This week I have a very special resource for you guys. I’ve been working on this project for a while now and am excited to finally release it to you all. This ebook, titled, 130 Youth Ministry Tips and Ideas, is based on the past two years of blogging here at Life In Student Ministry.

Who this ebook is for
This ebook was written for the small-church youth leader who volunteers their time from a huge heart for students but has very little training and even feels a little lost in this whole youth ministry thing. It’s also for the new youth pastor who is just starting out in his or her first youth ministry position and needs some pointers to help get started and tips to avoid common mistakes. However, that said, there are still plenty of ideas here that will benefit even the veteran youth worker.

The inspiration for this ebook
My wife’s grandmother follows much of what I write concerning youth ministry at Life In Student Ministry and is always eager to pass it along to her church’s youth ministry volunteer team. Several times she’s asked me to pull all my content together in a book and sell it. Although I’ll never sell this ebook because I’m a strong supporter of the open source community, I finally heeded her advice and attempted to compile many of the youth ministry tips and ideas from Life In Student Ministry into one place. Youth Specialties also has a list of tips for youth workers that inspired some of these ideas.

This ebook is completely free and will always be distributed free of charge. Please download it and pass it around to your heart’s content.

130 Youth Ministry Tips & Ideas (English, by Tim Schmoyer)

130 Tips und Ideen fur Jugendarbeit (German, translated by Waldy Schröder.)

See the Ebook on Scribd.com

If you feel so inclined to make a donation as a way of saying thank you for this ebook, use the PayPal button to the left. Thanks for your support!

Help Promote this Ebook
I’d greatly appreciate any publicity you can give to this ebook.

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[tags]ebook[/tags]

Scott Aughtmon was nice enough to send me a copy of his new ebook, How to Build a Lasting Student Ministry, to review for you guys.

SUMMARY
He starts by observing that Jesus’ ministry lived long beyond his earthly leadership, that he reproduced leaders to carry on the ministry and that he provided them with the authority to accomplish all that he had called them to do. Jesus took men “off the street” and taught them to have a faith that impacted the kingdom throughout history. Unfortunately, in youth groups across America, students are involved in church, but aren’t being impacted to be the spiritual leaders this generation needs. Jesus started a lasting ministry that still affects us today and Scott wants to see that continue to happen through our youth ministries.

His ebook is based on the following scenario and four questions:

You are snatched from yo current church (or other current job) and put at a church in the suburbs where you have to start all over again. There are five kids there. Two are the senior pastor’s kids. There are three boys and two girls. Two are in High School and three are in Junior High. You are asked to build a ministry that will continue on after you leave. You have one year to do this. You have a limited budget.

1. What are two common mistakes most pastors make when starting a youth ministry that you would be careful to avoid?
2. What methods/steps would you use to lay a strong foundation that would last beyond you time there?
3. What is the one method/system you would use to see numerical growth as quickly as possible?
4. What is one method/system you would use to see lasting spiritual growth?

What follows in the ebook are the responses of 14 well-known youth workers who share their insights from decades of experience and wisdom. Contributors include Mark Oestreicher, Jonathan McKee, Greg Stier, and more.

WHAT’S GOOD ABOUT IT
Scott’s ebook is full of great tips. Little nuggets of wisdom are scattered throughout, as you might expect from some of these authors. Plus, after you get through the first couple pages, the content is fairly skimmable. So if you’re in search of some specific information, it shouldn’t be too hard to find. And while the information is clear and concise, the best part is that it’s all so very practical. There’s not a lot of theoretical ideas or philosophical debates — it’s all down-to-earth, good ideas that can be implemented into any youth ministry.

WHAT MADE ME GO, “HMMM…”
However, first impressions mean a lot to me and at first glance the ebook looks a lot like a college term paper. I opened the PDF and saw nothing put plain text in Arial 12-point font with lots of spacing. This left me with two feelings. The first was, “Oh man, where do I start with this?” and the second was, “Is this thing credible?” If I hadn’t agreed to review it for him, I probably wouldn’t have continued to read it, but I’m glad I did. This is a classic example that I should not judge a book by it’s cover.

Just One note: be careful not to confuse outreach with recruitment. Evangelism should be done with a burden for lost souls, not for the purpose of building a larger youth group. Nowhere does How to Build a Lasting Student Ministry suggest otherwise, but the vibe may tend to come across that way.

Anyone just starting out in youth ministry with a brand new group will benefit from Scott’s ebook, although veterans can also stand to be reminded of much of the content it contains.

WHERE TO GET IT
The ebook isn’t free — it’ll cost ya $12.97, but Scott allows owners to freely redistribute the ebook to all staff and leaders on their team and throws in a couple extra bonuses, as well. If his scenario and questions appeal to you, then I suggest that the money is worth the purchase.

Click here to for more information on the book or to pick up a copy for yourself.

[tags]How to Build a Lasting Student Ministry, Scott Aughtmon, ebook[/tags]

Throughout college and seminary I noticed I was a little different than most of my classmates. Most of them would vigorously take notes, copying down word for word whatever the professor taught. If he put some bullet-points on a screen, its guaranteed that everyone would promptly replicate it in their notebooks, except me. For some reason my note-taking often looks like random thoughts scribbled in random blocks across the paper. If I want to connect two thoughts, I circle them both and draw a line between the two.

Likewise, in seminary we were given clay to play with as an example of the kinesthetic learner. As soon as the object lesson was over, everyone put the clay away and immediately took up pen and paper to start writing notes in a neat linear fashion. I, however, was the only one who continued to play with the clay throughout the entire class period. (The prof actually pointed me out at the end of class as a positive example, too. Apparently most seminarians aren’t kinesthetic.)

A couple weeks ago I posted a review on Shane Hipp’s book, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How media shapes faith, the gospel, and church. In it he makes an interesting observation about the influence of the Internet and, having grown up with the Internet, I think he’s accurate.

A book presents an extensive, in-depth monologue or a thorough argument carefully crafted in linear, successive paragraphs and pages (left brain). In contrast the Internet presents a nonlinear web of interconnected pages and a vast mosaic of hyper links with absolutely no beginning, middle, or end (right brain). (page 132)

I’ve been playing on the Internet for most of my life. Maybe this non-linear influence is part of why I prefer magazines and blogs over books. It’s also why my notes are randomly spread out over a sheet of paper “linked” with lines. Looks like my thought-formulating process has been significantly impacted by the web. Kinda scary how technology unintentionally influences us.

I’m a guy who enjoys electronics, gizmos and gadgets. I even supported part of my seminary education by doing part-time I.T. administration for a company here in Dallas. So when I came across Shane Hipp’s book, The Hidden Power of Electronic Culture: How Media Shapes Faith, the Gospel, and Church, I was immediately intrigued and picked it up.

Shane Hipps spent many years as one of the top experts on culture. His job was to constantly study media and culture and teach others how to effectively use it to market their products and services. As he grew in his walk with the Lord, he realized that his job was to convince people that they were missing something in their life and that a certain product would provide fulfillment. So, he resigned and attended seminary to learn to do the same with the Word of God. His writing therefore comes from many years of experience and knowledge of this topic of technology and culture, and it shows!

I used to just take technology for granted and explored any new way of using it in ministry. However, [tag]Shane Hipps[/tag] makes many good points why the statement, “The message stays the same but the methods change” really isn’t true. His argument is, “No, the method changes the message.” At first I couldn’t see how that could be based on anything but personal opinion, but his insights from behind the scenes of media and marketing really indicate a lot that the general public hasn’t realized about the affect media has on what’s being communicated. He starts with scriptural examples, moves on to explain the affect of the printing press and other past “phenomenons” that were considered technology, and then discusses current examples of media in church.

In no way does Shane Hipps doesn’t attack the use of media in ministry. Rather, he helps us think through different aspects of what it communicates and teaches us how to use it wisely and appropriately. It’s very helpful material.

Over at YouthMinistryTV.com Dennis posted a free e-book he wrote called, “Generation YouTube: Harnessing the Power of Internet Video for Youth Ministry.” I just finished reading it tonight and want to highly recommend it. In 35 pages he addresses almost everything you can think of relating to Internet video and using it in ministry. Included are some very helpful tutorials about how to create video, how to get it online, links to free resources and tools, as well as lots of great practical ideas for using it to enhance youth ministry. No matter where you fall on the tech-savvy continuum this e-book has something for you. In my printed copy of the e-book there are several paragraphs highlighted with ideas I’m itching to implement for promoting discussion and community in my youth group.

Dennis is generously making his e-book available online for FREE under the Creative Commons License, so download it and check it out.

I’ve been hearing about Zondervan’s new student bibles and all the flack it’s taking, mostly from the home school community. The True Images Bible for teenage girls and its guy counterpart, the Revolution Bible, seeks to address with scripture the issues most teenagers face on a daily basis: sex, relationships, self-image, school, and a long list of other challenges. Although most parents will agree that these are issues that need to be addressed with our teenagers, some think that Zondervan crossed the line with articles that semi-graphically describe homosexuality, oral sex, pornography, and more. For example: Continue Reading