Youth Pastor Training and Leadership

Partnering with parents doesn't have to be rocket science. Sure, your steps towards a partnership need to be thoughtful, but they can also be as simple as they are purposeful. For example, here's a little secret that isn't that much of a secret at all: Parents love people who love their kids. Let me share with you some ways that I take some first steps towards a partnership with parents in my ministry by intentionally encouraging parents along the way.

It's time for another big event, camp, retreat, or outreach, and you need a game that your students will be talking about for years to come. I got you! Let me share an epic messy game I play in my ministry that will make your next event "sizzle."

Effectively utilizing social media to communicate and engage your students can feel completely overwhelming. Even if you are a somewhat tech-savvy youth pastor, social media posting can quickly become yet another unchecked box on an ever-growing to-do list that you will never get through this week. What if you could eliminate those feelings of being overwhelmed or frustrated by learning to create and schedule an entire week's worth of social media in only one hour? Let me show you how I do it in my ministry.

It's been said that one of the greatest myths of leadership is that you must be in charge in order to be a leader. Unfortunately, as a youth pastor, odds are you find yourself leading from the second chair (if you have a chair at the table at all). So how do you lead well, serve with great integrity, and be an influential presence from your youth ministry seat? Here's how I do it at my church.

Generation Z, is the youngest, most ethnically diverse, and largest generation in American history, comprising 27% of the US population. They are digital natives who have never known a time without cell phones, the internet, or interactive social media. This generation is often stereotyped as tech-addicted, anti-social, or “social justice warriors,” but they also currently make up at least 50% of your youth ministry. Do you know how they think, how they learn, or how to engage them? Let me walk you through how we approach it.

It's time for another big event, camp, retreat, or outreach, and you need a game that your students will be talking about for years to come. I got you! Let me share an amazing messy game I play in my ministry that will help your next event "slide" into the Guinness Book of Epicness.

As school returns, the summer heat begins to fade, and another ministry year starts to ramp up, two things are on the minds of a majority of youth pastors: 

1) Oh no, is Halloween on a Wednesday this year? 
2) I need to plan the Fall Retreat! Planning retreats are often daunting as they require attention to detail across many different areas simultaneously. 

This masterclass series in planning and programming a fall retreat will walk through everything you need to get right with creativity and programming, the questions you need to ask and answer about logistics, and will help you eliminate the potential pitfalls so many make when planning.