Alvin, Author at CBOQ Youth

3 12, 2018

Crazy(less) of Advent

By Alvin|2018-11-28T19:00:03-05:00December 3rd, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

The season of Advent is here. For some, it’s a month-long celebration. For many, it’s a season of stress. For others, some deep pain is associated with this time of year. Renee Embree (Director of Youth and Family Ministries with the Canadian Baptists of Atlantic Canada) recently blogged on “How to help parents have less 'crazy' this advent & Christmas season” (http://cbacyf.ca/oneneighbourhood/2018/11/22/how-to-help-parents-have-less-crazy-this-advent-amp-christmas-season). Here are some specific things to note: Discuss

26 11, 2018

Renegotiating Faith (part 3)

By Alvin|2018-11-23T20:02:01-05:00November 26th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

This is part 3 of 3 in a reflection series on Renegotiating Faith. (See Part 1 and Part 2.) -------------- The Fear Of Missing Out (FOMO), the Fear of Not Being Amazing (FNBA), and the Fear Of Passionless Monotony (FOPM) press in on young adults ever more as they approach age 30, which, for many, marks the limit of emerging adulthood and a forced entry into adulthood. (p.12-13) Many Millennials

19 11, 2018

Volunteer Care

By Alvin|2018-11-17T16:54:55-05:00November 19th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

How do you care for your volunteers? They give their time, energy and other resources to minister to this next generation alongside you. How do you show your appreciation? Many times, volunteers do not feel valued because they aren’t receiving appreciation in ways that makes sense to them. One way is to understand their love language. While love languages are usually discussed in the context of marriage, its principles can

10 11, 2018

Alvin’s Reflections on Reignite 2018

By Alvin|2018-11-10T00:56:36-05:00November 10th, 2018|Alvin Lau|2 Comments

Last week, a group of CBOQ pastors (including some children, family and youth pastors) gathered at the Nottawasaga Inn and Resort for the Reignite Conference. This year featured Dwight Friesen, author of The New Parish, sharing his insights on the local church. We engaged in three days of discussions around the purpose of the local parish and how well we interact with our neighbourhood. There were three questions/ideas that stood

29 10, 2018

What vs How in Youth Ministry Programming?

By Alvin|2018-10-26T21:42:54-04:00October 29th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

In youth ministry, many of us tend to focus on the content of teaching. Looking at a year-long calendar, many youth leaders try to pack in as much content and topics they can think of. Is that the best approach? For me (Alvin), I wonder if there is a significant shift in our youth ministry programming. Since the birth of the church, one of the primary drives was to share

22 10, 2018

How do you reach into your community?

By Alvin|2018-10-16T21:09:51-04:00October 22nd, 2018|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

How do you reach your community with the person and message of Jesus? After all, that’s the primary reason why the church exists: to go and make disciples of all nations. What are ways to do that? There are many ways a church can reach into a community. Here are a few considerations: Where does the neighbourhood gather? Some communities already have established times when people gather. It could

15 10, 2018

Renegotiating Faith (part 2)

By Alvin|2018-10-12T14:46:08-04:00October 15th, 2018|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

We continue looking at some observations Renegotiating Faith highlighted its report. (Click here for Part One.) Young adults who went straight into postsecondary studies fared worse on all our measures of religious persistence than those who had taken a gap year. (p.11) I (Alvin) remember that in high school the big push was to graduate and go straight on to university. A gap year was seen as a form of

30 09, 2018

Preparing Your Grads

By Alvin|2018-09-27T22:37:39-04:00September 30th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

One month has already passed in this school year. Your high school grads are only nine months away from graduation. How are you supporting them in their transition to emerging adulthood? Renegotiating Faith highlighted that home church youth groups and mentors are key in the successful shift into emerging adulthood. Here is one way for you to help your grads. On June 1, 2019, we along with Power 2 Change,

20 09, 2018

Big Events in the Rhythm of Youth Ministry

By Alvin|2018-09-20T13:40:38-04:00September 20th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

Each year, there are probably one (or a few) big events everyone looks forward to, whether it’s a retreat, a compassion experience, or that annual big-bash Christmas dinner. Those big events can be monumental and life-changing…if they’re used well. One person suggested to me that big events in youth ministry are giant “sledgehammer” moments where there is potential for huge impact in students’ lives. There are a variety of reasons

17 09, 2018

Renegotiating Faith (part 1)

By Alvin|2018-09-13T21:29:34-04:00September 17th, 2018|Alvin Lau|0 Comments

Last July, a new report called Renegotiating Faith (RF) was launched from a research partnership between Power 2 Change, InterVarsity, Youth for Christ, Truth Matters Ministries, and The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada. Renegotiating Faith looks at the transition from high school to the next stage in life for Canadians age 18 to 28 who had a Christian religious affiliation as a teen and who attended religious services at least monthly

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