Who? What? When? Where? Why?

I've always been a casual reader of a few blogs.  I've never followed any consistently or felt like I needed to keep up with reading them.  For me, I just like to read a good post every now and then when I come across something that I feel is worth my time.  Also, I'm not a super creative person who can put together a sweet looking blog that people will flock to.  However, doing some reading today, I felt like our Youth Ministry needed to better connect parents and their teenagers, youth workers and our teenagers, and parents and our ministry.  For that reason, I decided to try out the blogging world.

Who?
Who is this blog for?  This blog will really be about connecting parents, youth workers, and myself to the efforts of our ministry.  Hopefully we will be able to better communicate, and you will know what your teenager is experiencing while they are here at church.  This blog will aim to help you as a parent continue to connect with your child's faith journey.

What?
What will we do here?  This blog will contain thoughts, ideas, and questions that grow from my interaction with your teenagers.  It will also be a place where you can ask questions about what is happening in our ministry.  My hope is to connect you to the things your students are learning and doing.  For example, I hope to post discussion questions for you and your teenager that will grow from sermons and Bible studies that take place on Wednesday nights.  This way, you connect with your teen on the spiritual plane and your teen is continually pushed to think about and apply what we do at church.  This way, we can close the gaps in our ministry that happen during the week when your teen is not at church.

When?
I plan to post once a week to give you thoughts and questions to be discussing each week with your teen.  If this works, we will continue it and make it more regular.  If it fails, we will be able to say that we tried.

Where?
The internet of course.  Your teens connect through the internet and you do too if you are reading this.  This is the simplest, most convenient way for us to keep in touch, especially as our ministry continues to grow.  Also along the way, I hope to point you in the direction of some helpful resources to help you and your teen connect.

Why?
The goal of our ministry is that teens will "own" their faith.  By the time they leave our church, we want kids firm in their faith.  When they leave here, they will continue a relationship with the church and grow in Christ.  The more you and I can continue to connect spiritually with our teenagers, the more likely the chances that their faith will continue to mature and grow.

So, this begins our blogging experience together.  Toss out ideas, ask questions, and minister to teens.  That's what this is all about.  Teenagers process truth relationally.  The more we can connect with them, the more likely they will be to own their faith.

ENCOUNtER Youth Ministry; Psalm 63:1-4