I’m always scattering seed in the lives of students with comments like: – When you’re in college… – When you’re a small group leader… – When you lead a cabin at camp… – … These comments assume they are going to take a certain action that they may have not either believed in themselves to [...]

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Heading into the new school year, here are some blog posts youth pastors may want to pass on to volunteers: 1. Handout for Parents of Students in my Small Group – This is a quick list of expectations they can have of me and I will have of their students. It also includes a tip [...]

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Back in the day I was a paid youth pastor fresh out of college, I wasn’t seen as the go-to guy when families sought counseling for or about their teenage kids. I remember feeling bitter as I watched one of my students being counseled by another adult in the foyer of the church for over [...]

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I came across these verses that Jesus quoted regarding himself. This stood as a great reminder to me about Jesus’ nature and approach to ministry: – He didn’t crush the weak reed, but He restored them and put them on the right path – He also didn’t get consumed with his detractors, but did his [...]

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My 3 is a monthly post for paid professionals to speak 3 bits of wisdom or encouragement into this otherwise “by volunteers for volunteers” community. I appreciate Joe Thompson for giving sharing some great insights for Volunteers in August. Here’s what Joe shared: Here are three things I would say to my volunteers if I [...]

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I’m bringing in 5 new students into my small group in the Fall. We’ve been spending a lot of time together this summer getting to know each other. One of the issues that’s come up is the city curfew which is 11:00 for drivers who have had their driver license for less than a year. [...]

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This thought, “You don’t love what you don’t know”, has been rolling around in my brain for about 24 hours. I’ve been thinking about it in terms of our love for God. If we say we love God, but don’t really know him (or spend time trying to know him), then I’m not sure we [...]

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I’ve been asked to put together a training on boundaries for volunteer youth workers. I’d love to have any thoughts you have on the topic. While I could come up with a good project based on my own years of experience, I’d love to have the wisdom of other leaders to fill in some issues [...]

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How To Reach Fringe Students In Your Youth Ministry from Dennis Beckner on Vimeo. I’m very thankful to Matt, Mel, James and Nathan for sharing these great insights about reaching at-risk, fringe students of our ministry. I am confident it will help volunteers everywhere become more confident in this area, lives will be transformed because [...]

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Great reminder for volunteer youth workers to hang in there. Great inspiration for others to sign up to serve.

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