For a different spin on Valentine's Day for the group, I invited in a divorced single mom to lead them in an art project. Too often Valentine's Day has a focus on young love. I wanted to redirect that focus tow...

I cannot remember the last time I planned a game for my group. However, from my 32 years of youth ministry, there was a time when games were the draw to start any meeting—so much so that from1984 to 1985 ...

I've been in youth ministry for 30 years, but my preferred role is being the mom to a bunch of now-grown adults.When they were teens, you could have called them juvenile delinquents; but juvenile delinquents is...

Adolescents by nature are already somewhat self-absorbed. The consumption message of Christmas only feeds more into that. This is a family Christmas Eve devotion that puts a flip on that and could provide one o...

One Sunday, one of our eighth graders (the one who has grown to be taller than his father during the past year) came to church wearing a suit and a tie. I was wearing jeans that day (dress jeans for those who u...

It's a question we've all heard before and pondered in many of our quiet times. "Why does it seem that the church has no power to keep youth, or most people for that matter, in relationship with God?" How many ...

Parents of teenagers and tween need to be involved in their youth ministry. Why? Well, for many reasons. 1) Parental involvement in youth ministry can reflect how parental involvement in a family can and should...

Most schools truly want help from the church, but they don’t necessarily want Bible clubs. How can youth workers bless schools with real help, especially as the school experience is changing so greatly?Yo...

Every youth ministry camp and retreat center has its own rules and traditions for the dining hall. Some have songs. Some have chants. And some have stacking games and song games with cups. But did you know that...