Attendance: Below Average
Lesson Topic: Week 2 of “When I Was Your Age”
‘Fun Factor’: Above Average
Volunteer Involvement: Average
Music: Above Average
Lesson Quality: Above Average
Length of Lesson: 21 minutes
Student Response: Above Average

We had a really fun weekend! Shaun Blakeney, our high school Pastor, taught the lesson so that our 8th graders could have a chance to meet him before they move into high school. Our music was strong, games were great and the overall energy of the weekend felt really high. Because it was Father’s Day, our attendance was so low on Sunday night that we decided to combine our junior high and high school programs which is something we rarely do.

Tomorrow, I will become the parent of a teenager. Kayla will officially enter her teen years and, even though I know nothing significant will change instantly, Rachel and I will enter a new stage of life to some degree.

Perhaps the biggest part about tomorrow is that just thinking about it has made me realize how quickly time passes. It seems like I’ve only blinked once since Kayla was born. I’m afraid to blink again because if I do, she’ll be headed off to college. Two more blinks and I’ll giving her hand to some punk (actually, I’m sure he’ll be a fantastic young man, but right now he’s probably a 13-14 year old punk….)!

The ladies in my family are at the mall, the boy in my family is at a buddies house and I’m relaxing in front of the t.v. watching the golf channel. Life is pretty good for the Johnston’s! Lots of stuff running through my mind today:

- Had a dream last night that I was eating dinner with the entire Hilton family…Paris, Nicky, mom and dad. Mrs. Hilton was asking me how much money I give to missions projects each year and was fascinated by the whole idea of tithing and giving. I wonder if dreams actually mean anything or if they are completely random.

- Today I saw a fantastic example of conflict resolution between co-workers. Somebody recognized they had been hurtful and was quick to make it right and ask for forgiveness. It’s refreshing to see Christians act like Christ!

- I attended both Kayla and Cole’s classroom award ceremonies today. Man, I love my kids!

- We are about a week away from our annual student ministries staff retreat in Palm Springs. 4 days of relaxing with the team and their spouses. Good times.

- Beginning the last weekend of June, we are switching our weekend service times for junior high and high school. We’ll be adding an additional Saturday night service and only having one on Sunday morning. It’s going to be a HUGE adjustment for church families but should set us up to reach more students in our community.

- On the table under my television sits the entire set of DVDs for the British version of The Office. My brother-in-law loaned them to me several months ago and now that there is absolutely nothing worth watching on T.V. it may be a good time to check ‘em out.

I was asked to read the manuscript of a new book by Doug Fields and Duffy Robbins called Speaking to Teenagers: How to Think About, Create, and Deliver Effective Messages.

I’m only about 1/3 of the way through it, but I think it may turn out to be one of my favorite youth ministry books in a long, long time! It is so practical and full of incredible insights into preparing to speak to students. If you regularly teach a group of kids, you need to get this book when it is released!

For those of you who don’t want to read an entire book, and believe that I’m probably smarter than Fields and Robbins combined, I offer my super short ‘TEACHING 101′ seminar below:

- The first minute is the most important minute.
- It doesn’t need to be long to be good.
- If it’s going to be long, it needs to be good.
- Students like to laugh.
- Students like stories (especially real life ones…not from an illustration book).
- Be real.
- Be relevant.
- When possible, include active learning ingredients. Students learn more when they experience it.
- Offer specific application steps.
- The last minute is also the most important minute.

Wow, that’s the worst seminar you’ve ever attended! Good thing it was free.

I have no idea when their book is set for release, but I urge you to buy it when it’s available. I really do think that by implementing some of Doug and Duffy’s insight, you will be doing yourself and your students a favor.

As I post this I’m sitting in the drive thru of In ‘N Out Burger in Riverside. We had a great trip…the best part really just being the road trip with the dudes.

My golf game was average, my wound is oozing. It will be good to be home in an hour or so.

This is a tale of two days happening simultaneously. The usual weekend junior high festivities mingle with a comedy of Kurt Johnston errors.

Junior high festivities went great: A solid weekend (low attendance), followed by a fun family picnic.

The personal saga that was running parallel was a different story told in three chapters:

Chapter 1: OUCH!
In between our two Sunday morning services, I was climbing high about the ground in our JH storage area (a gated, fenced, enclosed area) and as I was climbing down, I decided to push off and jump backward the rest of the way like you down when climbing down a fence. All was fine until my butt landed on the corner of a piece of plywood sticking out from where it was being stored. I completely ripped the entire left side of my pants and my butt was totally exposed and there was a foot long gash running all the way up! To say it hurt would be an understatement. When my buddy, Matt Hall, looked at to “ASSes” the damage, he broke down laughing like a little baby. Today, my butt is swollen and sore.

Chapter 2: LOST!
After church, I was shopping for the picnic and put my Cell phone in a nifty little tray in the shopping cart created just for such items. Of course I left it there and didn’t realize it till several hours later. I called the store and they hadn’t seen it.

Chapter 3: DANG!
I got to the park with a truckload of supplies only to find the parking lot completely packed due to a soccer tourney. I decided to back into a handicapped spot just long enough to unload the gear so I could avoid lugging it too far. As I was unloading, a policeman came up and starting writing a ticket! I tried to explain that I wasn’t ‘Parked’ in a handicap spot but was just ‘unloading’ he told me there is zero tolerance and proceeded to write me a $275.00 ticket!

But now I’m in Phoenix for two days of golf with friends so all is well. As long as my butt lets me swing a golf club.

Tonight is our 3rd annual WOW Awards Ceremony. The WOW Awards is a night put on by our church to honor our volunteers. We run it sorta like an Academy Awards night with hosts, presenters from each department etc. I never seem to look forward to it, and really don’t think our junior high volunteers need the night because we do a pretty good job of honoring them all year round, but I always end enjoying the night and our volunteers do, too.

After the WOW Awards, we are having an after party at Fudruckers which will be a fun way to cap off the event. WOW..it’s going to be a long night!

A couple of years ago Chap Clark made the following comment at a gathering of middle school youth workers:

“In ministry to young teens, the feel of the ministry is more important than the content.”

That comment launched us into a discussion around the idea that creating a ministry that feels safe, accepting, comforting, etc. is actually more important than the content you teach because of the crazy place young teens are at developmentally.

I think I agree with Chap. That isn’t to say biblical instruction, learning doctrine etc. don’t play a part in junior high ministry; they do. It is to say, however, that how a ministry feels to a young teen is equally important (so maybe I don’t agree that it’s ‘more important’, but that it is equally important). Creating positive memories, building relationships, creating a safe place to ask questions and share doubts, providing lots of experiential learning, surrounding students with caring adults etc. are crucial pieces of an effective junior high ministry.

If we can create an atmosphere in our ministry that is comfortable to junior highers during the 2-3 toughest years of their lives, we’ll probably keep them around for years to come which will provide plenty of time for deeper content.

Each year, at the end of June, our church hosts a fantastic worship conference. I know nothing about music, I have no idea what a good worship conference looks like, but people who do know that kind of stuff have told me that this conference is a great one. If you happen to be a local youth worker and are interested in taking some of your students, track me down. I can get you a special student rate that is not advertised on the website.