Youth Pastor Training and Leadership

If you’re anything like me, you are always on the lookout for event ideas for your student ministry that feel fresh, don’t break the bank, aren’t solely focused on games/physical activity, and capture the attention/imagination of your students. In this video, I want to share one of the ideas we created to do just that: a student-led film festival that still has our students talking and counting the months until we host it again next year. 

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 yet super simple messy game I play in my ministry that will have your students coming back for more...more shaving cream to battle with, that is.

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."

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.