flashback friday (may 20): this week's links from the youth ministry blogosphere

One of the things we are committed to at ym360 is Networking. Our vision for networking is connecting you to people and organizations doing awesome youth ministry. Flashback Friday is a feature where we give you the run down of all the awesome posts from the past week in the youth ministry blogosphere. Consider it our way of keeping you connected with what is going on.

This week's posts from the ym360 Blog

• What Your Graduating Seniors Might Show You About Your Youth Ministry
• Youth Worker BOOST: Stepping Out Of Your Comfort Zone
• ym360 Trends and Culture Update (May 17)
• What To Do When You're Approaching Burnout

Posts From Other Awesome People

We search the Internet to bring you relevant information to help you be a better youth worker. Here are some links from posts we thought were pretty great.

• Brian Berry--I put this post first because I want as many of you to read it as possible. I think it is thought provoking, and important, and sure to draw reactions on both sides of the discussion. And I think in some ways Brian is saying what a lot of us feel. It's a post about the importance of a caring hug or pat on the shoulder when a student (or anyone really) needs it. See? Your red-flag already went up, didn't it? Mine too, if I'm honest. But, I think what Brian says is right. Read it. Share your comments. How do we balance the need to be careful and appropriate with the need to be human?
• Doug Fields--This is a post by Doug on what to do practically when working with parents to disciple their children. If you have any desire at all for some practical advice, see the COMMENTS. There are a ton of youth workers giving great advice. Consider adding your voice!
• Average Youth Ministry--This is an awesome twist (improvement, really) on a group text application. This could really find use in youth ministry. Check it out.
• John Vandervelde--Though not specifically aimed at youth ministry, I think John makes some really great insights here. He shares what think is a fascinating example of the communication differences that exist between adults and youth/young adults. Great story.
• Jay Higham--We tweeted this earlier in the week, but if you missed it, you need to check it out. Jay passes along soma great ideas on how to begin to build relationships with parents who might not be inclined to be engaged. One word: intentionality.
• Youthwork Talk--Phil writes an awesome post on how to make volunteer meetings worthwhile. Super practical. This is a great post.
• Youth Ministry Geek--Looking for a cool way to keep score for your youth ministry games? Check out this visual scoreboard software Chris writes about. It looks awesome.
• Xposed2Jesus--Brian Ford, one of our awesome ym360 Contributors, has a post on his blog this week from one of his students. I love these posts. An awesome glimpse into what is going in in teenager's lives. Katelyn does a great job win this piece.
• Adam McLane--As a guy who looks at a ton of trend watches and studies, I know that it's easy to merely pass along the latest research. It takes a little more effort to know how to apply it to youth ministry and to youth ministers. We've all seen the studies on teenagers and sleep. Here, Adam McLane writes a great post on why sleep deprivation in teenagers is a really serious issue, and what we can do to begin to address it.
• Terrace Crawford--Very rarely do I see a "10 Keys Top Effective Youth Ministry" list (like this one Terrace has up on his blog) where I don't see a lot of the "same old, same old" regurgitated. That's why I like this one. Terrace has some fresh insights, here. Worth a read, for sure.

That's all the links for this week. As always, have an awesome weekend . . . And THANK YOU for the chance to serve you as part of the ym360 community. 

Share your thoughts with the youthministry360 community:

• As usual, we want to hear your thoughts. Any particular post catch your eyes? Make you think? Did you disagree with anything? Let us know! Your voice makes the ym360 community stronger.