Youth Leader Resources

There are almost 100 Reformed churches in the Albany Synod, many of whom have volunteers working with their youth.

 

 

This page is a response to the fact that alot of us are trying to care for and nuture youth (ie those somewhere between 6th and 12th grade) within in our congregations.

Camp Fowler is committed to helping youth leaders. The following are some resources suggested by two youth leaders who are currently working in their congregations and who have lead retreats and workshops on youth ministry at Fowler.

Rob Hileman is a music teacher at Sacandaga Elementary School in Scotia. He also works part time with his wife, Kim, as the youth director at Bellevue Reformed Church in Schenectady. This is an exciting and intentional youth ministry that is integrated into the entire life of the congregation and has a real mission of reaching out beyond the church's roles to kids in the neighborhood.

The following are some of Rob's resource suggestions:

  1. Nooma Video Series, by Rob Bell: Currently thate are 24 videos available in this ongoing series. Each video is approximately 10-14 minutes in length and deals with a specific issue such as "guilt" or "labels." These videos are stylish, engaging and deeply theological. They make excellent discussion starters. 
  2. Sustainable Youth Ministry by Mark DeVries: This is a unique book, written for church leaders rather than youth leaders. It's frank and practical, and will help congregations to develop and maintain youth programming for the long haul. The link is to a podcast interview with Mark regarding his book. Here is a link for a review of this book that you might want to share with your church leaders as you look at doing youth ministry in the early 2000's.

Eve Mayhew Guskie is the Ministry Associate for youth and families at Altamont Reformed Church. She too has been in youth ministry for over 10 years and has been involved in an Ecumenical model of ministry up in Altamont. The following are a couple of Eve's suggestions.

 

  1. What I Wish I Knew When I Started Youth Ministry: stupid misconceptions, and caring for your own soul while ministering to others by Mike Yaconelli and Mark Oestreicher.
  2. Help! I'm a ...
    Volunteer Youth Worker! by Doug Fields
    Small-Group Leader! by Laurie Polich
    Junior High Youth Worker! by Mark Oestreicher
    ... or anything from the "Help! I'm a..." series
    These are short, easy to read books that cut to the chase with good ideas.
    Available at Amazon.com

  3. Live Bible, New Living Translation, by Group Publishing: This is meant to be a teen Bible but is appropriate for younger studewnts as well. The discussions and devotions don't have all the answers, they just get the reader thinking, and there is "Creative Space" throughout the Bible where readers are encouraged to draw, write, answer questions, etc. A great way to reinforce that it's okay to write in your (own) Bible.

Kim Hileman's Ideas (lest you think that Rob is really the brains in the Bellevue outfit! :)

  1. Youth Culture 101 by Walt Mueller: Mueller draws conservative boundaries around kids in relation ot youth culture. He is generally considered to be one of the leading experts in the area of interpreting current trends in youth culture and the impact that these trends have on kids.
  2. Purpose Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields. Yes, this guy is the leader of youth ministry at Saddleback Church in CA, where Rick Warren, author of The Purpose Driven Life, is Senior Pastor. This book is an excellent resource for those who want to base all of their programming choices on specific goals. 

Online Resources Recommended by both Eve and Rob are listed below. Remember, to use your common sense and your theological/philosophical filters when choosing any resource to use for your youth. We suggest involving your pastor if possible so that your kids only get the best quality programming.

  1. Simply Youth Ministry: A wide range of products and publications for youth ministry are for sale at this site, but you can also download many free resources.
  2. Youth Specialties: This is a huge site. Youth Specialties also offers national and regional conferences and training events for youth workers.
  3. Pastor 2 Youth: More resources and a searchable library of games.
  4. Egad! Ideas: A rather large library of free, online program ideas. The games library is one of the largest online. 

Upcoming training, retreats, or workshops for youth leaders:

March 20, 2010: Albany Synod Discipleship Event, Delmar Reformed Church: Eric Barnes will be presenting on Youth Ministry and Snookie Patterson will lead a workshop on 'intentional fun:' games for your youth that help in your ministry. Download flyer.

December 3-5, 2010: Youth Leader Summit 2: A gathering of youth leaders for resourcing, reimagining, and revitalization. Check to Fowler Website for details as they become available.