Blog

Author Archives: Randy Raus

Blog

The Multiple Levels of Face Recognition

By | July 27, 2011

Ok, I’ll admit it, I am a fan of technology and how it can impact youth ministry. Apple, Microsoft, Google and Facebook have all recently introduced more and more advanced face recognition technologies that have the potential to revolutionize the web once again. The way it works is that through now common digital photos, the computer analyzes facial characteristics and matches them with other photos. The result is pictures of the persons face can be identified in photos other than the one the software

Blog

Are You Relying on Signs and Wonders?

By | July 26, 2011

I fly on jets, but still don’t know how they are able to fly with being so large and carrying so many people. I drove by an aircraft carrier the other day while on vacation and can’t believe that something that big could float. I walk down the streets of some of the world’s biggest cities amazed at how a skyscraper could reach so high. Standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon and I am in awe that water could have carved that wide and deep of a crevasse in the earth. Our world is filled with signs

Blog

A Core Member’s Plea

By | July 25, 2011

Ever read something that immediately was a gut check for you? Perusing my email inbox, I came across a message from a core member that I felt not only her youth minister needed to read, but all of us in youth ministry could benefit from. Here is the core members unedited letter. I am a CORE member at a parish in California and this may be a rant but most of all it’s a PLEA! Our parish is huge and the life teen youth ministry is well known and established. The ministry has SO much potential yet.

Blog

What Pawn Stars Can Teach Youth “Ministars”

By | July 8, 2011

The hottest show on cable TV in the US is a show called “Pawn Stars”. It revolves around a guy – Rick Harrison along with his father, Richard “The Old Man” Harrison, his son, Corey “Big Hoss” Harrison” and family friend Austin “Chumlee” Russell. Harrison gives viewers a behind-the-scenes peek into his Las Vegas business the Gold & Silver Pawn Shop. In the process, he educates audiences on the history behind many of the unique items sold in the store. The show offers several useful analogies for

Blog

5 Ways to Get the Most Out of the 2011 Life Teen Leadership Conference

By | June 25, 2011

This Monday over 450 teens will attend our annual Life Teen Leadership Conference. This year our conference is at Benedictine College in Atchison, Kansas. If you are heading to Kansas for the conference – here are 5 ways you can make sure you have one of the best weeks of your life.   1.) Meet New People – You are attending a conference with hundreds of other top Catholic teens who are mostly all striving to grow in their holiness. Don’t just hang out with the people you are going to the conference

Blog

7 Things Parents Won’t Tell You

By | May 27, 2011

Unlike most parents of teens who go to work each day in some secular job, I spend my days talking with priests, DRE’s, diocesan directors, youth leaders, teens and our amazing staff at Life Teen sharing the privilege of serving in full time youth ministry. Like the saying goes – “do what you love to do and then get paid to do it”. Of course there are downsides to full time youth ministry as well. One of the most frequently asked questions at our youth ministry training conferences has to do with

Blog

What (Teens) Want

By | May 25, 2011

One of my favorite blog writer’s is Seth Godin. Seth inspires me to always think out of the box. He recently wrote a blog entitled “What (People) Want”. I couldn’t help but notice how it applied not only to adults but to the teens we serve. So here is my reframing and tweaks to Seth’s list and how we could apply it to Catholic Youth Ministry. Here are five easy and not so easy things you want to make sure you are doing for the teens in your parish… 1. Notice Them Make sure when you see a teen

Blog

The Case for Unassuming Youth Ministry

By | May 19, 2011

The most effective parish youth ministries maintain what I call an “unassuming youth ministry” stance. This means that they know they need to re-earn attention, re-earn loyalty, and reconnect with teens and parents as if every day is the first day they started the ministry at the parish. Signs that We Have an Assuming Youth Ministry: – We start feeling successful or assume we are the only choice for teens. – We start comparing and assuming youth ministry at our parish as better than what

Blog

Who’s Barbra Streisand?

By | May 16, 2011

Think you are current on teen culture? Here is a reality check I just had. A song currently becoming popular by the dance mix group Duck Sauce is entitled “Barbra Streisand”. You remember Barbra – singer, movie star etc? It is a catchy song with several dramatic pauses that utilize the songs only lyric – Barbra Streisand. I was driving with my soon to be 10th grader Jonah yesterday and asked him if he knew who Barbra Streisand was. I thought for sure he would – but he looked at me and said he had

Blog

Vibrant Youth Ministry Equals A Vibrant Parish

By | May 10, 2011

I’ve heard of recent surveys of “non practicing” Catholics tell an alarming statistic regarding the future involvement in the Catholic faith for current teens who are not involved in their parish during high school. Surveys are saying that only 3 to 10 percent of high school aged Catholic teens who are not active in some way with their parishes will become active Catholics in later years. In other words, for parishes that are waiting for people to get involved when they are older, the chances of