Sometimes I get asked if a church can allow 6th graders (elementary students) to attend The Landing (recovery for jr high and high school students). Here’s how I answer that question: ___ That’s up to the discretion of the church. At Saddleback Church, I don’t allow 6th graders or those who have graduated high school [...]

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I loved this Q&A Doug Fields did with a veteran volunteer youth worker. Here’s a clip, head over to Group to read the entire interview. It’s quite long, but full of great insights about volunteer youth ministry from the volunteer perspective (the heart of this blog). Fields: What are some of the primary reasons that [...]

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Today a friend asked me, “If you had a 13 year old daughter, would you let her have a blog?” I love the idea of teenagers blogging. It’s a great outlet for their ideas. Also, the writing experience will help them: – Process their thoughts and feelings – Develop their writing skills – Possibly discover [...]

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I would love to generate some interaction between youth workers on VolunteerYouthMinistry.com. Do you have questions or need advice? Fill out the form below. I’ll post my thoughts and other youth workers will be able to chime in through the comments section.

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Tonight a high school ministry leader asked for some advice. Here’s the situation and my thoughts. I’d love to know what you think. Please post a comment if you have something to share. Basic details: – Female student stopped coming to small group – Won’t return phone calls – Weeks later when a leader has [...]

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Hey Dennis, So I have been attempting to meet up with my student since Wednesday, but she has canceled on me a couple times, and she just told me she probably wouldn’t be at Bible Study on Wednesday because she’s failing all her classes and needs to study. So, what do I do at this [...]

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This is part 3 of a 4-part interview with Tom and Marla. In this segment, Tom, a 16-year veteran volunteer, answers questions and gives great advice about teaching a small group of high school boys. Here are links to the other videos in this series: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Be sure [...]

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Hey Dennis! My name is Kate. I’m a volunteer with a youth ministry here at St. Paul UMC in Jacksonville, FL. I’ve been reading your blog for a while now – I got hooked from More Than Dodgeball. I hated being a teenager and so I find it incredibly strange that I’m helping and LOVING [...]

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This is part 1 of a 4-part interview with Tom and Marla. Before leaving after several years of service in our student ministry, we sat together to discuss what they’ve learned about youth ministry and what they would tell new volunteers. Look for the second segment to be posted next week. Here are links to [...]

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Dennis, How do you ensure the personal integrity/moral standing of your Youth Volunteer? How do you empower youth workers to work on themselves while removing them from working with youth when an activity they are indulged in (that go against what your group preaches..ie: pre-marital sex, drugs, alcohol, etc) is brought to light? Thanks again [...]

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