Youth Pastors Agree: Church Is So Whack
April 9, 2012 By 8 Comments
What to Say to a Gay Kid in Your Youth Group
February 16, 2012 By 10 Comments
Rachel Swan has some advice:
Q: Say I have a youth group member who has “come out” and decided to tell me: what are some things I should do and should not do?
A: Love them. Like any other kid, love them. Help them love themselves, know they are loved, protect them from harm and danger. Give them resources to care for their bodies and souls. Tell them they are beautiful and loved by God. Give them opportunities to see what God is calling them to do with the gifts they have been given. In short, treat them like any other kid. Because the fact is, they are just another child of God. Whole, beautiful and loved.
I just don’t view being lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender as being an “other” – any different than a kid who is left handed or has red hair and freckles. Its just another gift in my eyes. The sooner we can set aside our differences in Christ, we can focus on what binds us together in Christ; love. The kind that passes all understanding, comprehension or reason.
via questions and answers: come out come out « The Sweet Bi and Bi.
A Thought About the National Youth Workers Convention (#NYWC)
November 22, 2011 By 34 Comments
I attended the National Youth Workers Convention over the weekend in Atlanta. I’ve been going for many years — first as an exhibitor (for YouthWorks, who now owns the conference), then as a speaker for 10 years, and now as an exhibitor (again).
I went to a couple sessions this year, in addition to having many meetings. The new Theological Forums were a great addition, in my opinion. They’ve got to mature a bit, I think, but they’ve got real potential. I was supposed to be on some panels this year, but my name was removed from the list (more on that below).
Tony Campolo
Another session I attended was Tony Campolo‘s, “Recasting Theology for Postmodern Students.” Tony premised his remark on what I have called evangelicals’ “Paulophlia.” Evangelicals, he argued, see the gospel exclusively through the lens of Paul — specifically through the first eight chapters of Romans. Not coincidentally, this is also the conflict at the beginning of Scot McKnight’s The King Jesus Gospel, which I’m reading now and will blog about next week.
Campolo used this problem to introduce his concept of “red letter Christianity,” in which the words of the New Testament that are attributed to Jesus take precedence over the rest of the text. This is a hermeneutical principle that Campolo is introducing, and as a hermeneutical principle, it’s got some problems.
But that’s not what I’m thinking about today. I actually have a sociological observation, instead of a theological one:
Youth Ministry Round-Up
November 18, 2011 By Leave a Comment
Here’s some stuff going on in the youth ministry world that is of note:
- The National Youth Workers Convention takes place this weekend, with the addition of Theological Forums. I think this is an excellent development.
- I presented a paper at the Association of Youth Ministry Educators this fall, arguing that evangelical youth ministry is directly responsible for the Emerging Church Movement, which is a bit ironic since evangelicals have turned bearish on the movement. A version of that paper is in the current issue of Immerse Journal, which you can download for free here.
- The latest iteration of re:form has been released. This one is called re:form ancestors, and it’s a character-based study of the Hebrew Scriptures (see video below). A New Testament edition is next in the queue.
Save $50 on the Princeton Youth Ministry Forum
November 8, 2011 By Leave a Comment
The Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry is one of the premier gatherings in field. In 2012, the Forum is expanding beyond New Jersey to take place in California. Santa Barbara, to be exact. In January. Get the hint.
Great speakers this include some of the usual suspects (Kenda Dean, etc.) as well as some Californians (who I nominated to speak): Marianne Meye Thompson and Rebecca Ver Stratten-McFarren. The theme is “Create“:
As you take a deep look into your own soul and into the creative heart of the Gospel, help us ask insightful questions about the creative expressions of youth culture. Today, young people are awash in a sea of brands and pop-culture icons, but at the Princeton Forum on Youth Ministry we seek to immerse youth in the waters of their baptism – to unleash the creative power of the Holy Spirit who has called them by name and commissioned them to go “into all the world.”
And, if you register by the end of this month, you’ll save $50 on the registration fee.
What’s stopping you? 
Who’s To Blame for the Emerging Church Movement (Hint: Evangelicals)
October 27, 2011 By 30 Comments
Ever wonder why emerging churches look like youth rooms? (Photo of Solomon's Porch, copyright Courtney Perry (used with permission)
I had the good fortune of presenting a paper last weekend at the Association of Youth Ministry Educators — the academic guild for those who study and teach youth ministry. My paper, a version of which will appear in the next issue of Immerse Journal, was entitled, “Youth Ministry as the Inspiration and Site of Relational Ecclesiology.” (Sounds mighty academic, huh?)
At academic conferences, presenting a paper in a non-plenary session actually means summarizing your evidence and thesis in about 30 minutes, and fielding questions for about 30 minutes. So I spent my time talk about the contours of the emerging church movement, both sociologically and theologically, as developed in my book, The Church Is Flat: The Relational Ecclesiology of the Emerging Church Movement.
Then I said this to the group of largely evangelical youth ministry professionals (believe it or not, it’s mostly evangelical colleges and seminaries that have youth ministry professors): [Read more...]
But How Do We Know He Didn’t Pray?
September 29, 2011 By 3 Comments
Facing a lawsuit, teachers at a couple Tennessee high schools joined with students for singing at this week’s See You At The Pole, but according to the Tennessean, they didn’t pray:
Andrew Schmeltzer, an English teacher and assistant baseball coach at Wilson Central High School, sang along to student-led hymns but said he was careful to step aside when prayers began. “As long as I don’t do any leadership with that, that’s fine,” he said.
via Teachers gather, don’t pray | The Tennessean | tennessean.com.
Women in (Youth) Ministry
September 24, 2011 By 8 Comments
The Burner Blog has posted an anonymous letter from a youth pastor who wonders if she doesn’t get the kudos, the gifts, and the invitations to Sunday dinner that her colleagues do because she’s a woman:
I have been with my church for 10 years. I can’t help but feel like I’ve not done a good job, nor does anyone want to “thank” me. Again, I don’t (well, maybe I do!) expect any “goods or services” from people, but when you find yourself in dozens of various conversations with youth pastors about “anonymous gifts” left on desks, delivered to houses, beach houses “donated for the week for a family vacation”, over and over again…I have to feel like I’ve done something extremely wrong. I do receive wonderful, heart-felt notes of encouragement from parents, which I not only LOVE, I save. But, I’m just (very quietly-I’ve never shared this with anyone) curious as to why I’m not “praised” for the timeless amounts I put into my job? It really leads me to believe it’s a “women in ministry” issue…
Read the rest: An Anonymous Letter from a Hurt Female Youth Minister « The Burner.
The Confession of a Former Youth Pastor
August 29, 2011 By 8 Comments
As I was biking to and from work last Friday, I listened to an excellent edition of This American Life. The subject was amusement parks, and it was hilarious (and even a little inspiring).
One of the segments played voicemails that listeners had left about their most poignant amusement park memories, many of which had to do with being vomited on.
I don’t like amusement parks. Never have. They’re hot, sticky, plastic places, “the first toxic great excrement of a hyperreal civilization.”
But, as a youth pastor, I had to spend at least one day every summer at an amusement park. So, I had a secret plan, that I will now confess to the world:
Hear Me Talk Some Youth Ministry
August 4, 2011 By 4 Comments
Robbie MacKenzie interviewed me this week for his video podcast. Here it is:
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