CHMN 301 – B01 LUO
Foundations of NextGen Ministry
Summary and Response: Justaphase.com
LIBERTY UNIVERSITY
JOHN W. RAWLINGS SCHOOL OF DIVINITY
Submitted to Dr. Steve Vandegriff,
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the completion of
1
Introduction
As a Christian leader, it is important to understand the proper way to counsel children. Having
updated resources in place to assist are critical, especially when dealing with controversial
issues. Issues such as gender, sexuality and social media were non-existent 20 years ago.
The website justaphase.com is a resource for Christian leaders of all age groups. The
website provides advice for leaders based on a child’s age group. The following summary and
personal response provides a detailed explanation of justaphase.com and how the suggestions
can be used in ministry.
Summary
Justaphase.com is a website that provides resources for Christian leaders and parents. The simple
website layout is divided into four sections based on a child’s age: Preschool, Elementary,
Middle School, and High School.
The main page includes teasers to five articles. The first article is about leadership in general,
while the other four are age-group specific. It also includes a link to the bio of Kristen Ivy, a link
to a getting started page, links to purchase phase guides, and an area for newsletter signup.
The simplicity of the layout makes it easy to navigate to age-specific resources or just jump in
and start reading . Each age group has its own blog, so after reading one of the age-specific
articles from the homepage one can easily navigate to others in that same section.
Personal Response
Upon further investigation, it seems justaphase.com is a good start to a project that has stalled.
While the layout for justaphase.com is simple to navigate, some things are out of place.
The getting started section is buried on the front page. It would be nice to move it up to the top
so newbies can navigate there immediately.
2
The purpose of the website is somewhat confusing as well. The tagline reads: “For Leaders Who
Care About Kids at Every Life Stage” but the phase guides advertised on the main page are for
parents.
The content of the website is hit or miss. There are some great age-specific articles for church
leaders, but many of the articles appear in all categories. Most of the YouTube links are no longer
available, and the content is geared towards those who like to read articles.
Regardless of the lack of massive amounts of content, reading the articles provides great insight
into leadership. In one article, the author states “The role of a leader is to keep presenting, to
keep translating, to keep creating experiences until someone has learned what they need to
know.”
Other articles provide insight into mental changes occurring in specific age groups. This is
helpful to leaders, especially those without children because “when you understand the way a
kid’s mind is changing, you stand a far better chance of identifying clues that help you know
what they are thinking, conveying a message they can understand, and laying a foundation for
later learning.”
A better use of the site would be to include age-specific activities and free resources. The
resource section on the site is just a link to their online store.
Application
In “3 Easy Ways to Impact a Middle Schooler’s Identity and Faith,” the author states that a way
to impact identity and faith is to “encourage questions.” A fantastic way to use this in middle
school ministry is to videotape questions from middle schoolers and provide answers on social
media (with a parent’s permission, of course). This gets the ministry outside of the church
building and into their everyday lives.
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Teenagers could benefit from the suggestion in “Why Kids Need More Than Just Their Parents”
for leaders to “mobilize teens to participate in something significant.” It does not have to be a
mission trip, which many cannot afford. Something as simple as serving meals in a homeless
shelter or hanging out with seniors at a nursing home provides opportunities for teens to share
God’s love with others.
For younger children, the article “3 Questions Every Elementary Schooler is Asking
Themselves” provides an opportunity for leaders to make sure they are providing opportunities
for children to “improve abilities (Kindergarten and 1st graders),” “broaden abilities (2nd and 3rd
graders),” and “develop friendships (4th and 5th graders).” By providing activities to help with
these key areas in each age group, it will help elementary school students develop confidence in
themselves as they navigate the world.
Conclusion
Though justaphase.com is lacking in some areas, I would still recommend it to leaders for the
encouragement provided in many of the articles. The writing is excellent, too.
The author of the leadership article linked on the homepage reminds leaders to be kind to
themselves. “Become a person of grace, so you can extend that grace to others.” Sometimes
those words of encouragement are all a leader needs to be reminded that what they are doing is
worthwhile.
References
It’s Just a Phase—So Don’t Miss It. The Phase Project. https://justaphase.com
“Important Mental and Physical Changes That Happen at Every Phase.” It’s Just a Phase—So
Don’t Miss It. The Phase Project. https://justaphase.com/important-mental-and-physical-
changes-that-happen-at-every-phase/
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“3 Easy Ways to Impact a Middle Schooler’s Identity and Faith.” It’s Just a Phase—So Don’t
Miss It. The Phase Project. https://justaphase.com/3-easy-ways-impact-middle-schooler-
identity-faith/
“Why Kids Need More Than Just Their Parents.” It’s Just a Phase—So Don’t Miss It. The Phase
Project. https://justaphase.com/why-kids-need-more-than-just-their-parents/
“3 Questions Every Elementary Schooler Is Asking Themselves.” It’s Just a Phase—So Don’t
Miss It. The Phase Project. https://justaphase.com/3-questions-every-elementary-
schooler-is-asking-themselves/
“How to Lead Better in This Phase—Starting Now!” It’s Just a Phase—So Don’t Miss It. The
Phase Project. https://justaphase.com/lead-better-phase-starting-now/
