There’s been some talk lately about the future of youth ministry. I’ve posted some of my thoughts before, but when I think about the future, there are certain things I’d like to see more and certain things I would like to see less. Up today, ten things I’d like to see less: Youth Ministers – […]
The 3 Spheres of Youth Ministry
Luther Seminary continues to put out quality research related to youth ministry. I got to participate in one of the webinars they have just developed to make this research accessible to the average church leader called the Exemplary Youth Ministry Online Seminar. In this one-hour seminar they go over the basics of the Exemplary Youth […]
13 Reasons Why (Traditional) Seminaries are Irrelevant (For Church Leaders): Part 1
The other day Jake Belder linked to a post about 5 Reasons Seminary is Relevant. As someone who is in seminary and also interested in how to best train and equip church leaders I found this post interesting while at the same time disagreeing profoundly. Below is my response, but first I should qualify that […]
A Theology of Geography: Locality and Proximity
I’m up at Luther Seminary this week for an intensive course on Singleness, Marriage, and Family. As tends to happen, I am viewing much of this course content through the lens of ecclesiology and thinking of the implications of our discussions upon the life of the church. On Monday (I think it was Monday–things run […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Series Introduction
As most of you very well know, the prefix neo simply means new. In order to affix this label to a word, the “new” understanding of the word must be so different than the previous understanding to warrant the neo prefix, rather than just slightly adjusting the meaning of the old word. However, at the […]
Issues in Youth Ministry
Tim Schmoyer is doing a series on current issues in youth ministry. I wasn’t one of the 21 people asked to weigh-in on the topic (because, well, I don’t know him) but I can still post my own thoughts on my blog. So I will! Some of my emergent/emerging tendencies will be evident in my […]
The Freedom of Failure
So, my post a couple of weeks ago may have been a bit on the negative side. I talked about the doom and gloom of youth ministry and how if it didn’t change, it would simply die. If anyone happened to read the post, they probably would have thought I was a pretty stark pessimist. […]
The Next 50 Years of Youth Ministry: Becoming Theologians
Marko brought my attention to the latest issue of Christianity Today, which celebrates it’s 50th anniversary issue. Among other things, there is an article on the next 50 years of youth ministry and what it may bring. The typical people give their input: Kenda Dean, Walt Mueller, Chap Clark, Marko, and others. But, as Marko […]