Top Ten Posts of 2012

Credit: Stockerre (Creative Commons)

It's been another fun year for me writing on this blog. Thanks so much to those of you who trust me with your time by allowing me to be a part of your reading list. As I enjoy a fun week off with family, here are the ten most-read posts of 2012:


10) (Guest Post by Christine Niles): "Twenty-One Ways Churches Can Support Adopting Parents" (April 14th)

9) "Youth Ministry Tools That Will Be Relics in Ten Years" (June 5th)

8) "Three Signs You Aren't Preaching the Word in Youth Ministry" (August 14th)

For Immediate Release: Youth Pastor of "Dear Youth Pastor" Fame Retires

PLEASANTVILLE (AP) - After a long, illustrious, and sinfully amazing career in youth ministry, Youth Pastor has decided to hang up his Xbox 360 and iPhone and call it quits. While the decision may seem sudden to his adoring fans, it was always in the plans according to Youth Pastor.

Youth Pastor, who's legal name really is Youth Pastor, insists in an exclusive interview how moving on from youth ministry has always been what he intended to do.

"I always had my sights set on something higher," explains Youth Pastor. "Am I great at youth ministry? Yeah. Maybe even the best ever. But youth ministry is never meant to be a final destination for a pastor. It's kind of like the minor leagues. The best youth pastors eventually move on to the Big Leagues."

(A note on Youth Pastor's name: A search of public records failed to turn up conclusive evidence of his given name, although it has long been rumored to be Marion Archibald Templeton IV, a name that resulted in much ridicule for him in junior high.)

Dear Youth Pastor (My Students Like Another Youth Pastor)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

It's been a depressing week for me. Last week, I took my youth group to a concert at another church in our area. The concert went well, the kids seemed to have a good time, so when the last song was over, I thought it had been a great event. Boy, was I ever wrong. As we were leaving the church, I overheard some of our students talking about the guy who gave a short evangelistic sermon midway through the show. The speaker was the new youth pastor at the church that hosted the event. Apparently, everyone in our group really loved what this guy had to say, and one of our kids even said it opened his eyes to who Jesus really is! Now, they want to do MORE events with that church and have been asking when we'll hang out with them again.

As you can imagine, I was devastated. I'm supposed to be the one who changes my students' lives--not Jesus or other youth pastors! Have I lost my mojo? Where have I gone wrong? I'm really in need of some help.

Sincerely,
Pushed Aside in Pocatello


Pushed Aside:

I understand your pain, and you should know that you're not the only youth pastor to experience such pain at the hands of another youth pastor. Thankfully, it doesn't have to be that way. The key to bouncing back is to make sure everyone knows that youth ministry is all about you. Here are a couple of tips to help you along:

Dear Youth Pastor: My Volunteers are Too Involved!

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.


Dear Youth Pastor:

Not too long ago, my senior pastor came into my office to let me know about a new young couple who had relocated to our town and had recently become members at our church. He explained that they were both interested in working with teenagers, and had led the youth ministry at their former church before they moved. My senior pastor thought they would make great leaders and asked if I wouldn't mind meeting with them to talk about adding them to our volunteer team.

Well, we met. And they became leaders. I knew it would be trouble from the start. The first few weeks weren't so bad. I did my best to keep them busy with jobs like organizing the snacks in the church kitchen and cleaning up after the decorate-your-friend's-face-with-ice-cream-toppings game. But then I went on vacation. Since none of my other leaders ever really stick around for more than a few months, I asked this new couple to lead youth group for the two weeks I would be out of town. It was a complete disaster. When I came back, they were energized, said they really enjoyed serving, and asked how they could serve more and give more time to our youth ministry. They even offered to lead youth group once a month so that I could have a week off from having to prepare a lesson!

If I don't do something quickly, I'm afraid they are going to take on more responsibility and become more involved. What should I do?


Sincerely,
Worried in West Haven



Worried:

Your concerns are well-founded. Much trouble has been caused in youth ministries through the years by well-meaning volunteers who don't understand their place in youth ministry: to clean up messes and make sure teenagers don't break any rules. It sounds like your new leaders are really excited and energized, so you have a lot of work ahead of you. Here are a few things that will help you along:

Assign them tasks that keep them away from students. If they want to help, by all means, let them help! Find things for them to do that don't involve a lot of contact with students, such as setting up games or running the sound equipment. You need to be careful on this one, though. It sounds like they might be the kind of leaders who will try to mentor students during such tasks by asking one or two to help them, so watch out for that sort of thing.

Avoid meetings of every kind. When you meet together with your leaders, chances are they might be encouraged by your time together, and rejuvenated enough to keep serving. Over-excited leaders will begin to lose steam if they can't connect with you to discuss any issues they might encounter as leaders or to simply ask for advice.

When you're on vacation, don't ask them to help lead youth group; simply cancel it. From your letter, it sounds like you need to understand a key principle of youth ministry: youth ministry doesn't happen without you, the youth pastor. Make sure you've got a hand in everything that goes on in your ministry. Not only will that stop volunteers from meddling, but it will keep you right where you belong: at the center of your youth ministry.

I hope this helps, Worried. Hopefully, you'll be back to running YOUR ministry on YOUR terms sooner rather than later.

Best,
Youth Pastor


Dear Youth Pastor is a public service to the good people who read this blog, and letters are published every Thursday. To ask Youth Pastor a question, just email him at DearYouthPastor@hotmail.com.

Dear Youth Pastor (How do I know if I'm called to youth ministry?)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.



Dear Youth Pastor:

I have been praying about maybe becoming a youth pastor. I made a commitment to follow Jesus in junior high, and my youth pastor was a huge support and inspiration to me during some difficult times in high school. I really feel like God is leading me to youth ministry, but I'm not sure how to really know. I'm in my senior year of college and have been offered a part-time youth ministry position at a small church that would start this fall. I'd like to think that I'm ready, but I want to make sure that I'm doing what God wants, not just what I want. How can I know if I'm supposed to become a youth pastor?

Thanks for your help,
Searching in Santa Cruz


Searching:

I'm glad you asked. Every youth pastor has their story of when and where they started their youth ministry career. Many, like you, weren't completely sure if they were doing the right thing. How do you know if you're really supposed to be a youth pastor? Well, there's no way to really know, but here are a few signs that you're supposed to be a youth pastor:

Dear Youth Pastor (Teenagers Can't POSSIBLY Grasp Deep Topics)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.


Dear Youth Pastor:

This past week, one of our volunteers called me on the phone. He told me about a book he'd been reading about something called apologetics. (I had to look it up just to spell it correctly!) He told me that it had really opened his eyes about how we can know that the Bible is true and that Jesus is who he claimed to be. He said that he thought our high school students could benefit from learning about apologetics, not only to encourage their own faith, but to help them share about Jesus with their friends, especially as they prepare to go to college.

I really wasn't sure if this was a joke or not, so I didn't know what to say. After a few minutes of awkward silence, I told him I'd think about it. After all, does he really think that teenagers are capable of that kind of thinking, or that they even are concerned about this sort of thing? What should I do?

Sincerely,

Concerned in Corona Springs



Concerned:

We hear about this sort of thing all the time. Well-meaning volunteers or parents do a bit of below-the-surface thinking, and the next thing you know, they want teenagers to do the same thing. This probably won't be the last time you hear a volunteer using such big words, so make sure you know how to respond:

Dear Youth Pastor (Kids have been missing youth group to serve!)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.


Dear Youth Pastor:

Help! We've had something terrible happen at our church that has caused a small dip in attendance at youth group on Sunday night. A few weeks ago, I noticed that some of our students hadn't been in attendance at youth group. I did a little investigating, and I found that some of our teenagers are helping out with our church's Sunday night kids' program that happens at the same time. Apparently, someone had seen these teenagers playing with young kids, and asked if they would enjoy serving in the children's program.

I couldn't believe that our children's minister would do such a thing! I haven't yet confronted him about it, and I was hoping you could give me a few pointers on how to deal with it.


Sincerely,
Hoarding in Helena



Hoarding:

What you have on your hands is a good old fashioned territory battle. The children's ministry is stealing your teenagers, no question. First of all, they've got enough kids in their program; I don't know why they'd be stealing yours. Second, everyone knows that the last thing teenagers need to be doing is serving somewhere other than the youth ministry. Does your children's minister really believe that a teenager can grow spiritually in a leadership position, teaching young children about Jesus?

If you don't nip this in the bud, the infection will spread. Before you know it, teenagers will be given opportunities to serve and lead all over your church: in worship, on mission trips NOT designed specifically for teenagers, and even visiting elderly church members who aren't well enough to attend church. Unthinkable. Discourage your students from serving elsewhere in your church, and try your best to make the students who have been spending time in the children's ministry feel bad about missing youth group. The more you can seem concerned for their spiritual well-being as you tell them what they've missed, the better the chance you'll have of getting them out of volunteering their time with children and back in your youth room on Sunday nights.

Best of luck, Hoarding, and remember: we're all in this together.

Sincerely,
Youth Pastor


Dear Youth Pastor is a public service to the good people who read this blog, and letters are published every Thursday. To ask Youth Pastor a question, just email him at DearYouthPastor@hotmail.com.

Dear Youth Pastor (Tiny youth groups just aren't cool)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

I know that you usually answer questions from other youth pastors, but I thought maybe you might take the time to read my letter and answer it. I am a tenth grade girl, and I attend a small church in my town. I've spent my whole life in this church. My mom and dad dedicated me there when I was a baby, I accepted Jesus when I was six during a Sunday school lesson, and I was baptized on Easter Sunday when I was seven. And when I started sixth grade, I became a part of our youth group.

I love my youth group. We meet most Sunday afternoons, and usually there are about six junior and senior high students total. Our church can't afford to hire a youth pastor, but for the past two years, a teacher at my high school who goes to our church has led our youth group. He's got a job and a family, but he always finds time to plan a great lesson and attend my dance recitals. The only time he's ever missed a youth group was when his son was born! And there may not be a lot of youth at our church, but we're family. When my grandma died last year, everyone in our youth group missed school and drove two hours to be at the funeral. I don't know what I would have done without them.

Dear Youth Pastor (Please can I be a senior pastor?)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

I had an interesting conversation with my senior pastor today. I've been in my position as the youth pastor for about a year now. He asked if he could speak with me, and so we met in his office after lunch. After a bit of chit-chat, he asked me where I thought our youth ministry was heading. More specifically, he wanted to know my dreams for what I thought our youth ministry should look like three to five years down the road. He told me that he had appreciated my leadership in the first year of my job, and he looked forward to what God had in store for our youth ministry in the coming three to five under my leadership.

Three to five years?

THREE TO FIVE YEARS???

I've already put a year of my life into being a youth pastor at this church. When you combine it with my job at my last church, I've already paid over two and a half years worth of dues as a youth pastor. TWO AND A HALF YEARS! I thought for sure I was getting close to a better position in our church, and eventually a senior pastor position somewhere. What should I do?

Dear Youth Pastor (Why would you ask if my wife is doing okay?)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

One of our elders stopped me in the hall this Sunday after church. It was kind of an uncomfortable exchange, because he wanted to have a conversation with me, and I'm not used to talking with anyone in our church besides teenagers. After asking me how ministry was going, he said, "Do you mind if I ask you a personal question?" I said "sure," hoping it wasn't yet another comment about my skinny jeans. Instead, he asked how my wife was doing. I wasn't sure how to answer, because I couldn't remember the last time she and I had a conversation together with our three kids interrupting. "I don't mean to pry," he continued, "I just noticed she was flustered a bit this morning checking the kids into Sunday School, and I know you've been away from home every night this week at youth group, the elder meeting, and three basketball games, not to mention the youth retreat this past weekend. I just want you to know that if you need to take some time off to reconnect with your family, you've got the full support of the elders and the senior pastor."

Take some time off? At first, I wasn't sure I heard him right. I mean, it's tough work, but youth ministry takes sacrifice. Why wouldn't he want me to spend so much time at church? Isn't my first priority to be a youth pastor, and then a husband and father? What am I missing here?

Sincerely,
Hard-Nosed in Halifax

Dear Youth Pastor (How do I increase my budget?)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

It's been a difficult week here at my church. A couple of months ago, I was asked to submit a budget proposal for the upcoming budget year. At first, I thought it was a joke; estimate my youth ministry expenses for the next twelve months? I mean, how am I supposed to know how much money I need for ministry until I spend it?

It turns out, it wasn't a joke. So, I wrote out how much I thought I would need to run our youth ministry in the next year. At first, I was glad I did. As I made my list, I thought of things I never knew we even needed, like a new HD television for playing Call of Duty in our youth room. This week, however, our senior pastor and the chair of the finance committee asked to meet with me. They went over my budget with me, asked why I needed a 400% increase over last year's spending, and told me I needed to redo my budget, giving me a smaller number to work with than I had asked for.

Of course, I was furious. Not only will I not get that HD television, but the children's ministry got more money than I did! How am I supposed to have the coolest youth ministry in town without an endless supply of money? Is there something I can do?

Sincerely,
Destitute in Dayton


Destitute:

It sounds like the tough economy has made its way to your church and your youth ministry budget. Unfortunately, this might be something you have to ride out. An annoyingly increasing number of church treasurers and finance committees are determined to keeping a balanced budget these days--no matter how much you need that big HD television. However there might be a thing or two you can try if you haven't already.

Dear Youth Pastor (Youth group betrayal)

Note: If this is your first time reading "Dear Youth Pastor," please read this post first.

Dear Youth Pastor:

This week, I received a crushing blow from one of my students. At least, I thought she was one of my students. Let me try to sort the details out.

Cindy had been coming to our church youth group for about a year. She'd been pretty committed, and I thought she was one of our core students. She came to our Sunday morning Sunday School, was a part of a small group, always attended "CLUB Jesus" (our Wednesday night event), and usually went with us on Sunday mornings to breakfast when we'd skip out of worship service every other week.

Last month, she only came to one of our CLUB Jesus nights. I figured that she was grounded again, but when I asked her about it a couple of days ago, she admitted that she had been attending another church's Wednesday night program.

A Word on "Dear Youth Pastor"

A couple of years ago, I wrote the first "Dear Youth Pastor" letter when I was in a snarky mood. (If you've never read a letter to Youth Pastor and his responses, you can find those letters here.) I did a few more here and there, but the letters didn't become a regular feature on this site until the beginning of this year, when the letters started appearing on Thursdays.

Usually, I just post the letters and responses without an explanation--because if you have to explain satire, it's probably not good satire. But I've received a couple of comments from readers that have made me think otherwise. Here's a comment regarding Youth Pastor's advice to a struggling youth worker on how to appear cooler to students:

This sounds disgraceful! I would never do any of these things, as all of them would cost me my job and the respect of youth and their parents. Kids gossip too much to make these things a good idea.

And here's a comment regarding Youth Pastor's advice for how to stay away from youth ministry networks:

When did networking become such a bad thing. Also when did reaching students for Christ become such a territorial rivalry? Networking is a good thing. Many of the top guys in youth ministry agree with this. Doing ministry in a city is not a good thing. It leads to burn out and stress. Telling a guy not to network is not a good thing. You should encourage him to maybe change the format of the meeting in discussing where everyone can help to bring more students to Christ in the city. It is not about being the best youth pastor or youth group in town that shows no humility just arrogance. Your advice is just appalling

Dear Youth Pastor (Youth Ministry Networks)

Dear Youth Pastor:

Last week, I was invited by another youth pastor in town to a youth ministry network meeting in our town. I'd been invited before and never attended, but when I heard this meeting would have a free lunch, I decided to go.

When I arrived at the meeting, I made sure to get my lunch first and sit as close to the exit as possible, hoping to sneak out as soon as possible. Unfortunately, I was not fast enough, and before I could finish my pizza everybody began going around the circle and "checking in." I made the mistake of sitting next to the network coordinator, and so after he said how things were going for him, he asked me to go next.

Of course, I began by sharing how great things were going in our youth group, how attendance numbers were up (they usually always are in my youth group), and how many complements I'd received lately when I taught at Sunday night youth group. Of course, everyone was stunned into silence at how amazing I'd been leading my church's youth group. I figured that would be the end of my "check in," but the network coordinator finally spoke up and said, "I'm glad things are going well ministry-wise for you. But how are you doing?" He even asked how my marriage was going! I don't know what any of that has to do with how awesome my youth group is. I then had to listen to everyone else shared how they were doing--some of them barely even talked about their youth group attendance! The worst part is that at the end of the meeting, there was an update about a joint evangelism event most of the churches in town are doing next month for the teenagers in our area. How in the world can we compare attendance numbers when everyone joins together for the same event?

Dear Youth Pastor (What in the world are mission, vision, and values?)

Dear Youth Pastor:

It has been a very difficult week. This past Tuesday, I had a meeting with my senior pastor. He wanted to talk with me about the meetings our staff and board have been having for the past couple of months about "why our church exists." He began to talk with me about how the meetings have been exciting for him, and how he felt compelled to lead our church in thinking and praying through what we are really supposed to be doing as a church because he had been convicted that his own spiritual apathy had been reflected in the spiritual apathy of our church. I don't remember what he said after that, because I had to look up what "apathy" meant on my iPhone. When I looked up again, he was asking me what I thought of the mission, vision, and set of values that we had "put down on paper" as a result of the meetings. While trying to remember what we had put down on paper (I had spent most of the meetings on my iPhone doing really important ministry on my Facebook app), I told him I thought they were really good.

Then, he threw in a zinger.

He asked me how I thought the mission, vision, and core values related to our youth ministry, and how I would structure the ministry and plan events so that it reflected the mission, vision, and core values. Wow! I had no idea that what we were talking about in those meetings would affect the youth ministry. I figured things would be business as usual in our corner of the building: we can't plan events more than a month ahead of time; how are we supposed to know what the cool thing to do will be? And core values? B-O-R-I-N-G! Clearly my pastor doesn't understand the go-with-the-flow mentality of youth ministry. Now I have two weeks to write a ministry plan AND a budget that "contextualizes" our church's mission, vision, and values in our ministry to students. I don't even know what that means! What should I do?

Sincerely,
Perturbed in Percy


Perturbed:

You are certainly not alone in having a senior pastor who insists on meddling in your ministry by using words such as "mission," "vision," "plan," and "liability forms." The good news: you just might have a senior pastor who has simply read an article in a magazine about leadership or attended a seminar at a conference that inspired him to take the actions you describe. With any luck, it is just a short fad, and he will be back to preserving the status quo in no time at all, leaving you to your corner of your church's kingdom.

A few tips to help you along:

Dear Youth Pastor (Why would I want volunteers?)

Dear Youth Pastor:

During my annual review last month, my senior pastor asked me to spend the first part of the year recruiting more volunteers for the youth ministry program. Since I started working at my church a year an a half ago as the youth pastor, we have unfortunately lost some volunteers. However, I didn't think too much about it; I have been able to pick up the slack by doing all the teaching, making sure the room is set up for youth group, and planning the upcoming retreat by myself. Personally, I thought things had been going much better since I started doing more! Nevertheless, my senior pastor insisted I "build a team of trusted volunteers."

I put an announcement in the church bulletin asking for new helpers a few Sundays back, and five adults said they wanted to help. They have actually been nice to have around at youth group. They shovel the sidewalk on snowy Wednesday nights before youth group and hand out pencils and Bibles, and it was nice to be able to tell someone to clean up the unfortunate mess that occurred during the popular "Drink a gallon of milk during Bible study" game. However, this week the new helpers became meddlesome. I received an email from a mom who's been helping with a suggestion (what do moms know about youth ministry?) on how to get students to interact more during youth group. To make matters worse, two of the new helpers have asked to help lead during an upcoming series, and one actually had the nerve to meet with a student during the week for coffee to pray about a difficult situation the student had been having at school. That's my job! What can I do?

Sincerely,
Lone Ranger in Laramie


Lone Ranger:

Dear Youth Pastor (A Parent Wants to DISCIPLE his daughter?)

Dear Youth Pastor:

I had an unsettling meeting with a parent this week. As I look back, I should have seen it coming. This father approached me a couple of Sundays ago in the fellowship hall. Typically, I avoid all areas of the church on Sundays where I would risk a possible encounter with a parent of a student, such as a worship service or the coffee hour between services. However, I had not eaten breakfast, and in a moment of weakness I snuck to the back of the hall for a donut. The father asked if he could take me to lunch some time to talk about his daughter. Since I had spent all my money at Aéropostale to show students I could be just like them, I took the bait and agreed. So this Tuesday past, we met for lunch at Chili's.

The lunch went well for the first few minutes. He, of course, told me how much his daughter had enjoyed the fall retreat, and how glad he was that I was hired as the youth pastor. But the conversation took an interesting twist: he said he was concerned that he hadn't been as involved as he should be in his daughter's spiritual life and asked how I thought he might disciple his daughter and help her in her relationship with Jesus.

Dear Youth Pastor (What to do when you're uncool)

Dear Youth Pastor,

I've had a growing unease these past few weeks that my students don't see me as one of "them." I've always worked hard at making sure they know that they could trust me because even though I'm no longer in high school, I still listen to the music they like, dress they way they do, and I love to destroy them in "Call of Duty." However, I've picked up on a few non-verbal clues that tell me they are beginning to see me as an adult: They've started asking to change my Sirius radio station when they get in my car, I don't get asked to hang out with them on Friday nights anymore, and just last week, a group of three students quickly hushed their conversation when I walked into the room! What can I do to regain my "edge" and show my students that I'm still relevant?

Sincerely,
Cool-less in Clearwater



Cool-less:

You have touched upon one of the biggest challenges in youth ministry: staying relevant as you age. It's a problem we all encounter but few of us are willing to really face up to. Thankfully, we do not have to lose our edge as we age. It does get challenging to remain relevant as get older, but with a little effort, we do not have to be relegated to actually sitting with other adults during church services (which we all know are not as cool as the "edgy" youth services we provide for our kids). For instance:

Dear Youth Pastor (Why would I want a mentor?)

Dear Youth Pastor:

I consider myself to be on top of my game when it comes to youth ministry. Not only is my youth group one of the biggest in town, but most of the popular kids from the local high school attend our church as well. The youth ministry continues to grow, all with very little help or oversight from our senior pastor and church board. So, it surprised me a bit when my senior pastor called me into his office for a meeting and told me that he wanted me to find a mentor for myself, perhaps an older youth pastor who has been serving a bit longer than I have.

The request was so shocking that I didn't even bother to tell him that there is no such thing as an older youth pastor--especially one who's anything close to cool. I spent the rest of the day trying to figure out why in the world my pastor thought I would need a mentor! I attend all the best youth ministry conferences a few times a year, subscribe to the blogs of the coolest youth pastors out there, and listen to their podcasts every week. Why on Earth would I need a mentor? The last thing I need in my already packed schedule is to sit with someone in a coffee shop a few times a month and talk about things I clearly know enough about. What should I do?

Sincerely,
Annoyed in Annapolis


Annoyed:

This predicament might be a little difficult for you to get out of, but I will do my best to give you a fighting chance. One of the problems is that your pastor believes there is a significant connection between your personal and ministry lives. In addition, he probably thinks that you'll benefit from meeting with someone face-to-face where you can learn from his or her experience. What he doesn't understand is that you get all the instruction and training you need from famous pastors and authors. Not only do you read and hear about how ministry is supposed to be done, but you can do it without actually having to get to know someone or actually spending time with them.

Dear Youth Pastor (The worship team stole a student!)

Dear Youth Pastor:

Last week, I received quite a shock when I attended our church's worship service. I walked in during one of the songs, and I couldn't believe what I saw: middle school student who's in our student worship band playing bass guitar with the church's regular worship band. When I thought it couldn't get any worse, when I confronted the middle school student about it afterward, she told me that she was thinking about joining the church worship band permanently. She said the other band members were really nice to her, and that she had started having coffee with one of the female vocalists every week before rehearsal. Apparently they hit it off because the student's parents are going through a divorce, and the same thing happened to the vocalist when she was in middle school.

As you can imagine, I was furious with our worship pastor. I mean, doesn't he know that middle school and high school students are off limits? Those are MY students, and they belong in the student ministry, not with the rest of the church. What should I do?

Sincerely,
Frustrated in Fresno


Frustrated:

I can understand why you're so upset. Some people don't understand that the only place that a teenager's faith can grow is in the student ministry wing of your church. Hopefully, this will be simply an isolated issue for your church. For your part, here are some things you can do to make sure this sort of thing doesn't happen again:

• Keep your students as separated from the rest of your church as possible. Ideally, you'll have a student ministry building that's across the parking lot from your church's sanctuary. You can also stress to your students that since they go to youth group, they don't need to go to your church's worship service.