How to Thank Your Core

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In the midst of all that madness, here is your gentle reminder to practice gratitude, my dear youth minster friend.

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The Elephant On My Chest: A Life Night on Depression and Anxiety Disorders

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Sadness and stress are feelings we experience. Whether a teen is suffering from a clinical disorder, or going through a difficult time, The Elephant on My Chest can help them understand what they are experiencing, teach them how to seek help or help others, and explore how they can find Jesus with them in their struggle.

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Engaging Parents in Youth Ministry

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Getting parents involved in your ministry is either really difficult or really easy. For most of us, it’s probably a combination of the two. Perhaps you have parents who’ve been begging to be part of ministry since your first kick-off. Maybe you feel like pulling teeth from a horse would […]

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From My Perspective: Understanding ASD

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We’ve all noticed teens losing eye contact because of social media influencers and technology. For the past few years, I have been looking at what’s happening around me in the pews at Mass, and at Edge and Life Nights with new eyes. I see with eyes of a someone passionate […]

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Parents: Friend or Frienemy?

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OK, I am just going put all my cards out on the table….I LOVE PARENTS. Seriously I do. Well, like 90% of them anyways. But really, that’s a pretty good average I think! And no, it’s not because I am now a parent of an Edge teen (which is just weird, […]

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Ask the Therapist: Speaking to Adolescents About Drugs

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I remember making the commitment to never use drugs in the 6th grade through our local D.A.R.E program. In D.A.R.E, I remember learning about the negative consequences of drugs. Unfortunately, in the young adolescent mind, abstract thinking is still developing and the threat of consequences from drugs and alcohol can […]

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Arise and Shine (Mark 12:38-44)

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Have you ever had a call from a parent that just set you off? A call that start with a belittling phrase like, “I know you are young,” or “I’m a lawyer, and I know you don’t have much experience with people like me,” and end with an exclamatory statement […]

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Embracing the Chaos

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I remember it well: the panic and craziness that was my first attempt at a parish middle school ministry. I suppose I had it coming. There’s probably a reason you don’t find too many middle school programs called “Chaos!” Our parish Edge program has come a long way from there- […]

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Now What?

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The weeks leading up to a retreat can be more than a little crazy. With skit rehearsals, talk preparations, supply lists, getting the whole Core, and teen leadership teams prepped, arranging priests, icebreaker preparations, etc. our retreat to-do list seems endless. I quite often left one huge thing off of […]

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Fitting Ministry Into Motherhood

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As I type this, I am just days away from celebrating my oldest child’s birthday. I remember that day, three years ago so well. One of the first people I called after my son’s birth was the priest at my parish. He, along with our parish staff, the youth I […]

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