posted by Scott Rubin

Last weekend we had our annual parents meeting to let our students’ parents know what we’ll be teaching in our “guy/girl series” coming up later this month. The main agenda for this meeting is to give the parents a brief idea as to what we’ll be teaching in that series (funny how they’re not as curious about what we teach the rest of the year!) — but even more so, it’s my chance to BEG parents to TALK to their kids about stuff related to the opposite gender, dating, and yes, even sex. Because you & I both know that it matters SO much for parents to have these kind of conversations with their kids!

I love having the opportunity to call parents to the challenge of having these potentially-awkward conversations with their students. I have had lots of parents contact me after this meeting to tell me how glad they were for the encouragement to talk to their kids…and over the years I’ve heard MANY humorous stories of how these conversations went!

There’s a book I’ve been reading called “Forbidden Fruit: Sex & Religion in the Lives of American Teenagers.” In the research that this author has conducted, he’s found that the more important religion is to parents, the more difficult it is for those same parents to talk to their kids about sex!

I’m not sure whether those parents are just more conservative, or scared, or if they figure that conversations they’ve had with their kids about “making good choices in general” will suffice. But I really believe that most middle school parents really need ENCOURAGEMENT about how important it is to talk to their kids about this topic!

Love to hear any thoughts on what you do in connection with parents for the guy/girls series in your ministry!

Posted By Kurt Johnston

There seems to be a fairly common temptation among junior high youth workers: To teach topics that don’t apply at levels too deep for the vast majority of the junior highers in their audience.

The reason this happens, I tend to think, is fairly obvious and quite understandable. After you have taught junior highers for a few years, it is easy to become bored with teaching the same “junior high friendly” lessons over and over and over again.
Seriously, how often can we teach things like “basics of the faith” or “friendship 101″ or “God made you special!”?

The answer: over and over and over again. While you are growing in your faith, getting older, moving into different life stages….your audience isn’t. You are stuck in a strange time warp of perpetual 13 year olds. Every year…year after year…your audience is a bunch of early adolescence in dire need of some of the most basic truths of Gods word.

I’m sure there are some exceptions, but I have found that the most effective junior high ministries are the ones that understand the role of age-appropriate lessons.

Sorta like shampoo….not sexy, but effective. Apply, lather, rinse and repeat.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

About a weekago, Jonathan McKee asked me to read amanuscript of his upcoming book, “Candid Confessions of an Imperfect Parent”. I did so partly because I like Jonathan and think he writes some pretty helpful stuff, and partly because I’m the parent of two teenagers; an imperfect one at that!

I have to say, I absolutely loved the book! It is one of those books that I will buy several copies of so I always have one ready to pass out to a parent in our ministry.

I don’t know the release date, but my hunch is it won’t be available until late Spring so it isn’t really “coming soon”, but it will be worth the wait.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

For a whole lot of my junior high ministry career, there was a whole lot about junior high behavior that really bothered me. I was bothered partly because the behavior was bothersome, and partly because I felt the pressure (mostly self induced) that if I was a good youth worker, I would be able to change the behavior of my students. If you work with young teens, you certainly know the behavior I’m talking about: The gossip, the teasing, the selfishness, the insecurity, and so on.

Years later, I’m still bothered by the behavior…but not as much. Not because I know longer recognize the consequences of the way they treat each other, but because I have a better understanding of the motive behind it. Let me explain.

The junior high years are tough (remember yours?), and most young teens find themselves, consciously or subconsciously, in survival mode. They gossip because they think that helps them survive, they tease because it’s better to be the teaser than to be the teased. They are selfish because in order to survive middle school, they can’t afford to look out for anybody but themselves.

Again, this probably isn’t a conscious decision (for most, they are simply survival instincts),but when you remember the physical, social, emotional and intellectual changes our students are experiencing at this age; it makes sense that behaviors like this manifest. Shoot…behaviors like this manifest in adults who should know better!

I wonder, if instead of teaching “against” these behaviors we might find more success in focusing our efforts toward helping our students understand themselves a little better, and develop biblical “survival skills”. Perhaps. But today, I’m reminded that behaviors like this are a part of the human condition. Mine, yours and the junior highers we lead.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

- This weekend, for the first time ever, I am teaching on the End Times…sorta. It is the last part of our “Beginning and End” series and I am giving a very broad overview of what “the end” holds for us. Here are my main points:

1) Jesus will come back someday

2) The world as we know it will come to an end someday

3) But the end is really just a new beginning

When and How will this all happen? In God’s time and in God’s way!

- Today is my 45th birthday. For some reason, I have always had a tough time with the “5′s” (25, 35 and now…45) because it forces me to realize that technically I now have to “round up” instead of rounding down. Ouch.

- I am toying with the idea of changing our purpose statement to be a more accurate description of why our ministry exists and our current Purpose-driven paradigm. I actually like what I have landed on so far and should be ready to reveal it sometime soon.

- My tweet earlier today: “JH Ministry Tip: treat parents like students by going to them instead of expecting them to come to you.”, has resulted in a few emails asking me, “Okay…but how?” To be honest…I’m not sure! This tweet was the result of our poorly attended parent meeting which has got me wondering if we need to change our strategy and become more relationally proactive with parents. Not sure what that looks like, exactly. If you have had success please share your insights in the comments!

posted by Scott Rubin

If you’re like me, you spend a fair bit of time thinking about how we’ll help students engage with the Bible when they’re “at’ our ministry…
But lately I’ve also been thinking a lot about what I’m hoping they’ll do with the Bible the rest of the week.

This school year, we’ve been passing out a simple card each week when we teach. It has scripture for the week on, and a couple of places where students sometimes “fill in” a word or 2 about the lesson. (or doodle… or play tic-tac-toe…or create origami of flamingoes & hummingbirds & dinosaurs)

But every week, I encourage students to Read More in their own Bible about the topic we covered. (or any topic, for that matter!) Of course, we want to catalyze a habit of reading Scripture for themselves — and middle school is a great time for that habit to start.

So I’m wondering … in the world of middle schoolers…what’s my HOPE for how often they’ll read the Bible for themselves?! Of course I know that there’s no “right answer” to this question. In a perfect world, I’d love to see every middle schooler open Scripture for themselves every day, and learn from God’s Words. But honestly, if I could get most of our kids to read the Bible once a week, I’d probably do a back flip.

Is anybody out there wiling to comment — How often do you HOPE your students are reading the Bible on their own??

posted by Scott Rubin

How “FUN” is your junior high ministry?

(When I was in middle school, the JHi Ministry was about as fun as holding your breathe & counting ceiling tiles. Which I did a lot of while I was there.)

Some of my friends in the “adult” ministries of our church sometimes roll their eyes and shake their heads when they see what we’re doing in middle school ministry. I DEEPLY believe that we need to teach Scripture to middle schooler. I definitely believe that middle schoolers are capable of worship. And I even think that on some occasions, middle schoolers (even boys) can engage in conversations about spiritual things that really matter, without anyone farting. On some occasions.

But seeking FUN is also a significant part of life when you’re 13-ish! And there’s nothing wrong with that, if it’s done in the right ways! I think that laughter and fun can set a tone for relationships and even learning. And I don’t have any problem with kids wanting to come to our ministry “because it’s fun!”. Sure — if that’s all that’s going on, then I’ve got a problem. But you know what I’m saying, right?

Recently, I saw a blog post from VolksWagen, saying that FUN can sometimes be the easiest way to change people’s behavior! They wanted to see if they could get more people to obey the speed limit, if they made it “fun to do”. Have you seen this project? Check out this 2 minute video.
And then ask yourself again … how Fun is my jr. high ministry!

The Fun Theory —The Fun Theory

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I’ve tweeted and blogged about it before, but let me do so ONE more time because registration closes in a couple of days and my understanding is that once registration is closed…it really is closed and it will be too late to join us! I know youth workers are notorious procrastinators and I would hate for you to miss out on this year’s conference. Don’t know anything about it? Check it out here

TOP 5 REASONS TO JOIN US AT SYMC:

5. Who doesn’t want to go to Chicago in the winter!

4. Lots and lots of the world’s most comfy chairs to lounge around on during breaks.

3. Learn from some of the most experienced and respected youth leaders in the world.

2. Rub shoulders and make new friends with other youth workers who, like yourself, are dedicated to making a difference!

1. It’s a great opportunity to dip your head under the sink, then run around outside to see how long it takes for your hair to freeze.