Weston Blaha

Category: Youth Ministry

  • Keeping the Fire Alive: Parenting Beyond Camp

    Keeping the Fire Alive: Parenting Beyond Camp

    For fifteen years, I walked alongside teenagers in youth ministry. This week, I have the privilege of leading a youth camp that gathers students in our presbytery for a week of worship, the Word, and wild games. I’ve witnessed the mountaintop moments over the years of summer camp—the tearful confessions, the arms lifted in praise, and hearts awakened to the beauty of Christ and his work on our behalf.

    But I’ve also seen what happens two weeks later. What was burning becomes dim. What was fresh fades into habit. Parents (and often the students) ask, “What happened? Camp was so powerful—why didn’t it last?”

    Here’s the hard truth: summer camp was never meant to last on its own.

    “Mountaintops are for views and inspiration, but fruit is grown in the valley.”
    —Billy Graham

    The Campfire Needs a Fireplace

    In Deuteronomy, Moses stands on the edge of the Promised Land and speaks to a generation who had not been at Sinai. They hadn’t seen the plagues. They hadn’t walked through the sea. And yet, Moses doesn’t lower the bar or appeal to sentiment. He calls them to covenantal faithfulness rooted in doctrinal clarity and community accountability.

    “These words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children…” (Deut. 6:6–7)

    The command is not first to the elders or “pastors.” It is to the parents. Israel was not told to rely on charismatic prophets or emotional gatherings. The Word was to be engraved in the home.

    And the surrounding chapters make this clear: doctrine is not a list of abstract ideas—it’s the story of God’s faithfulness, taught and embodied daily. Deuteronomy is thick with covenantal rhythm: teaching at meals, binding Scripture on hands and foreheads, writing it on doorposts (6:8–9), reenacting it in liturgical ceremony (ch. 27), and calling the whole community to live in view of blessings and curses.

    In short: Christian formation was never meant to be outsourced.

    Truth Witout Roots Will Wilt

    Let’s borrow one of Jesus’ favorite illustrations, and use it in a slightly different context: At camps and conferences, we plant and water seeds. Sometimes they sprout fast. Sometimes they sprout slow. But unless they take root in the soil of the local church and the water of Word-saturated homes, they will wither.

    Research confirms this: according to studies from Lifeway and Barna, nearly two-thirds of teens who are active in church during high school will walk away from the church in their twenties—most of them beginning that drift during late high school and early college. The drop-off doesn’t happen after graduation—it begins long before.

    Why? Often it’s not because they reject Christianity outright. It’s because they were never deeply rooted in the first place. They had inspiration but lacked integration. They were moved but not formed.

    A Fireplace for the Fire

    Your students need more than campfire worship–they need a fireplace to keep the flame hot. When fire is kept in a fireplace, it is easy to stoke, revive, or increase in temperature. It is when you pull it out of the fireplace that the fire begins to struggle. It loses heat quicker. It’s exposed to outside elements. Once the flame loses its heat, we end up doing weird and foreign things to keep it going. We stop putting in wood. We hit it with a 5-second squirt of lighter fluid. We toss in paper trash. In short, we use abnormal means to revive the flame so it can burn at an acceptable level. But the only true and lasting remedy is simple: Put the fire back in the fireplace.

    So, the question becomes: is your home a fireplace? What about your church? Or do you find yoursleves constantly doing weird things to keep your child interested in their spiritual walk? Your student needs more than campfire worship a couple times each year. They need:

    • Doctrinal instruction at both home and the church that connects their identity to the story of redemption (Deut. 5–11)
    • Moral worldview shaped by God’s law as wisdom and life (Deut. 4:6; 30:19)
    • Ritual rhythms that habituate faith—church attendance, communion, prayer, confession (Deut. 12; 26)
    • Covenant community that calls them back when they stray (Deut. 29)

    You don’t have to be a Bible scholar to do this. But you do need to be present. The Word of God is not just a Sunday event—it’s a way of life. And the home is the primary stage.

    A Word to Parents

    If you’ve sent your kid to camp, thank you. Seriously. It matters.

    But please don’t see camp as the climax of their spiritual year. See it as a spark. A moment to build on. A reminder that your child is being invited into something deeper than a one-week experience—they are being summoned into a lifelong covenant with the living God.

    And in that covenant, you have a vital role. The same God who said, “I will be your God, and you shall be my people,” also said, “Teach them diligently to your children.” Camp can light the fire. But the fireplace—that’s your home. Your church. Your rhythms.

    Let’s not give our kids an emotional high and then abandon them to spiritual cold–that’s just “lighter-fluid Christianity.” Let’s give them doctrine. Let’s give them covenant. Let’s give them Christ, again and again.

  • The Billy Graham Crusades Were Good, Right?

    The Billy Graham Crusades Were Good, Right?

    At some point in the modern American model of Christian church growth, a subtle yet significant shift occurred—let’s call it the “Billy Graham” shift. In 1948, Billy Graham began his “crusades,” which reached an estimated 210 million people in over 185 countries. The obvious merit of these events was the explosion of the Gospel message across the globe. Many Christians today point back to one of those crusades as the moment they became secure in their salvation in Jesus Christ, and for that I am genuinely grateful. However, I believe that there is a rarely-discussed downside to the crusades, which is worth exploring.

    What happens when a generation of Christians are saved with the words, “This is about you and Jesus—no one else?” I still see this all the time in youth ministry culture. When the moment arrives for the altar call at the end of camp, the speaker wants everyone to close their eyes and bow their heads. Then, he calls for students to stand up if they feel that Jesus is calling them. One of the encouragements in this moment is usually something along the lines of, “This isn’t about what anybody else is doing, don’t worry about them—this is about you and Jesus.”

    For what its worth: this is technically correct. The moment of faith, the moment of regeneration, is not something between the student, the crowd, the speaker, and Jesus. It is an act of the Holy Spirit to enable the student to embrace Jesus as Lord and Savior. But the problem is what happens next: the student comes forward, everyone cheers and celebrates, and then life goes on.
    That speaker goes home.
    Those students from other churches go home.
    That new, teenaged Christian goes home—often to non-Christian environments.
    And what is left?
    Just that student and Jesus.

    The Christian life was never meant to be an exclusively personal experience.
    One of the most significant reasons for bringing a child to the temple for circumcision in the Old Testament was to make a public statement that the child was a member of the covenant community and would be raised as such. In baptism today, we see the same idea: public, visible inclusion with the body of Christ. And herein lies the shift: we celebrate public inclusion via baptism, yet the moment afterwards demand our relationship with Christ be between “me and Jesus.”

    And this has significant ramifications:
    Church discipline for those living in sin is lacking, to say the least.
    Accountability for those who are church members, yet routinely neglect the gathering of the saints, is dismissed.
    Jesus can be worshipped on the ball field, lake, or deer stand.
    Jesus can be worshipped via livestream or podcasts.

    I believe that the problem Billy Graham furthered was that of the “personal Jesus,” the Jesus in my heart. And while, yes, Jesus is in every way our personal Lord and Savior, he is also our corporate Lord and Savior. He not only saves the stones which build his temple, he sets them in place among the other stones. There is no defense in the Scriptures for a Christian who chooses to be disjoined from the fellowship of believers. There is no argument to be made that the Christian life can be walked alone. We are stones of the temple. We are members of a body. You cannot claim the name of Christ yet reject his body.

    When this happens:
    Finding a church turns into church-shopping (and hopping).
    Church discipline becomes offensive.
    Church membership seems irrelevant.
    The body cannot function as it should.
    Iron cannot sharpen iron.
    It is their decision, their Jesus, their faith—please don’t confuse it with Christ’s temple, Christ’s body, or Christ’s church.

    Unfortunately, the Billy Graham movement pushed forward the Great Awakening’s uniquely independent strand of Christianity.
    I don’t believe it was intentional.
    I don’t believe he was aware of it.
    I don’t believe it is his fault.
    I don’t believe the crusades were all bad.
    But I do believe this is a reality that must be addressed.

    The corporate body of Christ must recover from an ideology of individualism and autonomy. Friends, embrace the body of Christ. Join a local church. Be honest about your faith. Be willing to be vulnerable. Don’t deprive the body of your gifts, nor you of theirs.

    We are stones of the temple, parts of the body, members of his Church. There are no biblical grounds for having it any other way.

  • A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    A Youth Ministry From Scratch

    So, I’m starting a youth ministry from scratch. My new church has one consistent youth-aged student attending, with the potential of some friends or inconsistent others. In my fifteen years of youth ministry experience, I have always had–at the very least–some form of critical mass. This will be a very different experience.

    So, as I have been praying and considering how to begin with one student, I came up with six tips for growing a youth group with one student.

    1. Prepare as if I am expecting twenty students. Now, I should clarify, this does not mean I am ordering pizza for twenty students. But it does mean that my preparation time, the amount of effort and thought that will go into games, lessons, projects, or events will be the same as if I were preparing for twenty. Whatever the activity–make it the best activity possible for the student(s) who come.
    2. Engage community events. When critical mass is hard to drum up, go find it. This means being more active in local schools, activities, and events. Go to where the people are and take your group with you.
    3. Invite the community. One of the more common complaints I hear from youth directors is “no one brings any friends.” Maybe we can discuss why that might be in another post, but for the sake of this post we need to be prepared to invite students ourselves. Remember, the youth ministry is a ministry to and for the youth of your church. It is really not their job to bring people, although it would be wonderful if they would.
    4. Be visible in the community. The easiest mistake for a small church to make is to hide within its own walls. Small churches have the ability to use the precision of a surgeon in reaching their community. Get out there and make your church a name in the community.
    5. Embrace change. Growth will mean change. Think about it: in a small group, one new student can shift the types of games, activities, and interests of the group. Small youth groups need to learn to break out of the small “clique” environment where everyone knows your name, and become comfortable with the changes that growth will demand.
    6. Be Patient. Perhaps the most difficult piece of advice for me to handle. I am an instant gratification person. I want to see immediate results. But growth takes time and time requires patience.

    So, there it is. If I were going to give advice to myself, this is what it would be.

    It will not be easy.

    It will not be immediate.

    But it will bear fruit.

    It will grow the kingdom.

    And that is the calling of the ministry.

  • A Brief Plea for Sunday School

    A Brief Plea for Sunday School

    What Changed: One of the more significant shifts in evangelical Christianity in the 21st century is the priority and implementation of small groups. Let me be the first to say that small groups are necessary and powerful. They should be an element of every church’s programming, primarily because they are heavy in discipleship and application. That being said, I think the focus on small groups has had an unintended negative consequence on the church. I believe this shift to be a significant player in the decline of biblical literacy and the overall deterioration of orthodox faith in America. A major reason is that small groups have been chosen to replace Sunday School. Warning: I am about to argue something that is not very popular today.

    That’s enough of a preamble, so here it is: We must keep and prioritize Sunday School. Here’s why: Sunday school has traditionally been the primary hour focused on biblical knowledge growth in the weekly church calendar. But, as Sunday School is slowly replaced with small groups, this vital element of the Christian “faith-diet” has been phased out. The hour of biblical knowledge growth isn’t being replaced with something equal. Instead, Sunday school is being substituted with small groups. And as noted above, small groups are wonderful, but ask the question: is a small group focused on increasing biblical knowledge or does it emphasize application, community, fellowship, and discipleship? Research shows that the primary goal of small groups for most churches is not growth in biblical knowledge.*

    Don’t get me wrong: what small groups offer is desperately needed. However, we shouldn’t offer application, community, and fellowship while sacrificing the pursuit of growth in biblical knowledge. We are to meditate on the Word of the Lord day and night (Ps 1:2). The Word of the Lord provides understanding to the simple (Ps 119:130). The Scriptures hold us back from sin (Ps 119:11). Peter implores, “But grow in the good will and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). You cannot be more like a Christ that you do not know.

    Thus, my simple argument for Sunday School is that the church needs it because that focused time of biblical knowledge growth is not being replicated elsewhere. Instead, we have “cut out” a structured season of biblical knowledge growth and replaced it with application, community, and fellowship. At worst, the result can be a people who sincerely love a God they do not truly know. I want to clarify that I’m not suggesting people without Sunday School are ignoring Scripture. Still, I am arguing that the focus of Sunday School—biblical knowledge growth–isn’t being replaced in most circumstances. Add the statistical reality that people read their Bibles less and less each year, and we can begin to see a problem.

    One last thought on the Scriptures: Reading large chunks of the Bible together and providing a time when biblical knowledge growth is the focus will teach the church about the God they worship. Application focuses on you: What are you going to do now. Biblical knowledge focuses on God: “In the beginning God.” The Bible is about God. By reading the Bible more–by growing in the knowledge of God’s Word–we learn who God truly is.

    So that being said, I want to ask this: Do you participate in Sunday School? If not, why? Can you identify somewhere else in your week that you enjoy an equal amount of dedicated biblical knowledge growth?

    Friends, you cannot hide the Word of the Lord in your heart if you do not know it, to begin with.

    *https://orangekidmin.com/changing-from-sunday-school-to-church-small-groups/

  • Youth Ministry “Monsters Under the Bed”

    Youth Ministry “Monsters Under the Bed”

    What are those things that student ministry leaders fear? I am not talking about injuries, teaching a poor lesson, or forgetting to register for summer camp. I’m thinking about those deep-seated issues that tend to surface at night like monsters from under the bed. Here’s the thing about monsters under the bed: we don’t like to talk about them. We prefer to turn off the light, run to the bed, and pull the covers over our eyes. But, if you are ever going to rid yourself of the monsters, you need to clear what’s under the bed. In this post, I want to focus on five monsters that healthy Student Ministry Leaders must vanquish, or at the very least, shine the flashlight upon.

    1. Fakeness

    One of the saddest quirks that I commonly see in youth ministry is leaders who aren’t personally invested in the lives of their students. It’s not that they do not like the students they work with or even wish they were doing something else. However, they put on such a quality job of pretending to be invested that church leadership, parents, teens, and sometimes even themselves can often not identify what’s amiss. Deep down, these students and parents know something is “off” but lack the experience or face-time to recognize it quickly. Now, it’s worth noting that students will eventually notice. Teens are experts at identifying “fake” but often poor at articulating it. If you find yourself struggling to have meaningful relationships with your teens, ask if this monster is haunting you.

    2. High School Onlyist

    There is a section of people known as “King James Version Only Bible Readers,” otherwise known as KJV Onlyists. Thus, “High School Onlyists” would be those who put the overwhelming emphasis of their ministry focus upon the high school students (if you are hired as a High School Pastor/Director, you are excluded from this category). If you oversee both Middle School and High School yet allow the High School to dominate your attention and time, you won’t have a High School soon. When building and sustaining a youth ministry, you must focus on the groups coming up. This means you should value the Children’s ministry’s success. You should invest in the goofy Middle School students who will one day be the all-too-cool High School students. HS Onlyism leads to dying ministries, cliques, and often, a job search.

    3. Fear of Parents 

    This is usually a monster endured by young or immature youth leaders. The young leader often views the parents of their students much like the students do: as their parents. This can make it difficult to stand your ground in a disagreement or take the initiative to ask a parent out to coffee. Additionally, for immature youth leaders, parents are a threat. In my experience, one of the signs of an insecure and immature youth leader is that they do not want parents anywhere around the ministry. This may not be a universal rule, but it is common. If this is you, click on the flashlight and point out the monster.

    4. Isolation from Mentorship

    Everyone needs a mentor—someone you can text, call or meet on a whim. Having a mentor does not need to be a formal, contractual arrangement. Instead, it needs to be a relationship of trust, one in which you can hear the difficult truths about yourself or your actions. This also requires someone willing to be honest. There is nothing worse than making big decisions that will affect your students’ lives and making them alone. Find a mentor. Listen to their advice. This monster will debilitate you and undermine your confidence.

    5. Being the Smartest Person in the Room

    Now, this one is different than the others. I would hope that an adult youth leader would be the smartest person in a room full of teens—at least as far as biblical knowledge and wisdom are concerned. However, the danger of always being the smartest person in the room is that you minister without a challenge to grow. This is one of the benefits of having adults in the room. You are not only preparing for the teens, some of whom are very young, but you are preparing a lesson that the parents will judge. We can slump into low-effort teaching all too often because it only takes low effort to impress and challenge the students. Don’t fall into this trap!

    Well, there they are, five monsters that youth leaders face hiding under the bed. What would you add to this list?

  • Retreat with Purpose

    Retreat with Purpose

    I recently returned from one of our church’s yearly youth trips. This particular camp was called “Elevate.” Elevate is a retreat in Gatlinburg, TN, that offers a ski package and a non-ski package (this little piece of information will be relevant shortly). Our students love this retreat, but usually for different reasons than the adults and leaders.

    Why Retreat?

    While often not acknowledged, a time of retreat is a biblical concept. Moses would retreat to his tent to meet with YHWH. David often withdrew from his duties to be in the presence of the Lord. Jesus retreated to the mountain to be alone after the death of John the Baptist. Retreats are necessary and should be intentional. But, the intent of a retreat matters. In other words, it should have a clear and identifiable purpose.

    The Intent of a Retreat

    The intent of a retreat can be varied. For some, it is a time to address unconfessed sins. For others, a retreat is to remove oneself from the chaos of everyday life and slow down. For Elevate, the retreat is for our adults and students to have a steroid shot of relational interaction, which would have taken months or longer to achieve during “normal” youth programming. Experience has taught me that when volunteers and parents attend a youth retreat, a level of friendship is formed that is almost impossible to achieve in everyday life.

    This reality leads us to why I mentioned Elevate’s two options: ski and non-ski packages. Suppose I am seeking to build relational capital between my students and volunteers/adults. In that case, I need to attend a camp where I can bring as many students and volunteers/chaperones as possible. In other words, if I choose to participate in a retreat in which skiing is the only option, I will lose a third of my students, and they will miss out on the relationships. But, if I attend a retreat with no event “allure” to it, I will fail to attract my fringe students and their friends with whom I hope to build relationships. So, knowing why you are retreating and who you are trying to reach should be the primary factor in choosing where you retreat.

    Our students love Elevate because they can ski, worship, and be relatively free to do what they want within the guidelines provided. Our volunteers love Elevate because they can ski, walk the city, and learn more about the youth ministry at Lakeside. Finally, I love Elevate because it offers 85 hours of a relational steroid injected straight into my students, volunteers, and leaders. We have our winter retreat at Elevate because we need to focus on knowing each other well and creating a culture where everyone has a friend when they arrive at church.

    Conclusion

    Leaders, if your church is not “retreating” with relationships being one of the goals in mind, I would ask that you evaluate why you retreat. Please, don’t be afraid to bring new volunteers and parents; it’s beautiful to see the entire body invested in the students.

    Volunteers, please know the value you bring and your impact on the teens in your church. Your youth ministry cannot thrive without godly, present volunteers invested in the student community. Thank you!

    Parents, if you have never volunteered to chaperone a retreat, I would encourage you to do so. You will not regret it.

    Retreat well and retreat with purpose!

  • Youth Leaders: Surviving Upheaval

    Youth Leaders: Surviving Upheaval

    I firmly believe that the kingdom of God grows by the proclamation of the Word. There is no salvation without the Gospel of “Christ and him crucified.” The truth of the Gospel builds and prepares the church for upheaval. That being said, there is another important reality for those who fulfill the “director,” “coordinator,” or “assistant” roles in the church: expectations.

    In times of upheaval, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, the men and women serving the church were asked to sustain the same level of effectiveness as they had previously achieved—which is a daunting and often under-appreciated request. Unfortunately, events like the pandemic (1) take a heavy toll on church leaders and (2) inevitably bring leadership weaknesses to the surface.  

    Because of this, I have done much research regarding the characteristics of youth leaders who weathered the pandemic well. The following represents the findings from my surveys.

    Youth Directors who weathered the pandemic well:

    1. Were well-established in their churches pre-Covid. This might seem like an obvious characteristic, but it often goes unrecognized. Why does Sally, who seemed to work less over the pandemic, see her group return faster than Timmy, who has worked harder than before COVID? In most cases, it is because Timmy is only a short way into his tenure, and his relationships can’t withstand the shock of a national shut-down or in-person restrictions. On the other hand, Sally is benefitting greatly from her deep-rooted relationships. 
    2. Creative Thinkers. This type of leader can think outside the youth ministry box and connect with his youth group despite the social and physical regulations. I have yet to take a seminary course that teaches how to minister via Zoom screens to teenagers. Creative thinkers find ways to interact in an appealing, engaging manner that non-creative thinkers often struggle to duplicate.
    3. Intelligent Mimickers. I believe this to be the most under-appreciated and under-developed skill among youth ministry leaders. This person can see what someone else is doing well and import it into their own ministry context. They also recognize that just because something works across town (or the country) doesn’t necessarily mean it will work at their church.
    4. Strong Disciplers. Event-focused ministries suffered greatly in the pandemic. However, small-group discipleship models thrived because, though the form may have changed, the content and expectations did not. Additionally, strong disciplers are more confident and comfortable in smaller settings and more equipped to interact in that environment.
    5. Hard Workers. This is the final characteristic of youth directors who weathered the pandemic well. As the saying goes, hard work always pays off. In a time of unprecedented chaos, those who woke up ready to grind were able to overcome many of the hurdles set before them by the pandemic.

    Upheaval and chaos are realities in our fallen world. As such, the church should expect these disruptions, both physical and spiritual. The pandemic has taught us that we cannot depend on “the norm” forever, and as such, much be equipped for storms when they arrive. The calling of ministry is to feed the flock, and the conditions will not always be ideal. 

    What skills were you lacking when the pandemic arrived? What skills did you notice among ministry leaders who weathered the pandemic well? Is there anything you would add to this list?

  • Taking Over After the “Last Person”

    Taking Over After the “Last Person”

    Beginning at a new church can be tricky–to say the least. Sometimes, student ministry leaders are hired to follow the local church “legend.” But, more often than not, youth directors are hired to replace a previous youth director who was less-than-legendary. How do we know that? The national average student ministry leader tenure is 18 months!

    To begin, its worth noting that nobody likes to hear someone blame their issues on the last guy. Ask every president in our nation’s history. You only get away with blaming the last guy for a couple months, then it’s your problem. Why is that? Because the people who hired you KNEW the issues with the person before you, and that’s why they hired you. They hired you to fix it: so, fix it.

    Some thoughts about following the last guy:

    1. Be honest and identify the weaknesses in your ministry. Believe me, your church knows the existing issues, and blaming them on someone who is no longer filling the student ministry role will not endear you towards your parents and co-workers. However, your church will appreciate the honest assessment of the ministry. Blaming and identifying are two completely different approaches.
    2. Set realistic goals to strengthen the ministry areas that are weak. It’s not enough to identify the weaknesses, you must take the proper steps to improve them. If you don’t know how to do that, ask for help. Humility goes a long way.
    3. Build on what worked well before you got there. If the person preceding you had an element of their ministry that was absolutely amazing, give them their due credit! Then, keep that momentum going. The only thing worse than trying to claim credit for an aspect of the ministry for which you have no right claiming, is killing an aspect of ministry that is thriving. The pettiness will be obvious to the church.
    4. Don’t blame COVID-19. This may seem unfair, but it’s true. Everyone is in the same boat. Everyone is struggling. Everyone has lost relational connections. Everyone is trying to rebuild momentum. Yes, COVID-19 was/is real, and had/has a tangible impact. The reality of the pandemic should be acknowledged. However, don’t be the person who spends the next 6-8 months blaming your woes on COVID-19: be creative, work harder than ever, and be the innovator your church hired you to be.
    5. Embrace Community. The local church is where the kingdom grows. Love your members, be gracious when they fail (because you will want grace from them when you fail), and minister to the flock as if this is the last church you will every have the joy of serving.
  • “Rollercoaster” Doesn’t Do It Justice

    “Rollercoaster” Doesn’t Do It Justice

    Even though we have all been through it, describing the teenage experience is difficult. This is because we don’t have many words or concepts that accurately carry the depth of expression required. In the absence of such a descriptor, one of the most common expressions is, perhaps, that of a rollercoaster. This seems fair because a rollercoaster tends to illustrate the significant ups and downs of puberty and adolescence. However, earlier this week, I was given the best representation, thus far, of teenage life by one of my good friends, Abhishikth Babu: weather.

    If the stability of adult culture can be explained as “climate,” that of youth culture is “weather.” Climate is primarily unvarying: hot, mild, cold, tropical, arctic, humid—we know what those terms generally mean, and climate takes years to change in any substantial manner.

    But the weather is different. Weather is volatile and turbulent—sunny one day, rainy the next; warm in the sun, cold in the shade; there’s hail, snow, sleet, heatwaves, droughts, and flash floods. The weather is anything but unvarying.

    Parents, your world can mainly be defined in terms of climate. You have a relatively stable understanding of what happens each day, very little comes as a surprise, but if something “pops up,” you have the wisdom and experience to deal with it.

    Climatologists require a 30-year record of daily weather before designating the recurring patterns as “climate.” In much the same way, parents have 30 years of life experience before they begin to settle into their own climate. The challenge is to remember this when dealing with your children, who have a 40% chance of social and emotional thunderstorms on any given day. In other words, they will have surprise storms that they don’t have the experience to handle. Unfortunately, you cannot shield them from all of these storms. If you try, you end up creating an entirely different set of problems. So, this means that you must learn how to react to their issues in a healthy, calming manner. If their weather affects your climate, you’re both going to be in for some violent climate change.

    Here are some tips:
    1. Be present.
    2. Listen.
    3. Be slow to anger.
    4. Don’t fuel the storms.

    Please don’t allow your teen’s weather to change your climate. Be the stability they need.

    Please be hesitant to label your teen’s storms as climate. When you do so, you provide them an excuse to ignore learning how to cope.

    Please weather the storms well.

    Fathers, don’t provoke your children to wrath. -Eph. 6:4
    Mothers, open your mouth with wisdom, and the teaching of kindness is on your tongue. –Prov. 31:26
    Children, obey your parents. -Eph. 6:1

  • The Next Culture Shift in Student Ministry

    The Next Culture Shift in Student Ministry

    As anyone who has “been around” student ministry recognizes, youth ministry is ever-shifting. It’s not that the content changes, nor the need. All of that remains the same. But the method, or form, changes. In other words, how you “do ministry” should adapt over the years. For example, in the ’90s, youth ministry was often event-driven. In the 2000s, youth ministry became Small Group focused. In the 2010s, the central impulse became that of “mobilizing students.” So what will be the “big thing” in student ministry in the upcoming years?

    I will never forget the 2018 discussion that I had with a youth director and friend. We discussed what was working in our ministries, what wasn’t, and what we thought the future held. Then, without any irony in his voice, this 20-year youth ministry vet said, “You know what I’ve come to realize? Small groups. That’s it. That’s what the kids need.”

    While I am happy that my friend came to this realization, it was unfortunate that he was years behind the curve on this issue. Small groups, aka discipleship, have always been a need. It’s not merely a fad. All of the significant ministry “movements” are necessary, but we need to ensure they occupy their proper place in the church. Balance is crucial.

    Most youth directors get this. We balance games and teaching, worship and service. We balance private school and public school, discipleship and outreach. But, in the past two years, COVD-19 has sent a shockwave through youth ministries around the world. For every youth ministry that thrived, two others fell apart. That shouldn’t be shocking news. The shocking news should be the decline in school attendance.

    What’s Happening to School Attendance?
    According to ThinkImpact.com, from 2019 to the autumn of 2020, the percentage of American homeschooled students increased from 3.4% to 9%. It is easy to explain that number by the COVID-19 shutdowns because it was the primary factor. However, of that number, 54% of the new homeschool families (2.8% of the 5.6% increase) plan to homeschool indefinitely. This means that homeschooling as almost doubled in eighteen months. Additionally, with many jobs now permanently assigned as “work from home” employment, experts believe there will be a further significant increase in the homeschool population in upcoming years.

    Why does this matter to Youth Directors?
    This matters because I believe that youth ministry is in for its next significant shift: the homeschool movement. As a result, Student Ministry Leaders need to begin programming ministry accordingly, planning activities that caters to this growing demographic. Obviously, I don’t mean ALL programming should happen during school hours. Continue doing what you are doing for the private and public school students. Go to games, dances, plays, FCA events, See You At The Pole, and more. Continue meeting those students where they are. However, culture demands Student Ministry Leaders add another ripple to their ministry–the homeschool focus.

    If the homeschool population is about to burst, you need to consider incorporating programming explicitly geared for homeschoolers. While I know that homeschoolers are typically not who youth ministries gear outreach and connectional activities around due to being a relatively low percentage of the teen population, things are changing. Do not ignore this and fall behind. It’s time to add another “movement” into balance with the rest of our youth ministry strategy.