• 7 Hebrew Words - Barauch (Part 2 of 7)
    February 4, 2015
    by Joshua Calhoun
    BARAUCH
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  • Continuing the Conversation
    January 23, 2015
    by Alyssa Trutter
     
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  • Beyond The Pew - Episode 4 - Infinite Worship
    December 15, 2014
    by Matt Rice
    Transcript:
    Somehow the most basic, yet fundamental aspect of our Catholic faith is the hardest for youth, and let's be honest, many adults, to get excited about.
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  • 7 Hebrew Words - Todah (Part 1 of 7)
    December 12, 2014
    by Joshua Calhoun
    TODAH
    COURT OF LAW
     
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  • The Devil Went Down to Georgia...and Walked Away a Winner.
    November 10, 2014
    by Chris Johnson
    “The Devil went down to Georgia; he was looking for a soul to steal.”
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  • This is My Hipster Blog
    October 31, 2014
    by Kelsey Ricketson
    Recently, I have been obsessed with this idea of being a hipster. This new trend has just been so appealing to me. From the folksy music to the flannel shirts and beanies, the oh so graceful way of sipping chai lattes and the perfectly filtered Instagram posts, this was everything I wanted to take part in.
    So here is my hipster blog.
    Here’s the actual Google definition of hipster:  
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  • Why We Worship
    October 18, 2014
    by Joshua Calhoun
    Hello everyone - my name is Joshua Calhoun. I just recently started working with CCFM as their official Worship Coordinator.
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  • Beyond The Pew - Episode 3 - Start Talking!
    October 13, 2014
    by Matt Rice
    Transcript: 
    Alright mom and dad, in our first two episodes we focused on our relationship with Christ and maintaining that relationship through prayer, now I want you to actually start having conversations with your kids about faith.
    Moms and dads represent God in different ways. This is one of the many reasons why marriage is between one man and one woman. Because we each represent God in different ways and we show our kids about God in those different ways.
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  • Embracing the Underdog
    October 6, 2014
    by Chris Johnson
    Quick, think about your favorite movie. Think. Think. Got it? Let me guess, the protagonist is an underdog seeking redemption of some sort. After looking at the top 250 movies of all times listed by IMDB, a common theme presents itself: we like to root for the underdog. We have an affinity for the underdog story. Rocky, The Shawshank Redemption, The Lord of the Rings, Forrest Gump, Schindler’s List, and even the history of our country. We love the underdog, the Cinderella story.
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  • I Don’t Even Know You
    September 29, 2014
    by Jeremy Stavinoha
     
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  • Beyond The Pew - Episode 2 - Baby Steps in Prayer
    September 16, 2014
    by Matt Rice
    Transcript:
    Welcome to Beyond the Pew, my name is Matt Rice, President and Founder of Collaborative Catholic Formation Ministries, a youth ministry collaborative focused on igniting hearts, inspiring discipleship, and empowering families. Beyond the Pew is a ministry of CCFM focused on helping families strengthen or start conversations of faith at home. In the last episode, we focused on Jesus Christ, how everything in our lives points back to accepting Him into our life.
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  • Beyond The Pew - Episode 2 - Baby Steps in Prayer
    September 16, 2014
    by Matt Rice
    Transcript:
    Welcome to Beyond the Pew, my name is Matt Rice, President and Founder of Collaborative Catholic Formation Ministries, a youth ministry collaborative focused on igniting hearts, inspiring discipleship, and empowering families. Beyond the Pew is a ministry of CCFM focused on helping families strengthen or start conversations of faith at home. In the last episode, we focused on Jesus Christ, how everything in our lives points back to accepting Him into our life.
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  • Volunteer Training Series: "Empower the Leader"
    September 11, 2014
    by Sarah Masters
    (Oh, the things our volunteers get themselves into...)
    Hello again! Just a recap from the last volunteer training series: we talked about sharing the vision of your ministry with your CORE team. When you do this, they’re able to know and understand their purpose in the ministry, and can fully participate rather than just observe in the background.
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  • Beyond The Pew - Episode 1 - Setting the foundation in Christ
    September 2, 2014
    by Matt Rice
    Transcript:
    Welcome to Beyond the Pew, my name is Matt Rice, President and Founder of Collaborative Catholic Formation Ministries, a youth ministry collaborative focused on igniting hearts, inspiring discipleship, and empowering families.
    Read More
  • Surrender
    August 21, 2014
    by Kelsey Ricketson
    I’ve learned a lot in my first few months as a youth minister. In particular, I’ve learned a lot about myself, like that I am terrible at asking for help. At the retreat we put on this past weekend as I was running around taking care of meals, someone asked me if I needed help, and then followed that with the question, “Will you accept help?”
    The way that question was phrased struck me.
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  • Forget What You Preach
    July 25, 2014
    by Jeremy Stavinoha
    Do you find that you sometimes forget what you preach as a leader in ministry?  I don’t like to admit it, especially not in public, but it has happened to me.  One of these experiences happened to me just last week, when I attended the St.
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  • Bringing In New Life
    June 14, 2014
    by Sarah Masters
    Happy Ordinary Time! Now the big question, how has this Easter changed you?
    Wait what?
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  • Just Give Up
    June 2, 2014
    by Jeremy Stavinoha
    Should we just give up?  It would be a lot easier if we did sometimes.  Right?  There are so many times in ministry when we might feel this way.  Whether it is stepping away from a ministry or getting rid of part of a ministry.  In ministry, we are after all on the front lines for the battle for souls so it only makes sense that we would feel this way from time to time.  Does that mean we should just give up or will we have to push through even if we don’t know what the outcome will be?
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  • Out of the Boat
    June 2, 2014
    by Kelsey Ricketson
    If I’ve learned anything in my twenty years of life, it would certainly be that the future is unforeseeable, changeable, and in no way congruent with any of my expectations. But as crazy as it is, the future is also beautiful beyond belief. When I came to college a few years ago, my future plans involved graduating college in three years and then pursuing a career in the field of medicine with the strong possibility of going to medical school. Long story short, here I am less than two years later, writing my first blog as a youth minister working for a collaborative non-profit company.
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  • Meet the Need
    May 16, 2014
    by Alyssa Trutter
    In the spring, I teach a sacramental preparation class, which basically means that I get to prepare a handful of my youth to receive God’s graces more fully within His Church. Best job ever!... But seriously, I love every minute of it. For these classes, I go in with an outline of topics and information that needs to be covered based off of the curriculum we use. The first night is groundwork: basic vocabulary. We define words that the Church throws out all the time, but that don’t come up in the average American home, so terms like: grace, sin, sacrament and Trinity.
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