All Editorial articles – Page 152
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Issues
Youth work problems
DEAR YOUTH WORK PROBLEMS, Two of our young people have just started going out, and they are pretty central to the group. This has
changed the dynamic and I’m worried about what would happen if they broke up. What should I do? -
Issues
Youth Work Problems
Dear youth work problems, I have a lot of young people on gap years or unemployed while they look for work. How can I practically care for them?
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Issues
Project: Storytime Service
To provide a relaxed space for families to spend quality time together in worship and prayer and to learn about Jesus and the Bible through storytelling. We hope to develop the sense of community within our church and to welcome all who want to come
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Issues
Quiet team
Taking time away from the busyness of ministry often surprisingly difficult, and some of us aren’t fans of silence and empty space. Yet Jenny Baker is convinced that retreats aren’t just a good idea – they’re essential, not only for our spiritual health as individuals, but also for the health of our youth work teams.
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IssuesReader survey results
Every now and then, we like to find out who reads this magazine and if it’s at all useful. So we did… As an extra incentive this year we partnered with Feed the Hungry so a huge thank you to the 188 youth workers who have provided a month of meals for 188 child refugees by responding to the Premier Youthwork readers’ survey. We’ve collated some of the results below (and yes, some answers don’t add up to 100%, that’s the nature of rounding up and down). Download the result here.
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IssuesReader’s survey results
We wanted to find out about you, our readers - so we asked you some questions! Here’s what you had to say.
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IssuesReaders' survey results
We’ve collated some of the results from the Premier Childrenswork readers’ survey to see who reads this magazine and what sort of children’s ministry you do. (We are aware that some of the answers don’t add up to 100 per cent, that’s the nature of rounding up and down!).
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IssuesWhat are you reading
A youthworker asked me this week what they should read. I didn’t have to think for very long: The furious longing of God by Brennan Manning and Horny & hormonal by Nick Luxmoore. There’s a slight ‘but’ with that answer: that’s because they’re the books I’m reading at the moment, and I’m one of those people who gets consumed by a book and then quickly evangelistic about why you should have it in your life too - sorry!
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IssuesReady-to-use: Water Works!
The law of averages is sadly no guarantee that we will have a hot and sunny summer (even though we may feel we’re well over-due!) However on the optimistic basis that we’ve been predicted a ‘BBQ summer’ so many times that we may as well assume one is on its way, here are a collection of water based games, perhaps ideally suited for a themed evening in collaboration with some other local groups. And heck, even if its not sunny or warm, let’s face it, a water fight night is guaranteed to be a load of fun...
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Issues
The real ‘youth service’
When I first worked for a church, people used to talk about the ‘youth service’. By this they meant a church service led by the young people. I think we have made huge ground over the years in beginning to understand that the rest of the world uses the term ‘youth service’ to mean something completely different. It’s not a religious service that takes place in our church building on a Sunday night once a month: it’s how we get involved with local services and become part of the service that’s offered to young people across a town. One of the huge changes for me over the years is becoming so much more involved in delivering youth services to young people in the communities where we work. I don’t see that as separate to, or unconnected to, the work we do in building a youth group within a church.
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BlogDo we realise who we are?
Martin Saunders started this year on the blog calling for a radical shift in youth work, and this was followed by Ali Campbell who called from a radical shift in how we view discipleship, challenging us to adopt a discipleship of imitation, giving our young people something to imitate. But, Andy Wilson asks, what is it we are giving young people to imitate?
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IssuesXLP receives royal visit
Urban youth charity XLP welcomed the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge to meet with and hear from some of the young people they work with.
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IssuesRecruiting Volunteers
Finding and keeping your volunteers is one of the most important tasks of a youth worker. Chris Curtis sheds some light on the process and suggests ways of building a healthy and lasting volunteer team.
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Issues
Time for a renaissance
When I reflect on the last quarter-century of youth work, there are lessons that I keep learning, lessons that I should have learned and lessons that if I don’t learn soon then I’m really in trouble! I’ve learnt that you can’t give away what you don’t have. Your own spiritual life and the investment you put in are more important than anything else you say or do. If you haven’t got anything real, then what’s the whole thing about? Young people smell that inauthenticity in a second. I’m constantly reminded by that. I’ve also learnt to be prepared to take risks to innovate. Culture is changing so fast. It’s so easy to become settled in your assumptions about young people, settled in your methods and settled in your theology. I don’t think we live in an era when we can afford to be settled in any one of those.
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BlogResident-Hell: More Stories
Over the years, we’ve seen some amazing examples of how God has redeemed even the worst youth trips away – we documented some of these stories in March’s Resident-Hell article and here’s another example of a positive outcome that a youth worker recently sent in:
