Middle School Ministry Podcast

Hello 2020! I've already written you down wrong every day of this new decade... Michelle and Ronald talk about the big things they are getting ready for in 2020 and what it means for their ministry to middle school students! From teaching series to the next big trip, Spring is here and so are the students! Let's go! How far in advance do you begin signing up for your next big retreat? Who needs to...

Just kidding. There aren't many hot takes. But Michelle and Ronald talk about what they're doing during their break over the Christmas and New Year holiday! What do you do with any natural breaks from "normal" programming? How far do you try to plan ahead? What helps you choose what to talk about in youth group? Mentioned on the podcast:  DYM Community Facebook Group Got a middle school ministry q...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Woohoo! Taking a break is nice, but getting back into the swing of things is great! I'm glad we're back into the rhythm of Sunday mornings! We're starting off 2020 with a new series and some new ideas! Can't wait to share them with you!  Countdown Video: Vintage Jesus 01 Since we're talking about Jesus, we wanted to show some misconceptions about Jesus. These videos are o...

Good-bye Christmas and 2019! Happy New Year! From Michelle and Ronald, we want to wish you a blessed 2020 as you continue to minister to middle school students and show them the love of Jesus!

Merry Christmas everybody! From Michelle and Ronald, we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and remember that in the middle of all of the chaos of ministering to Junior High and Middle School students, you would enjoy that God has given you this wonderful job to these wonderful pre-teens. Merry Christmas!

Sunday Morning Squirrels: We didn't meet today! What a weird feeling. But it really helps our students, our parents, and our volunteers get a break. Oh. And me too. Do you take any kind of break over the holidays for your program? Reach out and let us know!

The BEST gathering for youth ministry workers all year long. Michelle got to go. Ronald didn't. So to cure his FOMO, they talk about all of her experiences. Stick with ministry. Don't give up. Stay the course! Get to know youth ministers and make relationships so conference feel like reunions! Learn everything you can. Even from people who don't think like you. Women rock at ministry. Mentioned on...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Last Sunday of the year! I know. We take a two-week break, one before and one after Christmas. This lets us prepare for the New Year and gives our students and parents a breather. But! This week we wrapped up our Christmas series and it was a lot of fun! Countdown Video: Ridiculous Christmas Video We did it again. A silly video just for the lol's. You can enjoy it too by...

This week, Michelle and Ronald talk about Ronald's Disciple Now weekend and how it went. The event is a stay in host homes retreat with worship at the church. Everything went really well! Here's a few of the lesson's learned: Anyone of any age can volunteer to help with student ministry! Just give them the right job. You can change up an annual event and have it go really well! Don’t' be afraid. S...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: I feel like this Sunday was the LEAST crazy we've had in a while. Good energy. Great student participation. All in all, a very nice Sunday indeed! Countdown Video: Ridiculous Christmas Video Tis the season to be silly. This video was just to watch Christmas fails. It was a hit! Games: Will It Burn - Christmas Edition Honestly, my students love these games! Something about...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Whew! Our crazy weekend event is over and Christmas season is finally here! Can't wait to get back in the saddle and back to ministry! This Sunday we had all the Thanksgiving leftovers you could ask for and lots of Christmas fun! Countdown Video: Slow Motion Water Balloon It didn't make sense. It was just funny. Sometimes, that's okay. Games: 1 2 3 Look This was an attemp...

Ronald's church has a big event coming up! It's called Echo Weekend, but your church might call it a DNOW. That is unless you've never heard of what a DNOW is. No matter the case, listen in to how Ronald's church tries to communicate to parents (especially of those young 6th grade students) that everything is going to be alright! Here are some questions to help process the show! When do you start...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Thanksgiving is three weeks away. Don't be mad but we're deep into our Christmas series! We're talking students through Luke's narrative, teaching them about virgins and learning all sorts of cool stuff! Let's do this! Countdown Video: Dad Copies Daughter's Face We're talking about babies, so why not show some cute babies? I found this one on Facebook. Click the link abov...

Michelle just got back from a great weekend camp (or is it a retreat?). While SOME things went really well, other things were not so great. Namely, there was that ONE kid. You know the one. The one who causes all the drama, seeks all the attention, and makes all the jokes no matter whose feelings get hurt. It's not an end all conversation, but maybe this will help you think about how to handle tha...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Christmas time is here! Well, almost. We start Christmas a little early around here because Middle School students help with the Christmas Eve service and we need all the band practice we can get! So it's a new series and thinking about the Christmas story! Countdown Video: Funny Animals Animals are silly. We watched a silly video. Gotta be silly sometimes! Games: Face, B...

Sometimes adults show up and help in big ways! Sometimes they just show up. Either way, it's our job as middle school pastors to give these wonderful adults willing to volunteer their time with these awesome students! Here are some questions to get your brain thinking! How do you train your adults who help in the big program? Do you use the same adults for big service as you do small groups? What...

Ronald and Michelle talk about their Tentpole events. The big events they do that help drive the ministry, promote their vision for their ministries, and help keep the momentum going in middle school ministry! If you do big events for your ministry, we've got some questions for you! What are the events that take up a lot of your time and budget? Do these events help drive your ministry's vision fo...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Who needs singers to show up? Not this middle school pastor! Whew! Another crazy Sunday with students stepping up and volunteers not showing up. Wild! Countdown Video: Fortnite Reactions In case you didn't know, Fortnite closed down for 48 hours and middle school students (and some adults) everywhere went crazy. This is a short video of those reactions. I cleaned up some...

Today Ronald and Michelle got to hang out with Katy Langley, a youth pastor for Penninsula Covenant Church, and talk about getting out there and finding a tribe of youth pastors to connect and hang with. It can be intimidating to form a network if there isn't one in your region, but the awkwardness and the rejection from other pastors is SO WORTH IT if you can find a tribe to do life with. Katy ha...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: It's Picnic week at our church! After church today we go rent out a big amusement park and invite EVERYONE from our church. It's a blast and a great chance to hang with students and meets lots of guests. Countdown Video: Wholesome Memes Just a quick video of memes from a longer youtube video. I didn't want the whole thing, so I edited it down to this! Games: Remember Me S...

You're going to miss some program days or nights. It's just going to happen! Whether by unforeseen circumstance or vacation (the latter being the preferred!), it's going to happen. Are you preparing for that now? This episode we talk about what Michelle and Ronald do to get their leaders ready for when they'll be gone and what that looks like for their contexts. Here are some questions to consider...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Woohoo! I love the Old Testament! This was the last week in our Ruth series and it was a blast. I love the story of the family redeemer and how Ruth is related to David! Such a great testimony to living faithfully no matter the circumstances! Also, it was a crazy morning! Countdown Video: That's Amorre This was just a simple video of things getting cut in half by water. W...

This last Saturday, an epic event happened called the National Day of Volunteer Youth Ministry Training! Ronald hosted it as his church and some of Michelle's volunteers went to attend at a host site. We talk about some of the takeaways and the value of training volunteers. Here are some questions to consider: How are you training your volunteers regularly? What can you do to train your volunteers...

Sunday Morning Squirrels: Well. What a week! We did our third lesson in Ruth and had a pretty crazy Sunday morning to show for it. Let's talk about it! Countdown Video: That's Amorre Still resorting to things I thought were funny in high school. If this goes well, I may have a whole bunch of really silly videos to show my students.  Games: Ninja Cat This was a quick win from DYM. We arranged our s...

Mental Health is something the church needs to take more seriously. As those who work with students who have brains that are going through MASSIVE shifts in their development, we need to be ready for the task at hand. But we aren't just to think about the mental health of our students. We need to consider our own health as well! Michelle and Ronald have an honest discussion about mental health and...