A CRAZY Youth Ministry Proposal
A couple of years ago, I spoke with a mom in a local parish who was interested in leading a small discipleship group. She was excited because the parish was encouraging discipleship groups to begin [...]
6 Youth Ministry “Anti-Programs” That Will Enhance Your Current Programming
In my last post, I was rather critical of programs. It’s not really programs that I struggle with but rather the inability of people to think outside of their programs. I struggle with this myself. [...]
Are Youth Leaders Ready to Think Outside of Programs?
When I was in high school, we had one “program” in our parish for youth: Religious Education. I was placed in a class based on my age and was run through a system that had [...]
It’s Impossible to “Form Young People” In Two Hours a Week
I recently read through about 80 evaluations from a day of formation offered on discipleship. One of the questions on the participant evaluation asked about specific struggles people had experienced in their discipleship efforts thus [...]
How I Have Seen Discipleship Changing the Church
I have been assisting parishes in moving towards a discipleship focused youth ministry approach for the last four years. It was really what I was seeing happen with FOCUS on our university campuses that first [...]
Youth Group Leader, Youth Minister, or Coordinator of Youth Ministry?
This question - are you a Youth Group Leader, a Youth Minister, or a Coordinator of Youth Ministry? - has been one of the most important questions I have found myself asking parish staff and [...]
The Problem With Putting Youth in Leadership
Let us learn to cultivate an atmosphere of discipleship in our parishes so that when seeds of faith are planted, they have a place to sink their roots into the ground and grow deeply. It is then that we can focus on how to live and distribute the fruits (leadership formation) that are flowing from this life in Christ.
Four Qualities of a Good Discipleship Leader
One of the most difficult aspects of Discipleship Focused Youth Ministry is finding good leaders who are intentional disciples themselves. How do you know someone is ready to be a disciple-maker?
Pope Francis on Finding Quality Discipleship Leaders (sort of)
We are so trained to be in “program success” mode that we often forget that we should instead be in “person success” mode.
I’m a Youth Minister Who “Can’t”
My last blog post titled Stop Trying So Hard to Evangelize was a challenge to people like me who find it difficult at times to trust that God has things under control and realize that [...]
