Contrary to Popular Belief: (Mis)perceptions in Youth Ministry
I’ve always liked the phrase “contrary to popular belief”. It gets your attention. It challenges your knowledge. What follows it can leave you feeling sheepish at your own ignorance or quite edified in your own intelligence. For instance, contrary to popular belief…

Making the Best of Your Time at the Desk
I’d like to take a guess and say that administrative work is NOT topping the “My Favorite Things” list for most youth pastors. We do the paper-pushing because it seems like we have to; like it’s a “necessary evil” of our job description. When I started out in ministry, I was anything BUT organized. Because of that, I often found myself less than prepared for stuff I “coulda, shoulda, woulda” seen coming. Years ago, I created a skeleton that I hang every workday on...

New iPhone app aims to help Catholics go to Confession
Developers of a new “confession helper” iPhone application say they found inspiration in Pope Benedict XVI’s call for more youth involvement in social communication. “Confession: A Roman Catholic App” is the first iPhone, iPad and iPod touch application from the South Bend, Indiana-based publisher Little iApps, LLC...

KC Star on KCK's St. John Catholic Church's Social Club
The Strawberry Hill area of downtown Kansas City (KS) is home to Saint John's Catholic Church, an "ethnic" parish set up for Croatian immigrants in 1900.Saint John's obviously retains its Croatian character, as shown by a Kansas City Star article today about the church's social club, which has an active bowling league...

Vocations and Bathrooms
I’ll be honest with you. I never was much into bathroom humor. I remember in high school watching many of my friends relish in the odors that they could create, either by sweat or gastro-intestinal issues. This is how it usually happened: 1)Someone would emit a fowl odor. 2)They invite their friends to smell it. 3)For some reason, their friends would acquiesce to that request...