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Youth Group Starbucks?
I am sitting in Starbucks with my son today, John is working behind the counter. John is a super nice guy and is very helpful. When I come to the meca of coffee houses I usually order a grande, skinny, upside down, vanilla latte (pease don’t think less of me). John strives to be “legendary,” which is a Starbucks “buzzword,” and he is, he knows his Starbucks stuff. Read the rest of this entry
Parent Connect…
“I am a youth pastor!” It has taken me too long to understand the limitations I put on my ministry if I let that sentence, and nothing more, define my role. I am not talking about the overload of work a church can give or expect, I am talking about the 360º view of my role as a youth pastor. Just off the top of my head I would say I am a shepherd, teacher, pastor to youth pastors (my adult leaders). I am a pastor to the church (not just to teens), and I am a parent pastor. The list could go on but you get the idea.
How are you succeeding in your role as a pastor to the parents of your teens? Our team recently processed through this questions and developed a new resource for our church. The idea we came up with was a…wait for it…wait for it…(EPIC DRUM ROLL PLEASE)…Parent Blog!!! I know, right? Not real ground breaking ministry. The point is not that it’s never been thought of before, the point is connection with and equipping our parents.
Keeping up a blog can be a lot of work and if you stop posting for a period of time you risk losing your readers. Here are a few of the steps I took in creating this connection point with our parents.
5 Portable Games…
There is always downtime at events, trips and retreats and I want to take advantage of those moments. Sometimes just sitting down and trying to have a conversation with certain teens is awkward, not for me but for the student. Games can break up the tension, create memorable moments and conversation just happens. I keep some games in my backpack that will help me connect with students as they sit in the snack shop, lounge, or wherever. These games are small enough to slip in to your backpack and are easily affordable.
iPad games
I am not going to list them all but if u have an iPad, iPod Touch, or smartphone you have access to some great multiplayer games. While sitting in Starbucks at a table full of kids I pulled out the iPad and we played Yatzee, and a crowed gathered…nerd or great youth pastor (actually the jury is still out).
Checkers
I picked up a magnetic checker board at Starbucks (which they no longer sell). It is super thin, and about the size of a check book when closed…I know, I know, I spend to much time at Starbucks.
Pass The Pigs
This is a great game, kind of like Farkle but with pigs.
Shock Ball
Hot Potato + Electrocution = GREAT TIME!!!!!
Angry Birds
LIVE Angry Birds game…enough said!
It is easy for me to spend time with teens on the broom-ball court or playing flag football, but games like Pass The Pigs have been a great tool in helping me spend time with students I do not normally connect with.
TOOL BOX: Water Balloons!
I shared a few of my favorite gadgets with a group of youth pastors and one of those gadgets was this water balloon filler that you see on the left, it is 100x better than the typical nozzle you get in a bag of water balloons as pictured here on the right. Within minutes of sharing I received a facebook message from Youth worker Mark Eades saying “Brandon Early, you made me go do a little more digging for water balloon supplies and I came across this…” This water balloon filler blew my mind, I assure you this will be part of my youth ministry arsenal very soon. Check out this video below!
FREE Live Curriculum
Simply Youth Ministry’s Live Curriculum has been a great tool for me as a youth pastor. I value solid Biblical teaching, equipping leaders, and saving my leaders prep time and this offers all that. I have been using both the junior high and senior high Live Curriculum for over a year now and have received great feedback from our leaders and students. Live Curriculum gives us 144 weeks of solid Bible teaching broken down in a format easy for any youth worker to teach through. Each lesson is easily customizable for a seasoned small group leader or is ready “as is” for my rookie leaders. Each lesson has clear objectives, great talk points, and handouts for student note-taking. A few of my favorite features include short questions to send to students prior to our meetings (via text or facebook), parent emails to be sent out after your group has met (keeping them in the loop), as well as a great online resource to help distribute critical information (announcements, calendar, lessons, etc.) to your adult leaders. There are also iPhone, iPod Touch, iPad and Android apps associated with the Live Curriculum. Together these elements have set up our students, parents, and leaders for success. Read the rest of this entry
Cell Phone Trip Tip…
I am currently using the Droid X and loving it. One of the downfalls of a smartphone is the cost, if I damage my Droid it would cost over $500 to replace. You iPhone users would be paying over $700 to replace your equipment out of contract. So when I go on a mission trip or retreat where there are high chances of my phone being stolen (one of my staff was robbed on a trip) or damaged (we have seen too many phones lost in snow or dropped in a lake at our retreats) I bring one of my backup phones. With Verizon all I have to do is dial *228 and follow the prompts to activate any old (or new) equipment. Now if some students throw me in the pool or I am robbed or leave my phone on a bench in the city (had a staff person do that too) I don’t have to replace my best phone.
Old Phones: Do you have any phones lying around your house? Chances are they still work. If not ask a few friends if they have an old phone you can have or do a search on Craigslist or eBay. Make sure it has a “clean ESN” and that it will work with your cell provider. I always call Verizon (my cell provider) and check the phone before I buy it.
Set up: If this is your first time switching phones don’t try the fancy *228, just call your cell provider directly, it is a free call and free help. I can switch from one phone to another 50 times a day for free too.
