Youth Ministry Sherpas: Coast To Coast

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Welcome to Sherpa Shorts! Feeling the winter blues? Tired of waiting for spring to actually arrive? No Prob-llama! We bring you SHERPA SHORTS--a special presentation of the Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast -- 26 short episodes delivered in 26 days! Steve and Mathew are going through the alphabet one day at a time, taking turns choosing a word that begins with the next letter as it relates to youth m...

Many of us got into youth ministry because we love students. We love to hang out with them, teach them, and mentor them. But it doesn't take long to discover that youth ministry is much, much more than that. Sure, there are always students to hang out with, but there are also a host of other responsibilities. Some days we try on more hats than a city slicker at the dude ranch gift shop. In fact, y...

Volunteers are the heartbeat of a successful youth ministry, but they aren't always easy to find, and they can be even harder to keep. That's why finding and keeping good ones is one of the most important jobs for anyone who's trying to build a youth ministry for the long haul. Steve remembers some of the challenges and benefits of his days as a youth volunteer, while Mathew is trying to forget hi...

Youth ministry is more than a job. It's an integrated life that can overflow into all hours of the day, seven days a week if we allow it to. Whether it's people reaching out to us, or our desire to know everything all the time, it can be all-consuming. And while we all want to do a great job shepherding others, we also have to shepherd ourselves. That means we have to set boundaries that help keep...

In the second part of our interview with author, speaker, and youth ministry veteran Brock Morgan, we venture into a vulnerable conversation about anxiety, forgiveness, the state of today's teenagers, the pressures of academics, and the difficult path to finding a beautiful longevity in youth ministry. Brock shares his own story of experiencing anxiety for the first time, and how it changed his vi...

It's our much-anticipated first-ever interview! We had the privilege of sitting down with Brock Morgan, 27-year youth ministry veteran, author of Youth Ministry 2027 (Youth Cartel, 2017) and Pastor of Student Ministries at Falls Church Anglican (FAlls Church, VA). Brock is a humble and wise voice on the leading edge of youth ministry. We chatted with Brock about growing up the son of Christian roc...

Numbers matter in youth ministry. They always have, and they always will. We care about how many students show up, and often we live and die by those numbers. But what do they mean? How do we count them? What factors influence them? And most importantly, how do we not let our emotions rise and fall with the weekly roller coaster of how many students showed up to our youth ministry? In this episode...

Mission trips are a staple of youth ministry. They help us get our students out of their mundane, day-to-day existence and into a spiritual adventure. Mission trips provide opportunities for some of the greatest spiritual growth we've ever seen. However, they also have the potential to turn south in a hurry. We've experienced it all -- from travel nightmares to leader meltdowns to puking parties t...

Every group has them. Some groups collect them. They simultaneously confound us, drive us crazy, and remind us of the Image of God in every person. They are...THE AWKWARD KIDS.There are many stripes, from the tech nerds who know everything to the sheltered ones who have never met a non-Christian to the shy wallflowers who won't utter a sound to the autistic ones who speak in beeps (really). How do...

Can you believe that your youth ministry isn't the top priority of everyone you meet? Students who want to play in their championship game instead of coming on the retreat? Parents who just finished a 70-hour work week and don't want to drive their kid back to church for youth group? Volunteers who have three sick children at home and aren't coming to lead their small group tonight? What is wrong...

Kids wander. It's true, whether it's disappearing on a tour of Lambeau Field (a good place to be lost) or in the racks at JC Penney (not a good place to be lost), kids will wander away. The same is true for students and families in our youth ministries and churches. Sometimes they go to another church down the road, and sometimes they just stop going to church. Either way, it's hard on us as youth...

Age is taking its toll. After 52 years of youth ministry, it's hard to remember our names, let alone what it was like our first few years in youth ministry. Maybe it's the brain damage caused by going 105 mph in a Jetta? Anyway, there are a few lessons we learned early on in our youth ministry lives that still serve us well today. Steve and Mathew share some memories of the Wonder Years, of mistak...

Maryland-based Youth Pastors Steve Anderson and Mathew McCabe bring you their first full-length podcast. Today's topic is Calling. How does God call us into youth ministry? How do we know we are right for this? And what happens when hard times and discouragement come, and we begin to question that calling? What are the Daggers of Doubt that make us want to quit? Mathew came to youth ministry by mi...

YOUTH MINISTRY SHERPAS -- Encouraging Youth Workers to Keep Going! The Youth Ministry Sherpas Podcast makes its debut with an abbreviated episode. Maryland-based Youth Pastors Steve Anderson and Mathew McCabe serve at neighboring churches and have been friends for over a dozen years. They've never climbed Everest, but together, they have a combined 54 years youth ministry experience, including 30...