Posted By Kurt Johnston

I mentioned in a recent blog post how much Imenjoyed the movie Money Ball. Well, over at his blog D.Scott Miller takes the main them of the movie (re-defining the skills needed by players to build a winning team)and applies it to youth ministry. It is a GREAT post! You don’t need to have seen the movie to benefit from his thinking. Here’s your assignment: go read his post, and think about these questions:

1. Do you agree with his assessment of the 5 basic skills He described that are currently needed by youth workers?

2. Do these skills change from context to context? Do they change for those of us who work with junior highers?

3. Do you think the 5 new skills he described are the skills for the future? Again, how do they change from context to context and in different age groups?

Posted By Kurt Johnston

1. We don’t Do it often, but this past weekend we made a broad, church-wide appeal for new small group leaders. We had an insert in the bulletin, Pastor Rick mentioned it at the beginning of service, and I got to mention it at the end. The reason is because with our small groups starting in a week, we have a record breaking number of students signed up, but less leaders than normal. That math doesn’t add up! The result: over 50 adults stepped up and expressed an interest! Now we need to meet them, interview them, and perform background checks. This entire process will likely thin out the crowd by at least 1/2.

2. Saw the movie, Money Ball over the weekend. One of the better sports(ish) movies I have seen in a while.

3. Dear Denver Broncos: You are now 1-2. I know Tim Tebow is your third string QB, but start him NOW. Play him for two games and you will be able to tell if he has any future potential. If it turns out he doesn’t, we fans will gladly support shelving the guy. At 1-2, and Kyle Orton as our starter, the season is almost lost already. Try something new and bold before it gets further out of hand.

4. In a few weeks, we will start filming THE CHALLENGE, a new a new JH game resource. I am super excited about some of the hilarious challenges we have planned, [...]

Continue Reading “Random Randomness”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Below is a list of the the list of the “5 happiest jobs” based on data collected via the General Social Survey of the National Organization for Research at the University of Chicago, and reported in the Christian Science Monitor (They list the top 10, but I’ve only listed the top 5):

1. Clergy

2. Firefighters

3. Physical therapists

4. Authors

5. Special education teachers

No wonder I’m so happy!  I spend a ton of my time in THREE of the top 5 happy job categories.

Clergy:  I have been a pastor since 1988 and totally understand why it ranks #1.

Author:  Between writing small group curriculum, lessons, training material etc. for my own ministry setting and the somewhat frequent outside writing opportunities, I spend a fair amount of time as an “author” of sorts.

Special Education Teacher:  I work with junior highers….and I’m sure the similarities between my roles and those of a special ed. teacher are many!

(HT to Tony Jones)

Posted by Kurt Johnston

On Friday night, I am speaking to a group of about 100 denominational youth pastors. When I asked the organizer of the event what he would like me to talk about, he gave me an answer that I’m sure was meant to free me up….to give me tons of options…to avoid putting me in a box.  But, frankly, his answer has served to mess with my mind this week as I try to prepare.  “Speak to us about how to reach today’s teenagers” was his reply.  Simple enough, right?  Maybe for you!

On one hand I get it….all of us want to know how best to reach today’s teenagers. Afterall, that’s what we are in the business of doing, right?  Great topic. One everybody will be interested in!

But on the other hand….the topic is begging for a “silver bullet” answer; a formula that, if followed, will result in these youth groups reaching more of today’s teens than ever before. I’m a pragmatist (to a fault many times), and formulas often make sense to me. I like “three steps to a healthy marriage” (as if there are only THREE), and “The Keys to Financial Freedom”.  Formulas, step-by-step strategies and the like usually make sense to me.  So a “How to” topic would seem to be right up my alley.

But not this time.  The subject matter is too important, the ramifications too high to try to boil it down to a formula, or a set of keys, or a few [...]

Continue Reading “Fretting Over Friday”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I have a confession to make: In every church I have ministered in as the junior high pastor, I have had a FANTASTIC relationship with my Sr. Pastor.  Seriously, I’ve never felt unsupported, disconnected, or like I had to convince my Sr. Pastor that what I was paid to do was important.

Sadly, I know that isn’t the case for many, many, many of my youth worker brothers and sisters.  That’s why I’m super excited about the book, “The Disconnect…bridging the youth pastor/senior pastor gap”.

If you are struggling in your relationship with your Sr. Pastor….and if your Sr. Pastor is strugging with his/her relationship with you, this book is a must read!  And, if you are blessed enough to have no need for such a book, then buy a copy and keep it as a ready gift for someone whose path you cross that would benefit from it.

Click HERE for more details about the book, and for a fantastic price!

Posted by Scott Rubin

So I’ve been getting the emails from my son’s 7th grade football league, begging for parents to come help set up the fields on game days. (Can I mention that this “serving opportunity” is at 6am on Saturdays?!)

I decided to go help out – partially to remember what it feels like to be the 1st-time volunteer … who has no idea what he’s getting himself into. It was SUCH a reminder of what people might be feeling when they show up to serve in our ministries. Here are a few observations from this morning:

- New volunteers have no idea what to really expect… and don’t want to look dumb! Even though the email I got had some details for me, I still had this feeling of “uncertainty” as I walked up. I figured that everyone else there knew what they were doing, and I just didn’t want to feel awkward. (I can manage that part without anyone’s help.

- Don’t skip the coffee! Sure, I know they were just trying to “lure me in” with free coffee. But when I showed up not knowing exactly what to do & they said “grab a cup of coffee”, I thought to myself, “OK, I know how to do that.” The other thing that provided was a couple minutes of small talk, which helps people feel like someone actually cares about them (and that they’re more than just free labor!).

- People want to make a [...]