […]
Miley Does Not Define 20-year-olds (or: Six People You Should Know)
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 offer friendly benefits to a foam hand while twerking in the presence of […]