Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

Send us Fan Mail Pride and ministry, unfortunately, can often times go hand in hand.  How can we have a heart of contentment and thankfulness but at the same time want to continue to push ourselves and our ministries to be better?  Today, we take a look at the pride in youth ministry and how it can steal our gratitude.  We also dive into how we can make those adjustments to have the correct focus...

Send us Fan Mail The new year is rapidly approaching so it's time to get your 2022 youth ministry calendar planned out.  In this episode we go over some youth group planning ideas that I use.  We break down the weekly youth group programming and the monthly events that make up our entire student ministry calendar. We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insight...

Send us Fan Mail Have youth pastors gotten so good at their jobs that they've missed the point of youth ministry? God has given us all gifts and it's our job to use them for our youth group, but do we lean on them too much?  Today's episode is a recalibration of what student ministry is and how we need to approach it - on whose power and on whose authority are we doing ministry? We...

Send us Fan Mail Today we discuss 5 simple youth group games that require no prep!  No Prep games are always great to have in your back pocket for your youth ministry because you never know when you might need them!   Make sure you subscribe and follow this show for more student ministry resources! **FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THESE GAMES - EMAIL US AT MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com...

Send us Fan Mail Ultimately, guiding our youth ministry students towards Jesus is always the number one priority in our Sunday and mid-week programs; but, it's always good to have a mission statement (or vision statement) for your student ministry so that you can stay focused on the best ways to get them there.  Vision casting is an excellent way to get your direction and guide your youth gro...

Send us Fan Mail How do you take a first time visitor in your youth ministry all the way to them being an active, serving student leader?  Today, we go over the road map for how you can help a new student (or even a more consistent student) at youth group become a thriving leader in your student ministry in 5 key steps.  We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insig...

Send us Fan Mail If your numbers aren't as good as you'd like them to be, or if you are just looking to grow, there are some things that you may unintentionally be doing that are affecting your youth ministry growth!  In today's episode, we talk about ways you can do some examining of your student ministry to make sure that you aren't making some mistakes which are hindering yo...

Send us Fan Mail Today, we are talking all about the best tips and tricks for how you can set up portable church successfully.  Even if you aren't having to rent out weekly space to do your youth ministry in a mobile church, some of these tips will be helpful in how you can step up your tech and decor for your current youth room.  For over a decade, our church was renting out a local high sch...

Send us Fan Mail Love them or hate them, lock ins / overnighters are part of youth ministry.  Today, we're talking about my FAVORITE youth group lock in / overnighter: the GLOWVERNIGHTER.  It's a fun & easy glow in the dark theme that our students love!  We will be discussing planning, games, shopping list, schedule for the event & some of the best strategies to make your student...

Send us Fan Mail How can we run big ministry with a small budget?  Not all churches are fortunate enough to have mega-church money backing their student ministries; but, whether you have a big youth group or a small one, we have 6 ways to succeed in stretching, strategizing and growing your youth ministry budget. We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insightful yo...

Send us Fan Mail As youth pastors, we are always encouraging our students to invite their friends to youth group...but are they?  Are they forgetting to ask or do they just not want to ask their friends?  Today, we are taking a look at 5 ways you can motivate students to invite their friends to church.  We will be going through 5 aspects of your youth ministry that may need adjusting to  make your...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we go over 5 important things that every youth pastor should be doing, if they aren't already.  There are obviously a ton of things that youth ministers need to be doing in student ministry, but today, we are talking about 5 important ones that may get overlooked, but are extremely important.  Make sure you stick to the end for the question of the day, which...

Send us Fan Mail Icebreaker games can be a fun way to get the energy up in your youth group.  Whether you are using icebreakers as a short game before your main game, or if you are using them for your actual game, they can be super fun!  Today, we are sharing our favorite 5 icebreaker games for student ministry! **FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THESE GAMES - EMAIL US AT MinistryCoachPodc...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you are looking to write your own talk sheets based off of your sermons, or if you are looking to add a talk sheet to a curriculum you use, this episode will give you step-by-step directions of how you can write an effective talk sheet for your youth ministry's small groups.  Small group time is one of the most powerful aspects of student ministry programming.  It&apo...

Send us Fan Mail How can we be intentional about not just training the people we work with but actually coaching them?  In student ministry, we feel we are going a good job with our team if we have trained them well; however, can we go to a deeper level with them if we are actually coaching them?  Today, we interview Zac Workun (Co-Host of Youth Ministry Booster podcast) about how to  effectively...

Send us Fan Mail Why do churches and youth groups make such a big deal about small groups?  Are they valuable?  Are they really necessary?  How would your student ministry benefit from having them?  In this episode, we go over 3 key aspects of small groups and what they can add to the dynamic of your youth ministry.  If you are already doing small groups, this may give you some ideas and perspecti...

Send us Fan Mail Summer camp is such an excellent time for building those relationships with our youth group students and helping them grow in their love and knowledge of Jesus!  It's a time when great messages are preached, awesome moments of worship are had, fun games are played and the quality time spent out in nature to unwind and focus on God is unmatched...the camp high is definitely re...

Send us Fan Mail Maybe you need a reminder as to why being a youth pastor, a youth director, a youth minister is the best job in the world!  It can be easy to get discouraged with our jobs and too many bad experiences in youth ministry can cloud our vision and lead to the feelings of burnout and doubt; however, sometimes we just need to stop for a second and realize how amazing our student ministr...

Send us Fan Mail A key ingredient for time management and avoiding  burnout in youth ministry, is understanding prioritization. As Youth Pastors, if we can get our priorities in alignment, we can manage our time better and in turn will love our job that much more!  Check the Links below for the book referenced in this episode! Be sure to SUBSCRIBE for more tips and tactics for your Youth Ministry!...

Send us Fan Mail Dodgeball is by far one of the most popular games to play at youth group, but sometimes changing up HOW we play dodgeball, can make it even more fun.  Today we are talking about 7 different dodgeball variation games that you can add to your youth ministry game rotation.  Some of these are a twist on dodgeball while others are completely different but dodgeball "inspired.&quot...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is Part 2 of 2 on 9 traits of an effective leader.  Youth pastors are notoriously "thrown into the deep end" when it comes to leading a student ministry.  No coach, no mentor, no support - just figure out how to swim...and that's hard!  Do you know how to be a leader?  Are you born with those leadership skills?  Can you learn those leadership traits?  D...

Send us Fan Mail This episode is Part 1 of 2 on 9 traits of an effective leader.  Youth pastors are notoriously "thrown into the deep end" when it comes to leading a student ministry.  No coach, no mentor, no support - just figure out how to swim...and that's hard!  Do you know how to be a leader?  Are you born with those leadership skills?  Can you learn those leadership traits?  D...

Send us Fan Mail How do we get parents more involved and connected to our youth ministry?  Sometimes parents seem like strangers in a car that drop off and pick up their students for youth group.  Are you are looking to just increase communication and ministry awareness with parents?  Are you trying to get parents to be more actively involved in helping with your youth ministry on a Sunday or a mi...

Send us Fan Mail Youth group games are an excellent way to build community inside of your youth ministry.  Unfortunately, not every youth group game goes with every group of students and not every game will automatically be a success; however, there are some things we can do to maximize the fun and energy of our youth ministry games.  Today, we are covering 8 areas for leveling up student ministry...

Send us Fan Mail In today's episode, we talk about some fun youth group games that will help students get to know each other better.  It's that time of the year when a lot of youth ministries are promoting kids up a grade and you might have some new faces in your group. These student ministry games are a nice change of pace for everyone to get to know each other in a way that's not...