If you have Jr highers playing in your band,eventually you will get this question, “What guitar should I buy for a beginer?” Here are some thuoghts to help your jr highers get a good instrument that wont kill your precious practice time going out of tune!

Stay away from companies like Rogue, Fernandes, Laguna, AXL and BC Rich. Sorry sub par guitar companies but in all fairness you have been stealing musical joy from children for years now. Squire and Dean are decent and you MAY be safe with Ibanez, look at the hardware (tuners) carefully.

The best pick would be an Epiphone, they build pretty good products (except for their all in one packs) in all price ranges. ESP LTD isn’t a bad brand either, they usually build guitars that look REALLY cool, and a lot more expensive than what they actually are.

Highlights
Stay away from whole package deals with with straps/pics and amp in a box!
Craig’s list and Ebay are going to get you a better guitar as long as you remember our brand clues from above
15 minutes of practice a day are better than 2 hours the day of your lesson
Don’t buy a child’s size guitar.

Here are our guitar picks:
Les Paul look a like at 149.00
SG Ephiphone at 169.00

More questions? Ask the @foundationRED twitter account for any gear or worship questions.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Last night my Pastor, Rick Warren, spoke at our High School summer mid-week service. Because Josh Griffin is out of town, he asked me to be there to introduce Rick. In short: It was one of the highlights of my youth ministry career! Seeing the way our students engaged with their Pastor, and seeing how it energized Rick was something really wonderful to behold.

I realize that many of you serve Sr. Pastors who truly have no interest in what is happening in your youth ministry, and for that I am sorry. But I also believe that in some cases, their interest can be peaked. It is possible to slowly win the support of most Sr. Pastors. Here are a few steps you can take to help bridge the gap between you and your pastor….and your pastor and your junior highers:

1) Stick around a while. Longevity is probably the best way to build a healthy relationship between you and your senior pastor. Doug Fields served at Saddleback for 18 years, I have been here for 15, and Josh has been here for 7. Because Rick knows our commitment and loyalty to Saddleback, he is much more eager to build a relationship with our ministries.

2) Keep them in the loop. I have talked to tons of youth workers who say a version of this: “My Pastor never asks about our youth ministry…it’s like he doesn’t even care.” Perhaps. But perhaps it is our job to not wait until he/she [...]

Continue Reading “Three Simple Ways To Win The Support Of Your Senior Pastor”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I am super excited about two brand new opportunities….one for you, and one for your junior highers.

1st; the all new Simply Youth Ministry Show! Beginning on August 1st, and airing about 3x monthly, The Simply Youth Ministry show (hosted by me and my buddy Jake Rutenbar) will be a 30ish-minute topic-driven show. Each show will include a special guest who will share his/her insight, experience and expertise on the given topic.

Here are just a few of the guests we have already lined up: Dan Kimball, Kara Powell, Marko, Greg Stier, Scott Rubin, Adam McClane, Terrace Crawford, Tim Schmoyer, Kami Gilmour, Brian Berry, Brooklyn Lindsey and more. I really do think it will be a valuable way to spend 30 minutes of your time each week.

2nd; CIY, The folks who brought us Believe, are introducing a new summer event called MIX!
About 5 years ago, we made the decision to trust CIY with our junior highers and it was one of the best decisions we have ever made. Believe is a higlight of of our year, and I am super excited to see what MIX shapes up to look like. My biggest struggle is going to be the fact that we have attended the same amazing summer [...]

Continue Reading “Two VERY COOL New Thingies!”

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Spike Ball…until yesterday I had never heard of it, and today I am convinced it is the best youth ministry game since sliced bread (okay, sliced bread in itself was never a youth ministry game, but you get the point)!

It takes a little bit of athleticism to play, but not much.  And, it is as much fun to watch as it is to play so even non-athletic types will gather around.

Go….now….order one!

posted By Kurt Johnston

I would love to hear your thoughts and strategies on this one:

our ministry strategy has always been to “speed up” during the summer by providing a ton of activities for our students. The thinking has basically been, “Jr. High students tend to sit around a lot during the summer, so why not provide a bunch of alternatives to that?”

By summers end, we will have provided, and our team will have organized,a
summer camp, a mission trip to costa rica, a week-long urban work camp, an overnight guys trip and an overnight girls trip, a “night camp” (a different event every night for a week), several beach days, and several other one-day activities. All this on top of four weekend services every week, recruiting and training leaders for the fall, etc.

I don’t even lead or attend many of these activities, and the truth is most of our team picks and chooses what they will lead and attend, but it is still very obvious that our summer is busy. In fact, because of my philosophy of speeding up in the summer, it wasn’t until this summer that I took my first summer-time vacation in almost 25 years of ministry!

So, our team works like crazy to provide a very busy summer schedule for students. BUT DO WE NEED TO? BIGGER QUESTION: SHOULD WE?

Posted by Kurt Johnston

I’m not sure if he was the first to say it, but I heard it from Rick Warren first: “For too long, Christians have been known for what we are against; It is time for us to be known for what we are for.” 

His hope was to get the collective body of Christ to begin shouting as loudly about grace, justice, generosity, serving others etc. as we have historically shouted about abortion, homosexuality and the ills of society.  I loved the idea when I first heard it, and I love it now even more.

And it has me thinking:  What is my junior high ministry “for”?  And the bigger question: What are we doing (both strategically and subconsciously) that is sending an opposite message?  For instance, our ministry is “for” providing an emotionally safe place for young teens.  But are we doing things that send the opposite message?

Two exercises for you that I am doing myself: 

1) Take an honest inventory of your juniorhigh ministry’s reputation in the community.  Are you known more for being “against” all the bad stuff?  If so, is that a good reputation, or one to re-consider?

2) Make a list of the things you want your ministry to be known “for”, and then jot down the various ways your ministry helps or hinders that goal.

Posted by Kurt Johnston

Because my family is on vacation this week, and because our vacation consists of spending the week in Chicago with Scott Rubin and his family, it will likely be a light blogging week here.

Of course, Johnny Scott and/or Heather Flies and/or Katie Edwards hold the power to change that if they choose to!

My friends love it when I call them out publicly about my desire to see them contribute to this blog. That’s what I get for asking dedicated, in-the-trenches JH pastors to share their thoughts….they are too busy doing ministry!

Posted by Scott Rubin

I went to Michigan State University for it’s nurturing Christian environment. (Oh wait… not exactly true… but that’s another story!) But one thing that MSU does have is a fantastic basketball program. I have such great respect for their coach Tom Izzo, so when my 2 middle school sons asked if they could attend his basketball camp this summer, I started saving my pennies to see if I could make it happen.

I was a little worried that the Coach I see on TV (in 6 Final Fours!) might be a little disappointing when working with middle schoolers. BOY WAS I WRONG! And by watching the first day of camp, I was reminded of several middle-school-ministry-discipline related lessons.

Set Expectations High from the Start! There were 400 kids at this camp, and as Coach Izzo addressed them, he made it clear that they’d learn basketball, and have fun, but that they MUST follow all instructions very closely. For example, after one of his college stars demonstrated a shot, he told everyone to give ONE clap for him, on the count of 3. He then said “1, 2..” and then waited. Of course, several excited kids clapped early … so he had them do it again. From the first minute of camp, he was clear that there WERE expectations, and that they WOULD be followed!

Be CLEAR [...]