3 Good Reasons To Start A Youth Work Blog
Blogs are epic! They’re an online part mini journal, part magazine, part social network that allows you room in a wide, like-minded community. Even pants writers (like me) get to play! There are a few things that would simply revolutionize youth ministry in the UK. I think one of those things is make every youth […]
Youth ministry and time management part
So How Do We Do It? – An Example 1 Year Plan. These are all helpful principles but they leave a basic question lingering: how do I actually flippin do it! They say it generally takes about three weeks to learn a new habit and about a year to take on a new lifestyle. So […]
7 New Rules For Mafia
If you’ve spent more than ten minutes in the youth work world then you’ve probably played Mafia – if you haven’t, it’s basically a very wholesome game where your young people try to secretly kill each other. I’m assuming if you came here you know the main rules, so won’t bother hashing them out. Here […]
5 Questions to ask in a youth work interview
Christians are rubbish at the ’employing’ bit Youth Workers are ministers, pastors and missionaries – absolutely. However, they’re also employees. We all too easily forget this! It’s easy in the light of ‘Gospel partnership’ mentality to let clear employment ethics slip in our churches and organizations. This leads to mess, unhappy people, mess, awkward conflict, […]
Great Youth Work Books Not Intended For Youth Work
Some random books that have helped and influenced my youth ministry – but haven’t been written about youth ministry! Enjoy. (in no particular order) >No Perfect People Allowed, John Burke. Epic journey of a church aimed at being open to all people from all walks of life. Great principles for showing grace to teenagers. […]
Open letter to Mike Jeffries, CEO at Abercrombie and Fitch
Mike Jeffries CEO of Abercrombie and Fitch 6301 Fitch Path New Albany Ohio 43054 USA 11th May 2013 Dear Mr Jeffries I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your helpful and up-building words to young men and women in the west. As a youth worker, I spend a lot of time […]
I’m A Youth Worker… Get Me Out Of Here!
I’m A Youth Worker… Get Me Out Of Here! The average time spent in full time youth ministry in the UK is 18 months. This scary and tragic statistic often conjures shock and disbelief. Many see the life of a youth worker as one great big water fight with moments of jelly & ice cream […]
Moody Teenagers – The Chemical ‘Romance’!
After reading this article on ‘Moody Teenagers’ I thought I’d blog a few ‘control points’. The gist is this: A £5 million research grant has been given to a bunch of Cambridge research scientists to study the chemical balances and patterns of 14-24 year old’s brains. The aim is to discover what make them overly […]
‘The Awkward Bunch’ – Small Group Dynamics in Youth Work
So small groups eh? The beating heart of youth ministry and my big passion! I started leading my first ‘koinos’ group at 14 in my parents house which turned out to be the busiest in the church – probably less to do with it’s ‘quality content’ and more to do with all the nonsense and […]
55 Ways To Show Young People That You Love Them
A random collection – many from ‘Your first two years in Youth Ministry’ by Doug Fields. Have fun with them! Notice them Smile a lot Learn their names Seek them out Remember their birthdays Ask them about themselves Look in their eyes when you talk to them Listen to them Play games with them Laugh […]
The 7 Cs of Effective Godly Discipline
So a few months back I was involved with a training night looking at both the theory and theology behind effective discipline in youth groups. I will be slowly bobbing my notes up here, starting today with the easiest bit to copy and paste: the 7 Cs of Effective Godly Disciple. This is from the […]