© 2008 Strategic Junior High. 
 Mark Oestricher is the President of Youth Specialties and a career leader in Junior High Ministry. On a yearly basis, he and a group of influential full time junior high pastors gather for a summit on the state of junior high ministry. Below are his notes from the summit.
this year at our junior high pastors [...]
The National Pastors Convention in San Diego is over and I’ve returned to the frozen north. But I still have one last reflection from the conference. Mark Labberton, pastor of First Presbyterian Church of Berkeley, California, spoke on Thursday night about the intersection of worship and justice.Drawing mainly from the Old Testament prophets Daniel and [...]
This is Part 11 of the Spring Leadership Lesson Series: Radical Hospitality at National Community Church. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. Hospitality is on the front lines of such an advance.
Today, Heidi Scanlon gives us [...]
This is Part 2 of the Laying the Foundation series on Thursday Leadership Lesson. As we build our groups and ministries, we must ensure that we are building on a solid foundation. This series will explore characteristics of leaders who lay and build on firm foundations. Today, we will talk about character.
Why do people follow [...]
So you’ve worked hard to develop a mission statement. You even have a vision statement that’s your very own (not just borrowed from someone else). And now you’re ready to launch. Sort’ve.
The problem many organizations are running into is the lack of a clear strategy that will actually produce the results that will make possible [...]
Many people are interested in the characteristics of a great leader. There are many lists of these traits. These are quotes taken from an article by Bill George former chairman and CEO of Medtronic. According to him the most important trait is to be yourself!
At about the same time, the disciples came to Jesus asking, “Who gets the highest rank in God’s kingdom?”
For an answer Jesus called over a child, whom he stood in the middle of the room, and said, “I’m telling you, once and for all, that unless you return to square one and start over like [...]
Over the course of the next few months, I’m going to take the time to walk through some of the basics I believe are crucial to any junior high program. I don’t have all the answers but there are a couple of things I’ve had the opportunity to learn that I thought I would pass [...]
This is Part 10 of the Spring Leadership Lesson Series: Radical Hospitality at National Community Church. As we lead our groups and ministries, we must strive to forcefully advance the Kingdom of God through strategic evangelism, exponential discipleship, and sacrificial service. Hospitality is on the front lines of such an advance.
In Paul’s first letter to [...]
This article is going to be very basic in its approach, even leaning on the silly side. However, the concepts revealed should be taken seriously because of their proven effectiveness in helping you lead your organization.
There is a children’s nursery rhyme that goes like this: “Rub-a-dub-dub, three men in a tub, and how do you [...]