Behavior:

- abuse of alcohol/illicit drugs

- difficulty coping with minor problems

- loss of enjoyment

- dread of work

- increased irritability/impatience

- losing things

- suicidal or homicidal ideation/attempts

- reduced work efficiency

- PTSD-like symptoms (post traumatic stress disorder)

Physical:

- chronic fatigue

- insomnia

- muscle tension

- panic attacks

- weakened immune system

- flare-ups in preexisting medical conditions

- weight gain or loss

- changes in appetite

Interpersonal:

- withdrawal from family and friends

- difficulty separating professional and personal life

- decreased interest in physical or emotional intimacy

- loss of trust

- loneliness

- allowing clients (pastors/parents/youth?) to abuse your professional boundaries

- ending of long-lasting relationships

- difficulty coping with minor interpersonal problems

Attitudinal:

- boredom

- guilt

- depression

- pessimism

- helplessness

- survivor guilt

- grandiosity

- sense of meaninglessness

- self-criticism

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

God has been working in my life in such a big way, that I'm afraid if I don't write things down, we will miss the moment.

Over the last few months, I have been called to combine my ministry passions to start a whole new ministry, one we are calling "Just One Starfish." 

About the name.  You know the modern day Starfish Parable?  The author is unknown and there are several versions, but the gist is:

A man and his grandson are walking along a beach.  Because of the change in tides, thousands of starfish have washed up on shore.  The grandfather realizes, if the starfish stay on the beach, they will certainly die.  The grandfather begins picking up starfish one by one and throwing them back into the ocean.  The grandson looks down the entire beach and says, "Grandpa, there are thousands of them!  How can you even make a difference?!"

The grandfather picks up a starfish, shows it to his grandson.  "It matters to this one," and throws it into the water.

It Matters to That One.

And here is where I have seen God at work in my heart:

After 15 years of youth ministry, if you ask me, "What would you focus on if you only had a few months to work with a youth group but wanted to have the most impact?" I would tell you that I'd focus on missions, Student Leadership and student led ministry.  Basically, I believe that young people are fully capable of doing great ministry and they are too often spoon-fed ministry programs that neither challenge nor empower them.  In a sense, the current church system creates a culture of youth that are consumers of ministry - youth directors are paid to run and create ministry programs to teach youth about faith, not necessarily to empower youth to do ministry. (I'm sure there will be a post on this later...)

If you asked me, "what are the most impactful ministry moments you've participated in?" The list is short - mission trips, 30 Hour Famine, retreats and one-on-one conversations.  What makes these four impactful is this - they empower youth to do ministry, to make a difference about real issues, to really share their gifts and to really get to know people.

In fact, the most meaningful ministry I've personally done in my life was before my days as paid church staff.  In college I volunteered to mentor a local Waco junior high girl, Stephanie.  What did "mentoring" entail?  Sometimes we'd meet at her school, talk about her day and work through her homework, sometimes she'd come to my apartment and we'd do ordinary things like bake cookies.  In time, I met her entire family.  I was just a college kid and they were just a family in the local town...we just did life together.  Through this, I learned that people who look differently, live on a different side of town, have a different world view and life experience, can become important people in my life.  People who I know by name, not just by labels or sterotypes like you might hear in a news story about the poor in your city.

I was reminded of the power of that connection last February when my family joined our Arlington church youth group in attending Church Under the Bridge in Waco.  When Christine, Stephanie's mom, just happened to be attending church there for the first time on the day that we just happened to be there, I knew it was the kind of coincidence that only God could provide.  At the time, my husband and I had been in a period of trying to discern how God wanted us to be doing ministry.  We didn't know Sunday morning if God put Christine at church that day for us or for her...after lots of prayer, we think He wanted to get our attention.

Adding to this, for the last few months, I've volunteered at Mission Arlington once a week.  I love talking to the clients and families that walk in for assistance.  I've used a lot of my once rusty college Spanish and have met families from all sorts of walks of life and ethnic backgrounds.  I have met some of the hardest working people I'll probably ever meet.  It has broken my heart to talk to families that are hoping the Mission can help them get some things for their new apartment - like a bed so they don't have to sleep on the floor anymore.  A bed!  With each family I get to pray that God will meet their material needs, but that God will also protect them and that we can all be a light for Christ in our community.  I have learned that the fastest population growth in our city is in segments the Church as a whole might be failing to reach - working poor, non-native English speakers, single parent families.

What does this mean?

So this is where I've found myself:

• I have a passion for teaching youth to be leaders and to be actively doing their own ministry.
• I have a heart for the needy in our community.  (Did you know that 1 in 5 children in Arlington, TX live below the poverty level?)
• I believe that the most meaningful youth ministry is not found in hanging out in the city's largest, coolest youth room, but that the most meaningful ministry is done in one-on-one mentoring. 
• As it turns out, I also have met a lot of great people in our community and in the Youth Ministry community at large.  People with whom I can partner for launching a new ministry.  

With all these experiences mixing around in my head and heart, I began to dream and pray about how God could use me to make a difference.  There were a lot of "what if" questions to consider:  What if we could engage youth in a relational ministry in our community?  What if we could create a way for youth to do meaningful ministry above and beyond the summer mission trips?  What if we could also train the youth to be leaders and continue with follow up and coach them as they grow?  What if we found student leaders from youth groups all over the city and from all denominational backgrounds to participate?  What if we did a program similar to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, but with youth serving as mentors and a focus on at-risk kids during what I believe is the most critical moment of decision making, preadolescence (5th graders specifically)?  What if we designed the ministry in such a way that it could be duplicated in communities everywhere?

And the answers to the what if questions became "Just One Starfish."  In a nutshell, Just One Starfish is a mentoring program that coaches student leadership and matches up high school students with at-risk, upper elementary school students for one-on-one mentoring.

I believe with God's help, we can transform lives, one mentoring relationship at a time.

Where do you come in?

You might be wondering if this is something for you.  

For Youth - are you a teenager who loves Jesus and wants to make a difference in your community?  Would you like to learn more about being a leader?  Do you like the idea of being a positive role model for someone younger than you?  Are you feeling called to make a difference? This might be for you.

Youth will apply to be a part of Just One Starfish by filling out an application available in June.  If you want to stay in the loop, fill out this little contact form.  You can also follow the latest Just One Starfish news at our Facebook page ("like" our page) and/or follow Twitter "@JustOneStarfish"

For Adults - are you an adult who can coach students and encourage them?  Are you willing to commit to diligently praying for this ministry?  Do you know someone in our community that works with youth?  We will need coaches for this ministry to help in training and followup.  We need adults to support this ministry both through prayer and financial support.  We need adults to be advocates for our ministry and to tell people about it.  As our ministry expands, we will need adults with gifts and interests all across the board - marketing, networking, accounting and more.  If anything here sounds like a fit for you, adults can get connected by filling out our contact form or sending a message through our Facebook page.

For Youthworkers - Are you a youthworker who wants to guide youth to be intentional about personal ministry and to love serving the local community?  Do you have youth in your ministry that long to make a difference, but haven't found their ministry fit?  Are you looking for a ministry that allows your youth to mature in their faith walk, but does not compete with your church's ministries?  Or do you have access to a space where we can meet for training and activities?  If you answered yes to anything, this might be for you.  We are looking for ministry partners of all denominational backgrounds.  Youthworkers can get involved or just get more information by contacting me through our contact form or Facebook page.  I would be happy to visit with you and your youth group about Just One Starfish. 

For "Experts" - Are you involved in, or do you know someone involved in, a ministry similar to Just One Starfish?  I believe the quickest way to learn to be successful in a venture is to learn from other successes, so let's talk.  Feel free to pass this message on to anyone who might have some insights.

Want to know more? Fill out our contact form for more information.

How will it all work?

Here's how I see things will work:

In my ministry vision, we team up high school sophomores and juniors with local at-risk 5th graders, so we can foster a mentoring relationship that could potentially last 2+ years during the critical time of preadolescence.  

First, we teach those high school youth the basics of mentoring and leadership, plus, working with local youthworkers, we follow-up with the youth and coach them through this new ministry. Unlike other mentoring programs, we want to support youth volunteers with training, conversation starters and follow-up.  After training, youth will be paired up with a local upper elementary school student for mentoring.  Ideally, the two will meet a couple of hours weekly for 2+ years - long enough to make a difference as a positive, stable role model.  Through this ministry, we can prayerfully build youth leaders into young adults who know how to do meaningful ministry and how to actively engage in community service.  Young adults who won't leave the Church because they know their value to the Body of Christ...and we can positively impact the lives of children in our community who can benefit from healthy role models.

So this is where God has been calling me.  Launching a whole new ministry!  We begin in Arlington in the Fall with a vision to expand to other communities.

Summary

It feels exciting, exhilarating, scary and right.

And I'm going to need a lot of help.

So, if you're reading this and you happen to know someone who's interested in helping, or who has great ideas, who has a big pile of money to donate to cover training material costs ;) or who is just willing to pray hard for this new venture, send them my way.  Or if you know someone who knows someone, feel free to pass this post on to them.

Can we save the world?  Maybe not.  But we can transform lives, one at a time.

Yours in Christ,

Erin

P.S.  Future "Just One Starfish" updates will be at our Facebook page, www.facebook.com/JustOneStarfish.  You can help and stay in the loop by clicking there and "liking" us, or fill out our contact form for more information.  We will have our blog and website up and running in the next couple of weeks.

“So, youth, what do you want to learn about?”

 “Revelation, angels, and Satan?  Where do we go when we die?  Okay, sure, we could do that.  Oh wait, look at that shiny thing over there!’

I must confess something I am not very proud of -- For years, I have been a professional controversy avoider.

It’s sad really.  It’s just that I would rather stay on subjects I feel comfortable with, so for years I’ve gently sidestepped all sorts of tough subjects.  You know, subjects that, if you took a theological stand on them, some parent might be calling your office on Monday to figure out what in the world you were thinking.  (Or more likely, they’d be calling your boss’s office after talking to all of their friends...but that's a different article altogether.)

So, instead of talking about potentially controversial things like what the Bible says about hell or damnation, I’ve leaned toward happier, safer things like discerning spiritual gifts and helping your neighbor.  I’ve avoided Hell and Satan as topics…and even angels for that matter.  Really, I’ve avoided as many confusing, tough topics as possible.  (To the youth I’ve served, I apologize for that.)

I'm done avoiding the tough stuff.  It’s time to take on the H word – Hell.

Enter two popular youth ministry speakers: Rob Bell and Francis Chan.

Like many youth workers, I’ve known the work of Rob Bell for years.  His nooma videos have been great conversation starters.  His style has almost become a household name, with people donning “Rob Bell” glasses to look hip and everything.

Last year, Rob Bell opened the door on Hell with his popular book “Love Wins: A Book About Heaven, Hell and the Fate of Every Person Who Ever Lived.”  Basically, he proposes that, if the nature of God is love,  how could this God of love condemn millions of non-Christian people to hell?  Is Ghandi, as a nonChristian, condemned to hell for eternity?  Bell would say no.  Bell suggests a universal salvation - that every single person will embrace Jesus – if not in this life, then certainly in the next.  He writes:

            “At the heart of this perspective is the belief that, given enough time, everybody will turn to God and find themselves in the joy and peace of God’s presence.  The love of God will melt every hard heart, and even the most depraved sinners will eventually give up their resistance and turn to God.”  (Love Wins, 107)

Yet another compelling and popular speaker at youth events, Francis Chan, responds to Rob Bell’s theology in his book, “Erasing Hell.”   Chan and coauthor Preston Sprinkle explore references to Hell in Scripture and try to explain what the Bible has to say about gehenna, hell.

            “So I decided to write a book about hell.  And honestly – I’m scared to death.

I’m scared because so much is at stake.  Think about it.  If I say there is no hell, and it turns out that there is a hell, I may lead people into the very place I convinced them did not exist!  If I say there is a hell, and I’m wrong, I may persuade people to spend their lives frantically warning loved ones about a terrifying place that isn’t real!  When it comes to hell, we can’t afford to be wrong.  This is not one of those doctrines where you can toss in your two cents, shrug your shoulders, and move on.  Too much is at stake.  Too many people are at state.  And the Bible has too much to say.” (Erasing Hell, introduction)

Chan explains that while we might not want to believe in a God that would condemn non-Christian people to eternal suffering, we might need to come to terms with God being a God whose ways we don’t fully understand.  Hell is real.  God’s judgment is real.  Like Bell, Chan refers to Scripture to explain his conclusions.

So what does the United Methodist Church officially believe?  Here’s what I found from umc.org:

Does The United Methodist Church believe in universal salvation?

The Book of Discipline of The United Methodist Church includes a section titled Doctrinal Standards and Our Theological Task, which records the official theology of The United Methodist Church.

The section on Distinctive Wesleyan Emphases includes a description of prevenient, justifying, and sanctifying grace. When a Christian, by the grace of God, accepts God's "pardoning love," he or she enters into a transformational process whereby there is every assurance of salvation….

While these statements of doctrine state that salvation is AVAILABLE to all persons, they stop short of saying that salvation is GUARANTEED to all persons. There is the stated or implied condition that, while God's grace is necessary for salvation and that humankind cannot in any way attain salvation without God, that there is certainly an element of awareness and cooperation on our part to order our lives after the image of Christ if we have the capacity to do so.

There are persuasive arguments that include the faithful, thoughtful, and respectful use of Scripture on both sides-- affirming and denying universal salvation. The Book of Discipline, which is the only official printed voice of the UMC, does not make a statement specifically about universal salvation. This places the question in a possible gray area, but the Discipline says what it says. One must read the doctrine there and attempt to understand it as well as possible.  (www.umc.org, Rev. Dr. Diana Hynson, 
Director of Learning and Teaching Ministries in the Congregation,
General Board of Discipleship)

Do United Methodists believe that faith in Jesus Christ is necessary to go to heaven?

Yes, United Methodists do believe that faith in Jesus Christ is the only way the Bible gives as clearly God's gift and way of salvation and heaven.  God can save anyone that God chooses to save and we cannot decide whom God will save.  We simply trust the plain teaching of scripture.  See John 3:16, Acts 4:12 and many other texts.

Our belief in this unique path of salvation can never be used to put down other religions and the gifts that they have to give to the world, even to Christians.  That we have a gospel to proclaim is not grounds for hurting others.  We can and must be friends with Jews, Muslims, Buddhists, and others. In dialogue with them we learn and they learn.  In a time when religion is so much in the news and on our minds, we need to be vigilant against our own hostility and follow Jesus in the way of love.

Our Book of Resolutions says, "While we as Christians respond faithfully to the call to proclaim the gospel in all places, we can never presume to know the full extent of God's work in the world, and we recognize the reality of God's activity outside the Christian church. It is central to our faith that salvation is accomplished not by human beings, but by God. We know that judgment as to the ultimate salvation of persons from any faith community, including Christianity and Judaism, belongs to God alone." 
 (Rev. Dan Benedict, 
Center for  Worship Resourcing
, General Board of Discipleship)

 

So how do you as a youthworker, navigate through these opposing theologies about Hell?  How do you answer youths’ questions about hell and salvation?  Personally, I want Bell to be right.  I want God to embrace all people in the end and for no one to suffer for eternity.  I want "love to win" in the end.  But I also want to be responsible in what beliefs I teach youth.  We have but a short window to minister and teach the youth in our care...it's time to wrestle with the tough stuff.

Where do you stand on this issue?

How do you delve into tough subjects with your youth?

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

Looking for a proven successful youth ministry event idea to kick off your summer?  Try this: Ultimate Nerf Wars.

What you need: Tables, anything camouflage, tarps, bandannas in two colors (1 per person), score sheets, pens, Sharpies, glow-in-the-dark bracelets/necklaces, medals or prizes (optional) Bullet buckets to gather up bullets for reloading.  Lots of volunteers.

What people need to bring: Any and all Nerf guns and ammunition.  Make sure all Nerf guns and related parts are labeled with your name.  Encourage everyone to dress in black or camo and encourage facepaint.  Money to cover food costs (optional)

Who this works best for: Ages 8+.  We’ve done this event for tweens, youth and college students & they’ve all loved it.

Where: Any space big enough for running around – gym/Family Life Center/big open field

The set up:

You are creating a battlefield and you’ll want a team of volunteers to help you.  Take available tables and set them up on end as barriers, cover things with camouflage.  Gather up all those decorative ficus trees gathering dust in the Sunday school rooms & make a virtual forest.

Set up one table and chairs in a central area to be the “triage” unit.  This is where participants will come once they get hit by a bullet to have their score sheet marked (there’s an honor system element here).

Sample Schedule for a 3 Hour Event:

6:00-6:30 – Registration & Check-in.  As participants arrive, have them sign in with their name plus number of guns & bullets that they’ve brought.  Distribute bandannas or fabric strips as people check in to indicate their teams.  Optional: Have a target practice range set up to get people warmed up before the event begins.

6:30-6:45 – Boundaries & Rules

Gather everyone.  Let everyone know what the boundaries are.  The rules we’ve used are:

1. No aiming toward the head.
2. If you get shot, go to the “triage” station to get your score sheet marked.
3. Ricochets do not count as hits.
4. Ammo that is on the ground is fair game to pick up and reuse.
5. Have your bandanna in an easy to see spot (like around your head)
6. Each round might have specific rules for that game (see below)
7. Have fun!

6:45-7:00 – Round One – Army A vs. Army B* Allow for time between rounds to gather up bullets.

7:00-7:20 – Round Two – Infection or Zombie Nerf Tag

7:20-7:40 – Break! Eat Pizza, drink water, make friends.

7:40-8:00 – Round Three – Last Person Standing

8:00-8:20 – Round Four - Glow-in-the-Dark Nerf Tag

8:20-8:40 – Clean up all the bullets/Find your equipment

8:40-9:00 – Announce winners/give prizes/eat cupcakes/close in prayer

*Variations for each round:

Army One vs. Army Two - A classic battle between two teams, object is to have the team that gets hit the least.

Capture the Flag - Two teams battle against each other and try to capture the flag of the opposing team.  Object is to capture the flag and return it to base without getting shot.

Infection or Zombie Nerf Tag – 2 people are designated zombies & must walk around arms straight ahead (zombie style).  Only zombies have Nerf guns.  If they tag you with a bullet, you become a zombie.  Nonzombies can speed walk and hide behind things but not run.  Last nonzombie wins.

Glow In the Dark Tag – An absolute favorite.  Give everyone glow in the dark bracelets, turn out the lights & fire!

Every One for Yourself/Last Person Standing – A basic elimination round.    Once you’re shot, you’re out.  Object is to not get hit.

Youth Ministry Application:

Fellowship/Evangelism - this is a great outreach event.  It creates a non-threatening, fun environment for youth to bring friends.

Discipleship - an option would be to have Nerf Wars as part of a larger retreat or event.  This could easily tie into important ministry topics like spiritual warfare, armor of God, working as a team, being lights in a dark world, why zombies are not real, etc.

We'd love to hear from you!

Have you done this kind of event before?  What worked/what didn't?

If you try it, please send us your pictures!

Be blessed,
Erin

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

It’s the worst.  The student walking up to you has been coming to youth group on and off for about a year…and you just completely blanked out on her name.

“Hi, you! How’s it going?” you say awkwardly.

“You forgot my name, didn’t you?”

Gah!  Busted. (her name was Monica, by the way, and I didn’t forget it after that.)

Have trouble remembering names?  Relax, you’re in good company.  Remembering people’s names is a tough skill to master – but getting a handle on it will set you apart from the crowd and win people over.  You don’t have to ever say, “I’m sorry, I’m terrible at remembering names,” if you really commit to work at it.  Youth ministry is about building community and knowing each other, that starts with everyone being able to call each other by their name.  Want a second time guest to feel special?  Call them by name when they walk in the door!

Here are 9 tricks that –if you commit to make them work – will help you remember anyone’s names:

1. Know how your brain works.  Sound simple enough?  Some of us are visual learners who need pictures and names put together.  Some learn better by word association.  Alliteration is always awesome.  Like the “Name Knowing Ninja” title for this piece, use alliteration tricks like “Monica the Marvelous” or “Blake the blonde.” Bam! Onomatopoeia is an option.  Try different methods of name studying until you figure out what is most effective for you.
2. Nametags.  I am a huge fan of nametags, no matter the size of your youth group.  Yes, the youth will complain and say things like, “Everybody knows who I am!”  Nametags are an act of love for anyone else who is bad at names.  A nametag on everyone makes it easy for a first time visitor to feel comfortable.  I learn my best by associating written first & last names with faces, so I put myself in charge of making a nametag for each person who walks in the door.  For the adult who volunteers occasionally, it is a blessing to be able to casually glance down at a nametag to recall a name.  Why do I fill them out?  Selfishly, it reinforces name memory for me but also it keeps things legible and keeps the youth to their real names.
3. Information sheets.  I have all my youth fill out this simple and fun youth information sheet at the beginning of the year.  It includes their name, contact info and favorite things, plus bits of information about them.  It even includes a spot for the youth to draw a self portrait.  The important next step is to study the information sheets to get names down and to also get insights on people.  Every first time visitor fills out the same form.
4. Facebook/Social Media creeping.  Okay, don’t really be a creeper, but use social media to learn names.  In the old days, we only had a dated church directory for associating names and faces – but now people who learn best by associating pictures and names can study names on the web.  I know there are mixed feelings about adult–youth contact on the internet, so make sure you’ve got an okay from whomever needs to okay things first.  The internet is a very public place – it offers a place for you to learn names and faces.  Always be beyond reproach – keep everything you say or do on the web in the public forum (not private messages with youth) and keep things always appropriate.
5. Name games.  Some of them are cheesy, but they’re effective.   The most effective one I seen I call Name Toss Across.  Participants stand in a circle.   The first person has the ball and says their own name plus the name of someone across the circle.  Then person 1 tosses the ball across to the person 2 and begins walking toward that second person’s spot.  The second person catches the ball, says their own name and the name of a third person across the circle, tossing the ball to person 3 & starting to walk to person 3’s spot before person 1 gets to person 2’s spot.  Start over and regroup if not successful.  The game goes on until everyone has had their name said a few times - the goal is to work together.   (If I’ve totally confused you, send an email and I’ll try again.)  I do a lot of name games at the beginning of a school year or when new youth have joined, and I also do them occasionally throughout the year to mix it up.
6. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat.  As soon as you meet a person, try to use their name.  “Hi Tristan, nice to meet you.”  Obviously you don’t want to overdo it and make things seem awkward, but try to work the person’s name into conversation a few times to help you remember.  When they leave that day, “See you later, Tristan!”  Write their name down as soon as they leave to help you remember.
7. Link names to people you’ve known in the past.  “Kristen, it’s nice to meet you – I had a college roommate named Kristen.”  The more senses you can use to connect a person to a memory, the better.  For example, telling a person aloud what the name connection is will be more effective than just thinking it – you will be linking the name mentally, plus saying and hearing it.
8. Get clear on the name.  Sometimes we don’t hear a name right the first time, or it’s an unusual name, or it’s spelled a dozen different ways.  When you first meet someone, don’t be afraid to ask for clarification on the name.  “Nice to meet you Stephen, is that with a ‘v’ or a ‘ph’?”  It really is okay to ask someone to repeat his or her name with a “Sorry, I missed your name the first time.”  It is better to get clarification and reinforcement on a name earlier than later.
9. Link people through their relationships.  For example, remember that Sarah is friends with Amanda.  Sarah’s brother is Chris and her parents are Dave and Susan.  If you can mentally make a chain connecting the person to others, you can reinforce the original name, plus learn names of connections.
10. Bonus idea: take pictures at your youth group meetings.  (I know the article’s called “Nine Secrets of a Name-Knowing Ninja”, but that was just to reinforce the power of alliteration….)  Have a student leader be the official photographer.  After youth group, study the pictures as if they were flashcards when the names are fresh in your mind and see if you can get everyone’s names down.

After you’ve mastered the names in your youth group, begin working on their friends, parents and siblings.  Parents in particular trust you with part of their child’s faith development, so be able to call them by name.  Be visible at drop off and pick up and seek out parents whenever you can.

When you first meet someone, you are taking in a lot of information at once.  Quite often, we are a little distracted at the time so the name gets lost in the shuffle.  If you can concentrate on making name remembering a priority, you’ll be a name-knowing ninja in no time.

Be blessed,

Erin

Share your thoughts & ideas!

What other name tricks do you use?

Any suggestions for effective name games youth enjoy?

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

via WordPress http://umyouthworker.wordpress.com/2012/05/14/7-quick-easy-icebreakers-for-yo...

At the Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention last November, like many trade shows and conventions, there is a large exhibit hall of vendors and ministries.  It's a randomized mix of music ministry, curriculum resources, camp and retreat centers, seminaries, mission work opportunities and more.  As you walk through "the gauntlet" of vendors passing out free t-shirts, stickers and pens in exchange for your contact information, it gets a little overwhelming and impersonal.

I walked differently this year.  Instead of trying to figure out who had the coolest looking free t-shirt and how I could get it for myself, I took the walk as an opportunity to seek out good conversation with people passionate about their causes - whether or not I agreed with their theology.

A conversation that sticks out in my mind was with Christopher from The Exodus Project.  I had never heard of this ministry, but his booth had a big sign about dealing with Gay and Lesbian youth.   A lot of convention-goers would see the sign, avert their eyes and move on to the next booth quickly.  I had to admire the courage of the men who'd work that booth at a Christian conference.  Christopher's story in brief is that he used to struggle with homosexuality, he was lost and now he wants to help minister to those who struggle with the same issues.

But what stood out was the averted eyes - that made me wonder how often we as the body of Christ would like to treat tough issues like Gay/Lesbian/Bi/Transexual identity by averting our eyes instead of addressing the subject head-on.  Certainly it is an issue that stands to deeply divide our denomination.  Certainly it is an issue that teens face in their classrooms or in struggling to find their own identity.

When I reflect on my own youth ministry, I can think of two instances in particular where I failed to have honest conversations youth that were struggling with homosexuality.  I avoided tough conversations for two reasons - to avoid taking a controversial stand as a representative of the church and to avoid stepping into a conversation I felt ill equipped to have.  In both cases, the youth involved slipped out of our ministry...one slipped away from Christianity altogether.  I regret that I didn't handle things better.

So how do we in youth ministry address homosexuality with our youth?  I'm not looking to stir up a controversial debate here - I'm just thinking there are real youth ministers out there looking for answers to questions their youth have.  And how do we speak in love and truth in a way that honors our denominational stand?

Resources that might be helpful if you're facing this issue in your youth ministry:

The Exodus Project.  I personally might not agree with all the theology here, but there may be resources that would help you in your particular situation.

The United Methodist Book of Discipline/Social Principles.  Youth often ask me, "what does the United Methodist Church believe?"  Here's a link to the church's official stance on social issues.

Would love to hear about other resources you've found helpful.

Whatever your thoughts are on the issue, don't just avert your eyes.  Have honest, grace-filled conversation.

By the way, I didn't even leave the convention with an extra 20 pounds of swag-filled luggage.

 
Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher.  She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

originally published for The YouthWorker Movement 12/6/2011

About Erin Jackson

Erin Jackson is National Director - Community & Care for the Center of Youth Ministry Excellence and the YouthWorker Movement. She is a veteran & certified youthworker as well, and loving her current role as a volunteer Senior High Bible Study teacher. She lives in Arlington, Texas with her husband Dennis, three kids and a dog. She can be found blogging at http://umyouthworker.com/
Follow @ErinJackso

Originally published for The YouthWorker Movement, 3/13/2012.