Posted by Kurt Johnston

…Actually maybe it’s truth is why it is funny. (sent to me by Jason Pogue)

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Without a doubt, doing a decent job of following up on first-time visitors is an important part of any junior high ministry’s growth strategy. And my hunch is that you have a pretty good first-time visitor follow up strategy.

But did you know that it is actually the SECOND visit that is the mostimportant? Studies have shown that people (granted, the studies were speaking about adults…not necessarily junior highers, but I’m going to assume the same is true for young teens) actually make their mind up about whether or not to continue going to a particular church after the second visit, not after the first.

If that’s true, here are two simple ways to make the second visit a great one:

1) Remember that they visited the week before, and remember their name! When you say, “Hi, dude…is this your first time here” to Brian, who visited last week, you are sending a fairly strong signal that their first visit wasn’t that important. Instead, work hard to remember names and faces during visit #1 so that when they return you can say, “Hi, Brian…it’s great to see you again!”

2) Make your second round of follow-up stuff better than the first! Consider making a completelya set of follow-up materials specifically for the 2nd time visitor. Make round two more personal than what you do for firsts-timers.

Treat your first-time guests well…..and when they come back, treat them even better!

Posted By Kurt Johnston

Check out this massive sale over at Simply Youth Ministry. If you have any budget money left, it might be perfect timing to stock up on tons of resources for the fall!

For years I’ve looked forward to the day that my sons would be involved in my ministry with great anticipation. What I didn’t expect to happen was the onset of puberty to make MY kid crazy. I’ve told many parents over the last 12 years that the swings in mood, growth and friction are perfectly normal. The words rolled off my tounge so easy. I’m afraid I even walked away from some of those conversations actually thinking I helped- #sigh #gasp

Now I’m looking a milestone dead in the eyes this summer. My son will be at the camp I’m speaking at-as a CAMPER. As the dates have drawn closer I can honestly say I’m sweating it a bit. My youngest brother and sister will also be jr high attending campers. My parents were divorced when I was young. Mom remarried and had two great kids. She told us they were pregnant with their first on our wedding day. When My wife and I were blessed with our first my mother and wife were both pregnant at the same time with boys. Many of the stories that surface as I speak with kids deal with my difficult Jr high years and my parents divorce. Both my mother and wife have been questioning me about my talks this summer at camp. The uniqueness of this situation has pushed me to think differently on some things.

As I’ve been kicking around thoughts as a parent of kids going to camp I’m challenging myself on many thoughts I used to have as professional camp staffer. So, as I’mexperiencing a middle school kid living in my houseI’m mulling a few things over that I’m not done processing yet but would love to throw out there. Here ya go!

Nothing is more encouraging than positive feedback on my kid from another adult in their lives.

You can do amazing things for me and I’ll be grateful, if you do the smallest thing to show interest in my kid I’ll NEVER forget the genuine effort!

As a parent I’m confronted with the reality that: We are scared. We don’t want to mess our kids up and we second guess ourselves constantly. We know we are not supposed to parent out of reaction to our up bringing or other outside factors, but sometimes we do anyway.

Encourage parents to shoot for QUANITY time not quality time. Planned quality time seems to blow up in our faces. Things rarely go as planned. Choose QUANITY, chances are, some of it will be quality.

This summer, have fun! But please challenge my kid, they might be in to more stuff and deeper stuff than we want to admit.

If you are working with middle school kids and don’t have kids of your own, don’t feel unequipped or without the necessary tools to make HUGE impact. Be mindful of some of these emotions parents are wrestling through and take them seriously.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

- Not long ago, our junior high ministry taught a three-week series called “Flipped”. We looked at the way in which Jesus Christ continuously flipped the normal thinking of our culture and presented the exact opposite as the best way to live/think. If interested, it’s available at Simply Junior High.

- Do you work with middle school students? If so, you really do need to consider joining us at the first ever Middle School Ministry Campference! It is one of the more unique, creative conference(ish) ideas I have ever been a part of. Check it out here.

- Heather Flies posted on this blog! Hooray! Heather is an amazingly gifted junior high pastor, and one of the sharpest leaders and thinkers I know. Because of what she brings to the table, I’m hoping (no pressure, Heather) that she will add her thoughts to this blog on a somewhat regular basis. AND…she is joining us at the Simply Youth Ministry Conference this year!

- The youth ministry world (which is really a very small little world, isn’t it.) was abuzz yesterday. I’m really excited for Doug Fields, YS and their new relationship. And equally (okay, maybe just a little more) excited to see how the future unfolds for the crew at Simply Youth Ministry. Good stuff ahead for both organizations, I’m sure.

- Saw X-men….liked it. Saw the Mavericks beat the Heat….LOVED it.

- Today, for the first time, I tried stand-up paddle boarding. Three of us went to the Dana Point harbor and paddled about 1.5 miles around an island. Not a thrilling, adrenaline enducing sport, but very fun. I will certainly do more of it.

Posted by Heather Flies:

This past Sunday, we moved our new seventh graders up into our 7th-9th grade ministry. This Saturday, I leave with my ninth graders on a 15-day end-of your-time-in-our-ministry mission/adventure trip. Even though I’ve been doing this for 15 years at the same church, I continue to be amazed at how tiny my new 7th graders are and how huge my ninth graders are at this moment in time! I nearly have to get on my knees to be eye to eye with the rookies and a step-ladder would be helpful to connect with the veterans of our 3-year program. I ask myself, “How can those kids grow to look like those kids in just three years?”

Yet, each time, it happens. Within those full three years, I get to see these individual kids grow relationally, emotionally, socially and spiritually. What a gift! As JH youth workers, we understand that there is just as much changing on the inside as there is changing on the outside– astounding! And I get to be a part it! Yahoo!

I will forever be thankful for a three- year program. Sure, it has its challenges– like keeping those 3rd year kids engaged and keeping things fresh each year… but I can’t imagine giving them up in 8th grade!

For those of you who are moving up your new students, be excited for all the potential for growth!

Heather

Posted by Scott Rubin

This is the last week of school around Chicagoland. And with it brings all kind of emotions for kids. Lots of excitement for summer, sadness about not seeing friends every day… but that’s not all.

There’s a 6th grader in our church who came home from school and decided to write out some of what he was feeling — and when I read it, I thought it was pretty profound. I wondered if it was for a school assignment, but turns out it was just something he was feeling and it sounds like he just wanted to see if he could express it in words. Reading it reminded me once again of all the thoughts that are floating around in the brains of 6th graders, 7th graders, 8th graders…

I Just Don’t Feel Like A Kid Anymore
Today, It hit me like a water balloon to the face. I am 11 years old and I just had my last full day of elementary school. Weeks earlier I was just telling my mom ” I am just ready to be done with school and move on.” Now, I feel that I don’t want to go from elementary school into being a junior high kid. I feel as though this will be a significant change in my life and that people will not take it as easy on me as a junior higher. When you look at the names of the grades 6th grade and 7th grade it seems that the seventh grade middle school kid is more capable than a 6th grade elementary school kid. Not saying that is wrong or anything, but it just feel like when you are moving into the teenage junior high stage, You are not a kid and things are not as easy on you as they were. Tomorrow, I leave my elementary school for good. I leave desks that open and close. I leave classrooms in which you stay in most of the day. I leave teachers who have taught me and believe in me. I leave maybe some friends along the way going to different junior highs. But, lastly I leave elementary school all together. Ready or not junior high, but here I come. I just don’t feel like a kid anymore.

Posted By Kurt Johnston

Jason Pogue, who creates our junior high ministry’s weekend program, stumbled upon what I think is one of the funnier “bits” we have done in a long time. A trademark in our ministry is to utilize several “characters” in videos, on stage, etc. throughout the school year. Typically, we will have two or three characters per year (some of the stronger ones last much longer…) that rotate into various aspects of our program throughout the year.

Below, you will see a new bit called “What’s Up? Wildside.” that we are using to introduce our students to our new staff members, summer interns etc. Cheesy….classic JH ministry material!

Posted By Kurt Johnston

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