Renew…Educate…Connect…
Over the last few years, one of the conversations that has come up again and again in youth ministry circles is about how we approach mission and service. Many of us grew up with a model that was driven by ...
Last week, I had the chance to spend a day with our friends in Lutheran Outdoor Ministries Network at their annual conference, and it was exactly the kind of experience that fills your tank in ways you didn’t know you ...
Hello friends, In the past few weeks, news broke that Group Publishing has been acquired by David C. Cook Publishing. Once upon a time, Group was a powerhouse in the world of children, youth, and family ministry. They produced books and ...
As ministry continues to evolve, the ELCA Youth Ministry Network is walking forward with intention. In response to feedback from our community and in the spirit of deep listening, we’ve launched a comprehensive strategic planning process to guide our future. ...
There is another person that we want you to know: Rachel Claseman. Rachel is an individual who helps us to manage some of the changes, problems and glitches that occasionally pop up between our membership records and our web site access. Rachel is a first-year medical school student at the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis. ...
I have been wanting to write something about the crisis/fiasco at Penn State University for a few weeks. However, to be honest, I needed to give myself some time to get my mind wrapped around the strong emotional reaction I had when the details about the allegations began to surface. I react very very strongly ...
There are people within the Network that you will interact with from time-to-time. These folks have different roles that hopefully provide support and assistance to you, certainly in your relationship with the Network; hopefully also in your ministry. I thought it might be helpful for you to (at least virtually) “meet” these folks so you ...
The Network is excited to welcome Trinity Lutheran College as our latest gold partner organization. Trinity Lutheran College, located in Everett, Washington, is a small, Lutheran college whose mission is to provide a biblically-centered education and develop Christian leaders with a global perspective whose lives and ministry serve Jesus Christ in church and society. Trinity Lutheran ...
The Connect Journal is put out by the Network puts out 3-4 times per year (depending on where we’re at budget-wise.) in late spring and early summer we did a survey of our Network membership about how they use the Connect Journal. We’ve been processing this data, and it’s been really kind of fun. When ...
I get this question all of the time: “Should volunteers join the Network?” Here’s my answer: “Yes.” And then come the “but” comments… But it’s kind of expensive But they don’t need the same kind of networking But I can get the info and just pass it along to them But we don’t have the ...
The ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Board of Directors met last weekend in the Minneapolis area. It was a good meeting, and in the near future you’ll be hearing more about the conversations and dreams that came out of the conversation there. One of the tasks the board takes on in its annual fall meeting is the ...
Is there any other CEO, other than Steve Jobs, whose death would bring about such an amazing public outcry of loss? Since his death, and especially right afterwards the response in the news and on social media was nothing short of amazing. The number of people on my Facebook friends list who changed their profile ...
Even as I type this, members of the ELCA Youth Ministry Network’s Board of Directors are in the air or are traveling by car to for its annual fall meeting. We normally rotate sites for the fall meeting, and this year we’ll be meeting at the ELCA Youth Ministry Network World Headquarters (my basement) and ...
I had a “proud parent” moment this morning. Please indulge me while I share: Today, my wife Lori and our two boys, Nathan and Samuel, ages 8 and 10 were on a worship team, which meant that they were ushering and Lori was also reading the scriptures. Our boys had ushered before. They enjoy handing ...
Network is a Verb 