What is Success?
“Eric, I sense some frustration coming from you? What’s the matter?” he asked me.
“Well, I mean . . . things are going great. There’s no doubt about that, and I know we’ve improved a lot over the years, but I just don’t get why we don’t have more teens coming,” I responded.
Then he paused, looked at me and said something I’ll never forget...

The 48 Hour Self-Retreat

For most youth ministries things really kick off in 30 days. That means in the next 30 days you need a publishable Fall calendar, you need to check in with all of your volunteers to make sure they are coming back, and you need to host a volunteer training meeting as well as schedule a parents meeting.
Plus, you have all your normal day-to-day work. And you still have summer ministry stuff going...

Chasing Cool in Ministry
What constitutes a cool youth pastor? Most youth pastors want to be cool.  Some want to wear cool clothes, buy apple computers, date and marry hot women, know all the cool sayings and handshakes, get tattoos, have edgy haircuts and glasses, learn Hebrew and Greek and own all the new technological gadgets.  I don’t necessary think this is a bad thing.  In fact I do most of the things I listed myself.  However being cool requires more than just buying all the newest and coolest stuff...

The Digital Divide: How the Online Behavior of Teens is Getting Past Parents
Despite the obvious disconnect between teens’ online behaviors and parents’ knowledge of them, parents continue to exude a sense of confidence and control. Most parents insist they’re in control when it comes to mentoring their teen’s online behaviors. Yet, many teens believe their parents are in the dark. 

Jesus is Sneaky
I didn’t expect the hand rung bell. I was at a Saturday Evening Mass at a parish in Miacatlan, Mexico.  The Priest had just finished the consecration. We prayed through the Our Father and shared a sign of peace. The Church was mostly a large roof over an open air seating area. Out of the back and around the corner of the far wall came the clanking sound of two hand rung bells. I didn’t know what it was at first. Then I realized...

Introducing New One Eight Confirmation Curriculum

Infographic: Millennial Teenager