July 11, 2009
This week @ camp I had 7 8th grade guys in my room. They were a fun group. Full of energy, followed the rules & let me sleep @ night.
Wednesday night I entered the room around 11:30 & the guys were singing Michael Jackson songs. We put together this video & played it Thursday morning @ the beginning of the worship service.
July 11, 2009
We returned last night from Summer Camp. It was a great week. I’ll be posting a few videos, pictures, & thoughts as time allows this week (I’m @ Super Summer).
July 8, 2009
Today, we are at summer camp. We’re also mailing out a letter to let parents know how everything is going & gave parents a few suggestions for when their teen gets home.
The idea isn’t mine. Josh blogged about it last year & Mark did earlier this summer. In fact much of the language in our letter is very similar to theirs.
In the letter we thanked parents for trusting us w/ their teen, gave them a brief description of what’s been going on at camp, & asked them to pray for their teen, the worship leaders, their teen’s family group leader & the adult staying in their teen’s condo.
We then asked them to do the following when their teen gets home on Friday:
What have you done to help parents connect w/ the experience their teens have had at camps/retreats/mission trips?
July 6, 2009
Last Wednesday night we had our 1st parents meeting. It concerned summer camp. Why hold a parents meeting? We’d already
Plus, it’s a lot of work.
We held a parents meeting because ministry is about people. Youth Ministry doesn’t happen (at least over a long period of time) unless parents have trust in the youth ministry staff.
Much work was put into it. We began working on the agenda several weeks ago. What do we need to cover? What do we want the mood of the meeting to be? What’s the objective?
We made the agenda. Added in some humor. Recruited volunteers to serve at a registration table so parents could turn in $ & forms. Had a notary public present to help out parents w/ the release form. Covered everything & allowed for questions. Didn’t make the meeting last any longer than it had to be.
Arrived early to meet parents. Allowed about 30 minutes for parents to submit forms & $. Then met for about 20 minutes. Thanked parents for trusting our ministry w/ their teenager. Hung out afterward to allow for more question.
Parent meetings are old school. I’ve heard horror stories about them. However, a purposed & well planned parents meeting is very valuable in gaining parent’s trust & support.
Do you hold parents meetings? How often? Just before big events? Any horror or success stories to share?
July 5, 2009
Technology is constantly changing. Just 2 years ago stuff that is common now was impossible.
2 examples:
Amanda & Keynote Remote App
At camp we are doing a session each morning where we’ll divide the guys & the girls. We’ll cover dating, family, & friendships. Amanda & I are doing the dating talk. She’s put much time into preparing her talk. Great video clips to illustrate Scripture. It’s the 1st time she has used a mac for anything more than email/web surfing (do we still call it that?).
She’s using keynote for her presentation. She wanted to be able to control it w/ a remote, but I’ve had such a hard time programming my remote to work w/ our pc at the church that I didn’t want to reprogram it due to my fear that I’d never get it reprogrammed. To solve the problem & to make us both happy. I showed her the keynote remote app on my iPhone. It allows control of the presentation & she can view her notes. She finally understood why macs are so superior for presentations.
Controlling a presentation & viewing the presenter’s notes from your phone? Not possible 2 years ago.
Twitter/Video/Connectivity
2 years ago tv (& the internet to some degreee) controlled our interaction/news/communication. Now we have the power. Example: I began following @lancearmstrong about 2 weeks ago. As he prepared for (& has now started the Tour de France) he provided me (1,277,865 others) w/ his daily training schedule, pictures (he & Bono), and videos. Here’s a video from this morning bus ride prior to stage 2.
A world class athlete interviewing himself & posting it online before an event? Not possible 2 years ago. No longer do we depend on the networks or newspapers to feed us information.
How are you effectively using facebook/twitter/flip cameras/iPhones in youth ministry?
July 4, 2009
You’ve likely noticed that my blogging has been really slooooow lately. Lots of reasons. Job change. Busyness of summer youth ministry. Seems I’m twittering (follow me) stuff that I use to blog.
The main reason is that it feels like Neil’s Blog is changing. I’ve had that feeling for months, but my job change back in April has been the biggest thing behind the change.
This place started primarily as a way to communicate w/ youth parents @ Parkway. It worked & many of y’all are still here. Although I’d like to stay in touch w/ y’all – I”m no longer communicating for that ministry. The FBCJ student ministry communication is still very much in the works – right now we are using our facebook page to communicate w/ teens (& more & more parents) & old fashioned letters for parents.
I feel like the direction for this blog will be directed more & more to youth ministry issues. I’ll still throw in the occasional story from the lives of Amanda, Roscoe (he’s sleeping if you are wondering), & myself.
I may even attempt to give this place a makeover.
July 4, 2009
June 26, 2009
Tonight, Amanda & I ate @ Roosters w/ our good friend Gary Permenter. He’s been in Jackson all week speaking @ World Changers.
Gary is one of my absolute favorite speakers/preachers. I meet all types of worship leaders & speakers & Gary is at the top of my list. He’s genuine. He’s the same guy off the stage as he is on.
He’s a former youth minister which makes him great to deal w/ in planning events. He understands youth ministry & what it’s like to plan events. He doesn’t have a set of 5 messages that he repeats everywhere he goes.
If you are looking for a speaker for an event (youth, college, church-wide) I highly recommend contacting him. Click here to go to his website.
June 26, 2009
June 23, 2009
After completing Purple Cow the book that has been @ the top of my reading list (it was moved from my reading on deck circle @ Parkway, to my bedside table, & then finally to the on deck circle on my my new desk @ fbcj) was Axiom. It’s been recommended my several friends, but the primary reason for purchasing it was it’s author, Bill Hybels.
Bill is the pastor of Willow Creek. He’s blazed a trail for the church. In addition to be an amazing pastor/preacher/leader he’s a more than capable author. To read his wiki bio click here.
Axiom reads a bit like Proverbs. It’s filled w/ leadership axioms that he’s developed over the course of his ministry. After stating each principle he then gives insight over the next page or 2.
I highly recommend it. It’s the best leadership book I’ve read in some time. Bill is a pastor & it’s written for ministry leaders, but I’m confident that it would be useful to anyone in a leadership position.
It’s a book that I’ll continue to go back to time & again.
To purchase Axiom from Amazon click here.
