Student Ministry Conversations

While working in youth ministry, many will claim that they do their best work when they are on the fly but there are so many dangers in not allowing yourself time to be organized with your plans, lessons and everything else that ministry requires. How can you work to MAKE yourself be organized?  Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Paul Turner, the host of the Youth Ministry in...

Theater and acting have been around for centuries but throughout time has lost the tradition of using it in church. Why did we stop? What is the importance of using theater and drama in your ministry? How can you get a drama team started up in your program? Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Shawna Johnson, the Associate Youth Pastor at Wylie Methodist Church, as they talk about th...

It's time for another recap episode! Come join the conversation as Brent and Russell sit down to discuss their favorite moments of the past 15 guests on the podcast. Come join the conversations that we are highlighting today and find some episodes that we have loved over this past Fall season! You can listen to this episode on all your preferred podcast providers. We would also love to have you jo...

When it comes to spiritual development, there is no greater conversation to have and prepare for than how to disciple people well.... but what does discipleship look like? Do we have a clear focus on where we are heading with the ones we are discipling? Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with a recurring guest, Cody Brotherton, as they talk about discipleship, what it means and how to d...

Life groups, community groups, discipleship groups... no matter what you call them, small groups are a huge part of the discipleship efforts & community within the church and most groups heavily depend on them with their programming week to week, but how can we be effective in the time that we put towards it?  Come join the conversation as Russell sits down with Jon Batch and they talk al...

*** Hey Friends, this episode is brought to you today by Grow Curriculum. They have partnered with us and provide some AMAZING content that can make your group go from 0-60 really really fast. It includes everything from lessons, to games, to parent ministry help, to volunteer trainings, discipleship strategies, event nights and more. Check them out by going to www.studentministryconversations.org...

Middle School ministry is often considered the "life-blood" of the youth group with students coming during their Junior High years and staying active through their High School years due to the relationships built... but are we making the most of the time that we have with them? Come join the conversation as Russell is back with his first episode interviewing Olivia Hewitt, the Middle School Pastor...

Anxiety in the world today is at an all-time high with adults and especially students, but how can we effectively work to combat this within students in our ministries and communities?  Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Brock Morgan, the author of the book "The Anxious Teen", as they talk about anxiety in the world today and how it not only affects our ministries but we can p...

Often times when we come into a new ministry program we are introduced to all of the things that have been running in the youth program since the last Youth Pastor was there. Some are healthy and some are not which brings the questions, "How do I go about changing an event or program within my ministry without upsetting my church?" "How do I make sure that this will be accepted well within my mini...

While we are all called to develop the students that are within our program, we are also working to build our programs with new students from our community. How do we work with our current students, volunteers and church to understand that new "un-churched" people occasionally need an extra bit of grace and patience as they learn what it means to be a follower of Jesus? Come join the conversation...

While ministry can be incredibly challenging to walk in and "be successful", our call is to reach out to the students that are in our communities. However, some of us might be called to move from the position that we are in to another position that God is calling us to. How do we discern what God is calling us to do? How we help students discern how God is calling them in their own lives? Come joi...

Often times we as student pastors can be quick to find us living on an island when it comes to connecting with people in our communities due to the nature of our profession. We can find difficulty in building relationships that are not superficial and church centered as well. How can we work on the relationships that will be real, authentic and life changing? Come join the conversation as Brent si...

Many times in ministry we find that we have time to prep lessons, teach spiritual disciplines, study the Word to get your message just right for the group that you're a part of, but often times Youth Pastors find that their own personal study and growth time lacks. How are we going to challenge our students to go past their understanding if our understanding of scripture and culture never are incr...

***You can now support this podcast on Patreon! Come be a part of the Patreon Community! https://www.patreon.com/talkstudentmin *** We often spend lots of time working to maximize the effectiveness of our time that we have students within our building, but we are limited in that capacity often with most groups not being together more then 4-5 hours a week. How can we work towards spending more tim...

Students are constantly being thrown different things to strive for when it comes to what is important in life and what makes them successful... but what are we supposed to be teaching our students to be focused on in life? How do we come alongside them and walk through priorities and make sure that the RIGHT ones are being taught? Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Jeff Harding, f...

Youth Ministries can be a place of tons of spiritual engagement, fun activities and a whole slew of camps/trips/other events... but is there such thing as too much on calendar? Can it affect the way that our ministry is viewed by parents, church members and others from the community? Can it have a serious repercussions on the physical/spiritual/emotional health of ourselves? Come join the conversa...

While many of us are working within our churches student ministry as a single staff position, there are many churches that still work with a group of pastors that are working together to advance the Kingdom with students in their communities. What are the pros of having a team? Come join the conversation as Russell sits down with Anthony Vargas, one of the student pastors at Prestonwood Baptist Ch...

Crossfit has been a fitness craze that has swept the world over and has been a big time staple in many of our towns but what can we take away from Crossfit that transcends over to the church world? In what ways can the discipline of Crossfit mix with the nature of discipleship in a church or a student ministry? Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Ryan Ford, the pastor at First Unite...

It's time for another recap episode! Come join the conversation as Brent sits down to discuss both his and Russell's favorite moments of the past 16 guests on the podcast. Come join the conversations that we are highlighting today and find some episodes that we have loved over this past Summer! We would also love to have you join the conversation if you would like to be on the show! Click her...

When it comes to summer mission trips, they are often an all-in-one package. Some groups will set you up building wheelchair ramps, leading a Vacation Bible School, or any variety of other tasks. You begin your week with them, and they have it all planned out. But what if you are looking for something different? What if an organization worked with local missions in the city they are a part of and...

Relationships are a large part of student ministry and how we work to bring the message of the Gospel to the students and people around us. Sometimes the connections can be found fairly easy that can bring us into conversations with new people but sometimes it can be very difficult. How can we work to find opportunities to engage people that we don't have much in common with? Come join the convers...

While many of us walk into a church with a youth program that is already started, sometimes we aren't so lucky. What happens when you walk into a church that doesn't have a youth program at all and you are asked to get it started? What does that look like? What are the challenges?  Come join the conversation as Russell sits down with Kevin McMachen, the Pastor at Highlands UMC in Highlands, T...

A common desire for all youth pastors is to witness their students stepping up in leadership and stepping out in boldness as they learn to serve within the group, church and local community, but we all have different ways of finding and speaking life into the students that have leadership potential.  Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Ty Lust, the Youth Pastor at First United...

Have you ever been talking with students and asked something simple as, "you remember Moses right?", only to be met by blank stares?  Once we could assume a level of Biblical familiarity, however that is often no longer the case. In this episode we talk with Jeff Roberts on some practical tips to reconnect students with the Bible, and ways to work with parents and the children's ministry to e...

We are called to be the hands and feet of Jesus to everybody that we come in contact with but what happens when that also should convict us to be reaching out to the foster community that is in all of our own backyards? Come join the conversation as Brent sits down with Crystal Leake, a licensed professional counselor/supervisor for the state of Texas with New Horizons, as they talk about how to r...