i write an every-other-issue column on middle school ministry for youthworker journal. the column for the current issue is online now: it’s on the lack of meangingful feedback in middle school ministry, and how that can create problems for us.

here’s the link to the whole column.

here’s a tease:

If you teach a second-grade Sunday School class, you can tell by kids’ participation how you’re doing. If you volunteer in the parking lot ministry of your church, the cars either get parked or they don’t. If you preach sermons in “big church,” people always let you know what they think.

Really, almost every other ministry area in the church provides natural feedback. Not so with middle-school ministry. When feedback is absent, we often look to unhelpful measuring sticks to gauge whether or not we’re on the right track.