Each week we compile a list of helpful articles from other sites, in a variety of categories, for youth workers to read, reflect on, and/or discuss with parents and volunteers. If you have any articles you’d like to suggest, we’d love for you to share those in the Youth Pastor Theologian Facebook group. That’s a great way to bring them to our attention and to discuss them with like-minded youth workers! (Inclusion in this list does not imply complete agreement with the publishing source, but we have found these articles to be beneficial.)
Youth Ministry
4 Types of Questions Teenagers Ask: A Guide for Next Gen Leaders, Zac Workun (Lifeway Research)
Teenagers ask questions. Sometimes they ask us. Sometimes they ask an AI chatbot, a group chat, or a corner of the internet that’s over-confident and not especially wise. So, let’s bless them for asking and get ready to walk with them. Here are four kinds of questions youth leaders need to consider.
4 Ways to Make Christmas Meaningful, Kristopher Boswell (YM360)
With a little intentionality, you can help students celebrate the birth of Jesus, show your hardworking volunteers how much they are appreciated, and even take some time to prepare your own heart for Christmas.
Comfortable: The Most Dangerous Word in Youth Ministry, Stan Elder (National Network of Youth Ministries)
But comfort can keep us from engaging with youth culture, building relationships with people who are different from us, and becoming the ambassadors for the Kingdom of God we're called to be.
Biblical & Theological Studies
Jesus and the Woman Caught in Adultery: The Unexpected, Don’t-Miss Detail, Rebekah Matt (Great and Noble Tasks)
Why is this unexpected bit of information here in verse 9? “But when they heard it, they went away one by one, beginning with the older ones.”
What Should Protestants Know About the Early Church Fathers? Nicholas Needham (Ligonier)
If we are Protestants, that very fact should give us a bias toward knowing the early church fathers. We are simply doing what the original theologians of the Reformation did.
Through Translation, Emma Wilkins (TGC Australia)
Long after its last-born author walked and slept and wrote and spoke; then walked and slept and wrote and spoke no more. But the stories transcend culture, also time. And the words are so familiar I forget I am a foreigner.
Cultural Reflection & Contextualization
Pew: Americans Ages 23 to 26 Are Among the Least Religious Adults in the Country, While 18-to-22-Year-Olds Attend Church at Higher Rates Than Anyone, RELEVANT Staff (Relevant)
Some of the details cut against the usual storyline about who is showing up. Young men now attend more often than young women, which Pew says it has not seen before…
How to Respond When Your Political Party Loses, Ben Hicks (Proclaim & Defend)
When we’re disappointed by the results of an election, and when we fear what the future may hold, that’s not necessarily a bad thing. That can be a prompt for that inner hunger we should always be cultivating for a better world.
Pastoral Ministry
5 Ways Churches Can Find Qualified Job Candidates by Expanding Disability Hiring, Nadia Ibrahim Mossburg (ChurchLeaders)
I’ve seen pastors, boards, and other hiring professionals overlook people with disabilities as a talent pool, simply because they’re misinformed or unaware. Reasons for inadvertently limiting the net we cast include the lack of interaction with the disabled, concerns of potential legal implications, or accommodation logistics. When we’re driven by these unspoken assumptions, we miss out on a disabled person’s unique, God-given gifts and subsequent roles in the church.
How Christ Plants His Church in a Global City, Ben Lacey (Baptist21)
These were diaspora Jews, ministering in a city that wasn’t their home to people who weren’t their own. The first great breakthrough among the Gentiles of a global city didn’t come through the apostles. It came through ordinary believers Luke doesn’t even name.
Family & Parents
Parents, Avoid the Temptation to Do It All, Steve Eatmon (Rooted)
Here are three tips for parents to avoid the “do it all” mentality and come alongside our kids to help create healthier rhythms.
Parent Anger: 5 Hot Tips, Janel Breitenstein (FamilyLife)
My methods of dealing with my anger, including my expectations of others, were straight- up sinful, interfering with my relationship with God. There were vertical implications of my horizontal relationships’ brokenness...
From YPT this week
Implementing Spiritual Rhythms in Youth Ministry, Jason Engle
A well-developed philosophy of ministry focuses us on a vision for who we desire students to become by graduation. Looking to that end goal allows us to work backward in shaping every aspect of ministry toward that overarching aim.
ep.149: Ecclesiology and the Doctrine of the Church in Youth Ministry
Mike and John continue their series through the "ologies" of systematic theology. In this episode, we talk about the doctrine of the church: What is the church, What are the marks of a biblical church, why youth group IS NOT CHURCH, and why church matters for youth discipleship.
