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Instagram Will Kill Your Youth Ministry

Daniel Beckworth Tuesday, May 21, 2013
Social media has swept across this great nation like wildfire. Facebook is on its way out. If you still use Myspace you’re most likely a stalker—or very lonely. Twitter is still rocking along quite steadily and has yet to be completely infiltrated by preteens...
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Leadership

Everybody Needs a Jim Frew

Kevin Mahaffy Wednesday, January 2, 2013
It's the call you never want to receive. Your best friend has been tragically killed in a automobile accident. It was May 30, 1996, when my father, Kevin Sr., received just such a call. Jim Frew—Dad's best friend—was on a missions trip in Mexico when a van coming down a mountain lost its brakes... read more
Leadership, Culture

The Future of Youth Ministry—Reversing the Slow Fade

Thom Schultz Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Is it possible that the American church is fading into the background of our culture, dragging youth ministry with it? Will rapidly declining attendance lead to a marginalized church presence in America, similar to what’s happened in present-day Europe? In light of the storms that are currently... read more
Leadership, Culture

4 Takeaways On the Future of the Church

Theresa Mazza Tuesday, December 18, 2012
If you could fly over America in a helicopter to get an aerial view of the church, what would she look like? I think it would look a lot like the breathtaking view I saw while attending the Future of the Church Summit at Group. Here are the takeaways I took with me… 1. The dialects of eternal love... read more
Leadership, Culture

Everyone Has a Voice (Josh)

Kurt and Josh Tuesday, December 18, 2012
The last few years in youth ministry have been incredible—we’ve gone from a few influential voices to an incredible community of people writing about their youth ministry experiences. Today I wanted to highlight a few voices from the trenches of youth ministry (Kurt will be back with more tomorrow... read more
Families, Culture, Outreach

Responding to Hurting, Confused Teenagers

Rick Lawrence Friday, December 14, 2012
By Bert Dockrey and Rick Lawrence Today, in one of the deadliest school shootings in U.S. history, a gunman opened fire Friday in a Connecticut elementary school, killing 20 children, six adults, and himself. Among the dead at Sandy Hook Elementary School were the school's principal and... read more
Leadership, Volunteers

4 Reasons for Regular Volunteer Team Meetings

Kevin Mahaffy Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Here are four reasons I believe regular volunteer meetings are a must. Not every meeting needs to encompass all four purposes (although they might), but when we gather together, we want to do so with intentionality. 1. Community. What's going on in our personal lives? How can we be supporting... read more
Leadership, Discipleship, Missions

Producing Evangelistic Students: An Interview with Greg Stier

Kurt and Josh Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Every now and then we take a break from the normal routine to interview a friend, author, ministry leader or youth worker we think would have something to share with the youth worker nation. Today we talk to Greg Stier, founder of Dare 2 Share (dare2share.org), which is a ministry dedicated to... read more
Families, Programming

How Speed-Dating Changed Our Church

Josh Fitzpatrick Wednesday, December 5, 2012
In youth ministry we’ve begun to notice that two things occur as our youth programs become increasingly self-sustaining and disconnected: The adults in our congregation feel left out, uninformed and unappreciated, and the teenagers in our groups fail to become a part of the larger church family as... read more
Leadership

Best Practices of Youth Ministry: Part 2

Kurt and Josh Wednesday, December 5, 2012
Okay, yesterday was fun: We got a few comments saying stuff like, “Hey…everybody is already doing small groups.” This two-day series isn’t titled, “Cool stuff nobody is doing.” It’s a look at the best practices that most groups ARE doing, and hopefully giving you a few things to think about along... read more
Leadership, Small Groups

Best Practices of Youth Ministry: Part 1

Kurt and Josh Tuesday, December 4, 2012
This week we’re going to focus on some of the best practices of youth ministry nationwide and hope that it generates some helpful conversation as you agree, disagree or have no opinion either way! Right up front we want to let you know that there is no PERFECT way to do youth ministry; our hope is... read more