Category: The Church
Transition
Life has been pretty much a whirlwind in the last few weeks. As has been noted on the Network’s Facebook page, Trinity Lutheran Church in Owatonna, Minnesota has extended a call for me to come and serve as a pastor. After a lot of conversations, thought and prayer, I have decided to accept this call. ...
Want to go to Germany?
Michael and George, our good friends who together form the band Lost and Found, have been working for a few years on the Luther500 Project. And they have an invitation for the Network. Get more information on the special invitation by clicking here. Luther500 will bring folks to Germany to celebrate the 500th anniversary of ...
Cancer Theology
I didn’t want to read this book. Really, I didn’t. I know both Jake and Erik. Not nearly as well as I would like to, but well enough that I knew I’d buy a copy of this book as soon as I’d heard about it, just because I wanted to support them. But read it? ...
Bunnies and Signs
In the community in which I serve, I’ve noticed an interesting phenomenon in the past couple of years. There are some start-up churches, of the non-denominational type, who are meeting in our community. They are young, passionate and energetic; and they have a sense of urgency to what they are doing. They exist to reach out ...
The Value of the Network (in a crisis)
Guest Blog: Rev. Paul Amlin, who serves as the Program Director for Youth Ministries in the churchwide offices of the ELCA, wanted to share this story of service and gratitude with the Network. I had a recent experience that demonstrated the value of the Network, and I feel the need to share it in a ...
Thank you Paul Hill!
In 1996, there was a crew of about 20 people working to put together the first “Extravaganza” (named that year the “Ex-strato-ganza” because it was at the Stratosphere Hotel in Las Vegas…clearly we were headed for marketing greatness). The whole event was put together on a dime and a prayer. There pretty much was no ...
2014 Salary Survey is Live!
The 2014 ELCA Youth Ministry Network Salary Survey is live! Click here to take the survey. One of the tools that the Network has produced over the last 15 years is the annual salary survey. The survey is an indicator (not the only indicator…but certainly an important one!) of the health and well-being of ...
No One Will Pick Up the Phone
If you were to pick up the phone and call the ELCA churchwide offices in Chicago, and said that you had questions about children’s ministry, or Sunday School, or something similar, there would be no one to take your call. It’s true. Say it’s a question about a resource…or perhaps about background checks for volunteer ...
Why is No One Talking About This?
A few months ago, I came across a powerpoint slide that Beth Lewis, CEO of Augsburg Fortress Publishers had used as a presentation to a group of pastors at a conference in Florida. (Thanks to Beth Lewis for the slide!) When I saw the numbers, in all honesty, it took my breath away. The slide ...
Living for 5:00pm
For the past 4-5 weeks, my internal mantra has been “I’m living for 5:00pm on Sunday, October 27th.” 5:00pm yesterday represented the end of a season. At 4:30pm, our final service of Affirmation of Baptism was complete. By 5:00pm, most of the photos with kids and parents would be done, and I’d be on my ...
Network is a Verb 