4 Ways to Nurture a Church Culture More Open to Change
Ministry innovations are more likely to take root in a congregational culture that is receptive to change. Meghan Hatcher who works with the Innovation Lab…
Browsing: Youth
Articles
How Parents Help Children Grow in Faith
New research on how parents pass faith to their children provides strong evidence that talking with children about faith in the context of daily life…
6 Suggestions to Promote Healthy Intergenerational Worship
David Manner says the goal of healthy intergenerational worship is unobtainable unless the different generations within your church are first interacting together outside of worship.…
Understanding Generation Z and Connecting with Their Passions
What are the unique characteristics of young people coming of age today? Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, describes a generation of digital natives…
Episode 75: “Understanding Generation Z and Connecting with Their Passions” featuring Rock Jones
What are the unique characteristics of young people coming of age today? Rock Jones, president of Ohio Wesleyan University, describes a generation of digital natives who are highly connected but also lonely and anxious. Dr. Jones describes Gen Zers’ life questions, the perspectives they bring to spiritual engagement, and ways church leaders can meet them where they are.
Episode 72: “Faith and the Video Gaming Community” featuring David Petty and Russ Dornisch
Is there space for faith in the world of online video gaming? David Petty and Russ Dornisch discuss CROSSFIRE: faith + gaming, the innovative online Christian community they have created for gamers.
Why Intergenerational Ministry?
Liz Perraud says bringing generations together is a key aspect of Christian community. She suggests church leaders might approach the need to strengthen intergenerational connections…
Episode 65: “The End of Youth Ministry” featuring Andy Root
How can youth ministry be more than fun and games? In this episode we speak with Andy Root about how youth can find identity and deep joy in shared narratives and intergenerational connections.
Ministering with Families in the Ongoing Pandemic
Emily Peck McClain describes the very real challenges children, youth, and families face during this time of upheaval and distance from physical church. She offers…
Episode 43: “Resurrecting Youth Ministry” featuring Jen Bradbury
Are you longing to connect with youth in relevant and faithful ways? In this episode we speak with Jen Bradbury about fresh approaches to youth ministry and how to conduct youth mission trips with integrity and purpose.
50 Ways to Strengthen Ministry with Youth
How can your church help youth claim a vital faith? No question is more critical to the future of the church. Here are 50 Ways…
8 Things Your Christian Educator Wants You to Know
The work of faith formation leaders in a congregation is expansive and vital, yet often undervalued and misunderstood. Virginia Callegary lifts up the need to…
No Easy Button for Fruitful Youth Ministry
One of the most common and most debilitating myths about youth ministry might just be the all-too-common belief in the Easy Button. In our work…
Characteristics of a Healthy Youth Ministry
Congregations that succeed in nurturing the faith of young people tend to demonstrate certain key characteristics. What are the top characteristics of a healthy youth…
Helping Youth Have a Faith of Their Own
The fact that youth participate in church less as they get older and often are not present in church as young adults can lead church…
Cultivating a Consequential Faith
Congregations have been doing a lot with teenagers, but it isn’t always leading to consequential faith, maintains Kenda Creasy Dean in Almost Christian: What the…
Churches Where Youth Exhibit Highly Devoted Faith
Kenda Creasy Dean reports in her book Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Oxford University Press, 2010) that…
Choosing Church … or Soccer, or Work, or Family Time, or …
Sunday morning has become a popular time for youth sports. Weekends are for some families the only opportunity to share quality, sustained time together. And…
Helping Youth Discern God’s Call
Two months ago, a group from my church attended the Leadership Institute held at the United Methodist Church of the Resurrection in Leawood, Kansas. Pastor…
A Healthy Youth Group
An excerpt from Amy Jacober’s book, The Pastor’s Guide to Youth Ministry, includes a top ten list. There is no one way to do youth…
What I Learned from a Group of Unruly Youth
Will Rowan, a youth minister in Alberta, Canada, learns from an unexpected outcome in a prayer workshop for high school students. During the spring of 2003,…
Making Church Matter for Youth
Ann Michel recommends three books as guideposts to navigate the sociological and theological terrain of youth ministry. What is the religious life of American youth…
Predictors of Youth Returning to Church as Adults
Lovett Weems reviews a study of participation in church by adults who had dropped out of church as youth. Of all the variables studied, only…