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Category Archives: Youth Group Management

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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 uncomfortable questions I knew I would get (you know what I mean). I just wanted to hang out with my group- not to love and minister to other teenagers. That was just too scary! Fortunately that didn’t last.

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Putting the “Diakonia” back into “Youth Ministry”

By | July 21, 2008

Many of us probably have job titles along the lines of “Youth Minister,” “Director of Youth Ministry,” or “Pastoral Associate for Youth Ministry.” We get hired, and we jump right in, getting a Core team, planning and running Sunday Life Nights, starting prayer groups, planning trips to Life Teen Camp or Steubenville Conferences. We might start out thinking we know what we’re doing, but after a while we realize that none of us really knows what the job is supposed to look like. We

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Loving Ugly Teenagers

By | April 21, 2008

Be honest: do you have any ugly teens? I don’t mean like physically unattractive teens. I mean teens that have ugly personalities. You know, the ones that are most difficult to love and serve. I think that the “ugly teen syndrome” comes in many different forms. But here are a few that I have encountered: Lacks Confidence/Bossy Teen: This is the kind of teen who is so unsure of themselves that they spend all their time bossing other people around. They lack humility and tact, but only

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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 being said, do you work with or against a very important part of your team–the parish staff? Your office is filled (unless it is after 8pm) with professionals who are dedicated to leading others to Christ. They facilitate communication,

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Helping Teenagers Find God in Ordinary Time

By | January 11, 2008

The mission statement of Life Teen is to “Lead Teens Closer to Christ.” As a youth minister, I really enjoy Advent and Christmas because more than any other time of the year this mission seems clear and maybe even easier to accomplish. For this youth minister at least, how we search for Christ and thus how we lead teens to Christ is pretty clear during these seasons. But all too quickly – it’s over. Sure, Holy Family, Epiphany, and Baptism of the Lord round out the Christmas Season, but for

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Leading a Bible Study? 5 Mistakes You Don’t have to Make

By | April 10, 2007

You’ve announced it after Mass. You’ve advertised it in the bulletin. You’ve shouted it over a dull roar emanating from the floor at the end of a Life Night. “Don’t forget…Bible Study this week. Bring a friend.” The Bibles are put out. Maybe some candles are lit. The lights are on, but unlike Baby Jesus’ problem…there’s plenty of room at the inn or, in this case, your meeting space. (Cue: chirping crickets sound.) A handful of teens trickle in. The same teens that show up for

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How to Avoid the Perils of a [Dirty] Church Dance

By | February 28, 2007

The problem: Teenagers Dance Dirty It’s no secret that teenagers don’t really dance anymore. If the 1930s had swing, and the 1950s had the twist, then the 2000s have dirty dancing. This isn’t the Dirty Dancing of Patrick Swayze back in in 1987, where a wealthy daddy’s girl is charmed by a hunky dance teacher. Yeah that was dirty, but those scenes had grace through choreography. Our new dirty dancing is nothing but–forgive me here–nothing but dry humping to music with lyrics about dry humping.

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Watch yourself! An Honest Look at Which Teens get the Most Attention

By | February 28, 2007

I was on Core at a parish when our youth minister asked two fellow college guys to leave Core Team. The youth minister informed all of us on Core in the weekly Sunday afternoon meeting. I was stunned! These were both active Catholics with magnetic personalities that really connected with teens. An hour later at Life Night, she gave the same announcement to a room of 50 teenagers. It was an uproar!