A Blog talk radio interview with Amy Pierson on mentoring girls

Mar 29, 2011 by Amy-Jo    1 Comment     Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, interview, Mentoring

Amy Pierson has become a great friend in ministry. We actually connected through the mygirlsministry.com social network first, and then we officially met at Lifeway’s Girls Ministry Forum in 2010 where we taught conferences next to one another. Amy is a talented author but more than that, she is a friend to me in girls ministry and I love that we share that passion to disciple girls. Here is a radio show interview I did with Amy that was originally aired on the girls ministry network. I hope you enjoy.

Working with guys on church staff part 3

Mar 29, 2011 by Amy-Jo    No Comments    Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, interview, training, volunteers, webisodes

Today I’m featuring video interview #3 in my on-going series of interviews that deal with the subject matter of working with guys on church staff. In case you’ve missed the other videos, I included a slide show collection of the previous videos from my senior pastor, and my first student ministry team I started with at Brentwood Baptist. I hope these are helpful to you. I’d love to hear from you about what you’ve learned as you’ve worked with girls on staff or if you are a girls minister, what has been helpful to you from these videos.

Pastor Mike Glenn shares about gifts and boundaries

Mar 24, 2011 by Amy-Jo    No Comments    Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, interview, training, Videos, webisodes

A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be a conference leader for Lifeway’s Girls Ministry Forum. The conference I was given was to talk about “working with guys on a church staff”. At first I was supposed to lead this with one of the guys from our staff, but the forum fell on the same weekend as our guys retreat so I knew that would not be happening. So I sat down to prepare for this conference, and realized that video would be a great tool in documenting some clips from these awesome guys I have served almost 9 years with. However, as I sat down in these interviews, I became aware of how important some of these truths were for me to hear personally and then for my girls ministry friends and youth workers. So I have received permission from them to repost those videos here on girlsminister.com. Thanks so much guys! Today is video that comes from my Senior Pastor. It’s his debut here on girlsminister.com and I’m excited that you get to meet him. He has some great things to say about roles, gifting, and boundaries that need to be in place where both genders are involved. Thanks Mike!

GUY TALK: former student ministers share about working with a girls minister

Mar 14, 2011 by Amy-Jo    No Comments    Posted under: Girls Ministry, interview, training, volunteers

At the end of February, I had the opportunity to lead a conference at The Lifeway Girls Ministry Forum on the topic of working with guys on a church staff. I have to say that in my almost 9 years of working at Brentwood Baptist, that I have been extremely blessed with the guys I get to work with. I count it a blessing to be able to look at these guys that I’ve worked with as my brothers. They have walked with me and helped me mature as a minister to girls. They have encouraged me, laughed with me and at me, and have been a blessing to work with.  With that said, it was not easy and there were intentional things that were done to foster a healthy environment and structure to work together as a team. For my conference, I felt that other girls ministers would benefit from hearing from these guys that I work with. Some of the guys talked about what they’ve learned working with a girls minister and how that differs from their time working without a girls minister. Others talked about difficult moments we had in working together and how we moved through that to be a stronger team. My pastor shared his wisdom on boundaries that need to be in place with teams that have women and men working together. I am not posting all the videos I shared at my conference, but have received permission from Jay and Aaron to share this video with you.  Jay and Aaron were the first guys to work with me as a girls minister and I think that God truly helped us understand some things that could make a difference for other student ministries looking to hire a girls minister or trying to figure out how to work with a girls minister.  I love these guys and I’m thankful that we got to work together for the little over 3 years we did. I now work with a different team of guys, but I still get to cheer these two guys on from a distance as Jay pastors our Station Hill church campus and as Aaron leads our Young Adult Ministry. Take a chance to listen to Jay and Aaron on this 7 minute interview video and pass it along to your student ministers and girls ministers.

Guest bloggers for girlsminister.com

Mar 9, 2010 by     No Comments    Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, interview

I am looking for some guest bloggers to be a part of girlsminister.com. If you are interested, I’ve put together a document to give some guidelines and direction to help in determining if your content is best for this site. Feel free to download it and give me a shout out if this is something you would be interested in being a part of. CLICK THE FOLLOWING LINK: girlsministercom-content-guide

Sara Beth Goeghegan: An artist we had to introduce you to.

Apr 20, 2009 by     2 Comments    Posted under: Freebies, Girls Ministry, interview, Music

Sara Beth Geoghegan has been back in the studio writing some amazing new songs. She is not a stranger among the girls ministry and student ministry circles in the South and we think that she is someone to keep an eye on as well as add to your girls ministry playlist. We got ahold of Sara Beth this week and asked if we could debut some of her songs on Girlsminister.com. She not only provided us with 3 tracks but also gave us a “behind-the-music” insight into why she wrote what she wrote.

As a girlsminister, I listened to “I’m a dreamer” coming home from church today and I had snapshots of girls faces flicker in and out of my memory. I repeated conversations in my mind that I had with some of those girls and longed for conversations with others that I hadn’t been able to get to. I found myself praying the chorus over their lives and then I realized that this was a prayer I needed to have for myself as well. I needed to rest in God’s grace. I needed to not only extend grace to them but also to realize that I couldn’t be everything to each of them. But I could love them the best way I could and pray that He shines brightest in my weakness. Well here’s what Sara Beth says about her song…the link is at the end. Let us know what you think! We’ll post the other 2 songs throughout the upcoming weeks. If you want to find out more about Sara Beth…go to her website her myspace page

I’m a Dreamer: I thought about a tree… about how it sleeps in the
winter, it experiences a sort of death with losing all of it’s leaves, and
how vulnerable it looks all naked like that. I thought how odd it was
that a big beautiful oak tree in the summer could turn into a skinny,
timid looking skeleton in the winter. And it made me think about myself
because I was experiencing a sort of winter from within. There was so
much longing to be someone different, coveting really, and I came to terms
with the line in the song “i’m an oak tree in midwinter, i’m struggling to
breathe and stay alive. i am mighty in the summer, but to live it means
in seasons i must die…” That there was purpose for this season, and
that it was ok, that God is sovereign over the oak tree when it’s big and
green and full of life, and He is sovereign over the oak tree when it is
withered and barren and silhouetted by a gray, winter sky…

Go get Adobe Flash Player!
Click the arrow on the player to hear “I’m a dreamer” by Sara Beth Goeghegan

Girlsminister.com Interview with Melissa Trevathan & Sissy Goff

Apr 17, 2009 by     No Comments    Posted under: Featured, Girls Ministry, interview, Moms

One of the books I continually recommend to moms and those who work with girls is Raising Girls by Melissa Trevathan & Sissy Goff. It is an amazing read and a great reference when talking with moms about some of the stages they can expect to see their daughter experience physically, emotionally, and spiritually. I have had the opportunity to be a conference leader at a couple of girls events that Melissa and Sissy have led. As I have gotten to hear their heart for girls not only just in their books but in conversation, I knew that they were two people that the Girlsminister.com community needed to hear from as well. Below is an email interview that Sissy dialogued with me on. I know you will find it as insightful as I did.

Sissy and Melissa,
I have some moms, leaders, and teenaged girls that are doing a blog project with me to help bring
about some key conversations.
We are working to create some healthy dialogue among those who pour into the lives of
teenaged girls and their families. The intention of these conversations is that they would
help shape the way that the home and the church intentionally and strategically raises
Godly young women to know their identity, significance, and purpose is rooted in Christ. I have come up with 5 questions to begin that conversation with you. Thanks for your thoughts in advance and for all you do to help shape this conversation:
1. Girls ministry is a buzzword in and among churches right now. It seems that
churches are recognizing that girls need to be recognized and cared for differently. How
is that impacting the ministry you have to girls and their families?

We are really excited that churches are recognizing that girls are different and need to be cared for differently. We would say that girls are being reached more “where they are”…both understood and taught in a way that reaches to the hearts of who they are and what they really do need. It seems to be helping them gain confidence in who they are and who God has created them to be, as well.

2. One of the things that we keep hearing back from those who have heard you speak on
developmental stages was: “It was so encouraging to hear about the different things
happening in our brains that cause disruptions in our normal thinking patterns.” It
seems that this sort of knowledge of developmental stages among girls was helpful to
not only moms but also teenaged girls. Is this something you incorporate into your
ministry to girls and families? If so, how have you seen this help through the stages
where girls and their moms may not know how to communicate anymore?

We definitely are trying to get the word out about developmental stages not just to parents, but to girls as well. It is a huge part of why we have written two books for girls: Mirrors and Maps for 11-14 year-olds and Growing Up Without Getting Lost for 15-19 year-olds. So often, the default thinking with girls whenever they are wrestling with something is that “something is wrong with me.” We have seen the relief the developmental information provides girls in our counseling offices. One girl met with us and said, “Do you remember how you told me my brain was going to change and mess up my confidence? Well, it’s happening.” It was so encouraging to us to hear that she knew it was a part of her physical development, rather than a flaw in who she is. We have also seen this information help girls and moms with communication. Especially during the teenage years, there are a lot of communication struggles for moms and girls. To know that it is a very NORMAL part of development can not only help girls understand that what they are going through is normal, but can help moms’ realize that the lack of communication is not due to their failure as a parent. It has more to do with a daughter’s need to develop her independence and, because she has been closest to her mom, it is often her mom she feels the need to push away the most.

3. What would you suggest to a mother and daughter that are wanting to have the
ability to not only communicate during these tough teen years but to also take away
some good memories?

Find places, activities and time you can enjoy together. And, to the moms, that means time where you are not teaching, instructing or correcting. Your daughter needs to know that you are spending time with her for the sheer purpose of enjoying her (which can be difficult during those teen years). Dig into her culture. Find things she loves–find out why she loves those things. Watch a silly television show with her. Go on walks. Ask her about her friends. Take a mother/daughter trip. Read a book together. Watch home movies. Anything you can do to connect. Don’t put pressure on each other to have a heart-to-heart each time. It can even be singing motown songs in the car. Just find ways to connect with laughter and enjoyment. Girls who are delighted in feel more delightful, and this is a tremendous gift you can offer your daughter at any age.

4. What advice and/or encouragement would you give to those who minister to teen girls
and their families?

For most of us as adults, adolescents can feel like a lifetime ago. It is easy to forget how difficult those years were. Parents need help understanding life from the perspective of their girls–education as to what is happening inside of them, and outside from a cultural perspective. And girls need help knowing that, although their friends are a huge part of their life, their families are important and have a lot to offer them, as well. Helping them find places to connect–and even giving them opportunities to do so is huge!

5. What is something you love about working with teen girls and their families?

To see when parents and girls do connect…when girls can let go of the “they don’t understand” and see their parents as people who not only understand but truly love and have a vision for who God is creating their girls to be.

THANKS Melissa and Sissy for taking the time to share!
Make sure and check them out on their blog at: