flashback friday (sep 9): 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

• 7 Characteristics of Effective Small Groups
• Ministering To Students In A Time Of Grief
• Youth Worker BOOST: The Source Of Our Strength
• Great Things Happening Across Youth Ministry

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.

• Benjer McVeigh--Benjer posted a really cool video about an initiative Compassion International is doing. I have been involved with Compassion for almost 7 years. My family and I have sponsored a total of four children. I've seen Compassion's ministry in action in Kenya. I've spent time with their President and other key leaders. They are quite possibly the most exceptional organization I have ever been around. I could not agree with Benjer more: this is a great idea to get your students involved in.
• Brian Seidel--I thought this was a great post by Brian. He says out of the gates that he has a great relationship with his senior pastor. He then gives 5 reasons this is true. I thought his list was very insightful and instructive. It's short and to the point. Worth a read.
• Doug Fields--Doug writes 12 reasons he is thrilled to be going to Youth Specialties this fall. (We're thrilled, too!)
• Doug Franklin--Great post by Doug: "6 Worries Of A Youth Worker."
• Fuller Youth Institute--If you're not familiar with the "Sticky Faith" initiative from FYI, you need to be. :) Here, Dr. Kara Powell links to a summary of their research findings. Great stuff.
• Greg Stier--Liked Greg's thoughts here in his post entitled: "How Christians Should respond to 9/11."
• Phil Bell--This is the second of two posts you might want to check out. Phil is super intentional youth ministry practitioner. He does youth ministry well. So, when he writes two posts on making parent meetings worthwhile, you can bet they are worth a read. This is the second in a series.
• Russell St. Bernard--Love this post from Russ: "4 Things I Hope All Senior Pastors Know About Youth Ministry."
• Tim Schmoyer--Thought this post from Tim was cool and could be used with your students. It looks at a clip from an interview with Taylor Swift and an answer she gave on the definition of beauty.
• Youth Specialties.com--This is a super short, really good list from Chris Davis entitled "10 Tips To a First Encounter."

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.