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Youth ministry leaders, hear me out. Recruiting, training, developing, equipping, and retaining volunteer leaders is critical to the success of your ministry. In fact, I’d go so far as to say that your level of success or failure in the areas of building and developing your volunteer leaders will be directly proportional to the success or failure of your ministry's growth and impact. Yes, volunteer leaders matter that much! You may think that you are Superman or that you can be a one-man band, but a reality check says you are not, and you can’t. No matter how great and charismatic of a leader you are, without great, bought-in, equipped, passionate volunteer leaders, you and your ministry are going to struggle and wither in effectiveness. But if you can surround yourself with a team of great volunteer leaders, the sky is the limit because those leaders have the potential to have an even greater impact on how your ministry runs and the effectiveness that it has in ministering to students. With that in mind, here are 12 tips on developing your volunteer leader team.

As our students go through life, they encounter people and situations that lead them to pack and carry some enormous emotional baggage that holds them back from living in the grace and freedom that Christ provides. As youth pastors, we are in a unique position to help both students and their parents "lighten the load" along the way. In these training sessions, we will look at eight specific bags kids tend to pack as they grow up, how these bags tend to get packed, and the long-lasting negative impacts they can have. Each session will offer practical strategies we can use and equip parents to employ to leverage their influence and prevent some of these bags from getting packed in the first place.

As youth workers, we know full well that "...all have all sinned and fallen short of the Glory of God...." (Romans 3:23 ESV). But one of the more difficult parts of youth ministry, in a practical sense, is how we walk alongside a teenager and their parents when that teenager has been caught in sin. Allow me to share with you four practical ways we partner with parents through a student's sin in our ministry.

Partnering with parents doesn't have to be rocket science. Sure, your steps towards a partnership need to be thoughtful, but they can also be as simple as they are purposeful. For example, here's a little secret that isn't that much of a secret at all: Parents love people who love their kids. Let me share with you some ways that I take some first steps towards a partnership with parents in my ministry by intentionally encouraging parents along the way.

“Because in Christ - Today and forevermore. We are redefined.'” 

A spoken word piece that takes a look into our beginning through Genesis 1, how the beginning was redefined in John 1, and where this redefinition takes us in Titus 3. A great piece to open a conference/DNOW weekend. 

• Author: Emily Willson 
• Length: approximately 3 minutes 
• Actor Needs: 3 actors, but can be edited for more or less 
• Theme Verses: Genesis 1; John 1; Titus 3
• Downloadable PDF

Life can change in an unexpected moment. Eli suffered a traumatic brain injury as an 8th grader. In a coma for multiple weeks, Eli’s family prayed and watched God perform miracle after miracle, surprising even the medical team. Through God’s power and strength, Eli continues to improve and recover and rely on God to help him navigate life years after the injury. 

Length: 6:41 | Format: 1920 x 1080 MP4

Working with teenagers, especially post-pandemic, you are most likely fully aware that adolescent mental health issues are as significant and debilitating as they are widespread (and growing). In fact, according to the Director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, “The average high school student today has the same level of anxiety as the average psychiatric patient in the early 1950s.” So what can we do, as youth ministry leaders, to lean in and help our students who are coping with or struggling to navigate mental health issues? In this single-session Masterclass, Jon provides seven thoughts to help you get started.

Mission trips can be incredibly impactful and provide opportunities for significant spiritual growth for your students. That said, mission trips can also be overwhelming. In this one-session Masterclass, we will go on a trip together to discover the benefits of taking students on a mission trip, how to plan for a mission trip, tips for fundraising, and some best practices while on the trip.

Middle school ministry is not the dressed up kids ministry or dumbed down high school ministry, and we need to intentionally pray, plan, program and present in ways that are effectively meeting the unique needs of these students. Especially after a national pandemic and cultural changes, now more than ever is the time to understand middle years ministry to the emerging Generation Alpha entering our student ministry.

Now more than ever, teens are struggling with stress, anxiety, and fear. The issues young people are facing are complex and wide-ranging. So how can parents and youth workers understand them better? What are the best ways to meet young people where they are and help them feel seen, loved, and known—by our youth ministries, by their parents, and ultimately by the God who cares for them so deeply? Coming off of his latest book, The Anxious Teen, Brock will provide in this seminar a context to help us understand today’s anxiety-ridden reality, he will teach skills and practices that will impact our youth ministries as well as help parents guide their children in moving forward in a lasting and healthy faith and life.

Written by Corey Watson. Every ministry has them. Maybe you created them. Maybe you inherited them. We all have them, though. What are "they"? Sacred cows. Events, programs, or calendar moments that maybe you wish weren't on the calendar, but you also feel like you HAVE to have them on there. How do you get rid of them if they need to go? What do you do if you can't get rid of them? What do you do to change them if you keep them? This three-lesson module will explore how to deal effectively with sacred cows in your ministry.

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. 

If you’re ready to become more confident, competent and consistent in sharing your faith, then Live Sent book is for you. You’ll receive simple, step-by-step guidance that will equip you to share Jesus effectively in everyday life.

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. 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.

A mom and her daughter have an honest conversation about college and God’s plan for her life. 

Length: 3:47 | Format: 1920 x 1080 MP4

Brooklyn is a young woman who came to know Christ at camp. Her story is of Jesus saving her from the weight of death and helping her to live with joy.

Length: 7:40 | Format: 1920 x 1080 MP4

Material: Elastic, 2-sided polyester stretchy band

Size: 2"x3.5"

Size: 3"x3"

Think your group has the ultimate besties in it? Let them compete as best friends go head-to-head in ridiculous challenges to make each other laugh — and keeping a straight face is the only way to win! From wild impressions to nonsense rants and dramatic stares, it's all fun and games... especially when someone cracks up!

How well can your students actually define popular slang from their generation? With "Gen Z Slang" students can put their pop culture vocab to the test! Each slide presents a different word that is common with current teens. This hilarious game keeps students entertained and laughing!

Test out your students geography knowledge with "FINISH LINE." The question slides with show a letter(s) and the goal is for the students to name at least 5 countries that END with that letter. Whether your students work in teams or as individuals, this game is great for building connections and introducing students to places they might not know!

A Spanish word appears on the screen along with four multiple-choice English translations for students to choose from. Players must think quickly and select the correct meaning. Each correct guess builds confidence and sharpens vocabulary skills in a fun, competitive way.

PRE-ORDER: Shipping begins in December.

God’s Power, one of the studies in the Activate line of the Bible study curriculum, will help your students draw strength and comfort from the fact that we serve an all-powerful God that is at work in and through us.

Forgiveness, one of the studies in the Activate line of Bible study curriculum, will help your students see how this forgiveness is carried out most vividly in the person and ministry of Jesus. And your students will be challenged to carry this message of forgiveness with them wherever they go.