The Student Ministry Podcast

Episode 82 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Jeremey Veal, the pastor of student ministries at GFN Church in South Carolina. As Jeremey currently leads out in a number of areas in his church, he has had to shift his focus to empower his volunteers and students, simplify the student ministry calendar, and more. If you wear more than one hat in your ministry, get ready to learn from Jeremey on how he has na...

Episode 81 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Josh Griffin of Mariners Church and Download Youth Ministry. Josh is a veteran youth worker with over 25 years of experience who not only loves ministry to teenagers, but he absolutely loves equipping and empowering other youth workers.

Before coming in staff with Mariners, Josh served for 13 years at Saddleback Church as the High School Pastor under the leader...

Episode 80 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dan Navarra around youth pastor compensation. For the last 5 years, Dan has been providing amazing research around salary, benefits, and all things compensation within the world of student ministry. Dan does ministry coaching through Chemistry Staffing and has also recently begun a new role with National Christian Foundation, which he talks about briefly on thi...

Episode 79 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with P.T. Smith, who is on staff with Young Life in the Denver, Colorado, area. Not only does P.T. share some of his incredible story, he also explains the ministry of Young Life and some ways you can partner with them in your area, and he provides some encouragement around what we can do in the area of racial injustice. 

Links mentioned during this episode:

Episode 78 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Tom Bump, founder of Restoring Leaders. Tom has many years of ministry experience within kids ministry, student ministry, and more. His organization is designed to help and restore ministry leaders who find themselves in especially hard seasons. In fact, that is also the topic of his new book, Valleys Over Mountains, which he discusses in this episode of the po...

Episode 77 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Marc Therrien of workcampNE. Much of Marc's growth is connected to faith in action, which is why he now serves as one of workcampNE's directors. Through environments focused on home repair and the Bible, their team allows you, the youth leaders, to focus on the students, grow in your relationships with them, and encourage their relationships with Christ...

Episode 76 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with John Decker of Every Student Sent, a unique community-based platform with vision of connecting students to existing ministries, churches, and each other in order to propel them towards Gospel-centered mission as they navigate and engage culture during college. In this episode, we'll hear John's story and take a deep-dive into this amazing resource and h...

Episode 75 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dr. Josh Packard, the Executive Director at Springtide Research Institute. He and his team conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the inner and outer lives of young people, ages 13-25. Recently, they released The State of Religion and Young People 2021: Navigating Uncertainty, a compilation of their latest research. Springtide states, "Over 75% of...

Episode 74 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Todd Rhoades around what many are calling The Great Resignation, the phenomena in our current culture consisting of many people resigning from their jobs. And the church is not immune to it. We discuss the implications for the church as a whole and for those of us in student ministry. 

Todd has invested over 30 years in serving churches, having served as a wor...

Episode 73 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Brett Talley. As a pastor’s kid, Brett grew up in the church world and felt called to full-time ministry at a young age. After jumping into the local church as a youth pastor and next gen pastor for over 11 years, he moved into his current role with Orange and Orange Students. Steve and Brett talk about what an Orange Specialist does, what Brett has learned aft...

Episode 72 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a programming update from Steve. He shares how last year's programming changes went along with sharing some insights from his summer experiences, and plans for the 2021-2022 school year. He also shares a couple stories about how God has used video games to connect with teenagers. 

Links mentioned during this episode:

Episode 71 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Zack Ryer. Not only is Zack one of Steve's former students, but he has recently started a music career (under the stage name, Dante Nazarro) focused on songs that he has written through his anxiety, depression, and grief. Zack and Steve talk about some things that helped him during his time in youth group, how Zack has now been able to help other teens, and...

Episode 70 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Todd Pearage. Partnering with Standing Stone, Todd and his wife, Lynda, run a ministry called Youth Leader Oasis, where they care for other youth workers and their spouses. In this episode, he not only shares his story, but talks about what his ministry looks like, how you can get the care you need, and shares a few tips for all of us.

Links mentioned during t...

Episode 69 of The Student Ministry Podcast features some tips around recruiting. If you are going to make a difference in student ministry, you need a great team around you. Maybe you have questions, though. Like... How do I build a team? How do I get more people to join our team? How to I get the right people on our team? How do I raise awareness of the needs we have on our team? Prayer is a vital part of anything. Of course, we n...

Episode 68 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Chris Talbot. Not only does Chris serve in youth and family ministry at his local church, he also teaches youth ministry at Welch College and is the author of Remodeling Youth Ministry. In this episode, you'll get to hear Chris' story but also hear about how we can remodel our youth ministries to focus more on what the Bible says rather than chasing tre...

Episode 67 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Emily Chapman Richards and Olivia Stanton from Show Hope, an organization started by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to care for orphans by engaging the church and reducing barriers to adoption. Not only do Emily and Olivia share their stories, but they also share some amazing and free ways to help educate and empower your students to play a role in this mi...

Episode 66 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Aaron Stetson. Longtime listeners of the podcast will remember Aaron from our very first episode. Since then, God has redirected him to serve in a new role in the area of disaster relief. Listen in as Aaron talks about the transition from youth ministry into his work with Hope Force International, discusses opportunities for your students and church to get invo...

Episode 65 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dan Navarra and Matt Steen of Chemistry Staffing. Not only do Dan and Matt share some of their stories, but they also share some great tips and hacks for those just getting started in student ministry and those thinking about transitioning to another church or another ministry. Dan also shares some important results from his annual Youth Pastor Compensation Sur...

Episode 64 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a brief message of encouragement from Steve Cullum to you, the youth worker. As we head into a new year, we know that many of you have experienced some rough patches and have even thought about giving up at least once or twice, or maybe you know someone who has really struggled recently.  

In this episode, Steve shares five encouragements adapted from the book, It's Personal,...