I will no longer be blogging here.  If you have my blog linked on your website thank you so much. If you choose to keep it linked my new blogging address will be  http://johnwsnyder.posterous.com/  which will take you here.

Thanks so much.  You will also notice I blog way more over there.  It’s just easier.

Lately I’ve been reading up on college ministry.  What it looks like in different churches, why have a college ministry, why is there such a disconnect after high school and many other aspects of this age group.

I have a huge heart for this age group.  For myself this time in my life was challenging and sometimes difficult.  It’s hard trying to find your identity when you are looking for it in everything else besides in God.  This was my problem.  Yes, I was a Christ follower, but I was trying to find my identity elsewhere.  It wasn’t until my senior year in college I figured this out.  Which by the way, it took me 5 and a half years to get my bachelor’s degree. Nothing like cramming 4 years of college into 5 and a half.  Anyways, I say this because it is not easy to find your identity.  And that is why I have been intrigued by ministering to this age group.  Now, what this looks like for me and how this will happen, I’m not 100% sure, but have some ideas.

If you are a veteran college pastor or a rookie I suggest you pick up Chuck Bomar’s book College Ministry 101.  I just started reading it.  It’s a great read and has a lot of great ideas and information.

I will probably have many more posts about college ministry and thoughts surrounding this age group.  If you are a college pastor I would love to connect with you.

These were 3 of the most important words I learned while working at Saddleback Church.  Uncle Rick, that’s what the younger staff called Pastor Rick, would always say this.  This phrase has stuck with me ever since.  I’m glad I heard him say this over and over again.  The older I get and the more ministry I do, the more important this is.

So, I ask, are you learning? Are you reading books? And not just ministry book, but any genre of books?  Are you reading blogs and tweets and facebook status updates? Are you learning from your staff members? Are you learning from your interns? Are you learning from your students? Most importantly, are you learning from the Bible?

I hope that if you consider yourself a leader you are learning along the way.

I am trying to come up with as many topics as possible for this.

As a young leader in ministry what do you want to hear more about or learn about?

If you are an older leader in a church or ministry what are some things you wish others would have taught you when you were starting out?

Please share your answers with me.  They will be used in a project I’m working on.

…in a very, very good way.   I know it was over 3 months ago, but I am still trying to process it all.  I’m sure some of you who went are also.

I was totally rocked by Catalyst West this year.  I heard some amazing speakers, but the one the applied directly to me was Perry Noble. Perry is the Senior Pastor at NewSpring Church in Anderson, SC.

His message was based on Ezekiel 37.  The main point of his talk was that we all go through dry seasons in ministry.  Well, over the last 2 years I have been in a very dry season.  I have been doing ministry, but it hasn’t been in my sweet spot.  I have been, more or less, a children’s director at a school.

Because of this dry season, I thought ministry wasn’t for me.  Over the past month or so I have been looking to get out of ministry all together and get back into sports journalism.  I thought this is what I was suppose to do.  So, all of this leads me to this post.

I scored a free ticket to Catalyst West and took full advantage of it.  I went to every session I could considering my work schedule.  I ended up only missing Rick Warren an Craig Groeschel.  Luckily I have had the privilege of hearing both of these leaders speak hundreds of times before.  Lifechurch.tv was my home church in OK, and I worked at the Stillwater campus for a summer.  At Saddleback, I was an intern for 2 years in the JH ministry.

All this to say, I can’t quit ministry.  It’s in my blood.  I am finally out of the dry season. I don’t yet have a job at a church, but I am loving the ministry I am doing and working on.  Recently I have felt drawn to the 18-30 age group.  There is something about this group that I feel for.  Maybe part of it is that I am 8 months away from turning 30, I’m not really sure.

Also, because of this dry season in my own life and after attending Catalyst West I feel a need to help young leaders.  This can be anywhere from 16-30.  There are several things I am thinking through and possibly collaborating with others about.  It seems like I always have ideas and then bail.  Not so much this time.  I will keep you updated on these ideas and adventures in ministry.

My friend Brook James says this gets him more traffic, mainly nerds like him and myself. (putting Star Wars in the title).  I don’t care about traffic, obviously, since I haven’t blogged in over a month. I just wanted to see if his hypothesis is correct. If so, really funny.

There will be a new and real blog post on here tomorrow.  If you still come to my blog to see if I’ve posted something new I commend you for sticking around.

Here are my iPhone Apps.  The first page will not change, but I will probably mix some of the others up.

Ready or not, church on-demand is here.

What do I mean by this?  There are more and more churches who are doing church online, which in turn means there are more and more opportunities for people to hear God’s Word.  I believe this is the most important piece of it.  If you are doing Church online, are people hearing the Gospel and are people given a chance to respond to this?  If not, why do you do Church Online?

With web 2.0 possibilities I believe the Church can reach more and more people.  One major question I have is, how do you keep your church local while also taking it global?  I think this is something that is learned on the go.  I am not sure there is a generic right answer for all.  It’s something that I think each church is going to have to figure out on there own.

Anyways, I love the Church presence online and what it can accomplish.  I can’t wait for the day when youth services are broadcasted online.  I think this is something our youth can enjoy, but I think it has to look different than Church Online looks for adults.  I would love to sit down with some youth pastors and talk this through.   What does Church Online for Youth look like?  How do you draw youth to it?  I have so many questions and so few answers.  I feel many blog posts coming on about youth and Church Online. Who wants to tackle this with me?

This would be a great job.  So, if you are looking to do youth online I would love to talk about it.

In what ways are you taking care of your online community the same way you are taking care of your offline community?  Obviously some things can’t crossover to the other, but there are definitely things that do.  What are those that do?

I love the church, absolutely love it.  I could sit down with you and talk ministry all day.  Whether it’s media, youth, small groups or vision.  I will not talk singles ministry with you other than to say do away with it.

Over the last 2 years I have been a chaplain for a private Christian school here in Orange County.  That time is coming to an end.  The last day of classes was today and finals are next week.  Not only is school out for the summer it is out for good for me.  I have decided not to return for another year.  There are a couple reasons for this and if you want I can explain it to you if you really want to know.  This was my decision.  It’s just time to move on.  I love the students and staff and will miss them very much.

This being said, I am obviously looking for a new job.  A job in ministry.  Whether it’s in the Church or a non-profit or a para church organization I am searching and praying for what is next.

If you want to pray for me that would be awesome.  If you know of anything, especially in Southern California, please let me know.

My resume is to the right if you want to download it.

Thanks for listening and thanks for hanging in there with me over the last 2 months of no blogging.