Have you ever planned and promoted an event only to have nobody show up or tell you they missed it because you didn't communicate it well? Jake Rassmusen combines his knowledge and experience in both the youth ministry world and also as the Director of Marketing and Strategy at YM360 to help you better promote and communicate your events so students will show up.

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!

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!

Are you trying to do youth ministry alone? Do you ever find yourself wishing that you had a community of fellow youth workers to engage with, learn from, bounce ideas off of, and do life with? As youth ministry leaders, we are better together. So, let's talk about how to find and build that community.

When was the last time you took a timeout? More specifically, when was the last time you were hyper-intentional about carving out some time to get alone, get away, and give yourself (and your ministry) the gift of some reflection, recharging, and refocusing before launching into what’s next? Let me challenge and count down for you in this video (no matter what month it is when you are watching it) with why I believe it’s so important to start planning a short timeout- RIGHT NOW, before the start of a new year or a new ministry season.

Youth ministry (much like life) has its share of hard seasons, times when you find yourself crying out to the Lord to hear your prayer and longing to take refuge under the shelter of His wings (Psalm 61). Maybe you’ve been there. Perhaps you’re there right now. Maybe when you look around you, all that you see right now is the towering walls of the valley that surrounds you. These are hard places to navigate. These are rugged valleys to walk. But my brothers and sisters in Christ, my fellow youth workers, you are not the first to walk this valley, and you don’t have to navigate this dark place alone. In this video, I want to share a look into my heart and offer you a lot of encouragement and a little advice from someone who’s walked this valley.

Summer is coming; it will be camp time before you know it. Are you ready? Have you even thought much about your summer camp plans yet? For many students, your ministry’s summer camp experience is their most anticipated programmed youth ministry activity. Can we just say the quiet part out loud—there’s something exceptional about camp. Maybe it’s because camp is one of the few weeks in a student’s life where they get away from all the distractions and spend concentrated time praying, worshipping, and studying God’s Word. Perhaps it has something to do with camp being a place where many lasting memories are made or where so many students experience life change and take steps forward in their walk with Jesus. Camp is absolutely incredible, but pulling off a successful camp does not happen in a vacuum. A ton of planning, communication, and logistics goes into summer camp before any student even steps foot on that bus. This is the stuff that often goes unnoticed, unappreciated, and is sometimes overlooked. To keep your upcoming summer camp amazing (and from totally sneaking up on you), let me share some proactive things we do in our ministry concerning summer camp that will hopefully make your camp process as seamless as possible.

Have you ever gotten better at something simply because you began to realize through some experience just how bad you were at it? In a world where our teenagers live at such a break-neck speed, constantly wired in with a phone in one hand and a speaker in one (if not both) of their ears, I wonder what it would be like if we invited them into a new place—maybe a place that would cause a little bit of discomfort and disruption. What if we took our group not to necessarily go and save the day or do a project but to go into a place they wouldn’t usually go to and just watch—kind of practice noticing? That’s the topic for this video—considering what it would look like to invite your students into practicing what it means to slow down a little bit and notice what’s (and who’s) around them, helping them experience something beyond themselves and learn how to notice the needs of others.