Building a Healthy Ministry-Esteem

This post originally appeared here: http://youthmin.org/building-a-healthy-ministry-esteem/

I think there’s a dichotomy of the way youth pastors, or honestly anyone in general, tends to view themself: Either we are incredibly full of ourselves, or incredibly unsure of ourselves. Put another way: Either we think we’re the “poop”, or a piece of “poop.” Either way, it stinks and funks up our ministry.

Prideful people push others away. There are plenty of posts out there on pride, so I want to focus on the opposite.

Humility is great. Humility is Godly. But listen: Humility is not thinking of yourself as lowly and unworthy of love or even praise. Humility is putting God’s agenda above our own and praising Him in successes.

How Low Ministry-Esteem Hurts

Humility is not low self-esteem. Low self-esteem hurts ministry because the minister second guesses himself. It hurts because the minister isn’t confident in the choices he makes, the lessons he teaches, or the students he lead. In other words, it is:

Lack of confidence in decision-making abilities, so he often second-guesses them and loses respect of those who watch him make the decisions.
Lack of confidence in ability to bring the Gospel, so he downplays it and doesn’t deliver the Gospel message aggressive enough or convicting enough.
Lack of confidence in ability to draw students with Jesus, so he has trouble developing events and programming.
Lack of confidence in the students’ ability to reach others for Jesus, so he doesn’t put in place the appropriate programming providing missional opportunities.
Any others? Put them in the comments.

Building Balance

We are depraved, there’s no doubt about it. Yes, we are helpless (Romans 5:6). Yes, we shouldn’t think we are better than we really are (Romans 12:3). And yes, we are not to boast or be arrogant (1 Corinthians 13:4). And of course, we are to think of others as more highly than ourselves, for even Christ emptied himself and humbled himself to being a man dying on a cross…for us (Philippians 2).

But look at that: Christ saw us worthy enough to die for us. God loved us so much that he sent his son to die for us (John 3:16).

So even if we are nothing compared to Christ, that doesn’t mean that we are nothing to Christ. We were made in God’s image (Genesis 1). We were fearfully and wonderfully made (Psalm 139). God gave us a spirit, “not of fear but of power and love and self-control” (2 Timothy 1:7). God gave us each a very personal gift from his Spirit to use for his Kingdom, and he expects us to use it. Paul says to the Thessalonians (2:4-5):

“And we have confidence in the Lord about you, that you are doing and will do all the things that we command. May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”

Humility is denying personal sin, regarding others as God sees them, and knowing that we are loved. And you are loved, dear friend and minister of young people.

Live a redeeming and affirming life knowing this.

What #OC14 Taught Me

christianity, junior high ministry, leadership, lgbtq, Ministry, youth ministry

I went to Orange for the first time last week, making that my third ministry conference experience in the last 14 months! Here comes Middle School Campference this fall! :)

Here is the 900-word summary of what I learned:

Youth Ministry is about the Family.

Doug Fields said, “You may be a children’s or youth worker, but you’re also doing marriage ministry.”

Let’s get real: Programs compete with the family. My junior high Sunday nights do nothing to serve the family; it just takes students away from their one family night. If I care about my students, then I care about the time they spend with their families; therefore I need to make sure they get as much time there as possible.

When there’s an issue in the church, we try to answer it with programs. Heather Zempel said, “Programs to not disciple people. People disciple people.” She also said, “Instead of finding people to serve structures, find structures that serve people.”

In Reggie Joiner’s breakout, he gave two pointers for ministers in their 20s that I keep thinking about. The first is applicable here: Be intentional about keeping things simple. Yearly decide what to stop in order to do other things better. That doesn’t mean to just get rid of something that’s not working. True leadership comes when you prune strong stuff to make the weak show its potential.

Tension is GOOD.

Reggie gave a message that made my SBC brain officially reconcile with my new UMC ministry.

There are all of these tensions: “I believe that the Bible is God’s word and authoritative” no longer has to compete with “This person needs love.” Reggie Joiner said (something like), “If your beliefs are hurting people, then it is time to reevaluate your beliefs.” He also said, “Kids should feel safe enough to process their doubt so they can own their faith.”

Truth no longer competes with Grace. The Church no longer has to compete with the World. Faith no longer has to compete with Doubt. They can work together, constantly be in tension with one another, and that’s beautiful. You can know God with all your heart, and he can still be a huge mystery. You no longer have to pick one or another; there is no sacrifice in living with tension.

“Say yes to beliefs that matter. Say yes to people who matter more.“

“Say yes to the uncomfortable moments to see lives changed.”

Volunteers need to be owners, not renters.

Reggie Joiner said in a breakout that one of the keys to having a ministry that disciples kids instead of babysitting them is having weekly volunteers who are invested. Having rotating volunteers does nothing for ministry. He said, “You may be teaching kids truth each week with a different leader, but you’re not discipling them.” He also pointed out that leaders may not understand the need to be there each week because they don’t understand the importance. He said, “People don’t commit to weekly because we haven’t invited them to commit to something significant.” Our family pastor who was with us, David Williamson, added in our staff discussion: “Are you asking for less of a commitment from volunteers than you expect from attending families?” Brilliant. So brilliant. I plan to blog about this in abundance.

Sue Miller then used an analogy in her breakout about how volunteers need to be owners, and not renters. Owners see a problem in their home and they fix it. Renters call the landlord and expect them to fix it. We have to convince our volunteers to commit to and sign the mortgage, and be realistic that it may cost them something. They need to learn that it is THEIR house and THEIR ministry…and that they are on a team of people who feel the same. Sue said, “It’s easy to leave a task, but few will leave a family…When volunteers rent, they don’t get deep enough to join a family.”

Jeff Henderson said something that will preach all day, “You will never experience what the church can do for you until you see what the church can do through you.”

We can talk about homosexuality.

Andy Stanley gave the most loving, inclusive talk on same-sex attraction I have ever heard. No matter where your stance is on the subject theologically, it is difficult to argue with Andy on his approach to talking with middle schoolers. Andy said that his church has adopted this statement: “We believe the church should be the safest place to talk about anything, including same-sex attraction.”

Andy reminded us that the answers we give to our kids are the answers that they will have with them for the rest of their lives… Jeff Henderson said that “sometimes ministry gets in the way of ministering.” Sometimes we have to put our personal beliefs on hold to love a kid where they’re at. But especially with junior highers, we don’t need to get into theology. We need to get into Grace. We need to get into Love. And we need to get into the Truth that Jesus loves us right where we’re at. That’ll preach!

One last thought from Jon Acuff: “God will never be handcuffed by the failures nor unleashed by the successes of your ministry.”

And from Mark Batterson: “In an argument with God you need to lose so that you can win.” Because “sometimes God shows up, and sometimes God shows off.”

What did you guys learn at Orange? My head is spinning. :)

CRASH.

leadership, Ministry

I bite off more than I can chew.

This is why I began working out at the gym more regularly.

This is also why I became familiar with my newest self-revelation:

I bite off more than I can chew. All the time.

My little sister and closest friends point it out in me constantly: I “YOLO” and jump feet-first into tasks, without evaluating whether I can really do it or not.

I have a lot of energy, as I blogged about on Wednesday. This can be an incredibly good thing! It is also one of my worst enemies.

I was on the step-climber at the gym. I was going-going-going. But I got tired, really tired. I looked at the time and saw I had only been on like 5 minutes. And I was going so fast, that I almost fell off the thing.

Yep, basically a metaphor for most of life.

What about you? Do you find yourself going so fast, that you almost drop the entire thing and end up doing more damage? What do you do to find a balance?

I am learning to balance life. I do this a few ways, and you can look for those posts next week :)

Called…even in transition

church, Contributions, leadership, youth ministry, youthmin.org

This post originally appeared on : http://youthmin.org/called-even-in-transition/

I resigned from my church a little over a year ago, on a conviction to move back to St. Louis and take care of some family matters. It was tough. I assumed that because God was calling me to do this, He would open up a church position for me in no time. But after 100s of resumes and 3 months unemployed, I accepted a different position at a ministry group home to teenagers. And a year later, I’m still there and still looking for a church job.

At first, I questioned God often: “Why, if you’ve called me to youth ministry, am I not in a church?” I didn’t understand.

A year later, I’m finally getting it:

Calling isn’t a career, but a lifestyle.

Take life by the horns.

Quit being so miserable. Spending my days obsessing over how I wasn’t in a church and nobody liked me and blahblahblah was a waste of time. And you, if you are “in transition” like myself, should not waste your time being miserable because you aren’t “fulfilling your calling.”

Find contentment. That is not, “Well, this is the best it’s going to get, so I’m just going to deal…” Truly find a way to enjoy life and love it.

Another thing: are you making your family and friends miserable with your misery? Take it from somebody that got told to “shut up” … just be content and learn to love life where you are.

Quit putting your calling in a box.

I thought that because I was called to youth ministry, that meant that I was only fulfilling that calling by working in a church. I think my friends and family would laugh at me saying that I’m not fulfilling my calling right now: I work with teenagers 250 hours a month at my job. I volunteer in a local church. I work for a youth ministry website. I honestly think that I just really enjoyed feeling sorry for myself, and I needed to find contentment.

We are all called to minister…and sometimes God calls us to do specific ministries to specific peoples. You may not be in a church, but there are plenty of other ways to minister to teenagers. There are group homes, youth organizations, or churches in need of the best volunteers they could ever ask for.

Put your calling in current context.

So maybe you aren’t able to work with churched teenagers… there are still others out there who need the Gospel; in fact, they need to hear it more. Use this time to use your calling to reach those who are unusually unreached.

You are called to minister to people, not to a building.

PS… if you are reading this and want to hire me, I’m game.

Creating A Culture of Acceptance in Student Ministry

Contributions, leadership, unchurched, youth ministry

I got the privilege of guest-posting on Timbo’s blog on how to best create a culture of acceptance in student ministry. This topic is important to think about as we plan our programming out for the year, train volunteers, and pray over our students!

Check it: http://studentministrycentral.com/guest-post-heather-lea-campbell-creating-a-culture-of-acceptance-in-student-ministry/

4 Easy Ways to Build Rapport with Your Senior Pastor

church, Contributions, leadership, youth ministry, youthmin.org

This article originally appeared on: http://youthmin.org/4-easy-ways-to-build-rapport-with-your-senior-pastor-leadingup/

As a part of YouthMin’s Leading Up series this month, I feel that one of the most important things that you can do to get your supervisor/senior pastor to be willing to learn from you, and in turn, be “led” by you, is to create a great rapport.

Show them your life.

Invite them over to your house for dinner with your crazy family, or invite your family over to their house! Share life together, and talk about things other than church. Use your personal hobbies to bless them–can you grill a mean steak or knit a mean sweater? Bless them! Show them that you have a personality.

When I secured my current position, my supervisor told me that she fell in love with my personality during the interview and knew she had to have me on her team. Did I have decent credentials? Sure, but what makes us a good team is that we actually like each other. We talk about our families, our problems, and our successes and celebrate them together.

Find shared ground.

Oh, you like baseball? I love baseball! BAM we’re at a baseball game, drinking 7-dollar Cokes, and cheering on our team. And next week in the office, we will reminisce of how that crazy Cubs fan dumped their beer on us in an angry rage because the Cardinals are the bomb.com.

Memories, people. Make them! You don’t like baseball? Then find things to “geek out” over together–other sports, television shows, exercise, your Molkeskine journals, those hipster shoes, and favorite exegetical techniques.

Invest in their children.

(Joshua Fuentes will talk more about this soon!)

When I ask my supervisor how her son’s football season is going, and even commit to going to a game, it helps our relationship. I loved mentoring the high school girl of my senior pastor at my last church, and that really did add to the relationship I had with her father. I even considered dating the adult son of another one of my senior pastors…just kidding.

Be mentored by them or their spouse.

Bonus: You and your spouse are mentored by them and their spouse. As I said before in 3 other ways, invest in each other. I am fully convinced that vulnerably and intentionally investing is the only way to build rapport with your supervisor.

What happens when you build good rapport with your supervisor/senior pastor?

The most beautiful thing that will ever happen in ministry: They will have your back. They will understand your heart and where you are coming from in ministry. At my first director position in a church, I came to my senior pastor with a pretty big change in mind. Because we were invested in each other (common ground: I love to learn and he loves to teach. BAM!), he had my back 100%, even when a few others didn’t.

If you are currently in a position where the relationship is flawed, I don’t think that relationship is permanently doomed. Try to understand them by investing in them… take out your selfish motives and consider that maybe you aren’t the only person who doesn’t feel like your back is covered.

What do you guys think? How do you build rapport with your supervisor/senior pastor?

Giving Constructive Criticism @youth_min

Contributions, leadership, youthmin.org

This post originally appeared here: http://www.youthmin.org/constructive-criticism/

Confrontation. It’s hard, it’s messy, but it’s needed.

So how do you give constructive criticism to someone in a way that isn’t rejected? I’m going to present a method to give it in a way that makes the other person feel like “Hey, I’m doing a good job, I just need to work on a few things” rather than “I’m a piece of crap and I need to go move back in with my mommy.”

It’s called the Feedback Sandwich.

It’s as simple as this: Begin with a praise. Give the critique. Then end with a praise.

But…be careful not to turn the feedback sandwich into a “You’re Awesome. You suck. You’re Awesome.” There needs to be balance in what you say.

The format goes: “Name, praise; YET (never say but) critique. If this happens, that praise will be even more praise-y, because you are so praise-y.” (See? lots of praise!)

Here are some examples:

Have a volunteer who never tells you when they’re coming or not coming? Joe, our teens really love you and get so excited when you are here; yet, you can be here so randomly that even I don’t know when you’re coming. If you can give me a schedule or just let me know when you can’t be here, we can work together in harvesting your gifts so that we are more effective and can reach more kids and impact the Kingdom.

Have a student leader who is struggling with some sin? Jane, you are a natural-born leader and your peers really look up to you; yet, they can see that you are struggling with this sin. If you push through and don’t let it hold you back, you can be a even greater example of perseverance and strength to your friends.

Have a pastor who is micromanaging you? James, I love that you are so invested in our ministry and that you’re not one of those pastors who sits and the sidelines and doesn’t care; yet, I feel like I want to be given a chance to do things more independently. If I succeed, your validation of me will mean the world, plus it will give you a chance to focus on tasks that really need it.

Genius, huh?

Sometimes it can be hard to find something praise-worthy about that person. One of the wonderful people in my life who disciple me recently told me, “Sometimes, even if we can’t stand a person, we need to focus on the good traits they have–traits that remind of us God’s traits.” God is creative, loving, consistent, vocal, active, and countless more wonderful things. We are made in his image, and sometimes we need to remind each other of how we resemble God. What better compliment is that?

And remember, this isn’t fool-proof. There will be those people who reject critique in every single form and who don’t do well in confrontation. I think that’s when you need to go all Matthew 18 on them. Good luck.

Now…go make me a sandwich.

Have you tried this? What are some ways that you have effectively given criticism?

Can a Woman Be a Youth Pastor? @youth_min

Contributions, leadership, women, youthmin.org

female youth pastor

This post originally appeared here: http://www.youthmin.org/can-a-woman-be-a-youth-pastor-yes/

I have grown up in the Southern Baptist Convention, a denomination of Christianity that has more conservative and traditional views of leadership. I was always told that as a disciple of Jesus Christ, it was my responsibility to spread the Gospel to the ends of the earth. However, I saw no women leading in my church to provide this example. The SBC states in The Baptist Faith and Message, “While both men and women are gifted for service in the church, the office of pastor is limited to men as qualified by Scripture.” The SBC is very specific that women are not allowed to pastor, based on verses that say women are not allowed to have authority over men. However, it says nothing about youth pastor.

When many within my church convicted me and convinced me that youth ministry was my vocational calling, I was confused. I thought that women couldn’t do it because I hadn’t seen it, yet those with the same theology were affirming it. So I sought it out for myself. Here’s what I came up with.

Biblically

1 Timothy 2:11-12, perhaps the strongest argument for women not pastoring, says, “Let a woman learn quietly with all submissiveness. I do not permit a woman to teach or to exercise authority over a man; rather, she is to remain quiet.” I would like to briefly exegete this for you, but of course I encourage you to look at it for yourself. There is one command in this passage—“Let a woman learn with all submissiveness.” “Woman” can mean a woman of any age, but 92/221 times it means specifically “wife.” “Learn” means to learn by use and practice; to be in the habit of. “Quietly” does not mean quiet in speech, but humble in spirit; it is one who does not bossily meddle with the affairs of others. As you may know, women have problems with this, ha! “Submissiveness” means obedience and meekness. In verse 22, “to exercise authority” has a very dark connotation: one who kills another with his own hands, one who acts on his own authority, an absolute master, or to exercise dominion. It is only used once in the Bible, in this passage. It is very interesting that Paul uses authenteō instead of didaskō, which he usually uses when talking about teaching. We can turn to other classical literature and we see that 67% of the time, the term is used very negatively as well. Therefore one can tell that Paul isn’t commanding women not to have any authority over men, but to not have an undue authority. Once again, Paul uses the same word for “silence” meaning humility. So altogether, the verses read, “Let a woman learn by practice in humble obedience. I do not permit women to teach heresy or to be in manipulative authority, but she is to be humble.” Paul isn’t prohibiting women from leading, but encouraging women to learn and avoid being deceived. “Learn” is an active kind of learning that implies action, yet Paul reminds women to do it in humility.

I hate the argument “well maybe he was just talking to their culture and not ours,” because it can often cheapen Scripture. Yet, if we were to literally enforce this entire chapter in our culture as we have traditionally enforced these few verses, let’s think about this: A few verses before Paul commands women to dress modestly, yet no one in the church condemns me for my braided hair or my signature pearl earrings. If verses literally stand the cultural test of time, then we have a lot to change. The cultural context is clear: There were many teachers in the early church who were deceiving Christians and convincing them of false teachings. Paul wanted to make sure that women, who weren’t being educated like men, weren’t teaching if they weren’t equipped to. It would make sense that he commands them to actively learn.

The passage must also be looked within the context of Paul’s teachings as a whole. Paul consistently said that in Christ, there is no distinction between gender, race, or socioeconomic status (Galatians 3:28, 1 Corinthians 12:13, Colossians 3:11). Paul acknowledged the importance of many women in his ministry. The Bible has tons of women serving in important roles as teachers and leaders: Miriam, a prophet (Exodus 15); Deborah, a nation’s leader and judge (Judges 4-5); Esther, an advocate for the Jews (Esther); Priscilla, a teacher (Acts 18:18-26, Romans 1:3); Lydia, Chloe, and Nympha, leaders of the church (Acts 16:13-15, 40; 1 Corinthians 1:1; Colossians 4:15); Phoebe, a deaconess (Romans 16:1); Junia, an apostle (Romans 16:7); Philip’s daughters and other women prophets (Acts 21:9; 1 Corinthians 11:5); etc.

Where is the distinction then? Why are women allowed to be Sunday School teachers or Children’s Ministers, but not Youth Ministers? What is the difference? If you want to argue that women canteach, but not be the main leader: Female youth pastors aren’t running the whole church; there is still someone presiding over her. If you want to argue that adolescent teenage boys are men andthat’s why a woman can’t teach over them, then we need to figure out the distinguishing characteristics between a child in Sunday School and a man in “big church.” Our culture hasadded adolescence, and the Bible doesn’t address it. So how can we assume that the Bible states a particular gender is supposed to serve that role?

Culturally

I strongly believe that culture needs to be considered when choosing leaders. There are cultures around the world that have female-dominant leaders. If we were to evangelize in those countries and try to set up churches there, we should not expect for our Westernized church to fit their culture. It would not work, it would be too uncomfortable, and people wouldn’t want to join such a weird religion. In America we have women becoming CEOs of major companies, making influential speeches at national political conventions, and being named as some of the most influential people in the world. Yet, our church does not reflect our culture—we are still very male-dominated in major leadership roles. I don’t think this is necessarily a bad thing; I think our cultureneeds strong men as leaders. We are plagued by examples of men who are abusive or absent, and I strongly believe we need stronger men in our churches. In fact, culturally and Biblically, I personally think the head of the church needs to be a man (see, I’m not a total feminist!).

Traditionally, a male youth leader has made sense: he was the head pastor of the group. But youth ministry isn’t so much pastor-centered as it was initially, it is volunteer-centered. Youth ministry is moving more towards discipleship-centered small groups. Each discipleship group has either its same gender discipling them or a male-female team. I love this. Therefore I personally think that the main leader of the program does not matter—either a male or a woman can efficiently lead a program. And culturally, it makes sense.

But maybe it doesn’t make sense for your culture. If you are in a more conservative culture, why stir up the pot and have leaders in your church who don’t fit your culture? When I worked in small town Missouri, I was actually very surprised that I was hired in an SBC church. Yet I made sense for their culture because they were very discipleship and fellowship-centered and as a woman I have some natural giftings for that sort of thing.

Hormonally

As for the argument that a female cannot complete the role because of her extra estrogen: A female’s estrogen is a gift. God made men and women in his image, and women reflect God’s more empathetic and caring side. It’s inarguable that men and women are different and bring different strengths and weaknesses to the table. We need strong protective leaders just as much as we need empathetic nurturing ones. Women can get overemotional at times; trust me, there have been times when I have struggled. I have taken comments too personally, over-invested, and have (yes) cried in youth group before. But those aren’t completely negative things. What these qualities show is God’s nurturing, empathetic, gracious side of Him. God takes our sin too personally, he invests in us even when we don’t invest back, and we are constantly breaking His heart. Men have beautiful “weaknesses” too—men can be aggressive, tough on their disciples, and can harden in times when people hurt them. This show’s God’s more judicial and strong side of his character. Men and women need each other in order to provide a more perfect picture of who God is, and this picture is needed when leading teenagers. Teenagers need both male and female role models to lead them.

Practically

If I minister to teenagers, am I really going against God’s will? Can God possibly believe that I am sinning when I minister the Gospel? I have a lot of issue with this. Having a relationship with God isnot about doing x, y, and z. It’s about a heart that seeks to serve Him. In Christ, we are free. How can God send me away for sending so many to Him?

I originally wrote this post 6 months ago and put it off because this is essentially my identity that I’m arguing for. I know that I will receive a lot of flack for this post, so I ask that you create discourse in the comments and not dissension Remember that I’m not saying that women can be the head of the church, but the head of a youth ministry program. I want to create a culture of youth ministry that has men and women working together to minister to our student Saints.

5 Reasons Your Ministry Needs Women Leaders @youth_min

Contributions, leadership, women, youth ministry, youthmin.org

Youth Ministry girl leaders

This post originally appeared here: http://www.youthmin.org/5-reasons-your-ministry-needs-women-leaders/

Your youth ministry needs women leaders. Before we start arguing the theology of women in ministry, I want you to hear me out: The purpose of this post is not to advocate for ordained women, or women pastors, or to argue the Pauline view of women.

The purpose of this post is to convince you why you need more women in roles of discipleship, worship, and (yes) teaching. We need to have a spread of leaders who represent the spread of the audience in gender, color, and background. So if your youth group is 60% female and 40% male, you should have about that amount of male/female leaders. I empathize that it may never be perfectly that way, but you should strive for that representation.

Girls need women leaders.

Seems like a no-brainer, yes? Young girls need to have examples of women who are leading. If we are teaching our young ladies that they need to advance the gospel, then we need to have examples of women who are actively advancing the gospel in their lives personally. Additionally, girls desperately need to hear from a variety of women. Girls need to see a picture of themselves in these roles so that they can do it, too.

Boys need women leaders.

For so long, we’ve been doing ministry so that boys can only lead boys, and girls can only lead girls. However, there are wonderful things that boys need from both men and women, just as girls need both in their development. When I began my first youth ministry position, a mother came to me and told me that her son was going to be my toughest case, because he doesn’t respect women, and that included his mother. I remember that first night of youth group–this eighth grader challenged me with every “tough question” he could muster on women, homosexuality, and president Obama. When I left two years later, that same mother said to me that her son not only respected women, but valued their leadership in his life. He became more sensitive, more respectful, and even more affectionate towards his own mother. Boys need men to mentor them, yes; yet having women as leaders will lead them to holding greater value of women.

Male leaders need women leaders.

Men and women compliment each other. You have a variety of leaders who are more playful, some more disciplinary, some more empathetic, some more protective, some more approachable, and others more on a pedestal; not to mention the variety of skills: building sets, making snacks, teaching, discipling, etc. Put people in their sweet spots, and play off their strengths. I serve in a ministry where the co-directors are an unrelated male and female, and it’s beautiful watching how the strengths play off of each other, and where one is weak another fills in strong. Think about it: why does God give children both a mother and a father? Both are beautiful and have roles that are necessary in leadership.

Women leaders need women leaders.

I will be the first to admit that I need support. I need examples of strong women in ministry so that I can do ministry, and I definitely see the effects as I begin mentoring women in ministry. We need discipleship and community, especially as a part of our female identity. Personally, it can be difficult as a female in a male-dominated profession, and I crave interaction with other ladies. So ladies, step it up! And… let’s be friends.

God needs women leaders.

God uses women for multiple tasks in the Bible, and in Acts it is said that God will use both sons and daughters to prophesy in his name. God uses some of the most random people to accomplish His tasks, so never discredit a potential leader based on their gender, age, race, or background. From Abel to Moses to Deborah to David to Esther to John the Baptizer to Jesus to the Woman at the Well to Paul… (anyone else out of breath?)… God has a knack of loving and using people who just don’t fit the standard mold.

Advice for Insecure Youth Workers @smarterYM

Contributions, depression, identity, leadership, smarterym, youth ministry

My latest article is on what I would redo in my first year of ministry if given the chance….. and truthfully, what I struggle with each and every day of my life. I see a lot of youth workers within the YouthMin.Org Facebook Community struggling with this, and it has caused me to get vocal about calling out youth workers and getting them to be more secure with their selves and their ministries.

So here is my post over at SmarterYM.Com! Read, share, and comment on it! And show Aaron some love…he’s a Cubs fan :(

http://www.smarterym.com/2013/04/advice-for-insecure-youth-workers.html