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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.

In youth ministry, many of us view long-range calendaring with the same gritted teeth and eye rolls that we do budgeting, and keeping up with receipts. But, like it or not, strategic calendar planning can be incredibly beneficial to you as well as to the students, parents, and volunteers who are a part of your ministry. Let me walk you through seven tips that I have learned for creating an effective ministry calendar.

You will be asked what a group of specific animals is called and then given a clue to help you out. Take your best guess at what the group of animals is called.

You will be asked what a group of specific animals is called and then given a clue to help you out. Take your best guess at what the group of animals is called.

It's a simple true or false gave. Just give a thumbs up if you think the statement is True and a thumbs down if you think it is False.

It's a simple true or false gave. Just give a thumbs up if you think the statement is True and a thumbs down if you think it is False.

Some national parks are more famous than others, but all have something unique about them. Can you guess which fact belongs to the which place? This is a great academic challenge for those who know their geography, but also a great object lesson for the average person who has to make a surface level judgment without knowledge. Try this as an all-play in your group!

Ready to get your group moving and squirming over what’s worse? Prompt with these fun questions and have them either walk from one side of the room to the other, or invite a student up to represent each side of the argument. You can even do both, having the two students present their cases and then having other students respond by moving or raising their hands to vote!

You've seen them, but can you name them? See how many of these famous paintings you can correctly identify from the choices given.

Put your group’s knowledge of sports, teams and mascots to the test! Each category will challenge players to name as many teams or players possible in that category, earning one point for each. Rotate players in per category, or do it as an all-play!

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!

"These are more than stories, they are reminders of God’s heart for the lost. He cares deeply that when even one is dead in their sins, they would come to know the goodness of God.”

The Lost Trilogy is a light-hearted re-telling of the parable of the Lost Sheep, the Lost Coin, and the Lost Son. The actors perform as narrators, storytellers, and characters that creatively portray the story of each parable. Each parable points to God’s heart for the lost and the celebration that occurs when the lost are found. 

• By: Terrance Jackson & J. Roger Davis
• Length: approximately 8 minutes 
• Actor Needs: 3 actors
• Theme Verses: Luke 15
• Downloadable PDF

So, you’ve got a volunteer team- that’s awesome! Have you ever considered structuring that team to provide clarity, fruitfulness, and fulfillment for those who serve with you? The idea of structure can feel intimidating or unnecessary, but a few key considerations could unlock the potential in the team of motivated volunteers you’ve already got. In this single-session Masterclass, we will look at what you can do to structure your volunteer team to ensure that they thrive in their key serving roles.

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.

We all know that "partnering with parents" is important, but nobody ever goes on to tell you what successful "partnering with parents" looks like exactly or how I am supposed to do that impactfully from my youth pastor role. What if there was a better way to meet the spiritual and felt needs of the families within your church? What if making that church-wide change could start inside your youth ministry and with you as a youth ministry leader? Join Chris Sasser as he shares some practical steps to building a whole family ministry and how your youth ministry can act as the catalyst for change.

Illustrations are not the most important part of preaching and teaching God's Word to teenagers. However, thinking through our illustrations helps our listeners, no matter their age, hold onto what is the hope of Jesus. Join lead teaching pastor, founder of the "Through-Line Cohort," podcast host, and highly sought-after youth ministry communicator Chad Poe for a time of challenge and instruction on effectively communicating biblical truths for lasting Kingdom impact.

You know the disappointment of planning a parenting event for your ministry and having few, if any, parents bothering to attend. You watch as the parents in your church sit on the spiritual sidelines of their teenagers. You feel the frustration as parents respond to the cultural tides their teens face with fear, anger, and resentment. The easy path for you is to step in and become the disciple-maker of the teenagers in your church. The most rewarding path, however, is to find a way to inspire parents to do it. But how do you do that? Our session together will give you the tools you need to equip, encourage, and empower the parents (grandparents and guardians) of the teenagers in your church. And learning how to leverage these tools will help you to leave a legacy of impact that will last long after you are gone.

No matter how good your youth ministry is, people will be more prone to come on board, stay, serve selflessly, and recruit others to join when they feel like they belong to a group of people; rather than feeling like just someone who is accomplishing some random mission and vision. So how do you build clear expectations, space, relationships, and community when it comes to recruiting and maintaining volunteers? Join me in this one-session Masterclass on-demand to find out.

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.

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

“Yea in school, I always went to church but it was very surface level and something I mostly did to be seen. I didn't have a real relationship. But God is so good. Better than i deserve.'” 

What happens when you meet an old friend who knew you when you weren't saved? Bean Party examines that scenario.

• Author: Terrance Jackson
• Length: approximately 13 minutes 
• Actor Needs: 3 actors 
• Theme Verses: Colossians 3:13
• Downloadable PDF

“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

“He wants me to know I’m loved. I’m accepted. That I have inherent value… and there is more He has in store for me. He saved me.” 

Mallory is hanging out with her friends and tells them that she recently got saved. Over the course of their time together her two friends have very different reactions.

• Author: Terrance Jackson & Jonathan Skaggs 
• Length: approximately 8 minutes 
• Actor Needs: 2 female and 1 male actor 
• Theme Verses: Ephesians 2:8-9
• Format: Downloadable PDF

“How many types and swipes are between you and God?” 

How Many? is a rap/spoken word piece that explores our relationship with technology and how it hinders our relationship with Christ and with fellow believers around us. It can be performed as a spoken word with no music track, or with the track that is provided. 

• Author: Terrance Jackson 
• Length: approximately 2 minutes 
• Actor Needs: 3 actors 
• Theme Verses: Colossians 3:1 
• Format: Downloadable PDF, download includes demo track and instrumental track

Listen to the demo track:

Kid or WNBA is a fast-paced guessing game that pits sports knowledge against pop culture in a room-wide showdown. A single name flashes on screen, and students have to make the call: is it a WNBA team or a celebrity's kid? Players commit by moving right for a WNBA team or left for a celebrity baby, locking in their guess before the truth drops. The twist is that every name has been made singular on purpose, so there's no plural "s" to tip anyone off. It's simple, surprising, and almost guaranteed to start a friendly argument or two.

How To Live: Striving To Live A Holy Life is a 4-lesson Bible study for guys that unpacks what it really means to be set apart for Jesus in their daily lives. Through teaching on holiness, sexual purity, the fight against habitual sin, and becoming a useful vessel for God, students will be challenged to leave cultural Christianity behind and pursue a Spirit-led, holy life that reflects Jesus to the world.

What voices do you listen to? The voices that remind of your sin, your shame, and your failures? Or the voice of the Father, reminding you that in Him, you are free from the pain of your past. 

Length: 7:02 | Format: 1920 x 1080 MP4

As the son of Cuban immigrants, Landy found himself involved at 12 in a gang, beginning a pattern of violence, drug, alcohol, and gang activity. Arrested multiple times, Landy faced the potential of life imprisonment, but the Lord provided a way. He received Christ, turned away from his past and now serves the Lord teaching youth and adult inmates through his testimony of God’s grace and rap music. 

Length: 9:01 | Format: 1920 x 1080 MP4