By Dietrich KirkWhat should our relationship with God look like? God is full of grace, forgiveness, and love. God is often referred to as a Good Father. Jesus desires to have a deep relationship with us and calls us friend. Relationships ...
by Dr. Andrew Zirschky Lament is a powerful form of prayer that allows us to express our deepest sorrows and doubts to God. It is a way of acknowledging the suffering we experience in life and bringing it before God ...
by Stephen Ingram I have three kids, ages 17, 15, and 10. When they argue with each other or feel wronged by one of the others, bridging the gap between apology and actual forgiveness can be really difficult. According to ...
By Andrew Zirschky, Ph.D. As the calendar year rolls over, many families see opportunities for new beginnings and restarts as they consider returning to church or finding a new one. For youth workers, this inevitably leads to evaluating and retooling ...
Published February 25, 2020 If you want to be successful recruiting and retaining quality volunteers, there is a good chance you need to shift your perspective on your role in student ministry. I’m guessing that you got into youth ministry ...
The Need for Innovation At some point in this history of the modern church, the terms “youth group” and “youth ministry” became indistinguishable from one another. Although we’ve all seen a variety of programs and models for ministering to young ...
by the Center for Youth Ministry Training What makes your community unique or special? What are the real needs (not the perceived needs) of not only the youth and families in your congregation but the community surrounding your church? Are ...
by Maria Ghianni-Wilkinson During my time as a Graduate Resident in CYMT, I learned so much that helped me grow as a youth minister; I also often found that I had to adapt some of what I was learning to ...
by Paige Bach In my first year serving at a small church, there were fifteen youth regularly attending programming. In my second year, the number dropped to ten. By my third and final year, I had a core group of ...
by Dwight Johnson I enjoy playing basketball and have enjoyed playing since I was about seven years old. I have always enjoyed all the moving pieces of the game both from the physical standpoint and also from the strategic one. ...
by Abby Johnson From Part of the Suburbs to Serving the Suburbs I live in a large city, but the church I serve cannot be classified as urban. It is on the edge of the city, far from its urban ...
Why Leading Discussion Groups Matters in Youth Ministry by Dietrich Kirk 8/13/19 As youth workers, we find ourselves leading discussion groups regularly. Some discussions happen over coffee, some after significant life events, and some are a part of our regular ...
By Andrew Davis 7/30/19 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 a very positive aspect of the lives of new middle schoolers. ...
By Ryan Nordon 6/25/19 The task of ministry is inviting everyone to the table to experience the good news of the Gospel and God’s grace. It is critical to uphold the invitation to everyone when we are working with a ...
Dear CYMT Fellows, I call on all of your wisdom as all people who have stood exactly where I am now – at the very last semester of one of the strangest, most transformative, most unlikely periods of your life. ...
9-1-1 Youth Trips and Hospital Visits By: Kelly Soifer “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times…” Most Americans will recognize those words from the opening of Dickens’ The Tale of Two Cities, a classic in Western ...
By Karen Jones The Big Trip Question- To Send Him Home or Not to Send Him Home? I was just completing my first year at the large, affluent, urban church. As is often the case when following a much-loved former youth ...
The Whole Truth By Caleigh Smith “Now, brothers and sisters, I want to remind you of the gospel I preached to you, which you received and on which you have taken your stand. By this gospel you are saved, if you hold firmly to the ...
Lent Prayer Station: Seven Places By Dietrich Kirk This prayer guide is perfect to use for your youth group during Lent or as a part of a special Holy Week service. In the 90s, there was a Christian band called ...
Letters to a Youth Worker is a collection of letters from some of the best youth ministers in the country. It was published by CYMT in 2012 and is available as a free Kindle download or may be purchased in ...
