Page 1 of 10
PEER to PEER
An interview with Pastor Aaron Werner! Tell us a little bit about yourself and your connections with Peer Ministry! In 1997 as a high schooler, I attended Leadership Training School, a week of camp teaching and practicing Peer Ministry Leadership skills. Our synod’s leaders also invited me to join a synod-wide Peer Ministry Leadership (PML) […]
Read More
How do you say ORGANIZED?
BY KELSEY BLINN How do you prioritize your time? What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Are you a list maker? Or do you get lost and just don’t know what to do? Being and getting organized can be tough. It can take time but it is time well spent in the long run. […]
Read More PLAN-IT?
An organized youth minister who plans ahead? Ahhh . . . that’s a rare and unusual find, once thought to be extinct. These rare creatures are sought after for the sounds they make, like “I have a plan!” or “I know what I am doing and why!” or “Better planning results in more quality time for the relational […]
Read More
Jeered or Cheered
I was sitting with youth during a candle time discussion, a small group that simulates deep, cozy, campfire discussions. Their description of what it sometimes feels like to be in school was profound. As soon as the group was over, I had to write it down. “Navigating school? So many kids at our school are […]
Read MorePeer Ministry at Santa Cruz Catholic Church
Jesca Rodriguez shares the following! We are in our 2nd year of the Peer Ministry program here at Santa Cruz Catholic Church in Buda, TX, and it has already doubled from 7 to 14 youth. So many parents and church members are very impressed with all they have seen our youth doing. Our youth started […]
Read More
WHEN LOVE AND SKILL WORK TOGETHER
Mother Teresa tells of a man who asked her to give food to a family with eight children, who hadn’t eaten in days. She took rice to the children’s mother, who in turn divided the rice in two, sharing half with her hungry neighbors. Mother Teresa said, “I was not surprised that she gave, because […]
Read MoreWant Youth To Leave The Church? Confirm Them!
I recently visited Prince of Peace in La Crescent, MN. This is a church that successfully keeps their youth active and involved after confirmation. They have figured out how to avoid the confirmation graduation, the exodus, moving on and beyond the church. Please read that again! “They keep their youth active and involved after confirmation!” […]
Read More
BEYOND ZOOM
Let’s stop asking youth to join in on Zoom. Instead let’s invite them into specific, meaningful, purpose-filled ministry. Youth show up when needs are vital, meaningful, and urgent. If that Is not a clear goal, there is no reason to turn on or attend. Asks need to be specific: “I need you to meet and talk with […]
Read More
Peer Ministry Leadership is Good Samaritan Leadership
by Lyle Griner I asked, “How have you been using the skills we are working on?” I had been working with this group of high school youth for several weeks. Silence. I pushed the question further and waited. Finally, one girl said, “I don’t think this really counts, but Friday night I went out […]
Read More
WHEAT AHA Story
The Prelude I was working with a group of college students at an event. We taught the WHEAT acronym. During a break, in the hall near the snack table, a young man pointed toward an older man down the hall, “See that guy over there? I just Wheated him! Standing by the table, getting my […]
Read More Has the Church Missed Making the Main Thing The Main Thing?
Lyle Griner – National PML director What if we went to a yoga class with no mats or space to do exercises? What if we found only rows of chairs, listened to talks, sang songs about downward dog and cobra poses? What if people only gave readings and sermons about yoga? What if we never […]
Read More
Inside / Outside Circle Experiences
© 2017 written by Lyle Griner free for local church groups only Seated in a circle of chairs, sitting on the floor, or even standing, while one circle of people faces outward towards a partner in a second circle of people facing inward. It’s a great face-to-face, heart-to-heart, and person-to-person experience with multiple uses. […]
Read More