December 9, 2010 
So I started this blog with the distinct hope of providing something that I feel is missing from the blog world, a Blog focused on Truly Small Town student Ministry.
I was very frustrated that there was nothing out there for this group of Youth Pastors that make up a good majority of Youth Pastors. Sure, there were other sites out there, such as the one sponsored by youthministry.com, for instance, but the person who wrote that was in a church in a town that I would consider neither to be small.
However, as I approach even just 50 posts, I realized I haven’t written much about small town student ministry specifically,and I want to change that. I have some ideas for what I could write about, but for those of you who read this from small towns, what do you think needs more coverage?
Small Town Student Ministry 
Ben – I don’t know if this offers anything for you, but it might be worth taking a look at some videos I’ve producted targeted toward Youth Ministers covering technology subjects like text messaging and facebook – http://bit.ly/hAvhkQ
I find your virtues interesting, but see what you mean in that those are general youth ministry, not small town specific. Maybe you could make some small town specific virtues?
I found you after your post about leading youth group as the only volunteer, which I think is something a lot of small town/small church youth pastor’s can relate with, maybe expand that thought some more
Ministering to diff antagonistic social circles coming together at youth group would be a good topic.
My favorite author right now is Henri Nouwen. One of the reasons I like him so much is that he seems to celebrate smallness. n his book, IN THE NAME OF JESUS, he addresses the ministers temptation to be relevant, popular, and powerful, and suggests that we instead embrace weakness and hiddenness. I’m trying to learn from him.
It’s a constant struggle for me to see big churches and student ministries and not think, “Man, someday I’ll be there.” But I think that mindset is neither Spirit-motivated nor helpful at all. Or I’ll cloak my worldly ambition by talking about things like “excellence”, “relevance”, or “reaching more people.”
Obviously being big isn’t bad. And being small isn’t necessarily good. We have to constantly have our ear to God’s voice, listening for what He says is good.
Anyway… I was thinking that perhaps you should do some reviews of popular ministry books, podcasts, etc, and address the implications of their content in a small town context. Just a thought. I read a blog the other day that said as your building a blog, your main task is to take time to find your unique voice. I’m sure you’ll find it. I’m on the same journey with my own blog.
I think you’re motive is great. Keep up the good work. I’m over here laughing because sometimes I wish my group was small. Our youth group is big but we’re always striving to go “smaller.”
Many big youth groups fail to minister to each and every individual. This may be an impossible goal, but it’s still something we should strive towards.
While I may have a large youth group, I’m constantly trying to figure out how we can grow spiritually and it always comes back to our small groups and one-on-one discipleship.
Be encouraged my friend and keep encouraging others to start small and stay small, unless God wants to help you grow bigger. You never know, you may end up being like Peter in Acts 2:38-41, one day!
God bless you!