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Author Archives: Richard Rivera

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Turning the Tables: Ministry to the Core Team

By | February 12, 2010

How are your Core Members doing? Take a moment and think about everything you’ve done in ministry this year and then look at what you have planned. Does your Core know that they are loved and appreciated? Do you know how they are doing spiritually? Before you read anymore, take a moment to pray for [...]

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FAIL! Sometimes I Am Really Bad at My Job.

By | January 27, 2010

Last month, I had a great moment with one of my favorite teens! (Yes, I do play favorites. You can ask any of my teens and they will proudly tell you why they are my favorite.) After a night of trying to pray with teens (a night that I had spent countless hours developing, praying [...]

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Finding Teen Leaders in Your Youth Program

By | April 9, 2009

Do you know where your leaders are? For years I overlooked one of the most powerful tools in youth ministry and now I can’t help but think how many teens we could have reached if I had paid more attention developing teen leadership. I know this probably sounds like just one more thing on the [...]

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How to Have Spirit-Led Small Group Discussions

By | March 19, 2009

I must admit that I like eating ice cream. I like ice cream so much that I once changed sleeping assignments on a trip because teens brought me a big tub of ice cream and begged A LOT. If you’re considering taking a bribe to change room assignments, be sure to get more than just [...]

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Lunch Time Lessons: How to Talk to Teens

By | August 13, 2008

Over the years I developed a routine of visiting the local schools during lunch times. The purpose behind this was simple: I wanted to see and love teens outside of the typical Life Teen setting. At first I only sought out the teens I knew from my program, trying to avoid the awkward looks and [...]

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How Big is your Core Team? (Hint: Bigger Than You Think)

By | March 10, 2008

Go ahead – count them all up? Did you miss anyone? How about the parish secretary? How about the maintenance staff? Anyway that you look at it, ministry is a team effort. If you think you are in it alone, you are wrong. If you think you can do it alone, you will fail. That [...]