Been a while since you changed the environment of a Life Night? Have the walls of your office become just a jog down memory lane or is it a reflection of the current group of teens? Have music playing, hang new banners, update photos and add some new paint to add new life to the spaces you hang out with teens at your parish. We serve in one of the most transformational ministries in our parishes – does the vibe of our space reflect that?
Once they start school in the fall and get involved in all kind of school activities, it will be much harder to reach those rising 9th grade students. Here are 5 things you can do to reach out to the rising 9th grade students at your parish: 1. Visit them in Edge or their current [...]
A Youth Leader Must…. 1. Make it about Christ and not themself 2. Strive to have ministry flow from their spirituality and not have spirituality flow from their ministry 3. Form a strong team of leaders who help them reach out to teens 4. Be living the Paschal Mystery (die to self and rising with [...]
As Youth Ministers and Core Team members, it’s vital that we walk daily with the teens we minister to. Sometimes that may mean catching them doing something wrong and lovingly correcting their behavior. But how often do we catch them doing something right? Imagine what our ministries could look like.
Take an honest look at yourself and ask how many times you pull out your cell phone during a youth ministry event. I would not have thought that I took it out a lot, only during those times that I thought was necessary. However, after one particular teen challenged me and said, “Oh, look, you’re bored and on your phone again,” I realized I was taking out my phone when there were down times in youth ministry.
Is there Parishnormal Activity happening surrounding youth ministry at your parish? – do the Knights of Columbus accuse the teens of taking all their left over ketchup packets from last year’s Parish picnic? – is the key to the closet in the Parish Hall now attached to a Hockey stick because you as youth leader [...]
Have you ever stopped and thought about how difficult it is for a new teen to show up at your parish, perhaps knowing only one or two teens, or no one at all? I have often thought about how awkward it is for me to approach the new teen, and rarely did I realize how important that first encounter was for them.
The past few months people keep sending me planking photos. Planking is an activity or game consisting of lying face down in an unusual or incongruous location. The hands must touch the sides of the body and having a photograph of the participant taken and posted on the internet is an integral part of the game. Players [...]
My model for youth ministry has four legs and a wet nose. Back when I was a baby Core Member, I attended my first Life Teen Conference in Mesa, AZ in June of 1999. Of all the messages of that week one has stuck with me and has been my constant model for youth ministry for 13 years and will continue to be so.
Have you ever seen a 48-hour mystery special on TV? Usually they are trying to discover the missing truth and/or find a missing person. Authorities tell us that if someone goes missing, they need to be found within a 48 hour time period or the chances of finding them goes down significantly. This leaves police, detectives and eyewitnesses in a pressure-filled time frame. And just like in these mystery cases where time is a critical factor, follow up in youth ministry is also crucial.