Jonathan McKee and David R. Smith from The Source for Youth Ministry wrote an excellent article regarding teenagers and their texting. In the article Smith and McKee recognize the obviously increasing use of texting among teenagers but they also discuss the touble that texting ...

Many churches in our Diocese dedicate a single Sunday of the year to display the youth visibly for a “youth Sunday” service. These annual events allow the youth to serve in a new capacity, but it begs the question: why are youth not serving every Sunday? The story at your church ...

Thought #15 in Stephanie Caro’s 99 Thoughts for Smaller Church Youth Workers quotes one of her good friends, Keith White, a youth pastor in Georgia. Keith thinks back to his teenage years:   “Growing up in a small church with a small youth group, relationships were all that we ...

Back in November, I started thinking about what to do with our EYC over Spring Break.  For the past few years, we have tried to schedule a ski trip but it has become financially prohibitive.  So this year, I tried to think out of the box and came up with the idea of a Staycation ...

Over 60 of our Houston Episcopal youth and their sponsors traveled to Breckenridge, Colorado for Snowfest 2012. This ski trip has expanded over the past five years to include seven Houston Episcopal churches (St. Martin’s, Holy Spirit, Emmanuel, St. Mark’s, Christ Church Cathedral, St. ...

What would it look like for the future of the church if our strongest leaders in our youth programs could spend three days together? What if our potential leaders had the opporunity to grow in their confidence and live into their spiritual gifts?   Convergence is a leadership ...

Over the past couple of weeks, we have been talking about what the word ‘belief’ actually means. It does not necessarily mean acknowledging and affirming a set of statements or a list of rules, even though that is a common misconception. In the early Christian church, the word ...

Trust me, I know the routine… finish work, pick up kids from school, run any errands that have to be done today and can’t wait until tomorrow, come home, work on homework, wash uniforms for school, spend a little time playing, start getting kids in the tub and ready for bed.  But ...

Jesus, looking at him, loved him and said, "You lack one thing; go, sell what you own, and give the money to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; then come, follow me." Mark 10:21   Oftentimes this familiar sentence from Mark’s gospel stirs up conversation focused around ...

Both of these retreats are designed to draw diocesan youth together for a weekend of relaxation, fun and worship. Intermediate Retreat is for 4th-6th grades. Junior High Retreat is for 6th-8th graders. These retreats are led by various diocesan youth ministers and Christian formation ...