Tag Archives: Teenagers
The dropout myth?
Posted on 04. Jan, 2012 by Kenny.
There’s a very interesting article worth reading over at childrensministry.com about the infamous “dropout” rate that is causing many churches to question the effectiveness of their ministries and causing many churches to swing to a family model. I’ve actually sited the significant dropout statistics as a reason for our church to move to a more family centered model.
I’m very glad that this article was written as it draws attention to the issue. However, I have to say that I’m not in agreement with several parts of the article, but some excellent points are made.
First of all, I’ve not heard of this 9 out of 10 dropout. For the last 3-5 years, I’ve been more familiar with the studies conducted by Lifeway, the Assemblies of God (I think) and the research the Barna group has done and none of those posted a dropout rate as high as 90%.… Read the rest
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Parents in Transition
Posted on 15. Nov, 2010 by Reggie Joiner.
Time flies fast from elementary to college age, so get ready to change your parenting habits. Every child seems to move in warp speed toward the teenage years.
I was caught by surprise when a new declaration of personal independence was automatically assumed the day my son got his driver’s license. It was as though I represented an oppressive and extremely unfair regime whenever I tried to enforce any rule. (Whenever I said no to one of my teenage daughters, she would go to her bedroom, close the door and play Britney Spears’ “Overprotected†over and over again for over an hour, loud enough for me and the whole house to hear.) I have to admit, it was difficult for me to transition from parenting children to parenting teenagers.… Read the rest
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Teenagers in your children’s ministry
Posted on 16. Feb, 2010 by Kenny.
As children’s pastors, we all want ‘em. We’ve all got ‘em. We’ve all been frustrated with ‘em. Often times, we really don’t now what to do with them.
Here are the various types of teens I’ve had help in my children’s ministries. Perhaps you can identify.
The All-Star: This teenager is a rock star. They’re super involved. They’re committed as much if not more than your very best adult volunteer. They’re awesome at what they do and the kids LOVE them. When you look at them, you see “future children’s pastor written all over them.” You wish you had 20 more of them.
The Fixture: This is the teenager who’s excited about serving, even if they don’t show it.… Read the rest
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Orange Leaders Forum (Part 2)
Posted on 26. Apr, 2009 by Kenny.
Reggie spent a few minutes talking about why students are dropping out of church.
We haven’t given them a better story as they aren’t as intrigued by our story. They’re more intrigued by the world’s story.
As a church, our power is that we can give them a better story. When they engage in this story, it’s less likely that they’ll walk away from their faith.
Reggie came back to this later in the day as he was talking about the three Dials:
- The Wonder Dial: Faith
- The Discover Dial: How truth affects my life
- The Passion Dial: How I serve
Too often in Student ministry, the wonder and discover dials are maxed but not the passion dial. This is a serious mistake.… Read the rest
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Texting: Art or obsession?
Posted on 22. Aug, 2008 by Kenny.
About three years ago I got email on my phone. It was great. I could now communicate with people via email no matter where I was. Unfortunately, it was at that time when I started getting text messages from more and more people. This really annoyed me since I was paying $40 a month to get email and now people are sending me text messages. I even had some people with email enabled phones sending me text messages to my email enabled phone. Come on! That’s costing me $0.35 a message people!
I finally gave in. I no longer have email on my phone and I too text. It makes sense. If someone has a phone, they more than likely can get a text message.… Read the rest
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Kids these days…
Posted on 20. Aug, 2008 by Kenny.
I’ve got a few new posts coming out the next few days (over the weekend) that kind of relate. I feel like an old man even saying these words. “Kids these days are different.”
A lot has changed! This is totally not the teenage kids just 5 years ago and especially not the teenage kids 10 years ago. The merger of technology and adolescence has changed just about everything.
I don’t profess to know a whole lot about teenage culture… I feel like I’m really out of touch. That’s why I work with people who really know this culture. I feel like I have a much better feel for the younger kids. So the posts over these next few days are more of my observations that I’ve made these last few weeks about the teenage culture.… Read the rest
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Since we’re on the subject
Posted on 19. Apr, 2008 by Kenny.
Last week I discussed the concept of how we handle decisions and baptism with kids. Truthfully I only planned to write one post, but it kind of morphed into a week’s worth of posts. I still had a few thoughts I hadn’t finished sorting out. Actually some thoughts that were in my head originally but they never made it to my post. So today and tomorrow I’ll get these final thoughts out and move on to something else.
About two years ago a friend of mine told me about an experience he had as the youth pastor at a fairly large church in the mid-west. They would give invitations every week at their student ministry services. The church was big on evangelism.… Read the rest
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