Articles for tag: Youth Group

March 1, 2022

Renee Little

Finding Authenticity

Finding Authenticity in the Middle

By Renee Little Recently I couch shopped for an entire weekend. My two young boys “test drove” every couch by bouncing from one to another. (It’s a good thing couches cannot experience fear.) I was more careful during this search than on a previous couch-shopping expedition. This time, before I would even sit on one to try it out, I read the tags to verify the couch was made from genuine leather. You see, I once made the mistake of buying a “pleather” couch; it was nice at first, but soon cracks and chips appeared. I was not making that

January 13, 2017

Christian Standard

Making Longer-term Connections

By Jennifer Johnson Although internships are invaluable for helping college students determine their vocational path””and although many Christian colleges and universities now require them for students across a variety of disciplines””ministry internships can be difficult for both students and churches. “The shorter internships, especially, are challenging,” says Tim Dunn, minister at LifeSpring Christian Church in Cincinnati, OH. “With just a few hours a week, you don”t have time to really influence or invest in the students, especially when they are also participating in mission trips or camps. It”s hard to really include them in the life of the church.” Cincinnati

February 4, 2016

Michael C. Mack

Five Ideas You Can Use This Month

Ideas for your youth group, small group, class, ministry team, or congregation . . . By Michael C. Mack 1.  Deliver roses and chocolates to residents of nursing and retirement homes on Valentine’s Day. 2. Offer a free Valentine”s Day wedding weekend. Parkcrest Christian Church in Long Beach, CA (Parkcrest.org), has offered free use of its facility, an officiated ceremony, and a cake-and-punch reception. 3. February is American Heart Month. Conduct a Valentine”s Day blood drive. Partner with the Red Cross (redcross.org) to set up a mobile unit in the parking lot. Promote the drive in the church and community.

January 24, 2016

Christian Standard

Protecting Your PK

By Angela Sanders I am a minister”s wife. I have the scars to prove it, but my children don”t. Not because they didn”t see. Not because they didn”t hear. Not because we lied to them. We didn”t. Hunter and Hope came through an enemy attack on their family by church members with their optimism, faith, and desire to serve the body intact. This was possible only because a few who had successfully waded through the murky waters of vocational ministry ahead of us were selfless enough to take us by the hand and teach us to survive and thrive””and maintain

January 7, 2016

Christian Standard

New Service Date Has Been Gift

By Jennifer Johnson When Suncrest Christian Church (St. John, IN) began to max out its three Sunday services, the church considered a variety of ways to accommodate more people. “Lots of churches do Saturday night services, and some do Sunday night,” says Greg Lee, lead pastor at Suncrest. “I was intrigued by churches like White River Christian in Noblesville, Indiana, that created a Thursday night service. We are a multisite with some video teaching, so the idea of doing something on Thursday was a great gift””we can record the message and have two days to send it to the other

December 14, 2015

Christian Standard

For the Girls

By Jennifer Johnson Our church recently spent a Sunday afternoon distributing fliers to thousands of homes in our area, inviting community members to a cookout, and announcing the launch of our second worship service. I was pleased to see half a dozen teen girls from our youth group show up to join the teams tromping through the suburbs of Levittown. I was less pleased when, just an hour into the experience, several of them wilted onto the curb of the neighborhood with complaints about tiredness and “oh my gosh it”s so hot” and “I have a blister” and “when are

August 20, 2015

Christian Standard

Thanks, Dan

By Jennifer Johnson Thanks, Dan. It”s been 20 years since high school, and I am still so indebted to my youth minister. I was in high school more years ago than I care to remember, so long before anything Internet that information about our fall retreats, ski trips, CIY conferences, service projects, church camp, parties, and mission trips was communicated via photocopied handouts. Dan Giese arrived at our church early in my middle school career and stayed until long after my high school graduation, so he was the only youth minister my friends and I knew. And he was the

February 27, 2015

Christian Standard

Venturing into the Unknown

By Jennifer Johnson It”s common to hear of youth groups participating in short-term mission trips, both here in the United States and around the world. Usually these trips are meticulously planned with detailed itineraries, long packing lists, and organized daily activities. Calvary Christian Church in Bellevue, NE, does things a little differently. For more than a decade, teens from Calvary have participated in “Destination Unknown,” five-day trips that begin with a surprise. “The morning we”re scheduled to leave, we meet in the church parking lot and draw a distance and a direction (north, south, etc.) from a hat,” says Scott

April 16, 2014

Mark A. Taylor

A Brand-New Life

By Mark A. Taylor I bumped into our backyard neighbor at the grocery store, and the conversation went from the price of groceries to the weather to “How are your kids?” And then she told me, “We”ve been going to church.” She had visited our church once, several years ago, but she had never come back. And I always felt she was embarrassed by that. But  now she was smiling. “The girls love it, and the first Sunday my 13-year-old daughter asked if she could go back that night to youth group.” Then her expression became more earnest. “It”s really

May 30, 2012

Christian Standard

Woman Launches Mentoring Program for Teenage Girls

By Jennifer Taylor When Trinia Arellano was in high school, her four Sunday school teachers were a huge influence in her life. “They loved us, they were the type of women we wanted to be, and we always knew we had a safe place to go with people who would bring us back to God”s Word,” she says. “I have always wanted to be that to another young lady.” When she moved to Germantown, MD, in 2010, she began attending Journey”s Crossing: A Christian Church, and serving as a volunteer leader with youth group. “I was overwhelmed by the things

March 10, 2011

Christian Standard

Church Youth Bring the Blessings

This past Sunday churchgoers received some great food and a special blessing. After the worship service, the youth group at River Hill Church of Christ (Monongahela, PA) surprised the congregation with a pancake breakfast. “As we took our seats, the youth asked us to sit quietly and remember Jesus” example of service when he washed the disciples” feet,” the church shares. “Then they made their way around the room and washed our hands and prayed for each of us individually. . . . They had [also] written a personal letter to every person at the breakfast, thanking us for our

August 8, 2010

Christian Standard

Safe, to Lost, to Saved?

Read Jeff Faull’s response to this article _______________ By John Mark Hicks What is the relationship of our children to the kingdom of God? Within the Restoration Movement we have historically held that children are safe (without sin) until they reach the “age of accountability,” at which time they own their sin and become sinners (guilty). At that point, as I generally understand the theology, children are not only unsafe but also outside the grace of God. They do not belong to the kingdom. Consequently, children (ranging from ages 9-13 generally) are instructed about baptism, their sin, and their need

January 17, 2010

Christian Standard

A Sabbatical for Volunteers

By Wilbur Reid III Volunteer church leaders are busy. In addition to the typically demanding workweek, they have family responsibilities: driving kids to practices, maintaining the lawn, staying up with housework and laundry, and everything else that makes a healthy and happy home. On top of that, they feel a calling and responsibility to support the kingdom of God in their local church. They spend hours each week as elders, deacons, Sunday school teachers, nursery workers, and small group leaders. They maintain the building and grounds, sing in the choir, and work with the youth group. This busyness leads to

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