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Category Archives: Featured

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Stuff Youth Ministers Like #6: The Dramatic Pause

By | May 21, 2012
2012-05_CYM-SYML-Dramatic

As a Youth Minister one of the biggest parts of your job description is to teach teens the faith. Now, if the previous statement came as a shock to you . . . umm . . . well . . . you may want to chat with your Pastor. If not, then you know the [...]

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Cultivating Hearts

By | May 16, 2012
2012-05_CYM-Growing

We may only have a small part in helping that fruit to grow – we only are guaranteed four years with them. We are only a small tool in the Hand of the Gardener. We may never see the fruit. It takes lots of work and lots of people to grow a successful community garden. But everyone and every tool plays a vital role.

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Stuff Youth Ministers Like #5: Red Vines

By | May 14, 2012
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You’ve only got a couple hours until youth group starts and you realize you forgot to buy food. With only $20 left in your budget and the need to feed 200 teens, as a youth minister, you know there’s only one item that can save you now: Red Vines.

What is it about Red Vines that we as youth ministers love so much?

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Happy Mother’s Day, Mary

By | May 9, 2012
Madonna of the Streets by Roberto Ferruzzi

With Mothers Day approaching this Sunday, I can’t think of a better time to reflect on what our Mother means to us. I mean Mary, of course, the Blessed Mother. Very recently I became relentlessly re-quoted by two friends because I kept repeating “but Mary is the new Eve” during a discussion about Mary. It [...]

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One Thing I Hated About Ministry

By | May 8, 2012
2012-05_CYM-OneThingHate

Honestly, I hated that thing. And seriously why did it have to blink? It was as if it was taunting me:

“You know all those things you wanted to get done today? Not gonna happen.”

“I’m blinking, so you know you have messages, but you don’t know how many. Could be 1, or could be 10, but you’ll have to dial in to find out.”

“Hmmm . . . I wonder who left you a message. Maybe it’s a teen thanking you for a great Life Night. Or maybe it’s an irate parent.”

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Stuff Youth Ministers Like #4: Gross Icebreakers

By | May 7, 2012
2012-CYM-SYML-GrossGames

Maybe it’s because these games immediately evoke a reaction – be it laughter or gagging – from a sometimes apathetic and lethargic group of teenagers. Maybe it’s because we are able to relate the caramel onion to the reality of sin; it may look good but it’s actually disgusting. Or maybe it’s just because after a week of parent phone calls, late permission slips, and teens texting through an entire teaching . . . a disgusting icebreaker is our way of saying, “I win.”

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Where’s Your Heart?

By | May 3, 2012
trainer-yelling

I was tired of living paycheck to paycheck, so I took a part-time job as a personal trainer. (Cha Ching). Ready to make the big bucks, I shadowed around another trainer for a week. Finally, it was time for me to hit the floor and start working with clients. I motivated them as they did crunches. I drilled them as they worked their legs. I pushed them to improve their cardio . . .

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Smoothing Out the Wrinkles

By | May 1, 2012
2012-04_CYM-Smoothing

I have some friends who particularly notice if there are wrinkles in an altar cloth. I have always found their obsession with wrinkle free altar material a bit much, but the other day, I found myself looking at an altar and thinking—wow, that could use some ironing. In the scheme of the glory of Mass, [...]

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Stuff Youth Ministers Like #3: Saying “Awesome”

By | April 30, 2012
2012-04_CYM-Awesome

Ok. Admit it. You’ve used it. You know you have, but perhaps you don’t know to what extent. Perhaps you don’t realize that it’s the one word you use to describe every youth ministry activity that you’ve planned. For some reason, the word “awesome” is always on the tip of your tongue. At some point [...]

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Multi-Generational Core: Communication

By | April 25, 2012
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Communication (or the lack of it) can often leave us frustrated like Abbot and Costello. We need to accept that the days of face-to-face communication are limited (unless you are using iChat or Skype). People are busier than ever juggling career, family, activities, volunteer commitments, school, faith, and personal lives. The tools we use to communicate make as much of an impact as the message we are sending. If we think one form of communication is all we need, we are wrong!