My last post created a decent amount of discussion. Essentially, my question was, What might be a more theologically accurate name for a missional relationship (as opposed to the typical “mission trip”)? Reminder: these are the (very basic) qualifications for a theologically-grounded missional relationship: Establish ongoing relationships by returning to a particular community rather than […]
Mission Trips Suck
(Is it sinful to title something provocatively in hopes that people will read it?) Today in class we talked about mission trips. As tends to happen in seminary classes, we ended up quite critical of popular practice. Thankfully, we moved beyond deconstruction and towards construction of a proper mission trip-ish type experience. Something that tended […]
Two Quotes…
… from class this week that have been rolling through my mind (well, they may be close paraphrases, but you get the idea): Our ministries are not ministries to the world, but to God the Father God is not a theologian, but a minister Speaking of class–I was afraid this would happen–my amazon.com wish list […]
Adventures in Seminary
It has begun. I’m taking my first seminary class at Luther Seminary (where it is currently 34 degrees–fairly mild) called Ministry with Children, Youth, and Family: Theological and Strategic Frameworks (with Andrew Root). Or it could be called Theology for Ministry with Children, Youth, and Families, if that makes more sense. Two of the foundational […]
More Thoughts on Worship Services
I made a whiney post the other day about a worship service the youth and I did. And Dr. C pointed out, as she always does, the root of the matter. So I went back and reread my post and it did seem really whiney, short-sighted and results-oriented. I’m definitely not a “results” man (at […]
One of Those Days
Yesterday was one of those days. One of those days when you wonder if all the effort you put into something is worth it. Yesterday was our monthly youth-led evening worship service. This past month didn’t go so well with the planning meetings we usually have. We canceled one because of Thanksgiving, and another week […]
Neo-Youth Ministry Interlude
Sorry to interrupt the regularly-scheduled Neo-Youth Ministry Series programming, but I wanted to address something about the series. You may notice I don’t talk about the Bible much in these posts. There is a reason for that. Quite simply, I’m trying to keep my posts fairly short. I want these to be able to be […]
Revisiting “Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry”
Yesterday, I posted on Andrew Root’s brand-new book, Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry. I spoke with pretty high regard for the book, saying, While reading the book, I came to the realization that, to my knowledge, there is no youth ministry book that is as theologically deep and rich as Root’s. Kenda Creasy Dean and Ron […]
Revisiting Relational Youth Ministry by Andrew Root
Why build relationships? Root’s answer will surprise you.
Neo-Youth Ministry Methods: Local and Contextual
My good friend Noah recently recounted a phone conversation he had with an Acquire the Fire representative. I had a similar conversation not too long ago. Now, my problem is not necessarily with Acquire the Fire, but I am quite skeptical of the big-event circuit in American youth ministry. Here’s the typical recipe: Large stadium […]
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