Don’t have it all together for your summer retreats? Don’t know where to start? Read on for some time-tested tips from veteran youth ministers . . . Prayer and Purpose: Why? Begin in prayer with your ministry team about the purpose of your retreat or camp. Why do you need to have a retreat or […]
You’ve booked your retreat location, your general logistics are nailed down, and your schedule has a framework. (Read “Successful Retreat Planing: Part 1” here.) Now it’s time to think about the details: Lessons, Devotionals, and Worship Three months out, begin to plan out your lessons, devotionals, and worship times by developing sub-points or themes to […]
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Your ministry needs a maintenance calendar just like your car does. When you buy a new car, it comes with a reminder list with things like: Oil change every 3,000 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 have […]
The Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded the Center for Youth Ministry Training $240,000 to fund its Theology Together program over the next three years. Over the past 20 years, the Lilly Endowment Inc. has awarded nearly $90 million in grants to fund their Youth and Theology Initiative. Theology Together will seek to learn from and build […]
Editor’s Note: Maria Ghianni is in her second year in the CYMT graduate residency program, and she serves as the youth director at Carthage FUMC in Carthage, Tenn. I was born and raised in Nashville and I grew up in the youth group at Calvary UMC. Kris Lott was my youth director and he was […]
The church is notorious for having ineffective meetings. Several times during my career, I felt physical pain prior to heading to the weekly staff meeting knowing that I was going to waste my time and be bored and frustrated. As youth ministers, we are responsible for leading meetings and for participating in others’ meetings. The […]
by Lilly Lewin Once upon a time, in a galaxy far, far away, in a youth room in Nashville, Tenn., I was the resident “prayer hog.” I was the one at the end of youth group who, when my youth leader would ask who’d like to close us in prayer, would enthusiastically raise my hand […]
by Peter Carlson Some of the best youth ministry happens when a student knows and trusts an adult who is willing to be a mentor, someone who can, on a regular basis, intensely show Jesus to the student through word, action, and lifestyle. With a growing or already large youth ministry, it’s nearly impossible for a […]
by Chris and Joanna Cummings Hi there, we are the Cummingses and we are both in church ministry. Yes, you read that right. We were asked to share how we get the bills paid and live off of little income, and did we mention we both work in the local church? We are certainly not […]
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