VY Blog
Written by vineyard youth workers,
for vineyard youth workers.
Paying Attention to the Voices of the Marginalized
My days off consist of spending time with my kids, catching up on household chores, and finding time to engage in thoughts that don’t relate to church work. I love my job, and I love continuing to learn about youth ministry through a variety of mediums. However, I...
A Culture of Worship
How do we instill culture? I think of culture as the unspoken truths apparent in our lives, but often never talked about. Most families don’t have a code of conduct that is typed up and signed with a blood covenant. Yet, values are instilled and regularly reinforced...
Breaking Down Barriers to the Bible
Do you remember the first time the Bible "came alive" for you? I do. I was fourteen years old on a mission trip with YWAM in Mexico. It was a three week trip, and the first half was focused on discipleship and training. They gave us an hour every day to spend alone...
Leaving Space for Teens to Encounter Jesus
I used to take it personally when new students would come to youth group yet never return once they found the mega-church youth group with loud music, video games, and massive screens. Now, a decade later, I have learned to let it go. While at the store, I ran into a...
From the Pulpit to the Heart
The role, or job description, of a youth pastor is often confused by parents, leaders and youth pastors themselves. There have been many times where people think we are only there to entertain and teach a lesson. Sometimes, with those types of parameters as...
Lessons from the strongest man on earth
In the book of Judges, we learn about the powerful judge and prophet who was a divinely inspired leader to Israel whose name was Sampson. He was famous for his incredible strength. His name in Hebrew is Shemesh which means "Sun." Before he was born, his mother was...
Solitude, Community, Then Ministry
One of the greatest arguments against deism, the idea that God created the world and then left it alone without intervention, is the fact that I have experienced the successes that I have in this life. Not because I am particularly inept or foolish (although, after my...
Encouragement When You Least Expect It
When I started youth ministry about 7 years ago I thought I could do it all. I had great ideas for games, sermon series, etc. I did what most of youth pastors would do. I would think outside the box. I even had a sermon about shaping your character and I cut my hair...
The Invisible Will Move the Visible
Typically, at least for me, this “job” of being a student pastor is never ending. I always hear at our staff meeting around May that our slow season is about to start, and I’m always thinking, “Nope!” Now I’m sure I can blame some of the busyness on myself and my...
Am I Making a Difference?
If you've been in youth ministry (or ministry of any kind really) long enough, you've dealt with the discouragement and pain of watching someone you've invested in begin to drift from God and start making decisions that are not beneficial to their well being. Or...
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