Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** You can throw a youth ministry event that students talk about for weeks without spending your whole budget. We break down a general blueprint we just used to pull off one of our best summer nights at basically zero cost, and we turn it into a repeatable formula you can use for your church youth group whether you have a small budget, no budget, or you’re trying to st...

🎉 300th Episode Giveaway Info!! 🎉 (Details below!) The fastest way to burn out in youth ministry is simple: make yourself the bottleneck. When every decision, every problem, and every awkward moment has to run through you and only you, your leaders stop leading and you start carrying a student ministry you were never meant to carry alone.  In this episode, we share five leadership tips that help youth pastors build a youth ministry that can thrive in a healthy church environment.

We break down what “trust” actually means on a volunteer team, beyond character and good intentions. Trust looks like...

🎉 300th Episode Giveaway Info!! 🎉 (Details below!) Guilt can get your youth group students to open a Bible once, but it rarely builds a habit that lasts, and it almost never produces understanding because it lacks desire & inspiration.  The discipline of reading your Bible is not about volume, streaks, or checking a box, it’s about connecting with the God who made you through the words He has already spoken. In this episode, we will get tactical with Bible reading habits for your youth ministry students and discuss tools teens will actually use and how to teach for “aha” moments so students l...

🎉 300th Episode Giveaway Info!! 🎉 (Details below!)  Your youth ministry already has a reputation.  The opinions of the community about you the youth pastor, about your youth group program and about your church have already been formed.  So the question is who’s carrying it for you?  In this episode, we focus in on the hidden force behind trust in church leadership: your volunteer team. When the right adults wear your youth ministry name in the community, they become walking proof that your ministry is safe, healthy, and worth joining. When the wrong adults do it, you end up explaining things you n...

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info - or feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions *** In this episode, we walk through four things to avoid before preaching in youth ministry.  Youth ministry sermons land best when our hearts are fully engaged, not just our notes. We talk about surrender, staying with the people in the room, and leaning on the Holy Spirit instead of trying to carry the moment ourselves.  If...

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info - or feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions *** In this episode, we discuss two surprisingly powerful ways to earn real parent buy-in in your youth ministry and break down each one into multiple aspects of trust. 

We get practical about “early and often” communication: weekly parent emails, leader updates, an always-current website and calendar, social media that actually answers questions, and using...

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info - or feel free to email us at [email protected] with any questions ***  A Christian club at school can be one of the most effective ways to connect with students in your youth ministry and to reach students who maybe wouldn't normally come to church.  We talk through how to start a student led Christian club that feels welcoming, simple, and sustainable, especially during a tight lunch period wh...

Start the school year with a healthy, thriving youth ministry...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Youth group event mistakes...we've all experienced the stress, the embarrassment, the pit in your stomach knowing you forgot something or the sinking feeling when youth ministry planning goes all wrong.  In this episode, we will walk through three common youth pastor mistakes in student ministry event planning, then break them into practical steps you can apply to your next youth group night, outreach event, retreat, or camp.  How ma...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Summer camp can be the best week of the year for your youth ministry students while being the most stressful week for you and your team, and the stress usually comes from the simplest gaps: parents who missed an email, leaders who did not get fully aligned, and “tiny” forgotten details that turn into last minute problems. In this episode, we are sharing FIVE home-stretch youth group summer camp...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** If your youth ministry calendar is packed but the room still feels flat, the problem might not be effort. It might be direction. Today we get painfully practical about vision casting in youth ministry and why a clear, God guided vision is often the dividing line between a youth group that feels alive and one that feels like it’s dead.

We talk about the difference be...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Why is it that some youth groups immediately feel alive the second you walk in while others feel like a room full of students waiting for something to happen. In this episode, we are taking a look at what actually creates an “alive” youth ministry culture, not hype, not personality, not better snacks, but repeatable leadership decisions that build ownership and spiritual momentum. 

📕 Book mentioned in this epi...

**FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THE GAMES - EMAIL US AT [email protected] - and put in the subject or description "Games for SUPER Small Youth Groups" and we will send it over to you!** We have done game episodes in the past in regards to youth group games for small youth ministries, but what about REALLY small youth ministries?  Today, we will be going over the instructions for 5 super fun, no prep & low prep youth ministry games that work great for super small youth groups.  We will walk through how to ru...

How do we reach the Next Generation in youth ministry?  Gen Z can spot a fake a mile away, but they respond fast to something rarer: an adult who is fully present. In this episode, we have collaborated with Josh Williams from Beyond the Numbers podcast to talk about what healthy youth ministry looks like when the goal is real discipleship, not just a full room.

We dig into the myths that keep churches stuck, what great volunteers look like and then we get concrete about vision, strategy, and program. Adding events can feel productive, but program f...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Youth ministry thrives off of momentum and shutting down for the summer crushes that.  There are so many benefits to continuing youth group through the summer and so many negatives to stopping.  In this episode, we talk honestly about why we’re not fans of shutting things down and how staying consistent can protect spiritual growth, relationships, and momentum going into the fall.  

But what about atten...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** You can love students and have a huge heart for youth ministry and still feel like you’re falling behind as a youth pastor. I’ve been there, and I’ve made plenty of mistakes the hard way. In this episode, we will be sharing 5 things I wish I’d made earlier in youth ministry, the kind that would have saved time, lowered stress, and helped grow a healthie...

*** Would you like a FREE Student Ministry Volunteer Application? E-mail us at [email protected] and we can send one over! *** In this episode, we take a intentional, practical look at youth ministry safety and student protection, focusing on prevention policies that reduce risk, remove secrecy, and make it easier for parents to trust your student ministry team.  We walk through the safeguards we actually use and teach as well as specifics about youth pastor and volunteer text communication policies. Finally, we cover some important additions you should consider in regards to church facilities and accountability.

*** Would you like a FREE Student Ministry Volunteer Application? E-mail us at [email protected] and we can send one over! ***  Protecting your youth group students is top priority, so who are the volunteers you are allowing into your youth ministry?  What is the vetting process for who you are allowing to serve in your student ministry?  What guidelines must youth ministry volunteers follow?  How are you protecting your students?  Today, we are taking a look at a very serious topic - student safety within your youth ministry.  In this two part episode, we get practical and candid...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Sometimes the biggest mistakes that occur in youth ministry are the ones that are so common, that youth pastors will simply not see them.  In this episode, we get practical about three mistakes we see youth pastors make over and over, and how to fix them before they become youth group killers.

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The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together to make it happen! Check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com for more info *** Youth ministry leadership doesn't always look how you expected it to look. In this episode, we will be discussing three things nobody tells you about student ministry leadership...the kind of lessons you usually only learn the hard way.  As a youth pastor, you will quickly learn that your job will often morph into something you may not have expected, but that's not always a bad thing.  If yo...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** Your future self as a youth pastor is going to here sooner than you think, and youth ministry has a way of making that painfully obvious. In this episode, we talk about the “Morning You vs Night You” problem in youth ministry and how small choices stack up into either burnout or strength, especially when you’re carrying students, parents, volunteers, and a full student ministry calendar.  We walk through five moves your future youth p...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** My first year as a youth pastor was rough but it definitely helped shape my future in youth ministry.  Here are 5 things I learned that I've carried with me since then.  These mindset shifts can completely change your first year as a youth pastor and they can rescue you from the traps that crush a lot of youth leaders.  In this episode, we cover topics like comparison vs. learning, youth leader growth, the real rea...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** If you’ve ever looked at your youth group and just felt disconnected from your students, this episode is for you. In this episode, we get very practical about how to connect with students in youth ministry, especially when you’re new, you’re rebuilding relationships after graduation season, or you’re trying to reach the quiet teen who keeps coming and going to youth group, unnoticed.

If you lead students as a youth...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** Do you ever feel like you’ve aged out of youth ministry? Maybe you've heard the jokes, felt the sideways comments, and watched one too many trends come and go in your student ministry. What hasn’t changed is the power of a steady, caring presence of a youth pastor. In this episode, we dig into why your calling doesn’t age out, how warmth with always beat "cool" and what older leaders uniquely bring t...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** What if youth ministry camp didn’t feel like chaos management, but like a well-led, deeply spiritual retreat where students feel seen, leaders feel supported, and emergencies stay small? We just pulled off one of our our smoothest youth ministry camps yet, and we’re opening the playbook to 9 things that made it work!  Whether you are planning for a summer camp, winter camp, weekend retreat, DNOW or similar, this episode will give you some p...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** New families & students decide in seconds whether your youth ministry feels clear, warm, and worth a visit and your Instagram is often the first viewpoint.  In this episode, we will be breaking down the best practices for creating social media accounts that bring students in.  From the cadence of your posting rhythms to what you should be posting, this episode will give you a clear path to audit your current accounts and to see wh...

The time to grow a healthy, thriving youth ministry is NOW...let's work together! Make sure to check out GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** What will 1,200+ midweek youth group programs teach you? In this episode, we open the youth ministry playbook on the 7 biggest lessons I learned from doing over 1,200 youth group services spanning over 2 decades.  These tips will help you keep a student ministry healthy & growing - so you can build a program that’s both fun and spiritually focused without burning you or your ministry volunteers & staff out.

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