If you have ever considered a career in youth ministry, there are certain things that are absolutely necessary if that is going to happen for you.  This post is not about specifically the hiring process, but more importantly about some of the specific things that are needed if you hope to get your name in the hat when a church is going through the hiring process.  When I was in college I was fortunate enough to be a part of a student ministry that gave me incredible opportunities that shaped me as I tried to figure out the whole youth ministry thing.  By the time I was done with college, I was “ready” to dive into full-time ministry.  If you want to do youth ministry as a career, you will have to make some intentional choices about what you are doing and how you are going to gain experience, skills, and knowledge relevant to student ministry.

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Starting last weekend and throughout this month, our middle school is working through a sermon series called “Grow Up.” This series is a part of XP3 Students produced by Orange. If you’ve been wondering why you havne’t seen teaching notes, I haven’t been posting them because several main ideas from the series is a part of the curriculum. There are times throughout the year that using produced curriculum is highly beneficial. As we are preparing for the summer season, I wanted to have a series that I could use that would also allow me some freedom creatively to begin thinking about summer events and retreat themes.

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Market Colors is a new non-profit that is focused on seling hand-made products made in Africa.  Poor people throughout the country that normally don’t have access to any market beyond the locals and missionaries passing through are being given an opportunity to support themselves and their families by giving their products a much larger market.  One of my favorite things about buying something through market colors, which will start selling items this summer, is that you aren’t just buying a purse or a laptop case, but you are connecting yourselves to a story.  It’s more than buying a product, you’re supporting someone who needs help supporting themselves and their family.

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The band formerly known as David Crowder Band minus David Crowder is now known as the Digital Age.  I’m very curious what this will become.  And I’m also curious what David Crowder is doing.