Youth Ministry Resource of the Week
Class 101-401 Student Edition - Saddleback Church’s classes are now available for students. Each of these long-term core Saddleback classes has been adapted for students and are ready for you to teach. Each of the four classes runs about two hours. They can also be expanded into a two-day class. CD included!
99 Thoughts for Youth Workers by Josh Griffin
Get it at Simply Youth Ministry today!
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Doug, Matt, and Jake tackle some of the best questions we’ve ever had. But before that there’s a discussion of road trips and things guys do on them. Don’t worry it’s not that long. Matt also re-thinking rudeness. Once they get to the questions they discuss keeping pride in check, being under staffed, and pastors mentoring other pastors.
Below is email one of our small group leaders recently sent to a parent who was upset about her son getting injured while playing a game during small group.She had sent a scathing email accusing him of negligence, etc. He had tried to call her several times but wasunable to get ahold of her. I’m not sure there is a “professional” youth worker on the planet who could have written a better email to a concerned parent.
Dear Mrs. XXXX, Thanks for letting me know about what’s going on with XXXXX. I’m so sorry to have left you feeling like there wasn’t adequate supervision at last night’s C Group. I’ve been leading small groups with students for about 10 years now, and I always try hard to provide a safe, healthy environment. That being said, I can never completely remove the possibility of an accident happening, and I think this is what happened last night. The game we were playing was not dangerous, butXXXX had an accident and got injured. Had I known more clearly the extent of his injury, I CERTAINLY would have contacted you immediately. When I asked him if he was OK, he assured me more than once that he was fine and never mentioned feeling dizzy or not being able to see. Please letXXXX know that in the future he can always tell me if he is not feeling well or is injured, and I will do everything [...]
We are always trying to think up new games to use in our ministry. NBC has done a great thing for youth pastors! The new game show Minute to Win It (premiering this Sunday March 14, 2010) has between 60 and 70 doable games that can be used as youth ministry crowd breakers.
Check out the site Minute to Win It and look at the ?Game Vault.? There are videos to show you how to play each game and written directions that you can copy and paste in a document, and a list of items required. This is a gold mine of game ideas! Here’s an example of one of their videos:
Please check out this great article from my friend Eric Iverson. Good thoughts to consider whenever you’re taking your group on a mission trip.
Fuller Youth Institute – Youth Missions Article
What do you think? Is Eric right?
Every church and organization has a mission statement. And, for the most part, every ministry leader has a mission statement for their specific ministry – especially in the church. Mission statements are important because they articulate (hopefully) what we’re about, what we stand for and what we’re seeking to accomplish. These are good.
But there is something I want to point out that causes confusion. Or, at least, can. And that is church-based ministries that have a different mission statement than the church they are a part of. I see this all the time. The junior high ministry has a mission. The high school ministry will have a different one. And the church yet another one. Now, the truth is when you boil mission statements down, most churches are basically saying the same thing…just worded differently. But different mission statements in the same church?
Really?
Are we really seeking an entirely different mission? Or, are we simply seeking to move people in an age-stage toward embracing the same mission? If we’re a part of a church, I hope it’s the latter. Sure, the vision of implementing and applying that mission should be unique for age stage ministries, but it’s not a different mission! Well, at least it shouldn’t be.
Here are 3 encouragements:
Gary Eilts has a clone. Not really – I just liked this picture of our Wildside volunteer standing in front of the wall that honors him and our other student ministry volunteers. I should also tell you that several times alone at night in The Refinery I’ve mistaken his life-sized pinup for a real person and scared the craziness out of me.
JG
More Than DodgeBall – Youth Ministry Blog by Josh Griffin – Saddleback Church Youth Ministries A blog about youth ministry from the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church.
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Our church had a mannequin we used for a video series that would mysteriously move around the campus. Always placed behind doors, outside windows, once hidden behind some Christmas trees in a closet. He has now been covered completely in the back of the garage.
It was a fantastic prank.