Here are the top 10 most popular blog posts from August 2010 here on More Than Dodgeball:

• The Only Way We Communicate to Students
• the #1 Search on MTDB this Summer
• 4 Questions about Fall Kickoff and Resources to Help Answer Them
• Books That Have Shaped Me the Most in Youth Ministry
• Saddleback HSM’s Fall Youth Ministry Calendar
• POLL: Do you have a youth ministry education?
• 3 Ways to Fight the Urge to Quit Youth Ministry
• Self-Service Pastoral Care Brochures for Students
• How to Really Connect with Teenagers
• Weigh In: Connecting with Local Schools

JG

So the official website just went live for the 2011 Simply Youth Ministry Conference. It lists amazing speakers and great workshops, along with plenty of other reasons to plunk down your hard-earned money (or youth ministry budget if you’re lucky enough to have one) to register and attend. But I might have a way for you to skip out on the whole “paying for it” part.

I’m giving away 2 registrations to the Simply Youth Ministry Conference in Chicago March 4-7, 2011. All you have to do is leave a comment with one thing you love (or would love) about attending a conference with 3,000 other youth workers!

Enter now – and I’ll select one at random next Tuesday!

JG

This summer we took some risks and planned a summer calendar for our high school youth group that looked pretty different than years past. I think for the most part it paid off – here are some of the new ideas (for us) and the results:

Summer camp moved to the beginning of the summer
This was the biggest game-changer for us – for years we’ve let camp be the “end of summer event” that catapulted us into Fall Kickoff and the new school year. I blogged about the Benefits of Early Summer Camp, not in an effort to justify the move but to make sure we took advantage of the strategy behind the move. Camp now kicks off the summer, and gives us momentum in a typical downtime for youth groups. COST: $299

Midweek Bible Study replaces small groups
For the longest time our small groups (now Life Groups) have met only during the school year. But this year we decided to have a discipleship/worship/fellowship gathering call WE(MID)EK all summer long. The consistency was a win – students knew that every Tuesday night we gathered to sing, pray, learn and connect. And yes, I realize that Tuesday isn’t midweek but it was the last day available. Cost: FREE

Bible study just for girls
This year one of the ideas was to have a Bible study just for girls – not necessarily on girl’s issues (it was actually an Old Testament character study) but so girls could learn together away from the distractions of the boys. Bagels & Bibles was a great 8-week success – and the guys want one next summer, too! Donuts & Dudes, here we come! Cost: FREE

Fun and relational time every Friday
Every Friday we spent 2 hours at the park, and 2 hours at The Refinery hanging out and playing games. Athletic kids loved the outdoor games, and everyone loved the cold Cokes at lunch. Great opportunity to bring friends or have a surprisingly deep conversation. Cost: FREE

Lots of guest speakers over the summer at the weekend worship service
This summer I did a significant amount of teaching when our freshman we’re incoming, then turned it over to other voices in our youth ministry team. This past weekend, two volunteers spoke, which was incredible. It gave me a chance to go on vacation and for our students to hear from different personalities, styles and backgrounds. COST: FREE

Two service projects, no mission trips
This summer we didn’t go on any mission trips – saving that for our Spring trips to Kenya and Spring Break trip to New Mexico. But our students were involved in service projects in the community, we did a Pancake Breakfast for a needy area and helped pull off Operation: Backpack. COST: FREE

JG

Noticed that Doug and Matt’s YM Daily yesterday had some great thoughts about looking back and taking time to debrief, evaluate and celebrate the past season. They had some great questions to think about (which I think I’ll answer in a future blog post) that would be good to think about this week as you enter the new school year.

• …| What happened during the summer that was great? What do we want to be sure to repeat in the future?
• …| Where did God show up? What victories could we celebrate?
• …| Where was I surprised? What last minute “audible” or changes was I forced to make?
• …| What went wrong? What could have been better?

JG

The official site of SYMC 2011 is live – SO excited to be there with so many of you, too! Killer speakers, great full-day and half-day concentrated learning tracks, total access to speakers, teachers and authors, a live Simply Youth Ministry Podcast and so much more. Be there!

JG

A fantastic testimony shared during the Life Groups weekend of the LAUNCH series. Parker finished his story live on stage – talking about God changing his heart and encouraging students to join small group as well.

JG

Every so often we take a question, perhaps from the Simply Youth Ministry Podcast, and pose it to you to answer instead of our panel. Here’s a great one that came in – if you have some wisdom I hope you’ll share!

I’ve been looking for ways to connect with our local school districts that are appropriate as a church worker and not offensive, ways to let them know we care about the students and are willing to help in any way that we can. Any suggestions you have in this area would be greatly appreciated.

Now – weigh in!

JG

A strong testimony using during the LAUNCH series to help encourage student to see the importance of joining and HSM Life Group this fall.

JG

This week’s question – have you had formal education in youth ministry? I’ve had a ton of on the job experience with 15 years and through a jillion events and conferences. You?

JG

Weekend Teaching Series: LAUNCH: Ready for Re-Entry (week 3 of 5)
Sermon in a Sentence: Launching into a successful school year includes getting accountability and community by being a part of an HSM Life Group.
Service Length: 73 minutes

Understandable Message: This week was all about Life Groups. Our small group year starts in just a few weeks, and registration for the big launch ends in 14 days. This weekend was taught by Life Group volunteers (Matt and Mel – Team M&M) and they hit on the importance reasons to be in one using an acrostic (L-I-F-E-G-R-O-U-P-S) and testimonies both live and on video. If a student wasn’t in a small group, they would sure want to be at the end of the hour.

Element of Fun/Positive Environment: Matt did a good job of bringing humor into his talk – he made references to Justin Bieber and Batman and made comparisons to the pop stars and comic books of his day. There was a very positive environment to the weekend – you could tell the community that they were teaching on was genuine in their group and a goal for all of HSM’s Life Groups.

Music Playlist: Rise and Sing, Beautiful Things, How He Loves, Burning Ones, With Everything

Favorite Moment: The power of story is always amazing to me – when a student gets up to speak the students listen intently to what they have to say. And it totally works both live or on video. I’m also so impressed by the strength of the students who got up to share their story this week. Epic stuff.

Up Next: LAUNCH week 4

It has been too long since I passed another milestone on the Xbox 360 – one of the ways (of probably 5) that I measure successful “me” time away from youth ministry is my Gamerscore steadily increasing. And last night, helped by Frontlines: Fuel of War and Red Dead Redemption, we crossed 36,000. Finally!

JG

Awesome opening video made by one of our HSM volunteers (Nathan is one of the tech arts dudes for our adult services) for the Launch series this weekend. The emphasis was on community, this video went after showing that to our entry-level students.

JG

Here is HSM’s Fall Calendar that goes to print this week – you may notice some echoes of the Summer Calendar in it still. Couple big things we’re starting to really push as we head into fall:

• Services – 1/4 of the calendar is dedicated to our central program. Our 4 entry-level services each weekend are the top of the funnel where students enter our discipleship process. In some ways, the calendar acts as much for invitation as it does for information.
• Life Groups - a huge amount of space is dedicated to the 2nd step in our process – getting connected in a Life Group.
• 1 event – We have just 1 real “event” in the fall – Pumpkinfest is in its 3rd year and we’re still really excited about it.
• A few activities – We have several low cost, fun activities planned in the fall – each of them are directly connected/linked to a weekend service. I’ll post more on this strategy soon!

JG

Thought that Adam over at Life in the Middle had some good thoughts this week on how to respond after a youth group that just doesn’t go well. You wake up the day after youth group bombs (or you’re mulling it over in your mind in your bed that night) with that feeling that things just didn’t go well. Other than trying to learn from what didn’t work and trying to shake it off – what is the correct response? Here’s part of his answer, hit his site for the complete thought:

• Let the night go - We have to realize that the night is behind us and we cannot redo it.  We cannot continue to replay the night over and beat ourselves up on where we feel like we failed.  The only thing we can do is let go of the night behind us and move forward.
• Start getting ready for next week – It’s time to start getting ready for next week.  It’s time to start praying, planning, and preparing for the next weeks service.  Set your eyes on what’s next.

JG

DC is on a roll this week – he just posted some great thoughts about how to have a great Fall kickoff. Hopefully something in there will stir up an idea and trigger something cool as you prepare for the launch. Here’s an excerpt, more thoughts if you head over to his place:

• Push Momentum generators. This is a great time to push what your focus for the fall/school year will be or whatever builds momentum in your group.  Our students love each other so we push Small Groups HARD the first three weeks.

• Have all your ducks in a row. I think this is more important in high school than in middle school (we all know middle schoolers love things more when the ducks are NOT in a row, haha).  In my experience some high schoolers are looking for a reason to discount the church as “not relevant to their life” or “just a knock-off of pop culture” and if there is a lack of excellence this opens that door for them…NOT TO MENTION GOD DESERVES OUR BEST!  (Also note: You have to define excellence for your context, don’t judge it off of another church, it must be contextualized.)

• Meet the minimum expectations THEN EXCEED THEM. This one sounds odd at first but most students come to our ministries with a bare minimum expectation of what could/should happen.  Some minimum expectations are things like:  We will read/open/hear about the Bible, Jesus’ name will probably be used, someone will pray, there might be music, someone will likely talk to us, I’ll have opportunities to spend with my friends. So we try to meet those bare minimums every week (because they’re good ones) AND THEN completely exceed them by trying to constant “redefine church/youth group”.  This is especially important considering during the launch phase there are usually lots of new students. (Comment if you want me to write more on this topic).

JG

Kotaku had an interesting story about a new Bible massively multiplayer game. Check out the original story for screenshots and everything, here’s a clip of what it will be like:

I’m willing to give this game a chance, because when you put the whole religious side of things in a box, the Old Testament – with its plagues and pestilence and pillars of salt – is pretty badass. The Bible Online is a new massively-multiplayer online game from German outfit FiAA, and will – over the course of many chapters – give players the chance to re-enact certain parts of the Bible.

In the beginning, there was…Chapter 1, The Heroes, which will be the first release of the game, and sounds a lot like Age of Empires (it looks a lot like it too), as you control Abraham and his descendants on their journey to the promised land.

As a Christian … and a gamer … my first reaction to Bible games are pretty rough. Here’s hoping it can be done right!

JG

I was reading Terrace’s blog recently and also came across a slightly older post from Matt Cleaver talking about the must-read books for youth workers. And while this isn’t necessarily a definitive list by any means, I thought it might be interesting to post the books that have had the most shaping effect on my youth ministry philosophy and vision.

Purpose Driven Church – Rick Warren
This is the book that opened my eyes to church as it could be. Sitting at a summer camp in upstate New York, I read and imagined church in a whole new way. The Great Commandment and the Great Commission bonded together to reveal biblical purpose for the church. Life-changing read.

Handbook on Counseling Youth – Josh McDowell
An oldie, but a goodie. This book was a gift to me early in youth ministry career – and just this past week I gave copies of it to my team. Tons of topics, great questions, Scripture and counseling help for real issues. I hope the book gets a makeover soon and will include more help for newer issues that are gripping teenagers.

Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry – Doug Fields
The first of two great books from Doug Fields that made me into the youth worker I am today. Probably time for me to read it again – just solid reminders to help you start right.

Purpose Driven Youth Ministry – Doug Fields
The definitive book on youth ministry. It will get you thinking, challenge that thinking, and push your thinking toward a biblical model for success and health. So much of what we do in HSM still resonates directly from this foundation. I’ve had multiple copies, all dog-eared, underlined and worn. The best of the list.

Sustainable Youth Ministry – Mark DeVries
Maybe the 3rd best book written about youth ministry. A more recent title to make the list, I love the clarity and direction it provides youth workers in what it takes to survive the calling in the long run. Good, good, stuff.

The Heart of a Great Pastor – H.B. London
This book arrived at a time when I was feeling particularly vulnerable and ready to quit. The idea of “blooming where you’re planted” hit me that God called me to the place I was serving at, not to be looking for what was next or greener on the other side of the fence.

The Dip – Seth Godin
The Dip is a little book all about the phenomenon where after initial success there is a dip before an even larger gain. Fighting through the Dip or knowing when it is time to give up is crucial in youth ministry.

Linchpin – Seth Godin
A brand new book that is gripping me right now. The idea that God created you as an artist and an individual for His work – that you aren’t just a mindless cog in a wheel within the church. Takes a bit of translating since it is a business book, but worth it!

Made to Stick – Chip and Dan Heath
If you’re a communicator, you’ll want to know how to have your messages stick. I also loved Speaking to Teenagers, but this non-youth ministry specific book really stuck with me, too.

The 5 Dysfunctions of a Team – Patrick Lencioni
Working in a larger church now I’m focusing on more team-based learnings, this book is one of the best. Told in his now trademarked business fable style, the book will walk you through the most common traps that trip up teams.

How about you? Read any life-changing books lately?

JG

Brilliant stuff from Northpoint. Wow.

JG

Thought that my man DC had some great thoughts about spiritual growth today – good to pass along to your student leaders or even to challenge yourself with this last day of summer. Here’s a clip, head there for the rest:

• DISCIPLINE: Are you sick of poor spiritual growth?  Then know that you’re the only one who can change it.  Develop of plan/method and follow through with it.  Budget time for it and get it done!

• BE FLEXIBLE: Rigid plans/methods are ESSENTIAL, but don’t lock yourself into lofty goals, like reading the entire Bible in a month.  Instead, aim for realistic goals like reading AND DIGESTING one book in the Bible in a month.  Finishing earlier is just icing on the cake!

• BE FREE: You have the freedom to develop a “custom” plan for your growth. Be free to do what will work for you…this implies you know yourself.  You don’t have to take what someone else did and replicate it. (Although sometimes that’s a good place to start if you’re in the same place spiritually

DC is a youth worker worth following. Add him to your RSS feed reader!

JG

LeaderTreks just released a great new eBook about student leadership called Student Leaders are Church Leaders. If you’re interested in heading over and grabbing it – all it will take is your email address. Good stuff to chew on as you head into fall. And if you haven’t thought about student leadership or are looking for some specific help in that area of youth ministry, definitely check out Doug Franklin’s blog and the LeaderTreks store, too.

JG