Reimagining Youth Ministry
Reimagine Youth Ministry is an organization devoted to educating and training youth pastors to do youth ministry in the era of mental health awareness. Below, the owner of Reimagine, Kristy, has shared her story of how her mental health organization came to be. I Saw The Problem Of Mental Health Eight years ago, I felt […]
Creating A Welcoming Youth Ministry Environment
Not to brag, but my leaders are pretty great at creating a welcoming youth ministry environment. Last Sunday, for instance, one of my small group leaders created (from scratch) an Armor of God Escape Room experience for his middle school guys. I’ll pause here so you can give a proper applause… That kind of creativity […]
The Role Of Apologetics In Youth Ministry
Do I even need to give the verse? I mean, we get it. 1 Peter 3:15. Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope within you (paraphrased). But sometimes I wonder if apologetics in youth ministry is less about students sharing and and less about them knowing. Sometimes I wonder if incorporating apologetics […]
Communicating Effectively With Parents
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve sent six parent emails, three parent text blasts, and four handouts home to parents, and yet the day of the event, you have Jimmy’s mom calling you to ask where the event is and how much it costs and why you aren’t providing transportation from the church to […]
Camp Doesn’t Always Stick, And That’s Okay
It’s camp season. Best time of the year. But as you start buying an absurd amount of pool noodles and beach balls and scour Amazon for a pineapple themed Bluetooth speaker, there’s likely a small, negative thought nagging at you in the back of your mind. If you’ve been in youth ministry for a few […]
Diversity & Inclusion In Youth Ministry
I’m an incredibly imperfect student pastor, and the youth ministry environments I create are imperfect, too. One of the areas of weakness I’m working on right now in my youth ministry is creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Students are naturally inclusive on all kinds of social issues, but when it comes to just […]
Evaluating A Youth Ministry Curriculum
There are an endless supply of youth ministry curriculums on the market. How do you evaluate which one is the best fit for your ministry? Check out this podcast episode from Student Ministry Conversations to learn some best practices for evaluating and utilizing curriculum in your ministry!
Approaching Anxiety
I recently had a conversation with a teenager where I was asking them to explain a certain behavior pattern they’d been exhibiting recently. Their face went blank—almost dead-eyed—and they didn’t speak for a long time. After a painfully silent two minutes, I asked again, “What’s going on? What are you feeling that’s leading you to […]
Mentoring In Youth Ministry
Let’s talk for a few minutes about mentoring in youth ministry. I had the pleasure of having a conversation with Brent Aiken on the Student Ministry Conversations podcast the other day (the episode releases in a few weeks). The conversation was around evaluating curriculum in the world of youth ministry. It was a really amazing […]
A Gospel Lens For Youth Ministry Fundraising
I’m going to be honest. I hate fundraising. It’s probably my least favorite aspect of youth ministry. But I think that’s actually why my perspective on fundraising may be helpful for you—especially if you hate fundraising too. For a long time, I thought I hated fundraising because it’s a lot of work. Fundraising events are […]