Beyond the Event: A Youth Ministry Podcast

Churches need leaders and students want purpose, but in many communities vocational ministry still doesn't seem like a real career path. In this episode, we talk about how to make that path visible and practical, and how to root it in discipleship instead of hype.

First, we share updates to CIY SuperStart. The biggest one is a tighter link between session content and small group time. That means less scramble in the handoff from wor...

Beyond the Event is back! On this episode, we catch up on a whirlwind season of Engage and the surprising ways global stories at MOVE and MIX can open students’ eyes to how big God’s church really is. Then Noah Brooke joins us to share a sermon-planning approach that blends book-by-book teaching with clear topics, plus a small-group model that drives deeper discipleship. 

• Engage growth and the behind-the-s...

Season 6 is here! We're excited to talk to youth ministry leaders and pastors from around the country—some well-known, some names you may not have heard before—who are doing the hard work on the ground every day.

An exciting twist this season: Dealer's Choice episodes! Rather than assigning topics, we let each guest choose subjects that feel important to them in the youth ministry space right now.

Be on the lookout for ou...

Summer can either empty out your youth ministry calendar or expose what was never sustainable to begin with. We sit down with Hannah Helwege from New Life Church in Colorado Springs to get specific about what actually works when school gets out, sports and theater shift, and families finally have breathing room. If you’re a youth pastor trying to build summer programming that keeps students engaged and keeps leaders healthy, ...

Summer doesn’t just disrupt student schedules, it disrupts your ministry’s rhythm. And when families are already juggling travel, sports, camps, and changing routines, adding a calendar full of one off events and long breaks can quietly drain momentum. We wrestle with a simple question: if Wednesday night is the one predictable thing you can offer, why would you remove it?

Tyler Lane, next gen pastor at Valley Re...

Confiscate every phone or teach teens how to use them well? We invite Matt Stevens from Calvary Christian Church in Omaha to unpack a wiser middle path that keeps safety high, communication clear, and discipleship at the center. Matt walks us through how his team uses a shared channel to coordinate hundreds of students on campus, why parents relax when there’s a direct line to their kids, and how simple expectations—pho...

What if a single boundary could transform your next youth trip? We sit down with Arkansas youth pastor Matt Tibbit, who has led students for 20 years without allowing phones at camp. His reasoning is simple and sharp: protect attention, protect safety, and give students a rare chance to belong without the pull of a screen. Matt walks us through the practical side—how his team handles parent communication using leader phones, ...

When the Spirit nudges your ministry to change, do you add another program—or clear the calendar and listen? We sit down with student pastor Tyler Hensley from Forum Christian Church to unpack a bold move: cutting Sunday class so students worship with the whole church and step into meaningful serving roles. It wasn’t easy, especially after COVID, but the long-term fruit is clear—deeper intergenerational ties, a th...

Big rooms light up when students feel seen, safe, and invited to play a real part—on stage, on screen, and in their small groups. We open with CIY’s interactive team and how they’re hijacking Unreal Engine to turn LED walls into living sets, sync visuals with stage moments, and run games that respond to what’s actually happening in the room. It’s not spectacle for spectacle’s sake; it’s a t...

A new year deserves a new blueprint. We’re opening 2026 with a clear shift in youth ministry: equip students to share their faith with gentleness and respect, then walk with them through a real follow‑through plan that turns moments into movement. Jayson French joins us to unpack how CIY is doubling down on training, pairing students with mentors, and setting a focused 45‑day window so testimonies actually get told and gospel...

We explore why Trevor Sill at The Bridge Christian Church combines junior high and high school and how they rebuilt midweek around one big night and weekly small groups. Trevor shares wins, missteps, and the practices that turned constraints into a discipleship advantage.

• Reasons for combining ages including space, staffing, family rhythm
• One big night monthly plus weekly small groups structure
• High schoolers as ...

A cupcake caper, an Unreal-powered mansion, and a question every youth leader wrestles with: should we separate junior high and high school? We sit down with student pastor Michelle Kruse from Summit Christian Church to unpack how age-intentional programming can transform engagement without requiring a bigger building or a bigger budget. Michelle walks us through their midweek system that alternates middle school and high school in...

What if the fastest way to deeper impact isn’t writing more, but freeing leaders to be with people? We pull back the curtain on our content process and share why we’ve built a central writing model that serves multiple campuses while giving local teams room to adapt. Our north star this summer is Ephesians and the identity of a “kingdom worker”—loved, rescued, changed, and sent. That sending isn’...

What if the fastest route to a healthier youth ministry isn’t writing more, but shepherding more? We sit down with Anne Wilson, Next Gen Pastor at Traders Point Christian Church, to learn the value of buying curriculum, then spending your reclaimed hours pastoring students and training volunteers. Anne shares a practical, month-ahead workflow for taking a solid, gospel-centered series from download to stage—assigning a ...

A freshman gets baptized by his friends. A mom weeps because her child—wounded by past violence—finally steps out to a church event. Teenagers run cameras, lead songs, read Scripture, and help with communion. The thread tying it together is simple and bold: there’s no junior Holy Spirit, and students don’t need a separate church—they need a real place in the church.

We sit down with Jordan Franc...

Want teens to feel seen, speak up, and stick around? We dig into the power of student-only spaces with Family Ministries pastor Tito Lozano and uncover how comfort, agency, and relationship-driven environments lead to deeper faith and smoother integration into the wider church. Tito walks us through a simple but game-changing redesign—turning a stage into a lounge with couches and beanbags—and how that shift invited vul...

What if the most powerful way to reach today's youth isn't through carefully crafted topical messages, but through teaching them to dig into Scripture verse by verse? Jeremy Stevenson, formations pastor at Christ Church in Jacksonville, believes we're facing a generation hungry for authenticity—one that needs skills to engage with God's Word directly rather than depending on a youth pastor's clever packaging.

In this t...

What approach should you take when teaching in a post-Christian context? DJ Rodeffer, Youth Director at Collective Church in Frederick, Maryland, makes a compelling case for topical teaching in this thought-provoking conversation.

Speaking from his experience in one of America's most unchurched regions, DJ explains why topical teaching creates powerful entry points for students who've been burned by the church or have no rel...

How do we maintain spiritual, emotional, and relational health during our most demanding seasons? 

Lane Moss, Director of MOVE at Christ in Youth, opens up about the real challenges of summer ministry life when routines are regularly disrupted by constant travel. Lane draws an important distinction between routines (which often crumble under pressure) and rhythms (which can sustain us regardless of circumstances). ...