Budgeting & Saving Money - 2 YM Today articles

A lot of ministries are either in the process of putting together their budgets for next year or they are in the process of tweaking the budget that got turned down by the finance committee. If you find yourself in one of those two places, I hope you will be able to benefit from some information I wrote earlier this year.

The great folks at YMToday took my youth ministry budgeting series and turned the information into two separate articles. If you would like to read the original series, just click on the link and read each blog post in the series. Or you can read the articles, which are broken down into budgeting and saving money.

Saving the Ministry Money

Creating a Budget

After reading the articles, I would like to hear what you think. What have you done to budget for the upcoming year? Is it dramatically different this year due to the economy? How have you saved money?

New Poll: Lowest approval vote you would accept for a new ministry

Recently, I got to thinking about the process of being hired for a ministry position.

Some denominations will simply place a minister into a congregation with very little input from the congregation. Other denominations will provide names of possible ministers for a congregation to look over and then choose from. And a third possibility is that the congregation is simply "on its own" in finding a new minister.

I have always been a part of congregations who vote on incoming ministers. Most of the time, a minister has to receive at least 75% "yes" votes to be called. This percentage will vary on the particular position and by congregation. I have my own thoughts on the subject, which I might share late, but for now I want to hear what you think about the percentage of approval.

If you were applying for a new youth ministry position and the congregation had to vote, what is the lowest vote percentage you would be willing to accept for a new ministry? This is all assuming you feel God leading you to this congregation and there being no red flags or other negatives to keep you from working on staff. This is not necessarily the percentage set by the congregation. (for instance, if the congregation says you need a 76% or better and you get a 80% yes vote, would you still accept?)


What is the lowest approval percentage you would accept for a new ministry?

1. 75%
2. 80%
3. 85%
4. 90%
5. 95%
6. 97%
7. 100%
8. other

vote on the poll and leave a comment on this post sharing your reasoning. Or if you have a story to tell about approval votes, we'd love to hear that, too.

December Trivia

December is around the corner (okay, its in two days). This month, our trivia focuses on Christmas, including traditions and songs surrounding the holiday. We will not be covering trivia related to the biblical events of Jesus' birth this time, maybe next year.

This month's questions will be about:

1. The first Christmas celebration.
2. Why December 25th the date of Christmas.
3. When Christmas became a federal holiday in the US.
4. Where we get the Christmas tree tradition.
5. The 12 days of Christmas.
   

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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Trivia Wednesday #149: Turkey as the national bird

answer #148 - Truman (Who was the first President to pardon a turkey from Thanksgiving dinner?)

question #149 - Which Founding Father wanted the turkey to be the national bird?

*Apparently the Truman story has not been confirmed and its more probable that George HW Bush was the first one to pardon a turkey.

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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Trivia Wednesday #148: Presidential turkey pardon

answer #147 - Neil Armstrong (Who was the first astronaut to eat a turkey dinner on the moon?)

question #148 - Who was the first President to pardon a turkey from Thanksgiving dinner?



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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Cheap Books from Simply Youth Ministry

Simply Youth Ministry is having a warehouse moving sale - and that means you can get some great books for really cheap.

Go here for the whole list, and to order your books.

It looks like they are going quickly, so hurry over and see what is left!

Trivia Wednesday #147: Turkey Dinner on the Moon

answer #146 - Abraham Lincoln (Who was the first President to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?)

question #147 - Who was the first astronaut to eat a turkey dinner on the moon?


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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.

Trivia Wednesday #146: Thanksgiving

answer #145 - $24.17, according to the 2008 spending analysis by the National Retail Federation. (How much money does the average consumer spend on a Halloween costume?)

question #146 - Who was the first President to make Thanksgiving a national holiday?



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This weekly trivia is provided for use within your youth ministry. You can use this random trivia in many ways: use it to start a conversation with a student, add it to your introduction for your lesson or message, include it in your next newsletter or email, or just randomly insert it into your daily conversations. No matter how you decide to use it, I hope this trivia knowledge can be beneficial within your youth ministry.

If you have any suggestions on topics you would like to see used for the trivia questions, just leave a comment and let me know.