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.
At Summer camp last month, one of our counselors faced a classic dilemma but at an increased level of intensity. One of the 7th grade boys in his cabin was homesick. But this young man wasn’t the “normal” kind of homesick.…
Specifically, what’s the size of your electronic footprint? When you think about your student ministry, would you say that it’s more like a Chupacabra or a Yeti? Now I don’t want you to just think about how great your student ministry Web site is or how many pictures of your students I can find on Instagram.…
Let’s be honest: It’s hard to find a student who wants to step up. I’m not talking about teenagers who want a position of power. Many do, and often for the wrong reasons. I’m talking about getting students to do something that is authentic and needed, yet incredibly awkward.…
Small groups was our very first request for a topic (you can send your topic requests to talkaboutym@gmail.com). So here we go! Small Groups are the lifeblood for many youth ministries, and for good reason! I’ve often said that if I was told by our Pastor that we could only do ONE thing in our ministry the one thing we would do is small groups.…
I talked with a student and her parent the other day. The student had one complaint: She felt left out of the group and that no one missed them. Sometimes the reason is that they just FEEL left out. The students in the group and you as the leader have made every effort to reach out to them and include them but they just don’t accept your attempts.…
You’ve finally made it to small group! You’ve had a busy week but managed to study your lesson sufficiently and feel really prepared. You get in your group and begin asking about how everyone’s week was. Someone has a story that’s pretty interesting, so you listen up.…
As pictures of Oklahoma have crossed my screen, I realize we are just now digging out of the wake of Hurricane Sandy here in the Northeast. Friends in Massachusetts and Newtown, CT are still putting their lives back together. There are times when “tragedy” doesn’t make the news. …
Yesterday we ran down 10 quick hits on increasing relational ministry in your youth group; today we’re back with 10 more and hoping you contribute another couple in the comments, too! Here we go: 11. Set up shop at a fast-food place right next to the school that has open lunch.…
This week we’re going to simply knock out 20 ways you can increase the level of relational ministry in your youth group. Quick, random, hits that we hope inspire you to try something new, too! 1. Add a greeting time in youth group.…
Helping Teens Make Healthy Decisions By Duane Smith, Small Church Ministry Architects One of my favorite periodicals is Youth Culture Update, a monthly publication produced by the Center for Parent /Teen Understanding, to help parents and youth workers understand the influence of modern culture upon our teens.…
