In the often-chaotic cloud that is everyday youth ministry, one goal always rises to the surface—growing disciples who follow Jesus with an all-in commitment. You’re after life-changing, inside-out transformation—driven by a passion for Jesus that spills out onto the lives of others.
What You’ll Find
The Discipleship section offers practical ideas and insights about effective discipleship in youth ministry. We explore the method and models and strategies your ministry can use to help “seed” a generation of teenagers who are all-in for Jesus.
Easter is just a few days away! One of the most difficult things about ministry is the very few number of days between Sundays. Wouldn’t life be easier if we had a 10-day workweek? I think I would teach better lessons, lead better worship, and play funner games.…
Ministry to “special needs” kids is a big, big topic in the world of children’s ministry. If your ministry focus is grade-school kids, you can find dozens of books, workshops, magazine articles, and digital resources to help you come alongside the developmentally disabled.…
We sat down in a close circle, exhaled and focused as we opened the Bible. As each page was read, they became more and more involved. Word after word, they sat drinking in the richness of the sacred texts of God.…
“Hey welcome to the ministry! What’s your name?” “Bob” “Cool. Nice to meet you, Bob. So what grade are you in? What school?” “Woodbridge. 9th grade.” “Awesome. Glad you’re here.” (mutually awkward nods and smiles) -awkward pause- “Aight! Well, let me introduce you to Jim.…
One of the things we’ve enjoyed most in our nearly 25 years in youth ministry is the conversations we have with students. (And the free T-shirts—we love the free T-shirts.) Although these conversations sometimes happen spontaneously, we can make the most of every encounter by asking better questions.…
In addition to all the extra tasks and events during the Christmas season, it’s also one of the busiest times in ministry. There are Advent services, volunteer opportunities, meetings, social events, and parties. Plus it’s almost January, so we’re making sure summer camps and mission trips are booked.…
Supplies for this Youth Bible Study You’ll need a countdown timer (an app on your phone, a stopwatch, an egg timer, or something), a large flipchart or whiteboard for taking notes, colored markers or pens, and enough printed copies of Isaiah 53 for each student.…
Every day, news reports about tragedies, wars, and other shocking developments shake us to the core. Politics are increasingly volatile, violence seems rampant, cultural norms are tough to figure out, and even our faith systems appear to be fraying at the seams.…
Tasha and I weren’t raised in the church. The tradition in which we found faith had a very guarded view of the Holy Spirit in general and supernatural stuff in particular. In fact, we heard more than one church leader semi-jokingly talk about the Trinity as the Father, Son, and Holy Bible.…
Teenagers have mastered the art of the excuse—they can give you creative reasons why their homework isn’t done and their chores didn’t get done and why it’s okay to hate their Algebra teacher. And, it turns out, they have lots of plausible-sounding reasons why they don’t read the Bible.…
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