Welcome to the “The Ultimate Guide to Harnessing the Power of Summer Interns for Church Success.” In the first session of this dual-session Masterclass, we dive into strategies and tips that will help you and your church recruit, develop, and maximize the potential of summer interns and achieve results that are a win-win for everyone. Nick will also share a list of “do’s” and “don’ts” of leading interns from the mouths of some of his own interns. In session two, Nick will talk about moving from summer interns to having your own residency program and the phases of a residency. He will also discuss how to equip a resident to leave their experience prepared for ministry. Lastly, Nick will cover what to do when you have to let an intern or resident go. If you have interns and/or residents in your church (or you would like to), these videos will both challenge and equip you to do it well.

Do you ever find it odd that, as student ministry leaders, one of the things that so many of us struggle to do well is celebrate with/alongside the students in our span of care? You’d think that with the word “student” or “youth” being half of our job title, celebrating with/alongside students would come more naturally…or that we would at least be more intentional with it. In this single-session Masterclass, Josh points out four important spiritual milestones and three easy personal milestones that we need to pay attention to. He also provides some thoughts as to how we can be more intentional in celebrating with/alongside the students we serve.

As a youth pastor, not only are you responsible for preparing/preaching weekly sermons for your students in a large group setting, but you’re also tasked with equipping your leaders to teach the Bible in a weekly small group/discipleship setting. Each of these settings is unique and come with their own issues to navigate. Each of these settings has significant value. Each of these settings requires a youth ministry leader to think and prepare differently. In this two-session Masterclass video, Matthew will share some of the different needs that students have when they are sitting in a large group environment versus a small group environment. In session one, Matthew will explore the uniqueness of preaching in a large group setting and some tips that may help you in your leadership and preparation. In session two, Matthew will delve into the nuance in preparation, student needs, and leadership that comes with teaching/leading others to teach in a small group environment.

Social media consumes more than our time. It distracts us from what’s most important. It takes away part of our humanity. Most importantly, whether we care to admit it or not, it affects the condition of our souls. You can certainly use social media, and it can serve a purpose in your life and ministry, but ministry leaders, we need to stop looking at social media as a necessity for human connectivity. In this four-lesson, Brian Housman will share three big lessons that he learned during his social media sabbatical with the hope of helping you to ponder your own relationship with social media.

Whether in life or in ministry, change is inevitable. Hopefully, no student ministry leader says yes to the Lord’s calling or His leading, only to “give it a little while to see how it goes.” But change is part of life, and as ministry leaders, we need to be able to navigate change well. The Art of Change is a comprehensive guide written to help you navigate the transitions within youth ministry with grace and purpose. In this three-lesson module, we will explore essential strategies for departing from a ministry role with integrity, seamlessly transitioning into a new role with confidence, and maximizing personal growth during the interim period. Whether you’re a seasoned youth pastor or embarking on your first ministry position, this module will equip and challenge you to navigate change effectively, ensuring a smooth transition and continued personal and professional development.

Between all the MCU movies and Marvel comics characters, can your students spot the one lie hidden among two truths? Challenge them, whether by doing a face-off, having them raise their hand, or inviting them to play against a friend.

You will be given a specific Taco Bell menu item and a FALSE number of calorie count. Simply decide whether the real calorie count is more or less.

"The best engine for a successful, thriving youth ministry is a strong kid’s ministry. What happens if you have a strong kid’s ministry but you don’t nail the transition from kid’s ministry to student ministry? How do you make sure you’re prepared? And then, on the other side of youth ministry, there are students dropping out of church at an alarming rate, and this is even for students who are regularly committed to their church during youth group and during their middle school and early high school days. What is behind that? 

This two-session masterclass will dig into each side of the critical transitions that have to be successfully navigated in youth ministry. It will provide you with several ideas, tips, and tricks to help you nail the transition from kid’s ministry into student ministry and help you discover ways you can we help students take meaningful steps into college while also keeping them connected to the church and to their faith."

5 Views on Youth Ministry Short-Term Missions reflects the thoughts, personal stories, and real-life tips of five in-the-trenches youth workers who regularly lead short-term mission trips (STMs). Here you’ll find thoughtful but practical dialogue on the multiple views and approaches to STMs, from work camps to urban missions to long-term partnerships with Indigenous church leaders across the globe. Didn’t realize there were different views and approaches to STMs that thoughtful youth workers could disagree on? That’s part of the point of this book; to help youth workers have more insight into the issues and be more intentional in their responses. The five views of STMs found within this book are based on the contributors’ core commitments and worldviews (really, their missiology). Each of the contributors also offers a short response to one of the other views of STMs presented. Appendices tackle the important topics of junior high short-term missions and the incredible value of multigenerational trips.

As youth ministry leaders, we all have things that we’d love to do (know that we need to do) but often don’t have the time or clear vision for. Sunday and Wednesday are always coming, and the teenagers in our care need our attention. But what about their parents? What about the people who actually have the biggest influence on them? What are we doing to engage, equip, and empower those who God has called lead their children? In this MYM training, Family Ministry Pastor Chris Sasser will share a few ideas and tips on how we can engage, equip, and empower parents in our church as they seek to love and lead their teens.

You will be given a specific mascot and a list of colleges. Simply decide which mascot goes with the correct school.

Fast food chains have had some unique mascots over the years. Guess which ones actually existed! Use this amazing game to do just that as you have them walk across the room, hold up a thumbs up or thumbs down, or do a face-off among two students at a time!

From Jaws to Shark Week to Sharknado, sharks are everywhere. But there are a lot of sharks in the ocean. See how well you can correctly identify these types of sharks from the list provided.

How well do your students know pancakes? Use this amazing game to find out as you have them determine FACT or FICTION! Play it as a face-off among two students or invite the whole audience to play against a friend!

Easter Sunday should be one of the best celebrations of the year! But sometimes, it’s easy to get into a routine when it comes to Easter and forget what we're actually celebrating. We usually do a great job of celebrating Jesus coming back to life, but sometimes, we don’t spend too much time on what led up to that point. It’s easy to brush past the sadness that this joy comes from because it’s uncomfortable and upsetting. By going through Awaken: A 21-Day Kids & Family Devotional with your child, you can be sure they will be awakened to a fresh perspective on the gravity of all the Easter story holds. Even though the days leading up to Easter can be sad, heavy, and dark, you and your child will learn how to reflect on these things while still being able to rejoice that Easter Sunday always comes! 

Easter Sunday should be one of the most joyful days of the year for anyone who has given their life to Jesus. Christ’s resurrection deserves a grand celebration, and we, as believers, usually do a great job of celebrating! However, we can sometimes rush to rejoice and leave out the sadness, darkness, pain, and suffering that this joy comes from. Without reflecting on what led to Easter Sunday, we’re not getting the full picture of what Jesus has done for us through His life, death, and resurrection.

But what if your students could be awakened anew to the reality of all that Jesus has done for them? With Awaken: A 10-Day Easter Devotional, your students will be equipped to process through the gravity and solemnity of the Easter story. Even though the days leading up to Easter are dark and unsettling, your students will be encouraged to cling to the fact that Christ’s light shines even in the face of death. Easter Sunday always comes! 

Easter Sunday should be one of the best celebrations of the year! But sometimes, it’s easy to get into a routine when it comes to Easter and forget what we're actually celebrating. We usually do a great job of celebrating Jesus coming back to life, but sometimes, we don’t spend too much time on what led up to that point. It’s easy to brush past the sadness that this joy comes from because it’s uncomfortable and upsetting. By going through Awaken: A 10-Day Kids & Family Devotional with your child, you can be sure they will be awakened to a fresh perspective on the gravity of all the Easter story holds. Even though the days leading up to Easter can be sad, heavy, and dark, you and your child will learn how to reflect on these things while still being able to rejoice that Easter Sunday always comes! 

It's kind of like an eye exam. See if you can identify all 5 animals that we have stacked on top of each other in these images.

Students may be famous for being on their devices, but how much have they paid attention to the news about their favorite apps? See how many big headlines they’ve caught as you challenge them to guess via trivia style, move-to-the-side-of-the-room, or call it out as a turn-to-a-friend-and-guess icebreaker.

There have been a lot of famous monkeys in the history of pop culture. See how many of these monkeys/gorillas you can correctly name.

All it takes is the right prompt to help your students and leaders discover something interesting about each other. This will get them moving as they do, too, as they shift from one side of the room to the other (or raise their left hand or right hand, if you have a big group). Have a blast as you find out if they “DID” or “DIDN’T” do it!

The opening chapter of Colossians lays the foundation for our lives as followers of Jesus. It shows us how to determine where we are, where we came from, and where we are going in our walk with Jesus. In Walk This Way, we will walk step by step through the opening chapter of Paul's letter to the Colossians. 

The solar eclipse of 2024 was all over the news… and so were several products that were themed to the event. Challenge your group to separate the actual products from the made-up ones in this wild game. In each round, players will be presented with odd options from the mouthwatering to the downright bizarre. Players vote by holding up a thumbs up if they think the product is true or a thumbs down if they believe it's false. After all the votes are in, reveal the truth behind the product - was it really eclipsed or just a figment of someone's imagination? So gather your students, prepare to be eclipsed, and let the celestial hilarity begin!

What if your students’ single life or dating world wasn’t at the mercy of their latest crush “crushing back” but was incredibly meaningful and life-giving on its own? What if they became the kind of friend who could inspire real meaning in their friend circle? What if they knew how to be especially and appropriately thoughtful in letting their special someone feel like a special someone? What if they had a genuine understanding of the freedom God gives them when they trust Him in all of these things, whether their relationship status changes or not?

Every one of your students has a set of answers for what it means to be single, dating, a friend, or romantic. Whether those conclusions were inherited from others around them, movies they watch, celebrities they follow, church messages, or personal experiences, there’s so much more room to let God reset them with new questions that can get them to healthier places.

In SINGLE, DATING, FRIENDSHIPS, & ROMANCE, your students will rethink all their conclusions about relationships by discovering God’s wisdom and love and learning what it looks like to operate out of a life-long relationship with Jesus. Throughout it all, your students will discover that they’re worth it, and so is what they’re fighting for!