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.
- After spending the better part of 3 days with middle school youth workers at SYMC, I am (once again) convinced that many of the sharpest minds in youth ministry are found in middle school ministry!
- At a conference like SYMC (or YS or any other large gathering of youth workers) you meet lots and lots of people. It’s always such a great reminder to me that God uses an amazingly vast array of people to pour into students. I’m so thankful that the stereotypical youth worker (young, cool, plays guitar, surfs, rides skateboards, has a tattoo….) is no longer the “norm”.
- We are starting a 3-week series this weekend called “STUFF”. We are using household stuff as object lessons to teach a biblical truth. It’s a series we have done once before with great success. This week’s lesson: Take Out The Trash!
- Quite a few people tracked me down at the conference to ask me about regional campuses (basically church plants that are still part of the mother ship). Questions about how we structure etc. My simple answer: “Treat them like a franchise with freedom” They are a franchise in that there are certainly some things that they have to do in line with the main campus because they are the same church. But there shouldn’t be an overly large amount of control…they need freedom to tweak the ministry to their context.
- Dear Denver Broncos, Please get rid of Brandon Marshall.
- Dear senate and house leadership, Please either sign [...]
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:
Here are some interesting stats from HSM’s small groups this year:
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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Not knowing your current context at all, BUT those percentages seem pretty balanced- your team should be proud of that.
This sounds pretty similar to ours. We tend to have a younger crowd, I would say.