Student Ministry Conversations

Welcome back to the podcast. This week Brent and David continue the series for the month of January called "Lose the Noise" talking about the importance of spiritual formation over programs for students in the current culture. Today they are joined by Stephen Gehring, the owner of Anchor and Insight Counseling Services in Graham, Texas to talk about the dangers of screen use and how it d...

Welcome back to the podcast! This week Brent and David begin the series for the month of January called "Lose the Noise" talking about the importance of spiritual formation over programs for students in the current culture. Today they talk about how to make the change, refocusing what success in ministry means and how to start 2026 off with the right direction. Whether you are a young or...

Happy New Year! Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David start the year off with a conversation about the importance of finding the God that never changes instead of working on the "new you" for 2026. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would also love t...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David continue the theme for the month of December on the focus of "Jesus at the Center." This week, they are talking about the importance of reflecting on this year for growth and wisdom but not sitting in the past and using it to move forward for the upcoming year. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David continue the theme for the month of December on the focus of "Jesus at the Center." This week, they are talking about the distractions of Christmas that even ministry leaders can find themselves in far too often and how to focus on what's important in this season. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David start the theme for the month of December on the focus of "Jesus at the Center." This week, they are starting the conversation talking about the importance of the Advent season and how we need to not only teach the importance of the season, but also mirror our focus on it as well. Whether you are a young or old you...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David finish the theme for November of "Faith & Gratitude" talking about creating a culture of thanksgiving in your youth ministry and some practical ways to do so. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would also lov...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent & David continue the theme for November "Faith & Gratitude" talking about the importance behind having gratitude in the hard seasons of life and the importance of community in helping you point toward gratitude. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David begins the theme for November "Faith & Gratitude" talking about the importance behind having gratitude not only during this season, but in all aspects of your life and ministry. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would a...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent and David are closing the theme for the month of October "Rooted Faith" with the discussion of the importance of roots during the seasons of ministry that are more draining than others. They also talk about the upcoming Big Country Youth Pastor Conference that they both will be attending on November 7th. You can find all the d...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent and David are joined by special guest Jared Pickrell, the founder and creator of the Fresh Fire app ( www.freshfire.app ), which is a youth group app to push students to work on creating habits of spiritual disciplines that are custom to your group. They are continuing the theme for the month of October "Rooted Faith" with the...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent and David continue the theme for the month of October "Rooted Faith" with the discussion of the importance of prayer and how it needs to be implemented in your life in a personal manner and not just formal (job related). Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked abou...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent continues the theme for the month of October "Rooted Faith" with the discussion of the importance of scripture and how it needs to be in your personal life as much as you use it for reference and lesson planning. They also discuss how to model it to your students so they can adopt the spiritual discipline as well. Whether you...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Brent starts off the month of October's theme "Rooted Faith" with the discussion of the importance of roots and why it matters both to the mindset of your personal life and ministry and the lives of the teenagers and volunteers that are involved in your ministry. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent continue the discussion on their theme for the month of September: "Growing Your Group". This week, they are talking about the importance of being involved in your community both as a youth pastor and as a youth group and how you can be a presence in your community and utilize it as a resource strategically as well. Whether you ar...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent continue the roundtable discussion of the podcast continuing their theme for the month of September on growing your group. This week, they are talking through the importance of partnering with parents and working to move the parents in your ministry from being informed to being involved. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent continue the roundtable discussion of the podcast continuing their theme for the month of September on growing your group. This week, they are talking through the importance of creating a culture that promotes group growth including three specific things to look at. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for yo...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent get back to the roundtable discussion of the podcast starting their theme for the month of September on growing your group. This week, they are starting with the importance and power of personal invitation and how you can equip and encourage your students to invite others to come to youth. Whether you are a young or old youth past...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent get back to the roundtable discussion of the podcast continuing their Back to School theme for the month of August. This week, they are finishing the series on Back To School and talking about the importance of establishing healthy rhythms in your ministry and why it's crucial to the development of spiritual growth in your ministr...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent get back to the roundtable discussion of the podcast continuing their Back to School theme for the month of August. This week, they are discussing the importance of prioritizing relationships over programs ESPECIALLY at the start of each youth ministry year. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David and Brent get back to the roundtable discussion of the podcast starting their Back to School theme for the next three weeks. This week, they are discussing the importance of vision casting and how to practically incorporate it into your ministry (if you haven't already). Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Russell sits down for our last week of the Summer Solo Series to talk through 5 commonly overlooked ways to grow your ministry. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would also love to hear from you! What is your tidbit of advice that you woul...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David sits down with recurring guest Josh Green to talk about his new book coming out on August 19th, 2025 entitled, "How To Eat An Elephant." This book tackles one of the biggest challenges Christians face today: understanding the Bible. For many, Scripture feels overwhelming, like trying to eat an elephant in one bite. That's...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where Melissa takes this week of our Summer Solo Series to talk about changing your idea of what it means to volunteer. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would also love to hear from you! What is your tidbit of advice that you would add to the conversat...

Welcome to this week's episode of the podcast where David takes this week of our Summer Solo Series to talk about the importance of having people in your corner during the good and the bad times of life and ministry. Whether you are a young or old youth pastor, we would love for you to listen in and see what is talked about in today's episode and we would also love to hear from you! What is your t...