youth ministry thoughts

5 11, 2020

Advent Preparations

By Alvin|2020-11-05T13:19:35-05:00November 5th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Christmas is (at the time of publication) 46 days away. It seems soon, and perhaps overwhelming when, with our current pandemic, many of the ways we celebrate Christmas will change. Changing how we celebrate doesn’t lessen the significance or the message of Jesus’ birth, however. I (Alvin) hope your church (at least within your youth ministry and among some of the church leaders) has already started those conversations about what Christmas celebrations will look like this year. If you haven’t,

25 10, 2020

Stretching, Wider Steps

By Alvin|2020-10-23T16:38:10-04:00October 25th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Many youth continue to look for ways to make a difference with their life. As the church that is invested in the lives of these young people, we desire to see them deepen their faith and develop the gifts and skills God’s entrusted to them. We care about their faith development. One key question is: what could be a next step for them? In what area do they need help to stretch and grow as disciples of Christ? There are many ways your church can help facilitate next steps. It could be partnering youth (individually

27 09, 2020

Coaching the Class of 2021

By Alvin|2020-09-24T13:16:27-04:00September 27th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Although most high school students are getting into some kind of back-to-school rhythm, their year will be unlike any other. And think about how different it will be for those who are graduating in 2021! It’s just as vital as ever for us to come alongside them as they navigate their move from high school to whatever post-secondary chapter they choose. Our grad mentoring kit is still available as a

26 09, 2020

Camp and Youth Ministry: working together

By Alvin|2020-09-26T15:42:10-04:00September 26th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Youth ministry has a great symbiotic relationship with camps. Youth ministries and Christian camps both strive towards the goal of the next generation knowing and growing closer to Jesus, but we each have our specific platforms in which to accomplish that. That being said, there are many ways we can complement each other in attaining that goal. (You can see specific ways Kwasind, Kids and Youth do this as CBOQ Next Gen in our onboarding guide.) Resource Sharing: God has equipped each of our individual churches and camps with various

14 09, 2020

Initial Insights into Gen Alpha

By Alvin|2020-09-14T09:53:33-04:00September 14th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Recently, McCrindle (a research organization in Australia) released a report on “Understanding Generation Alpha”; these are kids born approx. 2010 and later. Some are starting to enter youth ministry. Here are some key highlights (especially as they differ from Generation Z): Personalization is key. It’s not just having their “names” on everything; they are growing up in a world where a service or resource is channeled specifically to them individually. This isn‘t a case of entitlement; it’s just “how it

4 05, 2020

Student Leaders in Existing and New Places

By Alvin|2020-05-01T17:10:10-04:00May 4th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Students in the church have a unique opportunity right now. They have access to their peer groups that youth leaders don’t have (and shouldn’t have). Many are creative and out-of-the-box thinkers (because many “don’t know better”). And, best of all, many of these students have shown their ministry opportunity isn’t in the future, it’s now. First of all, we’re referring to youth who are taking leadership in a particular ministry, not necessarily within your youth program. Some of these

17 04, 2020

Ways to Check In with your Youth

By Alvin|2020-04-17T22:22:13-04:00April 17th, 2020|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

By now, your youth have likely settled into some kind of pattern. The immediate crisis of figuring out “what do we do now?” has subsided. Here are some ways and considerations on how you can continue to check in with your youth both as a group and individually. Some questions you can be asking: When you’re on a chat with youth, ask a rating question e.g. “On a scale between 1-5, how anxious are you feeling right now?”, and ask them to show their rating by

26 11, 2019

Book review: Before the Screen

By Alvin|2019-11-26T23:37:51-05:00November 26th, 2019|Alvin Lau, youth ministry thoughts|0 Comments

Recently, I (Alvin) finished reading Andrew Zirschky’s book Beyond the Screen: Youth Ministry for the Connected But Alone Generation. This short book highlighted some profound insights on how Generation Z engages social media in the context of community. Some specific insights that caught my attention: One key reason why many youth gravitate to technology is “not primarily for its entertainment value or cool factor, but because of its potential to

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