Theology, as a basic definition, is "the study of God and God's relation to the world". As a Christian, we view everything through that lens of discovering God's relationship to everything. Youth ministry is no different. Youth ministry is no longer seen as "glorified babysitting". Youth leaders would rarely call it that. (Some parishoners may have subconsciously viewed it as such.) However, in the last few years, the connection between
Over the years, we've coordinated what we called an event internship where youth and young adults came to serve at Avalanche and Blizzard while honing their ministry skills. Over the last 12 months, we've redesigned that program into what we call "Slingshot". We recognize that today's young adult isn't always able to commit to a program long-term (some don't even know what they're doing the next hour). We also recognize
At Mississauga City Baptist Church, we are currently developing a multi-site youth and family ministry. In addition to the students that attend one of the two identical Sunday services, we also have the privilege of partnering with two other churches that host services in other languages other than English. We are also affiliated with another church that is located in our region and in addition to their English service; this
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. (Lao-tzu) What grand plans do you have? For some, youth ministry is seen as a catalyst for change, whether in students or for the church as a whole. For others, they have no idea where the youth ministry is going next week let alone three years down the road. (Change can be petrifying.) So how do you move forward
Let's imagine a story about a student named Annie who's 16 years old in a church (let's call it FBC-Here) with about 80 people, some kids and 2-3 other students in high school. She went to Camp Whoknowswhere for a few summers as a child and loved the experience. As she's growing in her faith, she's exploring how she could serve God. Her church, always looking for personnel help, encourages
At Blizzard 1 this past weekend, when people asked me (Alvin) how I felt the weekend was going, my response was, "Too smoothly." Yes, there were some minute glitches here and there, but generally speaking, things went according to plan. All our churches arrived by 10:00pm. All the waivers were signed properly (I can't remember if that's ever happened in the last 38 Avalanches and Blizzards). We were on schedule.
One of my favourite verses is Luke 14:22. In this passage, Jesus shares a parable of who's invited to God's banquet table. His audience, the Pharisees, believed they were part of the "in" crowd who got to be around the banquet table. However, in this parable, the owner ends up sending his servants to invite those on the streets to attend. Then comes v. 22, where the servant says to
For 40 hours, 489 students and their leaders descended upon Muskoka Woods. At times, there was calm. At times, it felt like chaos. Even the weather got into the action with staying mostly clear on Saturday then white-out conditions on Sunday. What intrigued me with this retreat was, in spite of many glitches (from administrative miscues to property issues to a lost student who was found very quickly to our
For a lot of youth ministries, the weeks from the Christmas holidays to March break feel like an eternity. At the beginning of the ministry year in the fall, there's the adrenaline of a new start. Shortly after Thanksgiving comes the move towards Christmas celebrations. After March break signifies a change in weather towards spring, which brings excitement and the focus on Easter. After Easter is the final push towards
