Tag: Youthmin

  • The Inadequate Youth Pastor

    As I stand in the front row of our church, waiting for the song to finish before I get up to preach, my heart is beating faster than usual. My mind is sending up invisible prayers like a professional boxer hitting the speedball. While on the outside I might look calm, inside is nothing of…

  • Published: A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry by Michael McGarry

    A friend of mine from the USA, Mike McGarry, recently published this great book, A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry. It’s an excellent read, and a much needed contribution on the theological foundations for youth ministry. I reviewed the book and had the review published at TGCA. You can read the whole thing here. You…

  • Published: Youth Minister, ‘But Now’ You Have Been Set Free

    Over at Rooted Ministry the second article of a 5-part series I’m having published this week has gone live. The essence of the series is identity for the youth pastor, centred on the phrase ‘but now’. You can read the first post here, which looks at being made right with God. Today’s post focuses on the…

  • Published: Youth Minister, ‘But Now’ You Are Made Right

    Over at Rooted Ministry I have a 5-part series coming out this week, all focussed on the theme of identity for the youth pastor and centred on the phrase ‘but now’. The first of these five have been published today. “Our identity, as well as our worship and obedience, is found at the cross. Nothing…

  • Published: 5 Advantages of Gospel Centred Youth Ministry

    It’s very pleasing to have had another post about youth ministry published on The Gospel Coalition. This time I’m written about what I see as the advantages to a gospel-centred approach in youth ministry. It seems odd this even needs to be said. And using the phrase ‘gospel-centred’ when everyone else uses it beings to…

  • Published: You’re Not Wasting Your Degree In Youth Ministry

    A little while back Tim Gough of YouthWorkHacks.com wrote a couple of posts encouraging greater training for those in youth ministry. The first, ‘Why Train For Ministry?‘, gives a number of bullet point-like sentences on how training can help in the formation and learning of a youth pastor. The second, ‘How To Pick A Youth…

  • Youth Ministry With The Training Wheels Off

    On the outside basketball court, just down the road from where we live, we spent time as a family helping our eldest daughter with her bike riding. For a few hours we were focussed on helping her with her coordination, pedalling, steering, and balance as she learnt to ride a bike without training wheels. It…

  • Published: Fighting for the Joy of Our Students

    For many of us there is the daily fight for joy, to find something to be joyful about in our day-to-day and week-by-week existence. As youth ministry leaders we also have the opportunity to fight for joy for those in our church and youth group. In fact, given the pressures on teenagers, and the ever-increasing…

  • Blogging In Youth Ministry

    The other week I came across a youth ministry site highlighting their top five youth ministry blogs. As I read through the list I noticed 80% of those mentioned were actually youth ministry sites who provide a blog with a range of contributors. This is slightly different to a personal blog, whereby the individual youth…

  • Published: Fyre Festival and Our Perpetual Facade of Perfection

    Having watched the documentary film about Fyre Festival a couple of weeks back on Netflix I spent some time working on a cultural reflection piece. I don’t often do that, in fact, I’m not sure I’ve ever done it. Anyway, it seems to have turned out OK, and has been published on the Rooted Ministry…