Youth Ministry Curriculum and Resources

Are you looking for an annual student ministry event that engages your small groups or Sunday School classes in a multi-week competition? What if I told you that there was a way to have that AND it be something that your students would look forward to and included creativity, Bible memorization, giving, and outreach? Let me tell you about Tribal Wars!

Recruiting and developing ministry volunteers is an essential part of leading in youth ministry. As youth workers, we often spend so much time and effort trying to get people to say "yes" to serving that we don't spend the time required to make sure they understand how to be successful in their serving role. This is especially true when it comes to our small group leaders or Sunday School teachers. So, what are the top three things your volunteer leaders need to understand? As you think about it, let me share mine with you.

Generation Z, is the youngest, most ethnically diverse, and largest generation in American history, comprising 27% of the US population. They are digital natives who have never known a time without cell phones, the internet, or interactive social media. This generation is often stereotyped as tech-addicted, anti-social, or “social justice warriors,” but they also currently make up at least 50% of your youth ministry. Do you know how they think, how they learn, or how to engage them? Let me walk you through how we approach it.

It's been said that one of the greatest myths of leadership is that you must be in charge in order to be a leader. Unfortunately, as a youth pastor, odds are you find yourself leading from the second chair (if you have a chair at the table at all). So how do you lead well, serve with great integrity, and be an influential presence from your youth ministry seat? Here's how I do it at my church.

Effectively utilizing social media to communicate and engage your students can feel completely overwhelming. Even if you are a somewhat tech-savvy youth pastor, social media posting can quickly become yet another unchecked box on an ever-growing to-do list that you will never get through this week. What if you could eliminate those feelings of being overwhelmed or frustrated by learning to create and schedule an entire week's worth of social media in only one hour? Let me show you how I do it in my ministry.

It's time for another big event, camp, retreat, or outreach, and you need a game that your students will be talking about for years to come. I got you! Let me share an epic messy game I play in my ministry that will make your next event "sizzle."

Discipleship is more than getting to know what the teacher knows. It is getting to be what he is. - Juan Carlos Ruiz

We are called to make disciples. The pursuit of making disciples who love, follow, and are completely sold out to Jesus is (or should be) at the very core of everything we do in youth ministry. But when the rubber that is the busyness of our students' and volunteer leaders' lives meets the road of their good intentions, creating discipleship groups that work proves easier to say than actually to accomplish. Let me show you some principles that I have found that have proven to be successful when creating a discipleship group that works.

Do you want to be respected as a youth ministry leader? Do you desire to not only partner with parents but be trusted by them as well? There is one essential element that will act as a master key to opening all three of these doors. That key element is excellent communication. From content to consistency to conciseness, let me walk you through the things I have found in my ministry that are essential for every parent email.

It's time for another big event, camp, retreat, or outreach, and you need a game that your students will be talking about for years to come. I got you! Let me share an old favorite with a few new twists that I play in my ministry every year as a large outreach. Don't dodge this opportunity to provide your students with a way to involve their friends in an epic night of ducking, dipping, dodging, and diving.

There is nothing like the honor and blessing it is when, as youth pastors, we get a front-row seat to watch God moving and working in the life of a teenager. One of the best moments is talking with a student about their decision to follow Jesus and follow through with being baptized. It's amazing and humbling at the same time. But the logistics of it all can also be a little intimidating. How does that process work in your ministry? Are you intentional in this pre-baptism meeting to walk a student through what baptism is, what baptism isn't, how it works, why we do it, and even what needs to come after? Are you making an effort to involve the parents in this entire process? Allow me the opportunity to share with you how we do one-on-one baptism meetings with students at our church. There's even a downloadable baptism meeting guide and checklist for you to adjust to fit your ministry context.

If you are like me, you spent your childhood years watching Nickelodeon and people getting slimed. Whether you were growing up during the time of You Can't Do That On Television, Double Dare, Family Double Dare, Figure It Out, or over the last 21 years of the Kid's Choice Awards, you know that the famous green slime made it cool and made you wish it was you getting slimed. In my ministry, we give adults and students alike the ability to live out that slime-coated dream. Let me tell you how we do it.

One of the things that I learned very early in my years in youth ministry was that the ministry I was doing WITH my students was about a lot more than just the ministry I was doing FOR my students. No middle schooler and less than half of the high schoolers who participate in your ministry actually get to your ministry events or activities on their own. And pretty close to 0% of your students pay for your ministry's camps, retreats, lock-ins, or other events. Parents are essential. And your ability as a youth pastor to earn the trust, respect, and buy-in of parents can quickly make or break your ministry's reach and impact. That's why I want to share three "must-do's" if you want to build trust and relationships with parents.

In most youth ministries and with most youth pastors, saying the words "All-Nighter" is equivalent to speaking the name of Voldemort; you just don't do it. But what if I told you that a well-planned, well-placed, and well-thought-through All-Nighter could become a favorite (and valuable part) of your ministry year? Let me show you how and why we do an annual All-Nighter in our ministry.

P.T. Barnum once famously said, "Without promotion, something terrible happens...nothing!" I would argue that the same can be said when it comes to leading games in a youth ministry environment. In my experience, without consideration, planning, and attention to these four things, your games will fall flat.

Every Youth Pastor longs for dedicated help, an extra pair of boots on the ground to assist you in reaching, leading, and discipling teenagers. But are you and your church really ready for a youth ministry intern? Do you have a plan in place for training them up to do the work of ministry? Having served as an intern in multiple churches, I've seen firsthand the good, the bad, and the ugly of internships. So, let me share with you some important do's and don'ts of bringing on a youth ministry intern.

As the founder and director of GENERATE camp, I get questions all the time about the games we create and how others can do the same. So allow me the honor of sharing with you some methods that we use at GENERATE and how you can implement those methods to make the games at your next big event, DNOW Weekend, or camp/retreat absolutely amazing!

Are you looking for some ways to be a team player, increase the serving opportunities for your students, connect with the kids/parents who be your future ministry audience, and grow your ministry in the process? Let me show you how our ministry has learned to be intentional with connecting children's ministry to youth ministry.

Recruiting volunteers isn't seasonal; it's constant! Or, at least, it should be. Let me share with you three tips that our ministry uses to successfully recruit our volunteers.

What is your strategy for youth mission trips? How are you making missions accessible to as many students as possible, no matter where they are in their faith journey? Let me share with you have we have done it by creating a multi-tiered youth missions strategy.

Every youth pastor is excited to have first-time guests checking out the youth ministry. The question is, are you ready for them when they arrive? When a first-time guest shows up at your ministry's front door, does it look like you were expecting them, or does it look more like you are surprised they came? Let me share with you some ways we are intentional in welcoming first-time guests to our ministry area.

The months and weeks that lead up to your youth ministry's camp or retreat can be a bit chaotic for youth workers, volunteers, parents, and students alike. But they don't have to be. Let me share with you five things that we do and send in our ministry before we leave for any camp or retreat.

It's time for another big event, camp, retreat, or outreach, and you need a game that your students will be talking about for years to come. I got you! Let me share an amazing messy game I play in my ministry that will help your next event "slide" into the Guinness Book of Epicness.

We've all been there...it's a Tuesday evening, and you're teaching on Wednesday night, but you still have no idea what you're teaching yet. Quite often in youth ministry, there are so many things pulling at your time that your lesson prep gets pushed to the side. So how do we avoid it? One way is to build a forward-looking schedule that is planned out in advance, invites over voices in, and shares the stage. Let me tell you how I do it in my own ministry context.

Hey youth pastor, you've worked hard to create an incredible first time experience for guests. That's great! But how are you following up with those guests and assimilating them into your ministry? Let me share with you two ways we do it.

You can sense the excitement of school starting. You know you need to have a successful start to the year (as do all youth pastors). Yet, the same problem consistently presents itself each year--How do I do this in a fresh and effective way year after year? It's a question we all deal with each semester. Let me share with you how Upstate Student Ministry plans one of our cornerstone events to kick off the school year. I hope that it will help you discover some principles that can transfer to your ministry and help with your launch event.

As the leaves begin to change color and everything else changes to some version of pumpkin spice, it’s time for you to think about and plan your fall retreat. Let me share with you three elements that we focus on in our ministry to make sure that our fall retreats are effective.

As youth ministry leaders, we spend an enormous amount of time and effort preparing to launch each new ministry year. So why are we not putting as much effort into closing out the ministry year? In this MyYouthMin look, I would like to challenge you to think about ending your fall semester as strong as you began. Let’s talk about why and how.

What happens inside the walls of your ministry context—in small groups, at camps, and during mid-week services—are obviously impactful in the life of a student. But what if I told you that what happens outside of your church—the ministry opportunities that take place on a student's turf—can be even more impactful? Let me tell you why on-campus ministry is important, share some dos and don’ts, and walk you through ways I've learned to do effective campus 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.

As youth ministry leaders, we work hard to promote and create student environments that our students get excited about inviting other students to be a part of. That's why it's always exciting whenever those friends and new students actually show up to check out our ministry. The question then becomes, what are we doing to connect with those new students so that they feel seen, welcomed, and want to return? Let me tell you some things that we do in our ministry to make that happen.

The holidays are quickly approaching, and the first half of the ministry year is coming to a close. Are you closing things down, mailing it in, or are you being a strategic youth ministry leader who is maximizing the winter break? Let's take a moment to look at those approaches together, and let me tell you why and what I do to maximize the winter break.

Youth Ministry tends to repeat itself, but that can actually get us into a place of complacency! Let me encourage you in this video to break away from the repetitiveness of student ministry and add something new and challenging!

Discipleship is as critical for your students to understand and participate in as it is for your ministry to value. So, how are you teaching your students to be growing disciples themselves as well as those who disciple others? Let me share an odd but effective way to teach students discipleship that I promise you they will always remember.

Being a spiritual leader can sometimes leave us feeling dried out. Why? Because we put a lot of effort into pouring out but not filling back up! So, let me share a few thoughts with you on how you can fill up while pouring out.

Are you utilizing drama or skits in your ministry context? If so, do you know how to select the scripts that compel your audience to lean into those dramatic presentations? Let me give you some tips and tricks to do just that.

I think it’s a safe bet that none of you got into youth ministry because you loved working with soundboards or training volunteers how to run lights. But the utilization of technology to supplement your ministry environments is important; especially if you want to speak the language of a generation that’s grown up on it. So with a limited understanding of tech and an even more limited budget to work with, what can you do to upgrade your production experience? Let me show you!