Growing After Graduation

Posted on: 05/12/15 8:44 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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growing-in-faithRemember all that hype about the 5%?

I think I heard it like this. “Do you know that only 5% of Christian students actually keep their faith when they graduate from high school?”

Really? 5%?

Someone said it once, printed it, and it became “research.” I’ve heard all kinds of numbers, some of them unbelievable, some of them from solid research and really sobering. But numbers aside, anyone who has worked in youth ministry for any length of time can attest to one undeniable truth: too many kids walk away from their faith, stop plugging in with other believers or stop attending church after high school.

So that begs the question, how do we help kids grow in their faith so they continue their faith journey, growing and fellowshipping after graduation? Continue reading “Growing After Graduation”

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Developing Student Leaders

Posted on: 05/7/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Mom and Teenager TalkingThis week I received a great question in the form of a tweet, one I’ve been asked repeatedly about mentoring young people.

Youth pastor Brandon asked me about developing today’s student leaders. He finished reading my book, Ministry By Teenagers, and was challenged by my emphasis to provide an adult mentor for each student leader. His specific question was Continue reading “Developing Student Leaders”

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What youth ministry should look like

Posted on: 03/19/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Living-Room-Small-GroupI walked into the small church Fellowship Hall in Richmond, VA and it was busting at the seams. 300-plus teenagers and about 70 leaders—better than a 1-to-5 ratio of adult to teen.

Don’t be intimidated by the numbers… be challenged by the ratio.

This was a church of less than 1,000… no building (they were borrowing the Fellowship Hall from a neighboring church). Normally, they met spread out in living rooms all over the city.

It was fun to see the energy in the room. Each table had six to eight kids and one or two adults all laughing, talking, and eating pizza together (there’s that ratio again). It was the beginning of their D-Now weekend (D-Now stands for Disciple Now, a weekend retreat of sorts focusing on the spiritual growth of teenagers). I was the speaker, but it wasn’t me who would be making the big impact that weekend… it was the 70 adult leaders who were spread throughout the room connecting with kids. God was using these caring mentors to make a huge difference in the lives of these teens.

What was their secret? Continue reading “What youth ministry should look like”

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Conversations about Sex

Posted on: 02/23/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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between the sheetsThey’re here!

I’ve never experienced so much anticipation for one of my books–two of my books actually–probably because they’re candidly addressing the truth about a subject usually kept hush-hush.

I’m talking about my two brand new books about sex (both in stock and shipping today), one for teens, and one for parents and adult mentors. Thanks to all of you who have been asking me about these two resources. I’ve never had soooooo many people asking for early copies and eager to buy bulk copies for their kids and parents. (And to the hundreds of you who pre-ordered copies over the last several months… they’re shipping today!)

I won’t bother blabbing about them. Here’s what others are saying Continue reading “Conversations about Sex”

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Quiz for the Super Bowl

Posted on: 01/26/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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super bowl quizIt’s almost Super Bowl time… and that means our annual BIG GAME Quiz!

For those of you have been following TheSource4YM.com for the past few years, you probably look forward to the fun little free resource we provide every year called the Super Bowl “BIG GAME Quiz!” (I just posted it HERE). This quiz is a fun little party game you can use at your Super Bowl party at your church or your home. People fill out the quiz as they enter your party, predicting scores, catches, runs, etc., then you Continue reading “Quiz for the Super Bowl”

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No-Prep Games

Posted on: 01/13/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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heads or tailsAs a youth worker, I always like to have two games “in my pocket” at any given time. You never know when you need one. Even if you are NOT in youth ministry, you never know when you might need something fun to liven up a dying New Years Eve party (or Arbor Day party).

Last weekend I spoke at the Recharge event in the greater Twin Cities area of MN—a great event with 600 area youth leaders. My friend Tiger McLeun was at the helm and he ran a classic simple crowd game that was really fun. The game was called Continue reading “No-Prep Games”

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What are your top three?

Posted on: 11/20/14 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Top-10-youth-ministry-booksWINNERS POSTED- see below.

A few weeks ago I was sitting with a group of youth workers and one of them asked me, “What are the top three youth ministry books you’d recommend we read, if we could only buy three?”

Great question.

This one caused me to pause for a few moments, after all, I’ve read a variety of insightful books that have helped me through my years of youth ministry (that lot in the picture are a pretty good bunch). But which three have proved foundational?

I’ll list the three books I shared with those youth workers that evening, and then I’ll ask you the same. What three youth ministry books have been the most influential and foundational for your ministry? (I’ll even make this a contest—chime in with a comment Continue reading “What are your top three?”

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Zombie Senior Retreat

Posted on: 11/4/14 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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Zombie Camp TXI’ve been speaking at camps for almost 20 years, and I gotta admit… this is a first!

I received a call this summer from a camp director of a big camp in TX and he told me, “I’d like you to speak at our camp this winter, but it’s going to be a little bit different than the typical senior high retreat.”

He wasn’t kidding. This camp is going all out. Each year they have anywhere from 500 to 1000 students at these retreats, but this year they are hosting a “Zombie Senior High Weekend” and they have Hollywood makeup and set designers Continue reading “Zombie Senior Retreat”

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Training Your Own Volunteers

Posted on: 06/3/14 5:30 AM | by Jonathan McKee

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pictureIf you’re a ministry leader, what do you do to keep you leaders sharp?

It didn’t take long for me to discover that all my volunteers enjoyed two things: food and socializing. So I decided to provide both, by gathering all my volunteers together once a month for dinner, with a little dash of training and equipping. My budget was small so we just did a potluck dinner at a different house each month. We would spend the first hour just eating and enjoying each other’s company. Once we finished eating, I spent a little time teaching them about youth culture or sharpening their ministry skills.

So what kind of training can we offer our volunteers without having to bring in a professional? Continue reading “Training Your Own Volunteers”

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