Tag: 25 Years

  • 19. Make the Main Thing the Main Thing

    19. Make the Main Thing the Main Thing

    When I started in youth ministry, my top priority was to make sure that people felt loved and cared for and that church was a safe place for all people. When I interviewed at churches and then when I cast vision at new ministries, I would be intentional in creating a safe place where people…

  • 18. Collaboration is Key to Success

    18. Collaboration is Key to Success

    Shortly after beginning my job in Kentucky, one of the pastors on my staff encouraged me to take a handful of my staff to visit a church in South Carolina that we were modeling ourselves after. We were a decent sized church that was just figuring ourselves out and the church in South Carolina was…

  • 17. Cancer of Conflict

    17. Cancer of Conflict

    One of the most influential people in my life was my grandma. She was always there for me growing up. She always had an ice0cold Mountain Dew in her refrigerator for me and constantly knew what snack I liked. She would listen to me when I was frustrated. She would create a safe atmosphere no…

  • 16. Leadership is Hard

    16. Leadership is Hard

    Leadership is hard. This is one of those phrases that I really didn’t understand until I lived it. Growing up, I thought leadership was fun, exciting, and fueling. I assumed that leading was mainly helping and equipping people to understand who they were made to be and how their gifts could be used to accomplish…

  • 15. Kill Sacred Cows, Carefully

    15. Kill Sacred Cows, Carefully

    I remember walking into the first week of my position at a church where I was responsible for overseeing 5th-12th graders. I looked at the weekly schedule, programs, and events and quickly realized that the current structure of having three groups did not make much sense and wasn’t going to be sustainable. As I visited…