Serving in youth ministry is both rewarding and challenging. As a leader, you’re a catalyst for helping teenagers grow as disciples of Jesus, a counselor who must deal with upset parents and discouraged adolescents, and an EMT who has to treat the occasional dodgeball injury. Often, all in the same day. As you walk through the ups and downs of your calling, we’re here to support, encourage, and equip you with ideas that will fuel your journey as a Jesus-centered leader.
What You’ll Find
Our leadership topics are designed to give you the knowledge and skills to confidently guide your ministry. We’ll cover the must-know areas—including working with parents and volunteers, planning and productivity, and the broad range of skills you need as an adolescent specialist in ministry. And, most important, we’ll help you grow your own relationship with Jesus so your leadership flows out of a “deeper well.”
Our team here at Group/Simply Youth Ministry spent two years developing an approach to a youth ministry staple—the sermon series—that creates a growth-rich environment for students. We discovered a lot along the way. For example, almost everyone in youth ministry uses sermon/talk series at their main weekly gathering, but very few are truly happy with the end results.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, Rick explores five crucial practices that make it possible to “go into the cave” on behalf of students or their parents—five things that give us the foundation to offer real help in times of great trauma, tragedy, or challenge.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday, we explore how you can use social media to make a big impact in your youth ministry. It’s tough to convince teenagers that anyone over age 20 with fewer than 5,000 Instagram followers is “culturally relevant.”…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, I explore the powerful transformation that happens when we use experiences as a basis for teaching, and show you my simple process for crafting and embedding experiences in your main teaching times. When I’m training youth workers, I sometimes ask them to get with a partner and share “something you’ve learned that has deeply impacted your life—something that turned your life around.”…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we take a hard look at our “cultural diet” and consider what wise, Jesus-centered standards we can use for both our own life and for our ministry. The Old Testament urges God’s people to be holy—to set themselves apart from an “unclean” culture.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore three ideas to help you maximize travel moments with teenagers this summer—turning “gap time” into “transformation time.” Can two minutes change a person’s life? We know from our own experience that the answer is…of course!…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore a surprising way to “measure” and promote discipleship—or spiritual maturity—in teenagers. Do you know how to measure spiritual maturity in your teenagers? It’s usually one of those “know it when you see it” things.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we remember that Jesus’ primary “teaching” method involves improvised responses amid intentional conversations. Then we’ll learn the basics of teaching in an “improv” way. I was never in a garage band, but whenever I hear a phrase that sounds like the name of a garage band (for example, the other day my daughter said the phrase “dissected squid juice”), I tell people it was actually the name of my band when I was in high school.…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, we explore ways to take advantage of the big moments surrounding grad time and “mark” teenagers with a reflection they’ll never forget. Ever had someone believe in you more than you believe in yourself?…
In this week’s Whiteboard Wednesday experiment, I make the case that the heart is more important than the head in youth ministry because Jesus said so… With all the controversy swirling around the suicide-themed Netflix series 13 Reasons Why, we’re focused (again) on the impact of the powerful cultural messages teenagers soak in every day.…
