Leadership Archives - Jonathan's Blog From The Source

Sooooooooo excited

Posted on: 10/22/18 4:48 PM | by Jonathan McKee

I don’t know the last time I was this excited about teaching at a conference. Maybe it’s because it’s something we are sooooooooo passionate about, reaching young people who identify as LGBTQ+.

This isn’t your typical conference. It’s just something my friends Sean McDowell, Greg Stier and I were talking about… and we were like, “Let’s do it!”

And so we did.

I’m talking about the Anchored Leadership Conference in just a couple weeks on November 2 and 3… either in SoCal or live-streamed that week (if you can’t watch it live, you can actually replay it once that week for up to one week).

We put together the conference because it’s addressing hands down the biggest issue we’ve been getting questions about in the last two years Continue reading “Sooooooooo excited”

Posted in Leadership, Speaking/Training, Youth Culture | Tags: LGBTQ, reaching LGBTQ youth | Leave A Comment

Confessions of an Overweight Youth Pastor

Posted on: 03/12/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

“I was 100 pounds overweight,” he admitted. “It was effecting my ministry, my marriage… everything! So I finally decided to do something about it.”

Overweight. It’s not a word we use much on Sunday mornings, but it’s all too common. Maybe even more common in the world of youth ministry. (How many French fry conversations and pizza nights can one person have?)

That’s probably why Josh’s story moved me. So I asked him to share it with us. It’s a success story and I think it will be an inspiration to all of you Continue reading “Confessions of an Overweight Youth Pastor”

Posted in Faith, Leadership, Youth Ministry Philosophy | Tags: fat youth pastor, gluttony, overweight, weight loss | Leave A Comment

How to Lose Volunteers Quickly

Posted on: 02/15/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

One of the Ways Churches Chew Up and Spit Out Volunteers

Have you ever been confronted, criticized or “corrected” for something you did as a volunteer?

Yesterday a good friend of mine called me up discouraged like I’ve never seen him before. He was beyond angry. He was hurt.

This guy launched a discipleship ministry at his church that has exploded in growth. People are being discipled and are actually excited about digging into scripture (he has a Bible study where people are spending hours a week reading on their own). He’s not paid to do this, he’s a volunteer Continue reading “How to Lose Volunteers Quickly”

Posted in Church, Leadership | Tags: Biblical confrontation, church leadership, leading volunteers, volunteers | Leave A Comment

Top 40 Youth Ministry Blogs

Posted on: 01/12/18 3:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

It’s always nice to be included in a list of great influencers… and I was humbled to be in the mix in this year’s Top 40 Youth Ministry Blogs list posted last week (even though they somehow think we only post 1 post per month… hahahaha).

Some great blogs on this list. A few of my favorites:

Greg Stier’s blog– because Greg is probably one of the best equippers in youth ministry, and he loves Jesus so much it’s freaking contagious!

The DYM blog– because the DYM resources rock… and let’s be honest… Doug and Josh are fun!

The CPYU blog– Walt’s always bringing youth culture insight that makes you think.

and some other good ones as well.

I’m just glad to be included with such amazing people in the Kingdom!

Posted in Leadership | Tags: Top 40 youth ministry blogs, top blogs, youth ministry | Leave A Comment

building into young people during their gap year

Posted on: 08/9/17 9:32 PM | by Jonathan McKee

What do Chick-Fil-A, rapper Trip Lee and Sean McDowell have in common?

All three captivated my attention last weekend… and I think you’ll find ‘why’ fascinating.

Let me back up. For the last decade the youth ministry world has been wrestling with a tough question—one that parents are asking just the same:

Why are so many kids walking away from their faith during/after high school?

Continue reading “building into young people during their gap year”

Posted in Entertainment Media, Faith, Leadership, Travel, Youth Culture | Tags: chick-fil-A, Christian Education, Impact 360, kingdom influence, sean McDowell, transformed, trip lee | Leave A Comment

The Volunteer from Hell: Part III

Posted on: 08/16/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

You’ve discovered an amazing potential volunteer… but you don’t want to mess anything up!

You’ve taken the advice of experts and dedicated actual time out of your schedule each week for recruiting and keeping volunteers. Then you took the next step and actually asked them to serve in a small way, a one-time opportunity that was easy for them to say “yes” to, and that gave them a taste of your ministry. After that, you’ve met with them several times and they seem like a perfect fit…

But how can you make sure they don’t turn into the Volunteer from Hell?

Continue reading “The Volunteer from Hell: Part III”

Posted in Leadership, Speaking/Training | | Leave A Comment

The Volunteer from Hell: Part II

Posted on: 08/11/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

This week I began a 3 post series in my blog about those ministry volunteers who make our lives miserable. How can we avoid getting ourselves in this mess in the first place?

Great question.

Let’s continue with our 3 effective ways to screen volunteers so you avoid ‘The Volunteer from Hell.’

In the first post, I addressed the importance of actually calling references. Not just asking for references… but using them. (How many of you have skipped this step?)

Today, let’s talk about the second way to avoid ‘The Volunteer from Hell’… Continue reading “The Volunteer from Hell: Part II”

Posted in Leadership, Speaking/Training | Tags: background checks, leading volunteers, recruiting volunteers, volunteers | Leave A Comment

The Volunteer from Hell

Posted on: 08/9/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Whenever my dad and I teach a workshop about recruiting, retaining, training… and even firing today’s New Breed of volunteers (based on our book on the subject), we can guarantee we’ll get questions about ‘The Volunteer from Hell.’

You know the one I’m talking about. That one volunteer that you either inherited or recruited without thinking. We’ve all had them. I had one. She was terrifying.

The question most people ask is, “How do I get rid of this volunteer?” (Garlic and a cross?)

Allow me to ask a much better question: “How do I make sure I never recruit this volunteer?”

Continue reading “The Volunteer from Hell”

Posted in Leadership, Speaking/Training | Tags: bad volunteers, recruiting volunteers, volunteer management, volunteers | Leave A Comment

Top 3 qualities I’m looking for when I hire

Posted on: 03/8/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

Someone just asked me, “Jonathan, we’re looking for a new youth pastor. What would you look for in a youth pastor?”

What would you say?

Good speaker?

Kids like them?

Organized?

(Those are the ones I hear from people frequently.)

To be honest (see what I did there?), none of those three above make my top three Continue reading “Top 3 qualities I’m looking for when I hire”

Posted in Leadership, Youth Ministry Philosophy, Youth Ministry Planning | | Leave A Comment

Poor Leadership 101

Posted on: 11/23/15 6:54 AM | by Jonathan McKee

The youth ministry was fizzling out and no one knew why.

It was as simple as this: kids weren’t meeting Jesus, and the ones that already knew Jesus weren’t growing. As a result the group had sputtered and was on the verge of dying.

If it were a horse it would have been put down.

This past year I have had the opportunity to spend time with Continue reading “Poor Leadership 101”

Posted in Church, Evangelism, Jonathan's Rant, Leadership, Youth Ministry Philosophy | | Leave A Comment