Better Safe than Sued


Book Description

Most youth workers will admit that they don’t spend a lot of time thinking about safety in their youth ministry. Sure, they shout, “Seat belts!” when the crew loads into the van, or they use the buddy system when at theme parks. But beyond that, they’re mostly concerned with introducing students to Jesus. Nothing’s wrong with looking after their spiritual well-being, but overlooking their safety can lead to pain and problems for you, your students, your church, or your community.The reality is, whether it’s a game of dodgeball in the church gym, or a rock climbing trip during a summer retreat, you have precious cargo in your care, and it’s your responsibility to make sure they return home safely and in one piece.Better Safe Than Sued is an essential guidebook for anyone in youth ministry—paid or volunteer, veteran or rookie. Along with questions to get you thinking about your own ministry context after each chapter, inside you’ll discover how you can make your ministry a safe place for students and leaders as you read about:• Safety while riding in buses, vans, and cars• Camps, retreats, and conferences• Selecting staff• Avoiding sexual misconduct• Establishing a No-Bully Zone• How to handle injuries, and much moreMake sure your ministry is safe and that you’re protected so you never have to be the one saying, “I never took safety seriously until ...”




Better Safe Than Sorry


Book Description

How toxic are the products we consume on a daily basis? Whether it’s triclosan in toothpaste, formaldehyde in baby shampoo, endocrine disruptors in water bottles, or pesticides on strawberries, chemicals in food and personal care products are of increasing concern to consumers. This book chronicles how ordinary people try to avoid exposure to toxics in grocery store aisles using the practice of “precautionary consumption.” Through an innovative analysis of environmental regulation, the advocacy work of environmental health groups, the expansion of the health-food chain Whole Foods Market, and interviews with consumers, Norah MacKendrick ponders why the problem of toxics in the U.S. retail landscape has been left to individual shoppers—and to mothers in particular. She reveals how precautionary consumption, or “green shopping,” is a costly and time-intensive practice, one that is connected to cultural ideas of femininity and good motherhood but is also most available to upper- and middle-class households. Better Safe Than Sorry powerfully argues that precautionary consumption places a heavy and unfair burden of labor on women and does little to advance environmental justice or mitigate risk.




The Youth Ministry Survival Guide


Book Description

Youth pastors often burn out, bail out, and are pushed out of ministry. In this book, you'll be given practical insights and action steps to help you build fences against failure.




When Church Kids Go Bad


Book Description

You may have an amazing program and be well connected to your students, but that doesn't always guarantee a problem-free ministry. Whether it's the guy in the back of the room who's always causing trouble, or the girl in the corner with a look of indifference, disruptive and apathetic students can hinder the effectiveness of your ministry. But you don't have to let discipline problems drive you out of youth ministry (or out of your mind!). In this practical book, youth ministry veteran Les Christie will help you take a positive approach to discipline when it becomes necessary. When Church Kids Go Bad will: reveal the reasons behind problem behavior and show you how to take a positive approach to discipline teach you how to use rules and consequences effectively help you evaluate your strengths and weaknesses in discipline situations (and improve your areas of weakness) give you dozens of specific, practical, helpful ideas you can use immediately with your students In addition to addressing the issues that are common to any youth ministry setting, Les will also give special attention to issues that present even more challenge, such as alcoholism and vandalism, students with learning differences, and teens with attention deficit disorders. After reading this book, you'll feel confident in your ability to use discipline as a tool to keep your group from disintegrating into chaos and frustration, and you'll be equipped to prevent future problems from popping up.




If I Knew Then What I Know Now


Book Description

"Everyone makes mistakes. But why make the same ones that other youth workers have already learned tough lessons through? Whether you’re a youth ministry volunteer or you’ve just stepped into a full-time youth ministry position, chances are that you don’t know everything...not yet anyway. Here you’ll find wisdom from seasoned veterans who have “been there and done that” so you can avoid the pitfalls they’ve found themselves facing.With true stories from real youth workers, you’ll get the truth that you just don’t learn in your seminar classes or volunteer training meetings. With thought-provoking questions, relevant Scripture, and practical applications, you’ll learn from some of the common, but avoidable, blunders of youth ministry veterans such as: • Soul care slip-ups• Team building terrors• Relationship errors• Parent problems (or is it problem parents?!)• Programming pitfalls• Budget blunders• Moral minefields• Authority ailments• Crisis controlWhile most people will cover up their mistakes and hope to never be found out, these brave youth workers are laying it all out there so you don’t have to make the same mistakes. Let their encouragement and wisdom be your most-read training manual."




Youth Ministry Management Tools 2.0


Book Description

Youth ministry isn't just meeting with students and teaching them God's truth. It also involves a myriad of administrative and operational details. Youth Ministry Management Tools 2.0 provides youth ministers and volunteers with helpful insights, advice, and practical resources to successfully manage a youth ministry. You'll find sample budgets, release forms for trips, and clear direction for screening applicants for volunteer positions. Authors Mike Work and Ginny Olson provide you with quick and accessible answers to all of your management, administrative, and supervisory questions and needs. Sprinkled throughout the manual are brief personal anecdotes by actual, in-the-trenches youth workers, case studies of church-office debacles, pivotal lessons learned over decades of ministry, nightmare scenarios to avoid, and glorious successes to emulate. No other book provides everything a youth ministry leader needs in one place at such an affordable price.This revised and updated edition of a youth ministry classic includes bonus online content, copy-ready pages and forms, and loads of other highly practical material.







Keeping Your Children's Ministry on Mission


Book Description

Practical Strategies for Gospel-Centered Children's Ministry When building a children's ministry at a church, there is so much to consider: Which curriculum should we use? How many volunteers do we need? How do we keep parents in the loop? And that's before we run into stalled check-in computers, missing activity sheets, and floors that need to be vacuumed. While all of the tasks of children's ministry are important, leaders can get easily distracted with the everyday work of doing ministry and lose sight of the main focus—the gospel. Writing from personal ministry experience, Jared Kennedy shares a four-fold approach for gospel-centered, missional children's ministry: hospitality, teaching, discipleship, and mission. This practical resource covers a variety of topics ranging from creating child protection policies to putting together lesson plans to catechism, helpful for children's ministers and volunteers alike as they disciple children with the powerful message of the gospel. Applicable: Includes questions for reflection and evaluation Helps Leaders Disciple the Next Generation: Features advice for sending kids and their families on mission Ideal for Nursery–5th Grade Teachers and Leaders: A practical and helpful resource for children's ministries Published in Conjunction with the Gospel Coalition (TGC)




Youth Ministry Nuts and Bolts, Revised and Updated


Book Description

To help youth workers (paid and/or volunteer) think through some of the key issues related to the administrative issues of youth ministry.




Formational Children's Ministry (ēmersion: Emergent Village resources for communities of faith)


Book Description

Much ministry to children looks more like mere entertainment than authentic spiritual formation. But what if children's ministries were rooted in a mind set whereby we taught children, with our words and actions, how the story of God, the story of church history, the story of the local community, and the story of the child intersect and speak to one another? What if children's ministry was less about downloading information into kids' heads and more about leading them into these powerful, compelling stories? Beckwith aims to help ministers and parents create a ministry that captures children's imaginations not just to keep them occupied, but to live as citizens of the kingdom of God. In addition to providing theological reasons for formational children's ministry, the book offers examples of how Ivy and other practitioners are implementing a formational model.