Nathan sent this note today about getting some use out of a parent letter I gave to my small group students’ parents last year. I love knowing people are getting some use out of what I post. It keeps me energized to keep this going. Thanks Nathan! – Dennis 1 Thessalonians 5:11

Filed under: Trophy Case | No Comments »

Every year I have the good intention of impacting my students on the family level, not just in small groups. This year I’ve actually got some good ideas to make that happen. I’ve begun copying parents on e-mails I’ve sent to the entire group so they know specifics about what’s going on; not what my [...]

Filed under: Family Focus, For your newsletter, Relationship Building | 1 Comment »

I caught this article over at YMToday.com about nudging students toward becoming student leaders. While it didn’t have many action steps, it gave a caring way to help students see that ministry is not all about getting, but helping. Here’s a clip. Go there for the rest. For the young people I have worked with, [...]

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Lately, I’ve tried out collaborative counseling with some success. I highly recommend it for a few reasons: 1. I (you) don’t know everything 2. Other people can give wisdom into the same issue from their own experience 3. The student gains a well-rounded pool of information to make an informed decision What is collaborative counseling? [...]

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This is week 3 of a 10-week series. Each week we’ll be writing about different ways that we, as leaders, can effectively be examples to our students. These topics range from relationships to being active in a small group. All of these topics are nuggets every leader can apply to his or her life. It’s [...]

Filed under: Generation to Generation | 1 Comment »

For being a Life Group leader in our high school ministry for over 10 years, I got this card, some movie gift certificates and a book of fun curriculum based on movies called Adrenaline Rush, Flix For Guys from the staff. What a sweet way to say thanks.

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Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com I share this video just as a reminder that even “good” kids do stupid things. In youth ministry, we tend to believe the best in students and give them the benefit of the doubt. However, we must also be wise enough to realize that they can be very good [...]

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Last night we had our Life Group (small group) Leader training. These are the goodies our ministry provided for leaders this year. They did a great job! HSM Folder Ad for Pumpkinfest Life Groups card Free yogurt gift card HSM button HSM stickers HSM pencils, pens & highlighters Birthday cards to send to students Target [...]

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Our Jr High ministry has been doing Choctober the last few Octobers. It’s absolutely brilliant! All of their games involve chocolate somehow.

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Filed under: Resources, Training | No Comments »