By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Yes, I’ll serve…but where am I needed? And what is needed? After listening to numerous people, inside and outside the church, I’m convinced one of the reasons serving collapses into service projects or mission trips is because most of…
By Paul Bertelson I am on a mission. My mission is to change the world. Kind of grandiose, I know. I tend to like to think big. So, how exciting it is to have been used by God to create a youth missions organization that has mobilized over half a million teenagers to be change…
By Dr. Nancy Going, Director of the CYF Distributed Learning Program at Luther Seminary I had this amazing ministry experience that I still miss. For ten years straight, I was able to serve at two or three Group Workcamps every summer. Now I miss it. And here’s why: despite sleeping on a cot in a…
By Julie Hagen I recently taught the Parable of the Fig Tree to my Sunday school children. I always struggle with this lesson. I don’t like that we never find out if the fig tree makes it or not. Don’t you want to know what happens to the Fig tree? Reflecting on our topic of…
by Erik C. Leafblad What’s Normal? The group from a rural, farming community in Midwestern America descended the steps of their pristine church bus with palpable energy. They were achievers. Their parents were successful, hardworking, salt-of-the-earth people. And they were ready to help. They had just driven four hours to this storied urban neighborhood, with…
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Today we leave the celebratory experience of Palm Sunday and head straight into Holy Week. As we continue reflecting on the theme “Reclaiming the Servant’s Heart,” I want to pause a moment and change our focus from the doing…
By Andy Sahl “It’s like my first world problems really are first world problems.” I could hardly believe the words came out of her mouth as we sat in a circle reflecting on our trip to Bolivia this summer. One of our very high functioning, gifted, intelligent kids reflected that the “joke” she had been…
Want to dig deeper in the First Third conversation on mission? Here are three articles on mission experiences for different audiences: Terence D. Linhart, “Planting Seeds: The Curricular Hope of Short-term Mission Experiences in Youth Ministry,” Christian Education Journal (Series 3, Vol 2 no 2, 2005), 256-272. This paper describes the curricular nature of short-term…
By Jordan Elton Growing up as the daughter of employees of the church, faith has always been incorporated into my life. I believed this was the norm and just went with the flow of it. As a part of my childhood, my parents (one of them being a missions director) instilled the act of service…
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Last week we introduced our spring 2013 FirstThird Dialogue theme, Reclaiming the Servant’s Heart, with the first of three webinars. The webinar’s theme was “Making Mission More Than a Trip.” This week we will get various perspectives on mission…
By Derek Tronsgard There’s well-known saying by Edmund Burke that says “those who don’t know history are destined to repeat it”. How well do you know your congregation’s history? Earlier this month my congregation started a visioning process for our youth ministry to map out the next 3-4 years, and one of the most helpful…
By Andrew Root Tourists or Missionaries? Theological Questions You Need to Answer Before Your Group’s Next Mission Trip March/April 2013 | YouthWorker Journal Check out Andy speaking at the First Third Dialogue Webinar on The Mission Trip as Global Tourism this March!
By Dr. Terri Martinson Elton, Director of the Center for First Third Ministry at Luther Seminary Between 20-33% of young people in the United States have participated on a short-term religious or mission trip. That’s around 5.5 million 13- to 17-year olds. Yet I continue to hear youth workers ask, “Why do mission trips?” Mission…
By Andy Sahl There are many areas of our leadership as youth and children’s ministers where we have a LOT of freedom. In many congregations, the youth and children’s ministries are allowed to experiment and fail in a way that other ministries are not. Experimenting and dreaming up new ideas for our little silos can…
By Julie Hagen I’m done with winter, but according to the forecast, it looks like Mother Nature has a different opinion. I may be stuck in the cold for a little bit (or more) longer, but my church calendar is looking like summer! Summer registrations are open and we’re busy finalizing details and looking to…
