Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

Send us Fan Mail Raising up leaders in youth ministry is a never ending, but rewarding task.  Youth pastors rely on their volunteer leaders to help with so much of student ministry and, generally speaking, the more leaders you have the better your youth group tends to be.  Youth leaders fuel your ministry and today, we take a look at the reasons why it's so important to be constantly recruiti...

Send us Fan Mail Whether your relationship is strained or solid, there are 3 questions that you, as the youth pastor, should be asking your senior pastor.  Youth ministry can be a lonely place if you don't have support.  It's so important to make sure that you are on the same page as your senior pastor in terms of expectations for your church, your ministry and your growth as a student p...

Send us Fan Mail Some youth ministries only meet at their weekend service...typically Sunday mornings.  Other youth groups only meet at a mid-week program and on Sundays, students sit with their parents.  Other student ministries have a weekend service (or more) AND a mid-week program...so what's the difference between what goes on during a weekend service and a mid-week program?  Today, we w...

Send us Fan Mail **FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THE GAMES - EMAIL US AT MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com - and put in the subject or description " 4 ICEBREAKERS for SMALLER YOUTH GROUPS " and we will send it over to you!**  Ice breakers are an excellent way to get your youth ministry actively engaging.  In this episode, we will be going over 4 really fun, low prep icebreaker ga...

Send us Fan Mail ➡️ Get your free trial of Coleader here (NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED): https://share.coleader.co/F5wTrb/join 💥 ℹ️ COLEADER INFO ℹ️ 💥: Coleader is a platform for youth workers to find programs with everything included,  – programs for youth groups, Bible studies, retreats, parents' nights, special events, and more.  Every series and event on Coleader includes everything you need...

Send us Fan Mail ➡️ Get your free trial of Coleader here (NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED): https://share.coleader.co/F5wTrb/join 💥 ℹ️ COLEADER INFO ℹ️ 💥: Coleader is a platform for youth workers to find programs with everything included,  – programs for youth groups, Bible studies, retreats, parents' nights, special events, and more.  Every series and event on Coleader includes everything you need...

Send us Fan Mail 🤯 WAIT A MINUTE ⏰!!! Have you seen 👀 Coleader yet?? Sign up for FREE here ➡️ https://share.coleader.co/F5wTrb/join   💥 ℹ️ COLEADER INFO ℹ️ 💥: Coleader is a platform for youth workers to find programs with everything included,  – programs for youth groups, Bible studies, retreats, parents' nights, special events, and more.  Every series and event on Coleader includes ever...

Send us Fan Mail No matter what size youth ministry you have, these 5 tips will help increase your youth group participation for events and your midweek program.  We have all experienced the crushing feeling of having low turnouts at youth group or an extensively planned event.  It hurts!!!  In this episode, we will be going over the right times to plan, simplifying sign ups, how to promote and hy...

Send us Fan Mail When a new student comes to our weekend service or midweek program, it's very natural for us as the youth pastor to go and welcome them.  If you have a solid volunteer team, they will more than likely go up and introduce themselves to the new student as well; however, what makes the biggest and best impression is when your students are the ones welcoming a new student and int...

Send us Fan Mail As a youth pastor, servant leadership should be a foundational philosophy of how we lead.  In this episode, we take a look at what servant leadership is, what it looks like in your youth ministry and go over 4 self-assessment questions to ask yourself to further your character and leadership as a servant. Book Mentioned in this Episode: Renovated: God, Dallas Willard, and the Chur...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you have been in youth ministry for 20 days or 20 years, you will repeatedly find how it can teach us valuable lessons about ourselves.  In this episode, we take a look at 4 areas that student ministry can be brutally honest about who we are as a leader and as a person in general.  Even though some of these truths might be difficult to face, understanding them can help us...

Send us Fan Mail Are you feeling like your youth ministry students are disconnected from each other?  Or maybe you just have a handful of students who don't seem to know how to join in with the group.  It can be really frustrating when the interaction in your youth group seems so awkward and forced.  Today, we are going over 5 tips to help your student ministry build connections with each oth...

Send us Fan Mail Youth pastors have a tendency to know a ton of people at church, but can sometimes be known deeply by few.  For your own personal growth, mental health and spiritual health, it is so important to have close friendships that go much deeper than the superficial stuff.  Do you have those people in your life that you can open up to?  The people that you can be very real with?  The clo...

Send us Fan Mail Volunteers play a critical role in the success of youth ministries, but if we fail to keep them engaged, motivated and most of all, cared for, we can quickly lose them!  First and foremost, when volunteers are lead well, they can be much happier 😁 and more effective in their roles. When volunteers feel valued, appreciated, and supported, they are more likely to be fully engaged a...

Send us Fan Mail "Should I use youth ministry curriculum?" Whether you are brand new to youth ministry or you've been in it for a while, the thought has more than likely crossed your mind.  In this episode, we take a look at some of the pros and cons of using pre-packaged student ministry curriculum and give you some direction to see if it is or isn't the right fit for you! We...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we will be sharing 2 mistakes that Youth Pastors commonly make and how you can avoid them.  Ironically, these two mistakes are somewhat at odds with each other, but it's still possible to be unintentionally guilty of both in your youth ministry. We will share practical tips and strategies to help you avoid these mistakes and become a more effective youth past...

Send us Fan Mail **Make sure you check out our Shopping List below for some gift ideas resources!** Youth pastors all love to see it when a new student comes to their youth group - whether they were invited by a friend or just checking it out on their own, it's a chance to help them in their walk with Jesus or even being able to share the Gospel if they aren't already a believer.  It&apo...

Send us Fan Mail Whether you're a volunteer, a staff member, or a youth pastor, it can be challenging to know when it's time to make a change in your youth ministry. In this episode, we'll explore some signs that might indicate it's time for a shift in your student ministry. We will take a look at how to recognize when your current approach isn't working. Maybe you're...

Send us Fan Mail **FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THE GAMES - EMAIL US AT MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com - and put in the subject or description "Games for Smaller Youth Groups" and we will send it over to you!**  Youth group games are one of the staples of youth ministry, but not all games will work with smaller groups.  In this episode, we will be going over 7 super fun, low...

Send us Fan Mail No one likes meetings.  Okay, well, most people dislike meetings, I'm sure there are a few people out there who love them.  But even those who love them are probably annoyed at dull and unproductive meetings. In this video, we share youth pastor tips on how to make your meetings not suck! Discover strategies for creating engaging, fun, and meaningful meetings that will keep t...

Send us Fan Mail If you would like Valentine's Day doesn't get as much attention as other notable holidays, but it's still a fun one to theme and make special for your youth ministry.  In this episode, we will be discussing Valentine's Day party ideas including: games, activities, decor and sweets & treats.   **FOR A PDF OF THE INSTRUCTIONS FOR ALL OF THE GAMES - EMAIL US A...

Send us Fan Mail Inevitably, conflicts, obstacles and adversity will occur in youth ministry.  So how do we, as youth pastors, manage these difficult and sometimes awkward situations?  Today, we will be discussing 5 ways of handling conflict in youth ministry, so that we can cultivate peace, agreement and ultimately, win people over!  Our goal is to help you be prepared to handle potential conflic...

Send us Fan Mail Leadership skills are extremely important when it comes to youth ministry.  Churches need trained youth pastors to keep their youth groups engaged, growing in their faith, and reaching new students. Youth Pastors need to be able to motivate their leaders and volunteers, communicate effectively, and shepherd their students. In order to be a successful youth minister, it is importan...

Send us Fan Mail In youth ministry, the goal is to bring students into a closer relationship with Jesus.  Our weekly sermons are geared towards showing them the love that God has for them and constantly steering them towards the Gospel.  But sometimes we overlook, or even neglect, some of the simple ingredients for how to facilitate a healthy spiritual relationship.  In this episode, we will be go...

Send us Fan Mail As Youth Pastors, we all have updates, upgrades and improvements we want to do in our student ministry because we should always be growing...but how do we accomplish these youth ministry goals?  Whenever we set out to make these changes, we have the best intentions, but sometimes they end up getting shelved because of lack of planning, poor time management, limited resources, etc....