What about those hard to reach teens who you have asked multiple times to attend events. Have you ever reached that point where it just didn’t seem worth it and you felt like you needed to do something more direct to try and draw them in? Last night while talking to one of our amazing youth ministers in Wisconsin, I heard a technique that is working big time and has yet to fail when the teen agrees and follows through. Let’s call it – 4 Times And I’ll Never Bother You Again Here’s how it
11 years ago the Life Teen Board of Directors voted to purchase a camp in the North Georgia mountains called “Covecrest”. At the time we were excited about owning a camp, but the reality was that we had just put a lot on the line as the camp was only about 25% funded at the time. To top that off the camp had run in a deficit situation for the previous 15 years. At the time many diocese were looking to get out of camps and retreat centers. Carelessness or Divine Providence? Turns out the decision
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 religious education classes before the end of school and invite them to attend Life Teen this summer. 2. Have a huge summer kick-off for rising freshman at the start of the summer. Send out invitations and announce
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 Christ) daily 5. Be completely invested in the parish community 6. Know teens names 7. Be teachable 8. Earn and keep trust 9. Be humble and willing to get their hands dirty 10.
A couple of weeks ago Pope Benedict XVI gave a talk to a group of students on the meaning of Christmas. Here’s part of that speech and what I think is a great reflection heading into Christmas for anyone who works with teens: Benedict XVI, Address to students December 15, 2011 What does Christmas mean to me? Is it really important for my life, for the building up of society? There are many persons in our time… who ask whether we are to expect something or someone; whether
Before you know, there will be nothing in your life that you are in control of; everything will be in the hands of God. Then, and only then, will He be your parachute. You will have put Him on and He will be guiding your movements. I would imagine you would experience the freedom that a skydiver experiences when they are slowly descending, trusting their life to their parachute.
Trust Him with your life!
Ever feel like you don’t know where to start? Youth ministry at your parish needs a boost, or maybe you are getting ready to kick off youth ministry and you don’t know the first step? Well – Have you talked to Gladys? You know her – the lady who organizes the rosary prayer group at your parish. She appears mild, meek and quite harmless. Only thing is, she and her comrades of the before “Daily Mass Rosary Crew” are prayer warriors and in reality are a big part the glue that holds many parishes together
I have been finished with school for a long while, but being in youth ministry my calendar years run in school years. The “New Year” for me is when the teens head back to school and Life Teen and Edge kick off again. Freshman experience what it is like to be in high school, trying their best to fit in and not get lost. Seniors try to enjoy their year as the kings and queens with the added pressure of answering the question of what comes next. And, those of us in youth ministry begin anew trying
I fly on jets, but still don’t know how they are able to fly with being so large and carrying so many people. I drove by an aircraft carrier the other day while on vacation and can’t believe that something that big could float. I walk down the streets of some of the world’s biggest cities amazed at how a skyscraper could reach so high. Standing at the rim of the Grand Canyon and I am in awe that water could have carved that wide and deep of a crevasse in the earth. Our world is filled with signs