Articles for tag: Youth Ministry

September 18, 2015

Christian Standard

My Father, My Preacher

By Emerson Kennedy Have you ever wondered how much preachers actually do? Some people think ministers preach on Sunday mornings””and that”s all. Had my father not been a preacher, I might have been inclined to agree. However, as a preacher”s kid my entire life, I can say without any hesitation there is a lot more to a preacher”s service than what happens on Sunday mornings. I grew up in a small church of about 100 in western Maryland. And, like all churches, our congregation came with its own set of problems. I want to take you behind the scenes of

September 13, 2015

Christian Standard

From College, for the Church

By T.R. Robertson My sons loved going to church on Wednesday nights when they were little. In 1990 they were stairstep kids, ages 5, 4, and 3, and they were bundles of energy. I have to admit, my boys had a reputation for being a real handful. The teachers needed all the help they could get. Help came in the form of students from Central Christian College of the Bible, Moberly, Missouri, just 30 miles to the north. David, one of those students, remembers the experience well. “I was traveling on Sundays singing for the college during my sophomore year,”

August 24, 2015

Christian Standard

Yes, We Hire Members of the Same Family to Serve on Our Church Staff

By Steve Reeves A megachurch minister with decades of experience explains why and how staff members” spouses and children””including his own son””serve together with him. I have been lead pastor at Connection Pointe Christian Church, Brownsburg, Indiana, for almost 29 years. When my wife and our three preschoolers moved here in July 1986, there was a paid youth minister and a church secretary. It proved to be a wonderful place to minister and an encouraging environment in which to raise our family. Life, church work, and family matters were much simpler when we arrived, although my wife probably wouldn”t use

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

August 20, 2015

Christian Standard

Youth Advance Evolving

By Jennifer Johnson Youth Advance began as a way to build student leaders and recruit them for Christian college. In 1982, representatives from Northeastern Christian Junior College in Villanova, PA, developed the event””with speakers, workshops, worship, and more””as a way to identify and encourage promising high school students in the Northeast and mid-Atlantic. “It wasn”t a youth rally,” says Bill McGee, the vice president. “The idea wasn”t to send your entire youth group. It was for church leaders to handpick a few kids with potential and for the church to pay their way.” Northeastern eventually merged with another college and

July 30, 2015

Christian Standard

Mike Baker’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Mike Baker, senior pastor with Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois. ________ Two men have helped me think both as a Christian and a pastor for nearly 25 years. Both Cal Jernigan, senior pastor at Central Christian Church of Mesa, Arizona, and J.K. Jones, pastor of spiritual formation at Eastview Christian Church, Normal, Illinois, have impacted my thinking in great ways. J.K.

July 26, 2015

Christian Standard

Toney Salva’s Thought Leaders

We asked 35 Christian leaders, “Who is the influencer with the biggest impact on your life and ministry?” Most of these leaders listed several influential thinkers, writers, innovators, and leaders more of us should get to know. This response is from Toney Salva, founding and lead pastor, Discovery Christian Church in Cranberry Township, Pennsylvania. ________ Five individuals have impacted my life in the most profound ways. I grew up without a godly male role model until I met Scott Reinemeyer, my youth minister. He taught me what it meant to be a follower of Jesus and discipled me through my teen years

June 18, 2015

Christian Standard

To All Generations?

See the sidebar, “Understanding and Appreciating the Four Generations“ ________ By Gary Zustiak It seems everywhere you look””from book titles to magazine articles to blog posts””there is a panicked cry about the church”s failure to reach the millennial generation. Josh McDowell is quoted as saying: “It is clear that we have all but lost our young people to a godless culture.”1 The Southern Baptist Convention Council on Family Life”s research indicated “88 percent of evangelical children are leaving the church shortly after they graduate from high school.”2 Eric Tryggestad, in an article entitled “Are We Losing Our Young People?” claims only

April 27, 2015

Christian Standard

Bringing a Missions Mentality to Student Ministry

By Mike Andrews In his book Hurt, Chap Clark describes how today”s teen culture has been largely disconnected from adult society. In fact, teens have become so disconnected, they”ve largely developed a culture foreign to most American adults. Left to blindly lead each other, youth culture tribes have often fallen into patterns of living and thinking that tell them they don”t matter. I spent a recent evening at a community prayer vigil after a series of accidental deaths of far too many of our next generation. Many of these young people died from actions taken under this prevailing philosophy: I”m

April 16, 2015

Christian Standard

19 Ways to Recognize a Hero

By Jennifer Johnson Real heroes don”t wear capes. They can”t fly or leap tall buildings or breathe underwater. Real heroes wear khakis and polo shirts. The younger ones wear jeans and untucked Diesel button-downs with pockets on both pecs. On good days they wear waders in a baptistery. Heroes answer the phone at midnight and change back into the jeans before driving across town to sit with a grieving family. Heroes still get up early the next morning to have breakfast with their kids. Heroes are strong enough to unite opinionated volunteers and gentle enough to dedicate new babies. Heroes

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

February 22, 2015

Christian Standard

Next Gen Preacher Search (Previewing the 2015 NACC)

By Trevor DeVage I never dreamed preaching is what I would be doing. I had my sights set on living out the “American dream.” I was going to be an attorney. I had prepped my entire adolescent life for that path. In high school, I worked for an attorney”s office, was on the mock trial team at our school, and watched Law and Order and Matlock. Preaching was never on my radar””it just couldn”t generate income the way busting criminals would. But something happened during my junior year of high school. I was visiting a friend in the hospital and

November 3, 2014

Christian Standard

Are We Encouraging, or Discouraging Them?

By Larry Monroe How we respond to an applicant for our job can help or hinder his or her future in Christian service. Nowhere is this more important than with how we handle résumés and written job applications. It happens all too often””a résumé is sent in response to a posted position at a church or parachurch organization. The candidate eagerly awaits a reply, wondering what may lie in store for him in some exciting new ministry opportunity. The candidate waits, and waits, and waits. Soon he sends a follow-up note, and then he waits some more.  Too often no

October 6, 2014

Christian Standard

Can a Polygamous Man Be an Elder in the Church?

By Doug Priest Dan Crum and Joe Cluff, along with their families, have served for many years as missionaries among the Maasai people of Kenya. They were interviewed by CHRISTIAN STANDARD contributing editor Doug Priest.   When did each of you arrive in Kenya and what has been your ministry through the years. DAN CRUM: We arrived in Kenya in 1988, and lived in rural Maasailand for 10 years in the ministry of evangelism, church planting, and leadership training. The next three years were focused on producing written materials in the Maasai language, followed by seven years as team leader.

May 22, 2014

Christian Standard

The Other Side of the Table

By David A. Fiensy I”ve served on the ministerial staff of five churches (four of them part-time), and I must say I”ve never had a bad experience with the elders. One hears some horror stories from other ministers, but God has blessed. As a matter of fact, I can remember sitting across the table from elders during meetings and thinking, If I am ever an elder, I hope I can have this guy”s openness to change or that man”s levelheaded understanding of things. Well, now I am sitting on the other side of the table; I am an elder. Things

May 16, 2014

Christian Standard

The Measure of a Church

By Will Thomas All churches count “noses” and “nickels.” That”s a good thing. Most of the time, attendance and finances provide a helpful barometer of what”s happening. But other factors also matter. Churches count what they do because they can. The harder-to-measure goals may too often remain hidden beneath the surface. Some churches look beyond the obvious. All churches could. In fact, looking beyond the obvious is probably one of the common characteristics of larger, growing churches. They know numbers for the sake of numbers seldom lead anywhere. Their leaders know a big church needs a big foundation. Churches that

April 4, 2014

Christian Standard

Strengthening the Foundation of Faith

By Jennifer Johnson Tired of seeing teenagers head off to college and never return to church? Bob Hall has created a Sunday school class for 12th-graders. “There just seemed to be a weak foundation for their faith,” he says. As a nuclear engineer, he could answer many of the students” questions about science, and together they dug into the Bible. He taught the class for seven years. Now, at Velocity Christian Church (Glen Allen, VA), Hall has a bigger vision for a broader age group. “I read science articles and I read the comments,” he says. “We live in a

March 31, 2014

Christian Standard

Elders: Men Churches Can Count On

By Chuck Sackett What kind of church do elders need? Three stories illustrate the answer. Men of Character Sally”s question was wise beyond her years, “What can I expect from you (elders)?” Bill”s answer took the form of an explanation. “When someone approaches us with a complaint, our response will always be, “˜Have you talked with Sally? If not, we have nothing to discuss. If she doesn”t respond to you in a professional or Christian manner, come back and see me. Then we”ll have something to talk about.” Sally, we promise you we will never accept criticism about your ministry

December 20, 2013

Christian Standard

What a Bunch of Hard-core Vegan Pagans Taught Me About Jesus

By Ryan Rasmussen Quite possibly the scariest moment in my life came at age 22, whereupon graduating from Bible college, I was embarking upon my first full-time ministry. I had taken a job as youth pastor at a little church just north of Indianapolis, Indiana. The church sat comfortably between cornfields and was on the outskirts of a blue-collar factory town the Beach Boys used to sing about (Kokomo). The people were nice, the church was great, but I still felt all alone in this new world I had taken by storm. In an effort to kill time and distract

July 9, 2013

Christian Standard

40 Under 40: Abhijeet Lall

ABHIJEET LALL Director of the children”s ministry, Central India Christian Mission Abhijeet Lall works with Central India Christian Mission (CICM) as director of its children”s ministry. Abhijeet loves working with the youth in India. Just 23, Abhijeet has a high connectivity factor with young people. Sixty-five percent of India”s population is under 25 years old. Abhijeet”s challenge is to present the gospel in a way that communicates to India”s youth in an attractive way. Abhijeet and his wife, Katie, are currently investing all their energy in reaching the millions of unreached youth in India through the children”s ministry. Abhijeet is

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