And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full (Matthew 6:5) Occasionally, I break out of Westminster on Sunday mornings to preach or lead worship at another congregation who is in need of a sub. Sometimes, when I’m out at other churches, I h…
Let’s face it, as teenagers go our students these days are extremely busy. Soccer. Hockey. Band. Soccer. Girl Scouts. Boy Scouts. Soccer. Dance team. Cheerleaders. Soccer. Soccer. And all of that is before we even get around to school work, and the crushing weight of homework. So into that busy schedule, imagine if you will, that you would like your student to carry a familiarity with the a…
It always comes up. In conversations around my friends at the seminary, as everyone this time of year is trying to sort out what we're going to be doing next, and many of my friends are desperately searching for jobs, the question is almost always asked: Why would you want to do youth ministry? People have a hard time believing that I would enjoy dodgeball (I do), and week long mission trips…
Exactly in line with Erikson’s works, I have found there to be one major “project” of teen’s high school years. That project is answering the question, “who am I?” As Jason eloquently wrote last week, this is a matter of identity formation, and is a psychological priority for teenagers. This stage is something of a nexus of development for youth ministry. Students who have navigated through the first four …
One of the most prevalent questions in the minds of many teenagers is “so what?” If presented with a great deal of information, even a tremendously beautiful view of the world, we as humans are so frequently compelled to try to figure out what to do with it all. This is why so many students will take an advanced algebra class and come home sighing to themselves and asking “when am I ever going to use t…
