A blog post by Terri Elton
Image Credit: Spring Scene with Liverleaf by Randi Hausken on Flickr
Some days I’m not sure which hat I’m wearing …
There are days, in the midst of a meeting, I get the “mom I need you” text and suddenly I’m transported from my work agenda to caring for my kids.
There are times when I’m creatively and passionately trying to figure how to make one of the deep truths about Christianity come alive -- like talking with my group …
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary
- Are your ministries with young people more interested in program participation or cultivating a faith that matters in everyday life?
- Are you spending more time and energy coordinating events than fostering conversation about faith?
- Are you struggling to get the attention of your youth and their families?
- Is your Youth Ministry helping to foster Maturing Christian Young People?
If you are seeing the …
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary
- Are your ministries with young people more interested in program participation or cultivating a faith that matters in everyday life?
- Are you spending more time and energy coordinating events than fostering conversation about faith?
- Are you struggling to get the attention of your youth and their families?
- Is your Youth Ministry helping to foster Maturing Christian Young People?
If you are seeing …
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary
Change is hard isn't it?
Many Children, Youth, and Family ministry leaders find themselves thinking and talking about change in the church almost all the time. And even if you have identified and can clearly the see the change that needs to happen in the structures for the formation of faith for children and youth at your church, knowing about the change does not mean you can make that change …
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary
Is this the right time? Are these the right people? Can we agree on the right move? When leading change, it’s easy to get lost in searching for “the right thing” and “the right time” while missing transformational moments. Yes, it’s important for leaders to coordinate efforts and set the stage, but leading change rarely takes place within the confines of a strategic …
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary
If you've tracked Fuller's Sticky Faith Initiative at all, you would quickly see that the study results call the church to real changes in youth ministry practice. In fact, those changes are remarkably similar to the ones that Luther Seminary's EYM study also encouraged. The bottom line is, many people in the church are talking about how youth ministry needs to change. And they are all calling …
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary
Yesterday I spent the day talking about adaptive change with leadership teams from seven congregations. Adaptive change is dealing with situations for which there is no known answer. Technical change, the other type of change, deal with situations which have been encountered before. The two require different things from leadership, have different work, take different amounts of time, and seek different …
As we explore confirmation, here is a resource to move the dialogue into action.
Your ministry is a game worth playing in this life, and we want to help you set yourself up to win. There’s a great deal at stake! The goal-setting process below is to help you take what you’ve learned and design a way to bring it to life in your ministry: create a “winnable game”.