Duffy Robbins

Our students are begging for adults to be real with them rather than hiding their flaws and weaknesses; and by doing so, by being vulnerable, we have the potential to help make them stronger.

I could hear the anxiety in the words on my voice mail. It was a former student, now serving as a youth worker in the New England region. His words were tinged with fatigue and a hint of mild exasperation. “Duff, we’re thinking about making a change here, maybe going to seminary, maybe going to another...

Those of us who work with teens seem to be sliding into an adolescent approach to our mission.

The call to youth ministry—its own journey of adventure, risk and discovery—is likewise a calling unsuited to the faint of heart. Yet, despite the challenges, despite the likelihood of low honor and recognition, despite the small wages and occasional seasons of darkness and discouragement, we sign on,...

Deciding whether or not to leave a youth ministry position is perhaps the most difficult issue youth workers face. It's typically marked by gut-wrenching periods of soul-searching and cross-examination—coupled with a desire to seek God's will and the constant fear of wrong motives. So many conflicting...

As within governments and other organizations, financial gaffs tragically reflect what goes on today consistently in youth ministries across the country. We continue to spend astronomical amounts of time, money and energy on programs and structures so we can say, "It's the largest ever built"—yet half...

If you’ve been in youth ministry for more than about 20 minutes, you probably already have a sneaking suspicion that kids have a lot of disposable income — and they seem predisposed to dispose of it, mostly by spending it on themselves. A 2000 worldwide study of nearly 30,000 teenagers in 44 countries...

There has been plenty of dialogue about truth in recent years, even in youth ministry circles. Dan Kimball, Tony Jones, and I discussed the concept during panel discussions at all three National Youth Worker Conventions last fall — and on each occasion we were met with packed rooms of interested, engaged...

Teenagers today pay a high price as they learn (if they learn) how to make ethical decisions. In Going to Extremes (Plume/Penguin Books), author Joe McGinnis gives us a graphic picture of the tuition one pays for lessons learned the hard way in real life: Yesterday’s evidence of the predatory nature...