The Common Thread of Coming Out
A blog post by Sarah Bane Coming out… I cannot claim to know the courage and poise it must take to come out to someone. But, as someone to whom more than one ... Read more.
Rethinking Evangelism – Recap Question 1
Courtney Young is a graduate of Luther Seminary – M.Div. with an emphasis in Congregational Mission and Leadership. Missional, a Millennial, and a n... Read more.
10 Things I’ve Learned About Young Adults
A blog post by Aaron Fuller For the past three years, I’ve been coaching wrestling at Augsburg College, a small ELCA college in Minneapolis. This time has... Read more.
Cultivating a culture of service
A blog post by Tim Bowman Last week, I wrote about the different service project ideas that my middle school students came up with. Today, I want to use that ex... Read more.
The Practice of Making Mistakes
A blog post by Megan Clapp About a year ago, I made a pretty big mistake. I attempted to make a huge change in our Sunday School programming, and it was a colos... Read more.
Our God is a God of Action
A blog post by Adam Butler Yesterday, Aaron wrote these words about idolatry and the dangers of a self constructed God: “We call this the incarnation, and tha... Read more.
The #1 Threat to Christian Faith (and it’s not Immorality)
A blog post by Aaron Fuller “You can safely assume you’ve created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do.R... Read more.
Critical Questions from Rethinking Evangelism Day One
At the end of a vibrant, engaging first day at the Rethinking Evangelism conference, the 300 or participants were asked to gather in groups of four or five and ... Read more.
Listening to the Ideas of Our Youth
A blog post by Tim Bowman As youth ministry people, so much of our time is spent either planning or being active that it is sometimes difficult for us to listen... Read more.
Top Ten Characteristics of a Healthy CYF Ministry
A blog post by Pastor Nancy Lee Gauche I read this post on Kenda Creasy Dean’s Blog on April 14, 2011, and it got my juices flowing around this question: R... Read more.
Faith Five Steps for your family
A blog post by Megan Clapp I recently moved from Arizona to Iowa. Before we left, my husband and I spent an evening with a family that we had grown to be friend... Read more.
Leadership and Management in your ministry context
A blog post by Aaron Fuller Question for ya: Are you a leader or a manager? Before you answer, take a minute to hear me out — while we often will acknowle... Read more.
Experiential Learning: Let’s not reinvent the wheel
A blog post by Sarah Bane A wise educator once told me, “Learning is the residue that’s left over after the experience is over.” If this is true, then how... Read more.
Keeping Christmas
Courtney Young is a graduate of Luther Seminary – M.Div. with an emphasis in Congregational Mission and Leadership. Missional, a Millennial, and a n... Read more.
Leadership and Time
Ecclesiastes 3 begins … “For everything there is a season and a season for every activity under heaven.” Recently I have been reflecting on time and its r... Read more.
Hearing, Seeing and Tasting God – the senses and evangelism
From his key role in helping lead the South African Duch Reformed Church out of its Apartheid-era inwardness to his leadership in exploring new ways to convene ... Read more.
Closing the Ministry Gap
Here’s another contribution from one of our CYF graduates thesis. This one, by Joshua Feala, addresses the issue of youth ministry and congregational lead... Read more.
I have no strategy for you… but I have some pretty good stories to tell… Nadia Bolz-Weber
What’s in a story? Perhaps even more to the point, how does God use the stories of our own lives to bring hope and life, love and peace to a struggling wo... Read more.
Being Church Beyond Our Walls
Did you read Amanda Nelson’s thesis yet? If not, it is posted at the bottom of the previous post. I want to commend Amanda on her work in digging into wha... Read more.
Young Adults and Outdoor Adventure
This week on FirstThird.org we begin sharing the amazing thesis work of our Luther Seminary Children, Youth and Family Ministry MA students. We have five ... Read more.
From the First Third Archives
Presently Separate & Separately Present By Derek Tronsgard Last Christmas my wife’s sister joined us while we opened our presents. A few weeks a... Read more.