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Tag Archives: Relational Ministry

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Ministry To Families in Need

By | July 5, 2011

With our role comes the joy of sharing in family moments such as awards, honors and graduation. But just as we get to share in the “high points” of family life, we also share in some of the most difficult moments. Whether it is divorce or death or illness, we need to understand our role as support to the whole family, not just the teens.

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7 Things Parents Won’t Tell You

By | May 27, 2011

Unlike most parents of teens who go to work each day in some secular job, I spend my days talking with priests, DRE’s, diocesan directors, youth leaders, teens and our amazing staff at Life Teen sharing the privilege of serving in full time youth ministry. Like the saying goes – “do what you love to do and then get paid to do it”. Of course there are downsides to full time youth ministry as well. One of the most frequently asked questions at our youth ministry training conferences has to do with

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What (Teens) Want

By | May 25, 2011

One of my favorite blog writer’s is Seth Godin. Seth inspires me to always think out of the box. He recently wrote a blog entitled “What (People) Want”. I couldn’t help but notice how it applied not only to adults but to the teens we serve. So here is my reframing and tweaks to Seth’s list and how we could apply it to Catholic Youth Ministry. Here are five easy and not so easy things you want to make sure you are doing for the teens in your parish… 1. Notice Them Make sure when you see a teen

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Vibrant Youth Ministry Equals A Vibrant Parish

By | May 10, 2011

I’ve heard of recent surveys of “non practicing” Catholics tell an alarming statistic regarding the future involvement in the Catholic faith for current teens who are not involved in their parish during high school. Surveys are saying that only 3 to 10 percent of high school aged Catholic teens who are not active in some way with their parishes will become active Catholics in later years. In other words, for parishes that are waiting for people to get involved when they are older, the chances of

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Keys To Being a Great Core Member

By | May 9, 2011

I was training a group of young core members when I commented about what a great looking group of young adults they were. I think I said they looked like they could be in a Gap Ad. All of a sudden one of the girl Core Members asked me “What’s the perfect core member looked like?” I thought for a second and then immediately responded – “that’s simple – the perfect Core Member looks like Jesus”. You see the world tells teens how they should look, as Core Members it’s not about how we look, it’s all

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Advice to Any New Youth Leader

By | April 15, 2011

After starting out by hitting my head against several brick walls in the first few months on the job as a part time parish youth leader, I wish someone had sat me down and given me advice to get off to the right start at the parish. So now 23 years in youth ministry, I have decided to write some advice for any one who’s new as a youth leader. Advice for new youth leaders: 1.) It’s Not About You, It’s About the Teens – The world and our Church has seen enough self centered leaders. We don’t

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Talking With > Talking About

By | March 28, 2011

I believe that who we talk about is a big indication of where our hearts are. If we spend a lot of time talking about God that normally means are hearts are alive for Him. If we talk about our families, it is a sign that family matters to us, even if it is messy at times. I always tell people interviewing someone to be the youth leader at a parish to note how many times the person talks about teens, as it is a good indication about the posture of that persons heart toward teens. The only problem

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Do You Know the Most Important Day of the Year?

By | March 7, 2011

About a month ago, I got a text from a teen, a junior at our local high school, thanking me for calling him and wishing him a happy birthday. After 10 years of ministry, it still amazes me how the simple things, like a 30-second phone call, can make a huge impact in a person’s life.

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Scenes from a High School Gym

By | February 28, 2011

The other night I got to attend a high school basketball game. Somewhat accidentally, I ended up in the student section, which they had specially created for that particular game. Knowing a lot of the teens, I thought it would give me more opportunity to talk with them throughout the evening. Although it was good to be able to talk with a number of teens, it also afforded me the opportunity to observe. I watched as four girls flirted with one guy. I saw another guy with not just one, but two, rosaries around his neck. I also had a brief conversation with another teen about getting his driver’s license—a teen I had never met. I was reminded that, in general, teens are quite friendly.

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They’ll Know We Are Christians By Our Skinny Jeans?

By | February 28, 2011

I may take some heat for this with some of my close ministry friends, but here goes. I have attended several Catholic and non denominational youth leader gatherings over the past couple of years and I am always amazed at “the uniform” that many youth leaders and musicians utilize. Skinny jeans, plaid shirts and hip glasses are the rage. A lot of people can pull off wearing them and look great. Unfortunately, there are many who appear really awkward and fall into the group of “trying too hard to fit