by Jonathan McKeeI walked into the small church Fellowship Hall and it was busting at the seams. 300-plus teenagers and about 70 leaders—far 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...

by Jonathan McKeeLife is full of over-reactions…but they are abundant in youth ministry circles.Have you noticed these swings of the proverbial pendulum?“Outreach is needed!” “Wait, now we’re ignoring our believers!” “Outreach is bad!”“We could use events and programs to draw kids!” “Wait, now we’re focusing too much on program, and not enough on the individual.” “Programming is bad!”And now...

Training Your Own VolunteersPosted on: 06/3/14 5:30 AM | by Jonathan McKeeIf 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: foodand socializing. So I decided to provide both, by gathering all my volunteers together once a month for dinner, with a little dash of training...

Chaperone… or Sherpa?Posted on: 10/20/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKeeWhat do you call your adult leaders in your youth ministry? Chaperones? Leaders? Ministers? …Steve?Is there a word that captures their purpose a little better?I’ve taught my Connect workshop to youth leaders 3 times in the last 7 days in 3 different states, and my message didn’t change:“We don’t need more Chaperones;...

Developing Student LeadersPosted on: 05/7/15 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKeeThis 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...

Back to School ConversationsPosted on: 08/23/17 3:03 PM | by Jonathan McKeeIf your kids aren’t already back to school, they’re headed there. Sure that means new classes, homework, and all that goes along with the academic aspects of school… but that also means navigating new and old friendships, trying to fit in, and wondering if everyone likes you, not just at...

Top 3 qualities I’m looking for when I hirePosted on: 03/8/16 5:45 AM | by Jonathan McKeeSomeone 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...