Rethinking Youth Ministry | A podcast for youth ministry leaders, pastors, volunteers, and anyone who cares about students

It can be easy to measure the success of our youth ministries just by looking at attendance and numbers. But the truth is, attendance tells us more about the school calendar and weather than it does about the spiritual growth of our students. In this episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation on how to best define and measure success in your ministry environment.

Being a female in youth ministry presents a unique set of challenges that many women are navigating on a weekly basis. On this episode of Rethinking Youth Ministry, join ministry leaders for a conversation about the obstacles that females in youth ministry are facing. They’ll also talk about the value of having students see women in visible leadership positions and what you can do—no matter who you are—to better support the females in your youth ministry this week.

Our students live in a world where sex and dating are talked about everywhere they turn—on the bus, in the school halls, on Netflix, and on social media. On this episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation about the best ways to address the topic of sexuality in our ministry environments. They’ll discuss real questions that students are asking, what to say and what not to say about sex and dating, and how you can better equip parents and SGLs for conversations with students about this topic.

There's never been a time when mental health and suicide have been talked about more in culture than right now. And with teen suicide trends on the rise, it’s more important now than ever to address this issue in our ministries. On this episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation with licensed counselor, Kayla Lin. They’ll discuss how to navigate mental health and suicide in your ministry, what to do when a student shows signs of suicidal ideation, and how to lead through the tragedy of a suicide.

What do you do when a student tells you they’re harming themselves? And why is self-harm an important topic to discuss in your ministry? Self-harm can be a difficult subject to navigate with students, but it's not impossible. On this week’s episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation with licensed professional counselor, Kayla Lin, as they unpack what to do when a student admits to self-harm and how to approach the subject of self-harm in your ministry environment.

If there’s one thing we all know about the culture our students are living in, it’s that it is constantly changing. From the shows they watch to the music they listen to, what’s considered “cool” in culture seems to change in the blink of an eye. As youth workers, how do we keep up? Join ministry leaders in this episode for a conversation about student culture. They’ll discuss the tensions youth workers are feeling and practical ways to utilize culture to connect with the students you lead.

What’s happening in culture should be important to every youth leader. Why? Because culture reflects the world our students are part of every single day. In this episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation about the tensions youth leaders are facing when it comes to leveraging culture in their ministry environments. Through their discussion you’ll discover when to leverage culture and when not to, and how you can begin to prepare students for culture instead of protecting them from it.

We all have cobwebs in our lives—things we’re not proud of and things we wish we could get rid of. But if we’re going to get rid of the cobwebs, it’s not enough to simply clean the cobwebs. We need to kill the spider. In his new book, “Kill the Spider,” Carlos Whittaker talks about killing the spiders in our lives—the things holding us back. In this episode, join ministry leaders for a conversation with Carlos to find out how you can kill your spiders and how we can help students do the same.

How often do you speak to students? Whether you communicate to students every week, once a month, or just a couple times per year, chances are, as a communicator, you've asked this question: “How do I get better at speaking to students?” Join ministry leaders on this episode for a conversation about getting better as a communicator, and discover practical ways that you can improve as you speak to students.

Have you ever found yourself wanting to quit youth ministry? Or, maybe, have you ever wondered what you can do to NOT quit? If you've ever been there before, this episode is for you. Join ministry leaders as they discuss the reasons many youth pastors feel the need to quit, what you can do to keep yourself from quitting, and what to do when it's time to move on.

What tools do you use to memorize your content when you speak? What should youth leaders stop doing when it comes to social media? How can I get better at communicating each week? How do you feel about queso coming to Chipotle? These are the questions that every youth leader wishes they could ask Jon Acuff! Listen to today's episode to find out what Jon has to say about these questions and more in a conversation with ministry leaders.

Navigating the tension of how to effectively communicate to and connect with both middle school and high school students can be difficult. If you've ever wondered, “Is it possible to address every kid in every grade?” this episode is for you! In today's episode, ministry leaders talk about the differences between the middle school and high school phases, and why it's important to leverage unique opportunities in each grade that you may never get again.

Whether it’s personally or professionally, there are areas in which we all want to “get better.” And if you’ve ever wondered what exactly “getting better” looks like, this episode is for you. In today’s episode, listen as ministry leaders wrestle with defining what it means to get better personally, and discuss the importance of knowing, understanding, and leading yourself along the way.

By the time our students reach their senior year, most of them have disappeared from our youth ministries. Why is that? And more importantly, what should we do about it? If you're tired of losing your high school students, today's episode is for you. Listen as former teachers and ministry leaders discuss this uncomfortable problem along with potential solutions to keep our students engaged in our ministries.

Have you ever tried to get your lead pastor on board with an idea? If you've ever tried to get your lead pastor on board with a new event, a new budget item, or something else, you know how challenging it can be. In today's episode, listen as ministry veterans unpack the right and wrong ways to approach your senior leadership.