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.”
Once upon a time, George Lucas was the creator of Star Wars. Some would argue he still is. Unfortunately, most of us know better…sort of like how it is in any kind of church ministry. Depending upon how old you are, you either grew up with Star Wars or inherited it from the generation before you.…
5 Keys to Healthy Youth Ministry Networks There is a phrase that gets a bad wrap and that is being a Lone Ranger. We equate being a Lone Ranger with going it alone. But we forget that the Lone Ranger had Tonto and wasn’t really all that alone.…
Ministry is so, so busy. Your life likely is, too. The last thing you need is another meeting, right? So why in the world would you want to take part in a local youth ministry network? (Don’t worry – since you’re in ministry, you’re one of my heroes and I’m going to do my best to talk you out of networking…but then I’ll try to talk you into it, because you’re one of my heroes.)…
Don Patterson I was very blessed in my life with awesome youth ministry role models. Growing up in church my parents were the volunteer leaders in our youth group and our senior pastor was our study leader. Growing up as the son of two very awesome volunteer youth group leaders is hard.…
For some reason reaching out and getting necessary help is seen as a negative. There’s like this unwritten law and it looks like this: DON’T struggle > DO struggle. It causes many students to feel like there’s no hope for their challenges with mental health issues like depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts and attempts, so they don’t reach out, even in youth group.…
I (Tim) am lucky to have a long list of spiritual heroes in my life. Glen (youth pastor), Willis Ray (pastor), Dean, Don, and Steve (ministry mentors) all shared life and modeled the way of Jesus to me. No one has been more influential in my youth ministry career than Allen Jackson, my youth ministry professor.…
20 Interview Questions for Youth Workers Are you a youth worker? Chances are high that sooner or later you will find yourself in search of a new church in which to serve. Are you a Senior Pastor, Christian Education Director, or an Associate Pastor? …
Multiply Your Impact With Volunteers Youth workers aren’t very good at math. Let’s do a little simple math from my “Skinny” book about recruiting volunteers. If you look at the time you spend each week with teenagers, you could go out there and spend 20 hours a week with students by yourself.…
Producing Disciple-Makers When it comes to discipleship, Jesus modeled it best. And if we want to disciple well, we must understand what he did and how he did it. Now, I’ve read a lot on the principles of how Jesus discipled, and the one thing that I believe is always missing is the fact that Jesus discipled to increase the Kingdom.…
The 3 “P’s” For Your Volunteer Team It’s football season! It’s on everyone’s mind and so it’s an analogy I like to use when it comes to working with our support team in ministry. Imagine your team has shown up for their first game. …
