The Over-Educated Youth Pastor The Over-Educated Youth Pastor The Over-Educated Youth Pastor discusses topics important to youth ministers from the perspective of an author who triples as a Youth Minister, Adjunct Professor of Geography, and Lecturer on Urban and Regional Planning. Articles
Spiritual Shin Splints
2008-01-25 17:57:00 For the past month, I have been running in excess of 20 miles a week. No, I'm not a refined athlete, but this is a lot for a guy who weighed 230 pounds this time last year! It has been fun and refreshing, but because I took November and December off it has resulted in a ferocious case of... More About: Spiritual , Shin
No Point Youth Ministry?
2008-01-23 15:23:00 Friday I introduced three critical questions Andy Stanley and Bruce Willits ask in their book Creating Community. Today I will discuss the first of the three and apply it to youth ministry. 1) What do we want people to become? Andy and Bruce begin their chapter by relating a story from the e... More About: Youth , Ministry , Point , Youth Ministry
No Point Youth Ministry?
2008-01-23 15:23:00 Friday I introduced three critical questions Andy Stanley and Bruce Willits ask in their book Creating Community. Today I will discuss the first of the three and apply it to youth ministry. 1) What do we want people to become? Andy and Bruce begin their chapter by relating a story from the e... More About: Youth , Ministry , Point , Youth Ministry
Contextualize!
2008-01-18 16:01:00 Context is everything. This is true when it comes to Biblical interpretation. It's true when it comes to research the social sciences. Its true when it comes to politics. Its also true in youth ministry. Youth ministry happens in the context of the broader church. Andy...
Contextualize!
2008-01-18 16:01:00 Context is everything. This is true when it comes to Biblical interpretation. It's true when it comes to research the social sciences. Its true when it comes to politics. Its also true in youth ministry. Youth ministry happens in the context of the broader church. Andy...
An Incarnational Greenhouse
2008-01-15 16:53:00 Last week we discussed two things we do not want to grow in our youth ministry greenhouse: Kudzu and Bonzai. What, then, shall we grow? I argue that the answer to this question cannot be provided from “above” through some magical formula, model, or paradigm. Rather, your youth ministry g... More About: Greenhouse , Carnation
An Incarnational Greenhouse
2008-01-15 16:53:00 Last week we discussed two things we do not want to grow in our youth ministry greenhouse: Kudzu and Bonzai. What, then, shall we grow? I argue that the answer to this question cannot be provided from “above” through some magical formula, model, or paradigm. Rather, your youth ministry g... More About: Greenhouse , Carnation
Youth Ministry Bonsai
2008-01-09 16:14:00 Yesterday I discussed the danger of growing kudzu in youth ministry. Today I want to address the opposite - youth ministry bonsai. Bonsai in horticulture is an ancient technique of miniaturizing trees by growing them in small containers. The primary reason someone would want t... More About: Youth , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Bonsai
2008-01-09 16:14:00 Yesterday I discussed the danger of growing kudzu in youth ministry. Today I want to address the opposite - youth ministry bonsai. Bonsai in horticulture is an ancient technique of miniaturizing trees by growing them in small containers. The primary reason someone would want t... More About: Youth , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Kudzu
2008-01-08 16:09:00 For many years, Kudzu was seen as an ally in agriculture because of its ability to eradicate soil erosion. Kudzu can grow as quickly as 1 foot per day and reach lengths of up to 60 feet! Unfortunately, Kudzu was not the panacea agriculturalists originally thought it was because it quickl... More About: Youth , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Kudzu
2008-01-08 16:09:00 For many years, Kudzu was seen as an ally in agriculture because of its ability to eradicate soil erosion. Kudzu can grow as quickly as 1 foot per day and reach lengths of up to 60 feet! Unfortunately, Kudzu was not the panacea agriculturalists originally thought it was because it quickl... More About: Youth , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Outcome-Oriented Greenhouse
2008-01-07 18:03:00 I introduced outcome-oriented youth ministry in October, and discussed it again in the debate on playing Halo with youth. I want to continue this idea today using the metaphor of a greenhouse, which is certainly outcome-oriented. The manager of a greenhouse has some very c... More About: Greenhouse
Outcome-Oriented Greenhouse
2008-01-07 18:03:00 I introduced outcome-oriented youth ministry in October, and discussed it again in the debate on playing Halo with youth. I want to continue this idea today using the metaphor of a greenhouse, which is certainly outcome-oriented. The manager of a greenhouse has some very c... More About: Greenhouse
Youth Ministry Greenhouse
2008-01-04 16:25:00 Through the years I've heard many metaphors used to describe youth ministry, including the funnel, the womb, keys to a home, a pyramid, and of course the PDYM baseball diagram. I'll cover all of these in suffiencient detail in future posts. However, today I would like to suggest a model ... More About: Youth , Greenhouse , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Youth Ministry Greenhouse
2008-01-04 16:25:00 Through the years I've heard many metaphors used to describe youth ministry, including the funnel, the womb, keys to a home, a pyramid, and of course the PDYM baseball diagram. I'll cover all of these in suffiencient detail in future posts. However, today I would like to suggest a model ... More About: Youth , Greenhouse , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Blog Agenda for 2008
2008-01-02 19:43:00 Happy New Year! Welcome back to the new and improved Over-Educated Youth Pastor Blog . Starting this week I have 57 blog postings already researched and ready to launch on topics involving strategic planning in youth ministry, kudzu, creating community, asset-based youth ministr... More About: Agenda , 2008
Blog Agenda for 2008
2008-01-02 19:43:00 Happy New Year! Welcome back to the new and improved Over-Educated Youth Pastor Blog . Starting this week I have 57 blog postings already researched and ready to launch on topics involving strategic planning in youth ministry, kudzu, creating community, asset-based youth ministr... More About: Agenda , 2008
Breaking for the Holidays
2007-12-15 15:12:00 The Over-Educated Youth Pastor blog will be on "break" until the first week of January. During this time I will be finishing a chapter for a book on geography of religion, grading all of the finals from my courses, putting together the strategic plan for ministry at FUMC, preparing f... More About: Holidays , Breaking , The Holidays
Breaking for the Holidays
2007-12-15 15:12:00 The Over-Educated Youth Pastor blog will be on "break" until the first week of January. During this time I will be finishing a chapter for a book on geography of religion, grading all of the finals from my courses, putting together the strategic plan for ministry at FUMC, preparing f... More About: Holidays , Breaking , The Holidays , Breakin
Ministry Shootings Hit Close To Home
2007-12-11 20:00:00 The shootings in Colorado this weekend struck close to home here in West Virginia. One of those killed was the nephew of a former pastor of our church. The event is sobering, and forces all of us engaged in youth ministry to consider what measures we need to take to keep our children and youth safe.... More About: Home , Ministry , Close
Cool Website: YouthRoots.Com
2007-12-10 23:42:00 YouthRoots.com is a faith-based social networking site where religious leaders and their youth members can co-coordinate activities, have discussions and communicate with one another. One of the new features on the site is an advent calendar designed for youth and youth leaders, which off... More About: Website , Cool
It's Stupid!
2007-12-07 22:48:00 I came across an interesting article through the The Ramblings On Blog: YPulse, a site for news and commentary about marketing to young teenagers, recently released a list of five principles for marketing ads to teens. Before introducing the list they mention a phrase that I have heard many times a... More About: Stupid
The History of Youth Ministry
2007-12-06 17:04:00 Check out this video on the history of youth ministry created by the folks at PDYM for the recent Youth Specialties Conference. Warning: there may be a few historical errors... ... More About: History , Ministry , Youth Ministry
Rites of Passage, part 4: Transition
2007-12-03 13:56:00 Part 1; Part 2; Part 3 Perhaps the most important aspect of the rite of passage is the acceptance by the community of the new man. In traditional ROPs, Community support was an important component of the transitional phase because separation from familial boundaries created anxieties in the ch... More About: Part , Transition , Tran , Transit
Dealing With Disappointment
2007-12-02 14:23:00 Last night the unthinkable happened – The West Virginia Mountaineers lost to archrival Pitt in a game that was all but a guaranteed win. Most of us are still earliest stage of grief – denial. How could this happen??? This morning I changed my Sunday School lesson for my youth group, and... More About: Disappointment
Hysterical Sermon Blunder!
2007-12-02 00:28:00 This video has been around for a while, but it is worth repeating here. It is timely for me this week because I brought the message Sunday and made a minor blunder by mixing up the names of some of people in the congregation. I'm glad I didn't mess up as badly as this youth pastor! If... More About: Sermon , Blunder , Lund
Rite of Passage, part 3: The Wilderness!
2007-11-29 13:58:00 Part 1, Part 2 The second “liminal” phase is considered the actual “ritual” of the rite of passage. This is an in-between time where the adolescent is no longer a child, but is not yet an adult either. My liminal phase consists of a five-day hike in the Dolly Sods Wilderness ... More About: Part , Part 3 , Derne
"Ferb" preview
2007-11-28 14:22:00 The other day I mentioned the new Disney cartoon with a character based on my old high school nickname. Here is a preview: More on Rite of passage coming soon...... More About: Preview
Rite of Passage Stage 1: Separation
2007-11-27 22:59:00 In my last post, I discussed how Rites of Passage can be used to help adolescents make the jump from childhood to adulthood. While at Asbury Theological Seminary I took a class from Don Joy on Rite of Passage Trail-Camping and, just a few years later, began my own Rite of Passage backpacking trip i... More About: Separation , Stage
Rites of Passage, part 1
More articles from this author:2007-11-26 14:17:00 Brian Eberly of 180 Student Ministries recently brought up the issue of Rites of Passage on his blog after the parents of one of his middle school students asked him about the value of the concept. In addition to catechism and spiritual disciplines, I believe that Rite of Passage (i.e. maturity... More About: Part 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 |
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