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By Ronald|2024-04-29T05:44:39-07:00April 29th, 2024|Leadership|12 Comments

May is just around the corner! That means seniors are moving on, 7th-grade students are going into high school, and 5th or 6th-grade students are getting ready to enter youth group!

With all this change? What should you get each grade or class to help them mark the occasion?

Bibles for Seniors

I love gifting Bibles to students moving out of the youth group and into the next season of life. Even better, though, is giving them a Bible with highlighted verses and notes written from the important people in their lives. You can do this all in one go at a Senior focused youth group night or hand the Bible to parents to have them run it around to family. Whichever direction you take, write your own note and highlight a few verses.

Those can be treasured Bibles that can help guide them to their next season! Just make sure you reach out to the seniors on your list and ask if they will be around for it. It never hurts to have a couple extra on hand, just in case.

T-Shirts for Incoming Students

Every student could use a Bible when coming into the youth group. So don’t hear me say DON’T get an incoming student a Bible. However, I love to help new students feel a part of the group and special at the same time. I would usually get a t-shirt made up special for the students coming into the ministry. It would be our logo on a t-shirt that ONLY the new incoming students get. That way they get some cool youth group branded stuff AND feel some connection to the other students moving in with them.

It’s been cool to watch students keep wearing those shirts over the years too. A little bit of class pride, yeah?

A Plant

Go with me here. Moving from middle school to high school is difficult. It can be one of the toughest moves a student makes. We don’t often recognize that in our ministries, which should change! I love getting my students something that symbolizes growing into the next season of life.

A succulent (read: a plant that doesn’t die very easily) can be a neat gift to show students you see them and remind they that they are still growing! It’s a little reminder that can encourage them to continue to make their faith their own AND, hopefully, encourage them to continue to grow in grace and love.

You can probably think of a few other things you could grab for a student moving from one season to the next. Celebrate the moves and the changes! Whatever you do, acknowledge that God is at work in their lives and that you’re excited about what He has in store for them!

How to Start a Youth Pastor Network in Your Area

By Ronald|2024-02-26T09:32:45-08:00February 26th, 2024|Youth Pastor Life|7 Comments

If you’re serving in youth ministry, there’s a chance there are other youth pastors and youth workers in your area. Whether you are full-time, part-time, or a volunteer, there are tons of benefits to networking with other youth workers in your area! The question you might have is, how do you start a youth network if there isn’t one already going? Here are some pretty easy wins:

Take them out for coffee or lunch.

If you have a budget for it with your church, offer to take out a local youth pastor on your dime. Let them know the only thing you want to gain from grabbing coffee or lunch is to get to know them better and actually mean that! There’s a lot to be said for breaking bread with someone and just getting to meet them, exchange phone numbers, and sit across the table; it’s a big deal. Ask them what their wins have been recently. Ask them about their struggles. Pray for them. It’s a huge way to get to know someone, and it’s how we treat students and volunteers, so why not treat other youth pastors the same way?

Start a text thread.

Once you get to know a couple of youth pastors in the area, start connecting them! Introduce each other over text messaging and put them into a group chat. Since you’re all struggling with the same challenges and issues, finding some common ground and sharing a meme every now and then can provide your group with some fun and encouragement for reaching students!

Ask them to teach for you.

It feels like a lot of youth pastors want to be the one who goes and teaches someplace other than their own church. Just check out the DYM Facebook page. But what if you INVITED a fellow youth pastor to come and speak to the students you’re ministering to? That’s a move that will earn you some serious credibility with a local youth pastor. Why? It shows you’re on the same team. It shows you’re comfortable with the church down the street. And it gives your buddy a chance to speak to a different crowd. All great things. And a good way to grow fellowship with one another.

Be their friend.

Just be a friend to the youth pastors in your area. Reach out. Genuinely ask them how they are. Share funny videos. Brainstorm ideas. The start of a great youth ministry network doesn’t have to be an amazing joint youth ministry event with a thousand students. It can be a game night at your place with three other youth pastors who love students AND Settlers of Catan (or whatever your flavor of board game is). And you’ll find that you are mutually encouraged by others when you offer encouragement around as well.

Where do you go from here? Do whatever serves your group! Plan a monthly coffee time where you pray over your ministries and your students. Brainstorm how to tackle the combined biggest issues you are facing. Set up a retreat for a weekend for just youth pastors. The sky is the limit. Well, and your combined budgets, let’s be real.

What did I miss? I’d love to hear it!

Needing an event to rally around as youth workers? We got you!