Help! I'm a Junior High Youth Worker!: 50 Ways to Survive and Thrive in Ministry to Early Adolescents
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About this ebook
Mark Oestreicher
Mark Oestreicher (Marko) is a veteran youth worker and former president of Youth Specialties. The author of dozens of books, including Youth Ministry 3.0 and Middle School Ministry, Marko is a sought after speaker, writer and consultant. Marko leads The Youth Cartel, providing a variety of resources, coaching and consultation to youth workers, churches and ministries. Marko lives in San Diego with his wife Jeannie and two teenage children, Liesl and Max. www.whyismarko.com.
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Reviews for Help! I'm a Junior High Youth Worker!
3 ratings1 review
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5This book could basically serve as a primer to all your new ministry volunteers in Junior High / Middle School Ministry. It is a quick read and covers the basics of stuff that we try to communicate to our new volunteers. The layout seems unorganized and just kind of thrown together, but it is good information overall. I especially like the little quotes from the teenagers on the sides of the books.
Book preview
Help! I'm a Junior High Youth Worker! - Mark Oestreicher
Do you need more
youth ministry help?
WE’VE GOT IT!
Help! I’m a Small Group Leader!
Help! I’m a Sunday School Teacher!
Help! I’m a Volunteer Youth Worker!
Check out www.YouthSpecialties.com for
even more help!
titleHELP! I’M A JUNIOR HIGH YOUTH WORKER!
50 ways to survive and thrive in ministry to early adolescents
Copyright © 1996 by Youth Specialties
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of Zondervan.
ePub Edition July 2009 ISBN: 978-0-310-85220-9
Youth Specialties Books, 300 S. Pierce St., El Cajon, CA 92020, are published by Zondervan, 5300 Patterson Ave. S.E., Grand Rapids, MI 49530.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Oestreicher, Mark.
Help! I’m a junior high youth worker! : 50 ways to survive and thrive in ministry to early adolescents / Mark Oestreicher.
p. cm.
Includes index.
ISBN 0-310-21328-2
1. Church work with youth—United States. 2. Youth—United States—Religious life. I. Title.
BV4447.047 1996
268’.433—dc21
96-36848
Unless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible: New International Version (North American Edition). Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan.
The material in this book may be photocopied for local use in churches, youth groups, and other Christian education activities. Special permission is not necessary. However, the contents of this book may not be reproduced in any other form without written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Edited by J. Cheri McLaughlin and Tim McLaughlin
Cover by Mark Rayburn
01 02 03 04 05 /DC/ 12 11 10 9 8
To the volunteer junior high workers I’ve worked with at Ward Presbyterian Church in Livonia, Michigan; First Baptist Church of Wheaton, Illinois; Christ Community Church in Omaha, Nebraska; Calvary Church of Santa Ana, California; and Lake Avenue Congregational Church in Pasadena, California.
CONTENTS
COVER PAGE
TITLE PAGE
COPYRIGHT
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
INTRODUCTION
FIRST THINGS FIRST
Three axioms that define your territory
SO JUST WHAT IS A JUNIOR HIGHER, ANYWAY?
The essence of early adolescence
DEVELOPMENTALLY SPEAKING
Changes junior highers enjoy and endure
TIME TO TEACH!
Now for your dose of pedagogy
FAITH OUTSIDE THE YOUTH ROOM
Spiritual disciplines for middle schoolers
SO YOU’RE IN CHARGE?
Insight for youth ministry directors (whether volunteer or paid), who plan and lead programs
ABOUT THE PUBLISHER
SHARE YOUR THOUGHTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks to:
Curt Gibson (the guru of horror stories), Derrick Riggs,
Greg Lafferty, Eric Venable, Kara Eckmann Powell and Jeff
Meyers—colleagues in ministry to junior highers and providers
of quotes, stories, and suggestions.
Jeannie and Liesl for allowing me the time to write.
Introduction
JUNIOR HIGH WORKERS ARE THE COOLEST PEOPLE ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH. Or so I think. But working with young teens can be a head-spinning trip through a foreign land.
Have faith, O leader of impressionable people. Your work, whether it feels fulfilling (as it does at times) or worthless (as it also does at times), is a gift to God and a huge investment in the future.
God does amazing things through junior highers. They don’t have to wait until they’re high school students or adults to be used by God. He desires to radically work in and through their lives now to further his kingdom. Thank you for being part of that process.
This little book offers