Blog | Teaching
Facilitate Tough Conversations with Your Youth Group
Youth ministry, at its best, has long been a space where teenagers and adults can speak candidly about difficult topics. However, today, those topics extend beyond sexuality and our existential place in the world — racism, politics, and national tragedies all deserve a seat at the table. These days, students expect the adults in their lives to address difficult topics and big events as they ...
Read MoreKeeping the Church’s Post-Easter Momentum Alive
One of the best church weekends of the year - Easter - is immediately followed by one of the most difficult weekends of the year. For several weeks (or months), you and your team spend hours planning, organization, and executing tasks for Easter services, only for all the momentum to come to a screeching halt when it’s all over. We get it - Easter takes all your focus and energy, and by the t...
Read MoreChildren’s Pastor Preparation 101
Preparation is key when it comes to children’s ministry. There’s a drastic difference in the quality of your Sunday school experience between a prepared and well-structured hour vs. a chaotic attempt to simply keep kids from hurting each other or breaking things (although that will probably always be a concern...) But the difference between those two outcomes relies on the baby-steps you ta...
Read MoreHow to Measure Success in Kid’s Ministry
Wouldn’t it be wonderful if there was an easy button we could press or formula we could use to determine whether or not our Kid’s ministry is thriving and seeing success? Unfortunately, measuring success in ministry simply doesn’t work that way. I actually think many pastors and children’s directors feel a little out of touch with whether their children’s ministry is thriving or not. ...
Read MoreRing In a Meaningful New Year’s with Your Kid’s Ministry
It’s the new year and there is much to celebrate, reflect upon, and look forward to in your kid’s ministry. While New Year’s can sometimes feel like a more adult holiday, it can be a fun and poignant opportunity for you and your kids to remember and celebrate God’s faithfulness over the year. Plus, with perhaps a few new faces in your attendance since Christmas, New Year’s is a great tim...
Read MoreWhen and Why (or Why Not) to Split Up Your Middle and High School Ministries
Middle school and high school might be generally categorized as “youth” but anyone who works with students knows that there’s a big difference between an 11-year-old sixth grader and an 18-year-old high school senior. For youth pastors, one of the most pressing questions you face is whether or not to split up your youth ministry between middle and high school students or whether to keep them...
Read More5 Tips for Incorporating Worship into Your Children’s Ministry
I first fell in love with worship when I was a kid. My children’s ministry didn’t have a wild budget, smoke machines, or loads of niche volunteers, but they did what they could to build an environment for active, engaging worship. They found little ways that were meaningful and transformative to invite us kids into the process. Music is an important tool for not only teaching kids about God...
Read More4 Reasons Your Congregation is Disengaged from the Sermon
People in your congregation don’t think you can see them, but you know as well as anyone that you see everything they’re doing… all the time. And when eyes begin to wander about the room, thumbs twiddle, and for a few shameless congregants, phones light up their faces, what do you do? Call them out publicly from the stage. Kidding. Please don’t do that… But it’s so tough as a ...
Read MoreChildren’s Ministry Directors: Getting Young Kids Excited About Church
Being a children’s pastor can be an incredibly enriching job (if you’re the right kind of person that is!) Kids are full of energy, and it’s such an important time of their life developmentally. Being a part of their journey means a lot to them and can be very fulfilling to watch them develop as they grow up. But anyone who works with kids knows there are pros and cons to the job. While k...
Read MoreGetting Young People to Volunteer in the Youth Ministry
Properly balancing your volunteer-to-student ratio can be difficult. For smaller churches, it can be difficult to keep volunteers committed over the years to maintain a healthy leadership culture in your youth ministry, and for growing churches, it can be difficult to properly staff all youth events with enough leaders. This is especially the case as various different types of events come up: yout...
Read More