Reminder: Teens Need Basics

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In my last blog, I mentioned that I was somewhat surprised by two things in a session I got to facilitate for our diocesan youth conference. I wrote about “mean teens” last time and now, I want to talk about the need to address our Catholic understanding on sexuality and […]

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Mean Teens

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I know “mean girls” exist — I’ve been working with teens for a long time.

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Relationships Matter

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If life is all about relationships and, more specifically, if saintly relationships help us and those around us become more holy, what can you say about your relationships when you look at them more closely?

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Don’t Forget Your Joy

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As church workers and volunteers, we can too often forget the joy of knowing Jesus Christ. We then miss sharing the good news (read: joyful news) of Jesus Christ. We will never be able to “go into all the world” if we are stuck in the muck inside the walls.

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The Quality of Mercy

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“The quality of mercy is not strained.”– Shakespeare I teach the Shakespeare play from which this quote comes, Merchant of Venice, and while my high school students have been using this line in presentations and seminars to make good points, I’ve been thinking about it in conjunction with the Year […]

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Help the Help!

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It could have been any gathering of adults that worked with teens. I found myself sitting in such a meeting when the announcement was made: we desperately need help with a teen event in a couple of weeks. I weighed my busy schedule against my desire to help out; I […]

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What my Teacher-Self Wishes My Youth-Minister Self Knew: Equipping the Disciples to be Apostles

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Do you know how often students have the opportunity to share their opinion at school? In a number of classes, students have the chance to share Truth in discussion or presentations. The topics are many: the dignity of the human person, abortion, euthanasia, the death penalty, the poor, relativism and […]

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What my Teacher-Self Wishes My Youth-Minister Self Knew: Casting a Wider Net

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There are other teens out there! I distinctly remember standing in my classroom, looking at my students after having just graded a set of papers. I was struck by the level of pain and suffering they carry on their shoulders—mostly hidden from everyone. As their teacher, they had given me […]

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What my Teacher-Self Wishes My Youth-Minister Self Knew: Unique Opportunity

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Oh, Glorious Summer! The opportunity for every youth minister to go on long bus trips with teens (and other chaperones) to conferences, camps, and mission trips while focusing on relational ministry! These trips give youth ministers to chance to schlepp their sleeping bag and favorite youth ministry t-shirts to lands […]

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Equipped: The Importance of Training Your Core Team

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We train our Core Team so they are equipped with the knowledge of how to be youth ministers. We need to give these incredible volunteers the tools and skills and resources they need to lead teens to Christ.

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