Author

About the Author
I am a Youth Ministry veteran of twenty four years, and currently serve as the Student Pastor at High Desert Church.  I help equip and encourage Youth Pastors through this blog and podcast The Longer Haul.  My passion is helping Youth Pastors create a ministry of longevity that they truly love.  I am the grateful husband of Sarah and the dad of Emma, Anna, Lizzy, and Jack.  I am a speaker, lover of vintage VW’s, and the owner of one 1972 VW Westfalia Bus.

When Your Leaders Need A Break

What do you do when a Youth Leader needs a break? Every Youth Ministry needs a great team.  I’ve written previously on how to recruit and how to build a great team.  However, even with the best teams and with the best leaders, there will come a time when some of your leaders will need…

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5 Books Every Youth Worker Should Read

Okay, confession: I read A LOT. Okay, second confession: I do not like to read at all. I do however, like to learn.  I also want to be continually growing as a believer and as a Youth Pastor.  So…I read. I get asked often, what books I would recommend.  While there are many books I…

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2 Words to Remove from Your Teaching

Are you making dangerous assumptions when you are teaching? When it comes to preaching and teaching the truths of the Bible we can all be guilty of making assumptions. I have been reminded of this often this year in my own teaching a preaching.  In particular, there are two words we often use than can…

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An Honest Confession

I love Youth Ministry. I am honored to be a Youth Pastor and to serve who I serve and where I serve.  There are some things though that I personally often leave unsaid. I think this is probably true for most of us and I hope that you will relate to some of these things….

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When a Student is Messing Up

One of the most heartbreaking things you deal with in Youth Ministry is watching a student in your ministry make really dumb decisions. They begin to fade from the church and from the Youth ministry. You start seeing posts on social media of them doing all kinds of things they should not be doing, and…

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7 Ways to Maximize the Effectiveness of Youth Ministry Events

Events are a part of life in Youth Ministry.  Whether you are a Youth Worker or a Youth Pastor, events can hurt or help your ministry.  Events can be for the entire ministry, segments of it, or for your Sunday School class or small group.  Since events are a given, you must be intentional to…

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