Youth ministry is a grinding mill of unreal expectations, often combined with a surprising lack of support or resources. When you couple that with a youth pastor who is trying to do too much and trying to be too much -- it's a recipe for disaster leading to stress, anxiety, and ultimately burnout. As a youth pastor, you don't have a lot of leverage to fix the church's attitudes toward ministry, but we can improve our own attitudes. Hopefully, the result will be men and women who lower their stress, anxiety, and burnout and stay in youth ministry for many years to come.

Written by Andy Blanks. The Bible is God's main way of making Himself and His ways known. Your effectiveness at leading students closer to God is tied to your ability to teach the Bible effectively. But teaching the Bible doesn't have to be intimidating!

Written by Dr. Jody Dean. Youth ministry has matured since the days of chubby bunny and the egg-and-armpit relay. On the one hand, there is an excellent opportunity to challenge an information-rich generation to consider the life-changing claims of Christ. But on the other, there are significant challenges to how we do ministry in an increasingly dangerous world.

By Dr. Ben Birdsong. Understanding the generations we serve can be a great tool for the youth worker. With this tool, we can understand the needs, struggles, and mindsets of each generation so we can faithfully point them to the truth of the gospel. With this tool, we can help parents to better understand their children and disciple them well. With this tool, we can help the older adults in the church better understand the generations who have come behind them. With this tool, we can listen to the heart cries of a generation, become a listening ear for them, and encourage them that Jesus will be with them and He never fails. In this module, we will dig into the latest information concerning Generation Z and Alpha in an effort to better understand who they are and how these insights should impact our approach to ministry to them.

By Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. Over the six lessons of this module, we’re going to explore what it means to abide in Christ in good times and in our seasons of spiritual dryness. These six lessons will cover many different topics: childlike reading of Scripture as a means of abiding in Christ, persistence in prayer, and even recalibrating how we teach our own students during dry ministerial seasons. Each of these elements is, I argue, a different way in which we can abide in the One who loves us so much that He gave His life for us.

By Nick Clason. We know a couple of things about Gen Z (and subsequently will be true about Gen Alpha close behind them)--1) They're the first generation to be on their mobile device more than other devices combined. 2) They say a hybrid version of church will suit their needs in a post-pandemic world. 3) Greater than 80% use at least one social media app regularly. What these statistics show us is what we already know in our guts, that digital ministry is not going anywhere. As a youth ministry leader, you're doing all you can to keep up with the latest social media platform, use it effectively, post regularly, and leverage it to engage students, parents, and leaders. But gnawing at you in the back of your mind--you're aware that a social media presence matters and that your students live on it, but you don't know how to best utilize each social platform. That's what we're going to explore here in this module. We're going to look at the top five social platforms and discover the most up-to-date best practices. Then we are going to create an entire social media strategy for you and your ministry.

By Corey Watson. School campus ministry is a great way to meet students right where they are, minister to the faculty, bless the school in practical ways, and meet other students in your community. The questions that come up most often, however, whenever we talk about building a campus ministry are— How do I locate and leverage open doors at the schools in my community? How can I connect with my students there without crossing any boundaries? How can I get the critical meetings that need to be had with the key leaders at a school, and how do I make a great impression when I do? These are common questions for many of us as youth pastors as we attempt to solve the campus ministry conundrum. Oftentimes, however, we go about answering these questions during the busiest times of the school year. What if I told you there was a time when school leaders would be more open to meeting and engaging with you on this topic? There is such a time, the summer break. 

By Team YM360. If you start with "The Bible says," or in some way assume they already know much about the Gospel, you are, in effect, asking them to understand a clear that you understand clearly, but they don't, and they have no picture giving them a framework to start with. Not having a big picture to help put the pieces of life in perspective can be frustrating. Thankfully, God never intended for us to be without a clear picture of our life's purpose and direction. Instead, God gave us a big picture of life in order that we could live according to His design. It's only when we live according to this bigger picture, God's story, that our individual piece of the story makes sense. That's why understanding the Gospel story is vital to our witness. But it's also vital to teach this to our students today. This learn module will walk you through how to do just that!

By Dr. Allen Jackson. You want to lead students to be more like Christ. In a word, you want them to become disciples. The question is, how do you go about doing it?

By Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. Within this 6-lesson module, we'll enter what we think to be familiar territory with the first few stories in Genesis. These are stories we believe we know well until we read them again and discover that there are places in the text we didn't notice before or that our Sunday School experiences were omitted due to the things that weren't palatable for us as children. There are some hard stories in this collection of texts. That's probably why we don't hear them preached very often. Nevertheless, these are important stories, so I want to dive into the things that I think we as ministers need to know about the book of Genesis: the world "behind" the text, the world "of" the text, and the world "in front of" the text.

By Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. What are the words that resonate most with you in this season of your ministry? Do the words tired, worn out, or burned out on religion describe the state of your soul? Has serving the Kingdom become something you dread rather than delighted in? The longer we give ourselves to ministry, the more we understand that the words from Jesus found in Matthew 11:28-30 are not aspirational. For us to be sustained in ministry, they must become our lived reality. Amid busy ministry seasons, Jesus invites us to take a real rest. Jesus invites us into the overflowing, ever-deepening, unforced rhythms of grace. You’ve been teaching other people about this life for a long time. It’s time you remembered it for yourself. 

By Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. The Church has often assumed the book of Ruth to be a rural little love story, an Ancient Near Eastern version of a Hallmark movie. A young, grieving widow travels to a foreign country and marries a wealthy, handsome landowner. The story ends with them holding a baby, living happily ever after. Nothing could be further from the truth. In reality, the book of Ruth teases out ancient Israelite tensions about foreignness and prejudice. It deals with the themes of scarcity and lack, barrenness and bereavement, overflowing generosity, and especially, questions about who God is in the midst of suffering. While we are much removed from its ancient customs, the book of Ruth has much to teach us thematically and theologically about life with God and with neighbor.

Written by Dr. Jody Dean. Youth ministry has matured since the days of chubby bunny and the egg-and-armpit relay. On the one hand, there is an excellent opportunity to challenge an information-rich generation to consider the life-changing claims of Christ. But on the other, there are significant challenges to how we do ministry in an increasingly dangerous world.

Written by Kerry Ray. Do you ever wonder why it feels so difficult for you to gain any real traction with the students you are leading? It's probably not breaking news to learn that teenagers are busier and more distracted than ever. By most estimates, a "regular attendee" is defined as a student who shows up around 1.7 times each month. On top of that, recent studies suggest that teenagers are dropping out of the church in record numbers, with 80% saying they're doing so simply because they've lost interest or stopped seeing the church as necessary to their life. So what are you doing to address this when it comes to your students and your ministry context? Do you recognize and account for the differences between Generation Z and Alpha in your approach to ministering to them? Have you examined, tweaked, or started to strategize new ways to meet this generation of students where there are rather than where you want them to be? In this 7-session module, we'll ask some thought-provoking questions and identify some practical steps every youth worker or small group leader can take to address these issues, cut through the noise, re-evaluate our approach, and effectively meet students where they are versus where we want them to be.

Written by Chris Trent. Although longevity in ministry is something we all hope to achieve, getting there is often a real challenge and can prove to be a bit of a hike. Traversing the rugged terrain on the pathway to longevity is especially challenging in the area of youth ministry. Few callings come with as many twists, turns, peaks, and valleys as ministering to teenagers. Reaching and discipling them is challenging enough. But what about navigating all the leadership dynamics that come with serving on a church staff? What about the challenges of engaging and equipping your students’ parents? And let’s not get started on how the expectations of youth ministry impact your family. Youth ministry is not for the faint of heart. If you want to achieve longevity in youth ministry, you’re going to need an exceptional field guide and a trusted mentor.

Written by Chris Trent. Although longevity in ministry is something we all hope to achieve, getting there is often a real challenge and can prove to be a bit of a hike. Traversing the rugged terrain on the pathway to longevity is especially challenging in the area of youth ministry. Few callings come with as many twists, turns, peaks, and valleys as ministering to teenagers. Reaching and discipling them is challenging enough. But what about navigating all the leadership dynamics that come with serving on a church staff? What about the challenges of engaging and equipping your students’ parents? And let’s not get started on how the expectations of youth ministry impact your family. Youth ministry is not for the faint of heart. If you want to achieve longevity in youth ministry, you’re going to need an exceptional field guide and a trusted mentor.

Written by Heather Quiroz. Teaching students the Bible can feel overwhelming. So much history exists between its pages. Many of the customs that were common during the time in which the Bible was written are extremely unfamiliar to us today. Therefore, the Bible can feel a little bit more like a crossword puzzle than a road map to easily follow. After all, the Jewish people had a distinct identity and way of life. They were steeped in a rich cultural heritage that influenced how they wrote and why they communicated in the manner in which they did. As intimidating as all of this might feel, removing ourselves from the Jewish roots from which our Messiah was produced can have drastic consequences for our understanding of Scripture. Therefore, having a deeper appreciation for the group of people who produced our Messiah has the ability to radically bless our faith and the faith of the teenagers we minister to. Therefore, understanding books that are outside the Biblical canon yet played a very influential role in the history and development of the Jewish nation can have something valuable to teach us. This, in turn, helps us become better teachers of the Bible when we have a better understanding of the cultural milieu that influenced the historical backdrop of the Jewish people.

Written by Josh Haight. Everyone loves a good retreat, right? I know I do. But if you’ve never planned one, there are more than a few things we could easily forget to think about. Though our programming or messages may be the primary focus, neglecting these other things may create more headaches than you care to navigate. In this eight-lesson module, we will look at all the things that go into planning a great retreat: vision, identifying your target audience, programming, recruiting a team, communication, logistics, follow-up, and problem-solving.

Written by Dr. Danny Kwon. Parenting well is the hardest job on the planet. Partnering with parents in youth ministry may be the second hardest job. You've probably studied teenagers' needs, their culture, and even their ever-changing lingo in preparation to be the most dynamic youth worker your church has ever seen. But when was the last time you studied their parents? What are their fears? What motivates their decisions? And why do some of them seem so hard to please? A Youth Worker's Field Guide to Parents is for youth workers who struggle to communicate with and relate to the moms and dads of the teenagers they want to reach the most. Whether you're a veteran youth worker or just starting out, or a church leader who wants to embrace parents more effectively, this three-part module will provide you with tips for peacemaking, insights for better empathy, and the motivation you need to make these important relationships work.

Written by Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. The ancient story of Jonah is so much more than a mere caricature of a story about a “prophet and a big fish.” In this six-lesson module, we’ll do a deep dive into the text of Jonah, giving attention to the different aspects of God’s character and our spiritual formation and ministerial lives. Through this deep dive, we will discover God as Creator, God as Deliverer, a God who cares about our disappointment in ministry, a God who cares about us in spite of our disobedience, a God who attends to our depression, a God who is with us in our waiting, and a God who is compassionate about the whole world (even the people we despise).

Written by Dr. Danny Kwon. Parenting well is the hardest job on the planet. Partnering with parents in youth ministry may be the second hardest job. You've probably studied teenagers' needs, their culture, and even their ever-changing lingo in preparation to be the most dynamic youth worker your church has ever seen. But when was the last time you studied their parents? What are their fears? What motivates their decisions? And why do some of them seem so hard to please? A Youth Worker's Field Guide to Parents is for youth workers who struggle to communicate with and relate to the moms and dads of the teenagers they want to reach the most. Whether you're a veteran youth worker or just starting out, or a church leader who wants to embrace parents more effectively, this three-part module will provide you with tips for peacemaking, insights for better empathy, and the motivation you need to make these important relationships work.

Written by Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. The Book of Hosea sits squarely within the corpus of the Minor Prophets, what many scholars refer to as The Book of the Twelve. This collection spans many centuries of history in the lives of God’s people, Israel. This history covers the collapse of Israel, the northern half of the kingdom, to the nation of Assyria; the exile and displacement of Judah, the southern half of the kingdom, to the nation of Babylon; and the return of the exiled Judahites back to their land and the subsequent rebuilding of their lives following that return. Over the course of this six-lesson module, we will explore the wilderness tradition together through one of its primary intertexts—the prophet Hosea’s use of wilderness imagery in the 8th century BCE. In particular, Saint Jerome’s statement about the barrenness of the desert experience. 

Written by  Dr. Noel Forlini Burt. “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31 NIV). This is Jesus’ response to the disciples when they tell him about all they’ve been doing in ministry. Jesus’ response is not a call for the disciples to keep going. He doesn’t say, “Okay, great: here’s your next ministry assignment. You’ve been faithful with a few things, now here’s a few more.” Nor is Jesus’ response an invitation to debrief the Sunday service (so to speak). Jesus doesn’t offer any of that—there’s no instant replay of the week’s activities or darkened office invitations to the disciples to “to talk about their ministry performance.” There’s not even a word of affirmation about all that they’ve done. What Jesus offers is an invitation to rest. Have you ever heard this call in your own life? Heard it in a real, tangible, curling your toes inside your favorite fluffy socks, real-life kind of way? Thought this six-lessons of this module, we’ll be looking in greater detail at Jesus’ invitation to rest through Mark’s version of the feeding of the five thousand.

Written by Dr. Danny Kwon. Parenting well is the hardest job on the planet. Partnering with parents in youth ministry may be the second hardest job. You've probably studied teenagers' needs, their culture, and even their ever-changing lingo in preparation to be the most dynamic youth worker your church has ever seen. But when was the last time you studied their parents? What are their fears? What motivates their decisions? And why do some of them seem so hard to please? A Youth Worker's Field Guide to Parents is for youth workers who struggle to communicate with and relate to the moms and dads of the teenagers they want to reach the most. Whether you're a veteran youth worker or just starting out, or a church leader who wants to embrace parents more effectively, this three-part module will provide you with tips for peacemaking, insights for better empathy, and the motivation you need to make these important relationships work.