My vision and mission when it comes to student ministry can be summed up in three simple words: REACH. FEED. SEND. This model of ministry reflects that of Christ Himself, most clearly demonstrated in the story of the Road to Emmaus.

What a great model of ministry this story provides. And who better to model your ministry after than Jesus?

Looking for a simple, competitive game that helps people learn both important and trivial things about one another? A little game we call “Scope” is an easy solution.

We all strive to do great ministry: great programs, great retreats, great materials, great talks, great bible studies. But the issue comes with understanding our motivation for greatness: are we hoping people will see the great things we’re doing and think “Wow, we’ve got the best youth minister ever!”? If so, we’re pointing people in the wrong direction.

So the question is, where are you pointing?

You may not have the gift of hip-hop, but find out what we can learn about the gifts we do have from the great minds of St. Paul and Vanilla Ice.

“Word to your mother.”

This may come as a surprise to some of you, but I don’t believe in change for the sake of change. I think it’s arrogant to change things just because I can. But on the flipside, I also think it’s illogical to continue to do something just because that’s how it’s always been done.

If you’re not changing something, you’re not growing. Growth by it’s very definition is change. Growth is the goal in everything.

We’ve all been there: the teen that’s been actively involved for the first two years of high school just stops coming. No real reason given, she just stops showing up. You’d love to pick her brain and find out what it is that made her stop coming.

Most of the time it comes down to at least one of these four things: You are too predictable. You don’t make me feel like I belong there. You never challenge me anymore. You don’t look like you are excited about your faith.

There’s a lot of ways that people try evaluate the success of their youth ministry program, but I think the most important question to ask is: “Are they inviting their friends?”

A successful ministry should be experiencing growth. More specifically, if teens are being fed by our ministry, they should be bringing their friends. If they’re not, they’re probably not being fed.

Looking for a way to explain the changes in the liturgy to your teens? Have you checked out the awesome videos from Life Teen on the subject? They’ve got several, but my favorite is the video designed for middle schoolers. I think it definitely stretches beyond middle school and I could see using it for high school and young adult groups as well…even parents!

On top of that, they’ve got tons of other resources for youth workers on the changes to the liturgy at their new site: IsMassChanging.org.

So often, especially in ministry and even moreso in the Catholic Church, we keep doing what we’ve always done to make sure we don’t scare off the people that have always been coming. We’re worried that if we do something different, if we do something that takes them out of their comfort zone, something that goes against what they want/prefer Church to be like, that they’ll flee. So what?

“By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” (Luke 21:19)

It’s not your strength that will save your life. Not your courage. Not your cunning. Not your intellect. Not even your ninja-skills. It’s your perseverance that will save your life.