Hey, everyone! I’m currently in brainstorming mode around what to do with this blog moving forward. Those of you who have followed it for a while know that this has happened every so many years, where I will begin to think about its purpose. For this post, I want to throw out a few things I’ve been thinking about, but first, here’s a brief history…
- In 2007, I started my blog primarily as a way to communicate with my ministry support team. For those who weren’t around then, I had to raise financial support for the beginning of my ministry in New England, and this was a way for me to give quick updates on my life and ministry.
- In 2009, the church I was serving at became financially independent, meaning that I was not raising support anymore. But I decided to keep the blog going for those who wanted to continue hearing about our life and ministry.
- In 2010, I began using the blog to share my notes from conferences, like the Orange Conference, NYWC, Youth Ministry Exchange, DYM, and more. And over time, I also used the blog to post youth ministry resource reviews, family outing videos, tips from my own ministry experiences, my ministry podcast episodes (now moved to its own site), and more. While it’s mostly focused on youth ministry, the blog has become a general catch-all for what is important to me.
- I also began blogging more for other sites and have shared excerpts and links to those posts here on this blog. Beyond my conference note posts, I’ve even had a couple articles written here that have been republished by nationally recognized ministry-focused magazine blogs.
[If you want to read more details about the history of my blog, click here.]
When I think back to 2007, I never imagined this whole blogging thing would be something I would enjoy so much and would open up several opportunities. I not only write for my own blog, but I lead up a team of bloggers for a Nintendo gaming site, I write for a Christian nerd-culture site, and I was even asked to lead a team of bloggers for Youth Specialties’ convention. And I am sure I will be writing more for National Network of Youth Ministries’ blog as well.
So here we are in March 2023, where I am stepping into a new chapter of my ministry and again relying solely on partner support for our finances. This time, though, it is not a short-term thing, but this will be my life for the foreseeable future. And because of that, I find myself at a crossroads of what to do with this blog.
I’ve thought through many directions I could go, but as of now, I’m leaning toward this plan:
- I will begin posting more about my new ministry endeavors with NNYM, focusing more on ways I’ve connected with others in youth ministry, networks we have started, events we will host, etc. This will include links to my newsletters (sign up to receive those here).
- I will begin blogging more for other sites, and I plan to share links to those posts here on this blog (as well as my social media channels), but I will also post the occasional ministry tip or encouragement here as well.
- I will continue to share my notes from Orange Conference and other ministry events I attend, unless the organization I blog for wants me to post directly on their site (and if that happens, I will share a link to those posts here on this blog).
Please let me know what you think about this direction, but also let me know if there are other things you would like to see on my blog (or other blogs I write for). While this is a place where I feel I can write freely for my own benefit, I want to take you all into account. (Truly, I’m still shocked that I have more than just my mom reading anything I write.)
Steve Cullum 