How you do anything is how you do everything. That statement has been floating around in my brain for a long time. At first I disagreed, then I totally agreed, then I wrestled with it more. The reason I wrestled with it is because I didn't want it to be true. I didn't want to believe that I wasn't disciplined in all areas of my life. The reality is there are certain areas of my life that I struggle with being disciplined in. The more I was honest about my life I could see patterns develop. How I do anything is how I do everything.

I learned a valuable lesson and continued growing and learning for the first number of years in youth ministry. Your volunteers need simple to understand expectations, clear roles and obvious ways they can “win” with students. Anyone who gives up their personal time or time with their family needs to find what they are doing to be valuable and that they are doing it well.

Youtube is here to stay! It is the #2 search engine behind google and is only increasing in its influence on all generations! For churches around the country, March 2020 changed everything and churches were flocking to youtube to go live, add content and try to connect with people since everyone was quarantined to their home. Literally everyone was begging for subscribers for that coveted custom url. Everyone is doing it, but not everyone is doing it well, consistently or with a strategy behind it.

As someone who has worked with teenagers for a long time, I know this to be true: they don’t actually care what adults do with their hair or what jeans they wear, or if we send a laugh-cry emoji when we think something’s funny or if we type our text messages in full sentences. It’s true that they don’t think we’re cool, but honestly—that was not a battle that was going to be won, period(t). No longer being cool comes with the territory of adulthood.

Lets cut straight to the chase, the one small shift that can make the greatest difference in your ministry is to give ministry away. I know, not profound, not cutting edge and its not the first time you have every heard this idea. The difference between this idea being a catalyst for your ministry or just another saying you say out loud but do nothing about is what you do next.

Starting at a new church is scary, exciting and motivating all at the same time. You want to exceed expectations, you want to make a good first impression and lets be honest you just want the students, their families and everyone else to like you. There are 7 ways to make sure the first three months at a new church set you up a great tenure.

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So what do you do when a student tells you too much? Where the line between being the caring youth pastor that is just there as a listening ear, there to encourage, there to hold them accountable and being the discerning adult that gets mom and dad involved, getting the authorities involved, getting professional help involved? What happens when the student tells you that they don’t want anyone to get in trouble or that they are adamant about not telling their parents or involving the proper authorities?

When you say the words, “I can’t”, you are stealing your dreams from yourself. You have to eliminate that word from your vocabulary.

Criticism will happen at some point in your ministry career. How you handle the criticism is important for your longevity and mental health.

Recruiting volunteers during a season, where a lot of people aren’t back in person, can be really tough. What are some opportunities you have to recruit well in this season of uncertainty.

Creating moments for students to experience God is worth taking time to think through. Moments can be faith shaping.