8 Tips for Keeping Youth Involved and Listening Let’s just be honest with the fact that not every lesson is going to be a success, and sometimes we will lose our youth. It’s important to always be aware of what’s ...
“Not just a beloved program, but a way of being in all of our programs”: Reflections on a Lab cohort one year later By Meghan Hatcher We emphasize process over product and transformation over traditional ministry metrics at the ...
By Anastasia Pumphrey Trinity UMC in Homewood, Alabama, hosted its most successful and golf tournament scholarship fundraiser to date on August 5, and this year it was led by a current CYMT resident! Rhys Ferguson, class of 2024, has ...
Urban Youth Worker as Relationship Builder by William Parker In the Search Institute’s report on Positive Developmental Relationships, Peter L. Benson writes, “After decades of forming hypotheses, conducting surveys, crafting and rewriting definitions, analyzing data, and writing journal articles, Search ...
Successful Retreat Planning 101 If you’re planning a retreat this year, use this free guide to make sure you’ve got your bases covered–whether it’s your first or hour one hundred and first event! Prayer and Purpose: Why? Begin ...
Welcome to Youth Group! Helping Students and Parents Transition Into Youth Ministry By Andrew Davis As youth pastors, we must be intentional about how we welcome our new 6th or 7th graders into the youth ministry. Church involvement can be ...
Snow Plow Parenting By Rev. Regina Girten I remember the first time my daughter fell while learning to walk. Our house was not carpeted and as I watched her tiny body topple over my heart skipped several beats. My instinct ...
Whose needs is your Back-to-School Sunday really meeting? By Meghan Hatcher, Innovation Lab Director When I began a new ministry role as Community Engagement Pastor midway through the summer, my first major project was to plan and lead Back-to-School ...
It Happens: When Youth Talks Go Wrong By Matt Laidlaw In order to generate some enthusiasm around teaching the Prophets of the Old Testament to our high school students, we began our Wednesday evening together with a game we ...
Stress & Anxiety Case Study Teenagers are stressed out and over-scheduled more than ever before, creating students who often want to come to youth group but can’t figure out how to “fit it in” amongst a host of other extra-curricular ...
Imperfect Churches By Dietrich “Deech” Kirk Every church is a work in progress. That realization has led me to believe that working at the church might just be harder than working anywhere else. Why? Because we expect it to be ...
Finishing Well: Wrapping Up Your Time In a Youth Ministry Position By Christian Hesling, CYMT Alumni Most all of us, at one time or another, will leave a church job. No matter the manner of our ending and no matter ...
By Andrew Davis Years ago I served at a small church and I’ll never forget when Madi and Mckenzie joined that youth group. Their presence brought a season of excitement and refreshment to a group that, if I am being ...
Setting Aside Assumptions to Listen to Your Context Throughout my years in ministry, I have seen faith communities (churches and religious non-profit organizations) create and implement well-intentioned and well-informed ministries that met the needs of their wider communities and ...
If you have attended one of the Center for Youth Ministry Training’s graduate residency intensive retreats in the past three years, you know the importance of comradery to this group. Eating and studying together is not just eating and studying ...
Innovation enacted with intention can transform people’s lives. Consider an example from the medical field: In the early 1990s laparoscopic surgery became commonplace and today accounts for the majority of abdominal surgeries, generally resulting in shorter recovery times, reduced pain, ...
To borrow a metaphor from Jesus and farming, a church’s organizational culture is like soil — a living ecosystem that sustains innovation to varying degrees. A church’s culture constitutes the soil into which innovative seeds are planted. Healthy cultural soil ...
Research Findings Drive Innovation Lab Forward Since the Innovation Lab launched in 2018, we’ve seen God transform individual faith journeys, ministries, and entire churches. We’ve hosted numerous training events with leaders around the country; created resources and curriculum on ...
Classroom: One of CYMT’s 5 Components of a Holistic Ministry Training Experience CYMT values the role of theological education in the life of a youth or children’s minister. We believe that being theologically informed helps youth ministers to lead ...
3 Strategies for Creating More Adaptable Ministries Meghan Hatcher explains that churches capable of adapting in response to the needs and assets of a community make it possible for more people to experience the transformative love and grace of ...
