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Tag Archives: Community Building

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Relational Ministry is Free

By | October 26, 2010

Sometimes when our budget is cut or we can’t afford to buy the next greatest resource or piece of modern technology aimed at reaching teens, we can get down and in a way lose focus on what our mission is. Teens, like all of us are relationship focused. At Life Teen, with a complete dependence on our Blessed Mother and our Eucharistic Lord, we continue to engage young people believing that quality, Eucharistic-centered, relational youth ministry has the power to transform parishes, teens, and culture. The

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The Chilean Miners – What Catholic Families Can Learn

By | October 14, 2010

The past day I have watched as 33 miners were pulled from a half mile beneath the earth in a small rocket looking carrier to the surface. They spent over 2 month’s underground, with the first 17 days not knowing if anyone above ground knew they were still alive after a mine collapse. They spent more time trapped underground than anyone in history. What intrigued me most was hearing how they survived the ordeal so well.

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The 4 Principles of Effective Small Group Questions

By | October 11, 2010

Have you ever been in charge of coming up with small group questions for a retreat or youth night? If you are anything like me, you want the questions to get teens talking and to have some depth to them so that everyone will get something out of small group time. Here is a new way to take the time and stress out of writing small group questions. It all comes down to the following 4 principles.

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The Graphic Tee and Latin Mass Parts Generation

By | September 22, 2010

You have seen them. You know the teens and twenty somethings that are sporting the large print graphic t-shirts and wearing the jeans with the holes worn in them. They are looking the part of the edgy generation, but in reality they are part of the growing population of the sold out younger generation of Orthodox Catholics.

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A Few Things All Catholic Youth Leaders Should Have

By | September 17, 2010

Starting out in Catholic youth ministry and wondering what are the things you should have? Here are a few quick ideas:

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Is Youth Ministry at Your Parish Worth Writing Home About?

By | September 11, 2010

Perusing the menu at lunch recently, one of our staff commented on one of the menu item’s as “nothing to write home about”. I immediately asked when was the last time he wrote home about something? All day long we use expressions to describe things, how often do we really take literally what we say? What if the restaurant took the mantra to only serve meals that people would want to write home about? What if your parish offered youth ministry that people wanted to write home about?

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If You Want to Learn to Do Youth Ministry…

By | September 8, 2010

I know of no more important ministry at a parish than youth ministry. Current statistics reveal that teens that are not involved in their parish have over a 90% chance on not being a practicing Catholic later in life. Youth ministry plays a critical role for our Church as a main way to have teens involved at a parish. So if you feel a pull or calling toward youth ministry here are some things to consider.

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The 3 Keys – What a Pastor Should Look for When Hiring a Youth Minister

By | September 7, 2010

At Life Teen we are so blessed to have so many holy men serving parishes as priests. I often get the questions from pastors about hiring the right youth minister. For example – could I recommend anyone for them to hire as a youth minister for the parish? I also frequently get asked what to look for in a new youth minister. So here are the 3 things that I tell them to look and listen (key into) for when considering a candidate for youth minister: I call them “The 3 Keys”

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5 Things That Teens Are Counting On

By | August 2, 2010

In the Northern Hemisphere, Teens will be heading back to school and heading back to a parish this fall. As a companion of teens on their faith journey, there are some basic things that teens are counting on you doing and being. Here are 5 things that teens are counting on from you.

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The New Busy – Is it Impacting Your Ministry?

By | July 23, 2010

I have talked to a lot of youth leaders and pastors this summer and I have grown keenly aware of a trend or direction in ministry. At a youth conference last weekend after I had complimented his choice for youth minister, a pastor of a parish attending shared a concern that his youth minister was spending a lot of time with teens at camps and conferences this summer. The pastor went on to tell me how the youth minister needed to realize that he needed to be careful not to let things like email and administrative aspects fail or to let the perception of the other parish staff seem like he wasn’t working. It immediately made me aware that even though the youth minister was really doing a great job in relational ministry (what we pray every youth leader will be doing a great job with) he was still being primarily or at least equally evaluated for his administrative skills or worse yet how it appeared to other staffers? It made me think of how our system of ministry can fail or be at odds with the one of the primary ministry postures of spending time with teens, not to mention spending time in prayer. It made me wonder if there is a “New Busy” that is zapping all the energy out of well intentioned youth leaders?