Musings of a Youth Minister

Welcome! So now that you are totally aware of my completely biased inclination toward Life Teen, I would like to provide some evidence and share the overall mission, which simplified is that we are ALL called to holiness, let's get the job done together and let's make it possible in every Chapel EVERYWHERE... God Bless! CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS The Six Part Series INTRO: What the What? Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station Part 2: Arrival Part 3: What’s Life Teen got to do with it? Part 4: Mission and Miracles Part 5: Many Parts, Many Hats Part 6: Bid Farewell, Not Goodbye CONCLUSION: Don’t Let the Sun Set A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” The Short-Term Mission & Miracles One word as we prayed and prepared to meet this unique needs of our teens kept bubbling up....VOCATIONS. And so it was ou...

If you are new and catching this series here, I encourage you to go back to the other sections and check 'em out, if you are short on time feel free to jump right it. In all, let's explore what the standard for excellence in Continuity of Care can look like but you may be wondering...what's Life Teen got to do with it? CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS The Six Part Series INTRO: What the What? Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station Part 2: Arrival Part 3: What’s Life Teen got to do with it? Part 4: Mission and Miracles Part 5: Many Parts, Many Hats Part 6: Bid Farewell, Not Goodbye CONCLUSION: Don’t let the sun set A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” What’s Life Teen Got To Do With It? Life Teen TDY At the time that I am drafting this article, we are suspended in the pregnant pause I spoke about the last blog. We ar...

Marvelous Monday (or whatever day of the week it is you are reading this) to you! Now that you have tasted a little of our lingo and gathered the What of the what and either learned about or shivered with reminiscence of the PCS experience, let's explore what the standard for excellence in Continuity of Care can look like on....arrival. CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS The Six Part Series INTRO: What the What? Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station Part 2: Arrival Part 3: What’s Life Teen got to do with it? Part 4: Mission and Miracles Part 5: Many Parts, Many Hats Part 6: Bid Farewell, Not Goodbye CONCLUSION: Don’t let the sun set A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” Part 2: Arrival The stuff is on a truck (Stuff you meant to send and stuff you will be surprised to see again..."is that an APPLE CORE???"). Everything you...

SUP friends?! Here is what has been a labor of love...still working it but experiencing ministry in a military setting can be so rewarding, full of amazing memories and excitement and it can also have some challenges. It is my hope that this six-part series....(or like 8, if you are a person who can count and want to identify the INTRO and CONCLUSION as parts which is totes fine with me)....will inspire those of us who can to make a difference in the experiences of those who serve and to do it with consistency, and for those of us seeking the care that we need that we would be emboldened to claim what we long for in our Military Chapels, to have a home away from home. CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS The Six Part Series Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” Now that you know "What the What" i...

CONTINUITY OF SPIRITUAL CARE: MILITARY CHAPELS The Six Part Series I am so excited to share with you this vision and mission that has been cultivated from experience as a military family, ministry, and a cooperative group of friendships. The next several posts will be the rough ideology and template of what I feel God has laid upon my heart and called me to share. Enjoy. INTRO: What the What? Part 1: PCS Permanent Change of Station Part 2: Arrival Part 3: What’s Life Teen got to do with it? Part 4: Mission and Miracles Part 5: Many Parts, Many Hats Part 6: Bid Farewell, Not Goodbye CONCLUSION: Don’t let the sun set A message for widespread awareness of service member and military family needs from Military Chapels called: “Continuity of Spiritual Care” What the What? What is Continuity of Spiritual Care? How does it relate to Military Chapel Communities? What are the essential parts of effective spiritual care? “Change is t...

Parents, Lay Leaders, Faith Peeps....Where are all the teens?  Where are all the teens? As a ministry team we are always called to outreach as well as supporting the teens that show up and share in youth ministry regularly. We think about how we can be where the teens are simultaneously meeting our safe environment requirements. We go to ball games, talk to the teens at the grocery store and out and about.  Recently, I was at a women's retreat as a retreatant, excited to receive ministry and enjoy some much needed rest. I had several encounters with Christ that were amazing, even though I was hoping to only receive I was called to minister, and I was humbled in convictions about how to fall more deeply in love with Jesus and commit to living out my "commission". Many of the women on retreat had small children, but some I was delighted to hear had teens.  For some time I had been racking my brain; why, in this community where we are actively working to invite th...

Ohana Empower Training & why you should go to the one coming to your town by  CASSANDRA SMITH I had been anxiously and dare I say compulsively logging in to see the training events status update so I could register for the Empower training coming to our island. As the Life Teen Coordinator in our military community I had been plagued by the sinking feeling that I am not equipped for this responsibility, and thought TRAINING is the key. Tricia Tembreull was coming to Hawaii! I leapt for joy! Arriving with my notebook and pen, I was prepared to collect the how to-s and check lists for changing what I am doing to make our Life Teen better…what I didn’t expect was that it is so much more than a check list… Communicate effectively, the Holy Spirit succeeds, pray more than you plan, and focus on relationships-the Ohana.  It does seem written this way that it appears to be a list but bear with me. I imagine many of the people attending this training were feeling m...