January 30, 2025 • 32 mins
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GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** As we push into the new year, we wanted to analyze what is working in youth ministry right now. We will be taking a look at 6 Youth Ministry Trends and giving them 1 of 3 Ratings: Overrated, Underrated or Properly Rated. We will be taking a look at the importance of small groups in youth groups, the value of having volunteer handbooks, the relevance of youth group games and much MORE!! Listen in and discover how to elevate your youth ministry to new heights.
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You may also enjoy these episodes:
(#225) 5 Things Every Youth Pastor Should Be Doing to Kick Off 2025!
(#226) Youth Ministry Overnighters - How to Have a Successful Youth Group Lock In!
(#112) Should Youth Group Games Even Be a Part of Youth Ministry?
(#064) What's the BIG DEAL About SMALL GROUPS in Youth Ministry?
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Youth group games.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I think they are one of the most important elements
of youth ministry.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
No weekend services for youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I think it's a really bad impression for first-time
visitors.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Small groups Overrated, underrated or
properly rated.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I don't know if everyone sees the importance of
them.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Volunteer handbook.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I don't think everyone's going to like this
answer.
Today we're going to talk aboutand rate six trending topics in
youth ministry.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Welcome to the Ministry Coach podcast where
every week we give youactionable and practical tips to
help you in your youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen
Laskola, and today we're goingto talk about some trends for
this next year of youth ministryand we're going to well, I'm
going to say they're overrated,underrated or properly rated.
And you're going to interviewme.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
And I'm going to agree or disagree.
Okay, okay, all right.
Okay, here we go.
Let's just jump right in.
The first thing we're going totackle is small groups Overrated
, underrated or properly rated.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, I guess I would have to go with underrated.
I don't know if everyone seesthe importance of them, and I
used to think that that was justa staple of youth ministry, no
matter where you were in thecountry or what church you were
at.
I just I guess I don'tunderstand how discipleship can
(01:39):
happen or what your discipleshipmodel would be, if you don't
have small groups.
The only way I could see it islike unless your whole youth
group is a small group you know,however, it would be very
unlikely that all your membersare all boys or all girls, and
so I think like at that point,even just having a guys and a
(02:01):
girls small group would bebetter than nothing.
I mean, I just know there is acertain only a certain level of
closeness we can get in a mixedgender group.
So I think that they'reunderrated, in the sense that I
don't know that every youthpastor sees that as the primary
discipleship model, but I think,like Jesus sort of modeled that
(02:22):
same idea with the 12 and thenthe three, and it was just sort
of like that.
There were the crowds and hedid ministry and but like who
was he forming and shaping andcalling out and challenging?
It was the people he was doingthe most life with.
(02:43):
And I think that's a great modelfor small groups, a great
foundational reason why that'sthe most effective form of
discipleship.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I agree that was kind of an easy one.
That was a softball.
They're going to get harder aswe go along.
Ooh, scandalous.
Let's go ahead and add a subpoint to this one.
Let's go ahead and add a subpoint to this one.
Small groups, but where theybreak it up every week with
different students.
Like every week you got to getin a group of people you've
never been in a group with, orsomething like that.
(03:15):
This is a thing.
Not all youth groups do this,but a lot of them that do.
Small groups do this, where itrotates, and you kind of change
it up every week.
Overrated, underrated properlyrated.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, if they do it and love it, I would say they're
overrating it.
Right, it's overrated.
You should not do that.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Wait.
So you're saying, if they'redoing it and the kids love it?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Like I'm saying they're like no, like the youth
pastor's, like we love this, Ilove this.
I would say, well, you must beoverrating it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,like I don't think it's a good
idea.
Wait, let me think.
Overrated, underrated, yes, yes, yes, because you know, I just
(03:55):
know from experience, likegrowing up in church, I've been
in a lot of Bible study, lifegroups, small groups, cell
groups, all the groups you know,and one of my biggest pet
peeves would be where it was arotating door and you never knew
from week to week who was goingto be in there.
And I just felt like, whilethat might create some
relational breadth, it willnever create relational depth.
(04:17):
And I remember being sofrustrated as like, okay, now
there's four new people in thisgroup.
Do I start all over Like allright?
So the thing I've been talkingabout, that I'm struggling with,
and here's the situation thatI've been walking my team or
team group through and they'vebeen praying for I don't know,
it just felt like you know what.
Never mind, let's just talkabout the Bible study, because
(04:39):
this is too exhausting to haveto reintroduce myself every
single time, every single week.
You know when it was a littlemore open door in some Bible
studies in the past.
So I guess it depends whatyou're looking for.
I think the heart behind it isgood, in the sense that I know
youth pastors really wanteveryone to get out of their
(05:00):
cliques and get to know newpeople, which there's nothing
wrong with that.
I just don't know if smallgroups are necessarily the best
catalyst for that.
I think do that for a game orsomething, but like for where
you're hoping people are goingto do.
Life on life, keep itconsistent, because that builds
trust and depth, and if that'swhat we're supposed to do, I
(05:23):
mean, Jesus walked with the sameguys for three years, you know,
and it was like they built afoundation of honesty and truth
and love and rapport and all ofthese things, just this.
Probably we can't even fathomthe intimacy and closeness
between some of them and I justdon't think you get that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
If you're like speed dating, small groups you know, I
can see the idea, like you weresaying, behind it, being a good
one and that everyone gets toknow each other, but again, yeah
, I agree that it's overrated ina sense.
I think there's better ways todo that.
I think if you were to the twogroups of people that I think
that you'd be more most likelyto share your heart with might
(06:08):
be those you're super close with, as in you're in a small group
and you're with those samepeople every week and you really
get to know each other, or aperson that you're like.
I feel like this is the inbetween where I don't feel like
sharing my whole heart because Idon't know you that well, but I
(06:29):
will kind of be near you andsee you again.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't know.
That's just how I feel about it.
Well, it's not like someanonymous stranger where you
could just, yeah, I get whatyou're saying.
So we don't like that idea.
Overrated.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Okay, A lot of people with their volunteers, with
their leaders, wherever you callthem.
They love the idea of puttingout like a volunteer handbook of
like training Sure.
Overrated, underrated orproperly rated.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I don't think everyone's going to like this
answer.
I think it's overrated,overrated, and here's why.
Have you ever read youremployee handbook?
Maybe when you got hired norma,please plug your ears for this
she's the head of our hrdepartment.
We have an employee handbook.
I do not care what it says, butif somebody is talking to me
(07:18):
about it like, hey, you knowwhen you need to send a
permission slip, here's how wereally like to do it.
If you could go ahead and saveit as a PDF and then blah, blah,
blah and here's why I would bea lot more likely to listen than
it was like section five to oneof the employee handbook how to
send attachments and why Iwould just be like you know and
(07:40):
I'm not going to retain that.
So I don't think a handbook isa good idea, but it's not that I
don't think training is a goodidea.
It's just your method.
I feel like training in aministry context, so that it
doesn't feel like some HRpresentation is a lot more done
in the context of relationship.
(08:00):
I would much rather do it twoways Drip it in at my weekly
meeting.
Hey guys, we really need to makesure we're keeping accurate
attendance.
And here's why If a kid doesn'texist in our system, they're
getting no communication from us, which means they're going to
miss out on events and theycould slip through the cracks.
(08:22):
We really don't want that tohappen.
We want parents to be in theknow.
We really don't want that tohappen.
We want parents to be in theknow.
So here's these junior highinfo cards.
I'm going to put them in yourfolder.
If you have any new kidstonight that aren't on your
roster, make sure they fill thisout and we will take care of
the rest.
All right, anyways, how didyour small group go last week?
Like that was training and Ididn't hand them a handbook.
(08:44):
That felt so sterile.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
It does take time because you have to sit and like
talk with them and, you know,add it in, and it's easy for
certain things to slip throughthe cracks.
You're like, oh my gosh, Inever told you guys about that,
but like it can happen atonboarding.
So like when a brand newvolunteer starts in your
ministry, a great thing to do.
I love taking them to coffee orlunch and getting to know them.
(09:09):
But then like, hey, here's afew things, just as a church,
that are like non-negotiables.
I'll just run through them withyou real quick and that would
probably be things that are morepolicy related.
Like, keep in mind, we're allmandated reporters and you know,
if you ever need assistancewith that, just give me a call
and I can help, you know, walkyou through that process.
(09:30):
You know, here's the kind ofhumor that we do or don't use
with kids.
You know we never make fun of akid or use R-rated humor or
reference a bad movie or blah,blah, blah.
So you know, do thosenon-negotiable things, you know,
through a conversation, but Idon't know, there's just
something very sterile abouthanding them a handbook.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And I just don't think for your effort because
that does take time to prepareand write and research.
I just think for the effort ittakes it's a very low impact.
I don't think they're going toread it remember it or care.
So I have just noticed the bestway I got trained at North Coast
was on-the-job training, likethey gave me the parameters that
(10:18):
were like those hard lines, butthen we kind of just trained as
we went, like, oh my gosh, Ihave this girl who just won't
stop talking in my small group.
Ok, let's troubleshoot thattogether.
So here's some methods of howyou can navigate that, and I
just think it's better when itcomes up naturally.
Then let me tell you a thousandpotential scenarios that you
(10:39):
need to be ready for.
You know, I just think it feelsweird.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So and if you have the two leader small group model
, there's always going to besomebody there.
Well, there should be somebodyelse there that has done it
before.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I don't think you're gonna throw two new newbies or
yeah, that's a great one personwho's never done it here you go
figure it out, you know, on thefly like you're saying, but
you're kind of learning on thefly with another person, kind of
coming under their wing, andobviously you are dripping it
into them as well.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I also think it's overrated.
I think the spirit behind itmay be underrated, where I think
maybe for your sake as theyouth pastor, it might be a good
idea to have all those thingswritten down, but maybe not so
much something like here you go,study it, I'm going to quiz you
on it, but maybe just as achecklist for yourself it might
be a good idea.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I need to make sure I go through all these things
yeah with my leaders and drip itin and talk about these things
over time and there's somethings that you'll notice with
your leaders, like this, likesome of it felt insulting to
some of my leaders, like, well,don't ever watch a rated r movie
with a kid, you know.
But then for some, like youngerleaders, I'm like I need you to
(11:50):
look me in the eye when I saythis.
Like your social media cannothave this, this, this, you know,
and so I think a lot of timestoo, it's I like to tailor it to
who I'm talking to andemphasize different things based
on, maybe, their age, stationin life or their age, their
(12:11):
lifestyle, how I know them to be, or the kind of personality
they have.
It's just like I know it'sgoing to be real tempting for
you to post blah, blah, blah,but you know, here's why we're
really careful with our socialmedia as leaders.
So something like that, I justthink, a little more organic
training, and it takes wisdom onyour part and it takes time on
your part, but I think it's moreeffective than a handbook yeah,
(12:36):
and I've had several differentjobs where it required somewhat
of a handbook, like a manual,training manual, and people
would always get it wrong and Iwould always think it's in.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
It's in the handbook, it's in the manual.
It's clear that nobody reallypays attention.
It just doesn't feel relevant.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Like it didn't feel relevant in the moment.
It's like okay, so if I ever amin a car with a kid and they I
just felt like these scenariosare like I don't know, worry
about it when we come to it.
And that's why the youth pastoris there to help, right?
Hey friend, I just wanted tointerrupt this episode for a
second to let you know about anawesome opportunity for you and
(13:14):
your youth ministry.
So last year we launched ourcourse and coaching program
called Youth Ministry GrowthAccelerator and the response has
been amazing.
So we've helped tons of youthpastors grow the size and health
of their youth ministry and wewant to invite you to be a part
of that as well, because maybeyou're just sort of feeling
stuck in a rut, maybe you don'tknow what to do next, maybe you
(13:37):
just have a vague plan in yourmind of what you're doing and
you want some real help to getyou from where you are to where
you want to go.
So if that sounds likesomething you've been looking
for, go togrowyouryouthministrycom and
check it out for more details.
All right, let's get back tothe episode.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
All right.
Next one is and you're comingoff the heels of one right now
all-nighters slash, overnighters, slash lock-ins.
Overrated, underrated orOverrated overrated.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I just got home from one this morning.
I probably got the best sleepI've ever had at one.
So I have changed both of mineto a sleeping portion.
I don't go all night.
We don't play games all night.
I think this girl mistook itlast night for one of those and
she's like showing me this teenytiny basically towel that was
(14:29):
supposed to be her blanket.
She's like I didn't realizewe'd be sleeping.
Luckily, I packed two sleepingbags for our daughter and so I'm
like you can have one of hers,because I was gonna have her
like lay on one, like a pad oryeah, and then use the other one
.
So I'm like, here you go.
She's like, oh, no, it's okay.
I'm like, no, you're gonnafreeze, you know.
So I don't like them, eventhough I just did one, and I'm
(14:54):
like why am I doing this?
I have a better idea.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Here's why I think they're overrated Because I
don't even know if you have togo into it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I think everyone probably agrees, Okay it's more
than just because I'm tired.
Okay, why can't we pack thesame amount of games?
It's Friday night.
People could get there at fiveo'clock, go five to nine.
That's four hours.
We went 7 pm to 8 am but westarted the movie at 1030.
(15:23):
So that was three and a halfhours only of we played four
games, we did four just dances,we had pizza and we had a half
an hour break in there to justgo, hang out, go to the snack
shack, whatever you needed to do.
I could have done that just aswell from 5 pm to 9 pm, which is
(15:44):
a reasonable hour for yourparents to pick you up.
They would have even picked youup at 10 pm if, if I wanted to
go that long.
So here's why I think it's adiminishing return at some point
Meaning, once midnight hit, Iwas trying to get them to go to
bed and I had to take off myyouth pastor hat.
(16:07):
Like I'm fun, we're buddies To.
I am a warden at a prison.
And I hate being that person.
But they get reallydisrespectful.
There's a lot of opportunitiesfor shenanigans.
The leaders are disrespected.
So one of my girls directorshad asked super nicely twice
(16:28):
like hey, girls in the corner,like you guys have to settle
down.
Like they were just beingobnoxious and rude and loud and
I had to get up.
Like hey, like they were justbeing obnoxious and rude and
(16:59):
loud and I had to get up.
Like hey, she's asked you twiceNow.
You're bordering on blatantdisrespect to her.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So now.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I have toism, or trying to door dash something to
the church you know true.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Um, nothing wrong with a little taco bell at two
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Oh, sounds really good right now.
Um, and so I just I'm like whydo I keep doing this to myself
when we would have had aperfectly fun night all left
being best friends?
There is, I think it was threeyears ago they, the girls, still
talk to me.
Remember when you yelled at us?
(17:28):
I'm like, yep, I do, Becauseyou guys were so rude.
And it was 6 am and I finallywas just like forget it, do
whatever you want, becausenobody listens to me anyway you
lasted all the way to six beforeyou said that.
That's pretty impressive andthen I stormed out, and that was
(17:50):
that I quit well, I didn'tstorm out of the church, just
just out of that room.
I'm like fine, cause they keptturning on the lights and
they're like I'm done.
I'm like just cause you're done.
Sleeping Doesn't mean everyoneelse's.
We had an hour and a half leftto sleep and I'm not
entertaining you at 6am in themorning get in your bed.
So I just feel like it bringsout the worst in them and me.
(18:13):
And it was like we're on thishigh, we're all having fun,
we're all dancing, we're alldoing games, laughing, hot pizza
.
And then it was like we areenemies now and then we leave as
enemies.
I mean, we were fine in themorning, but I don't know.
It just doesn't feel necessary.
And what are we doing?
(18:33):
It's not like any relationshipsare getting built.
We're literally laying in adark room trying not to giggle.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Right, like I don't know, it's just dumb.
Would it be better if youstayed up all night?
No, would it be better for themif you stayed up all night.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
They wouldn't make it .
I've tried those and they'reusually complaining and falling
asleep they're usuallycomplaining and falling asleep,
and they never remember thatpart of it, though.
Right, so nope, I'm gonna writemyself a big sticky note.
I'm gonna leave it on my deskall year, so that when I go to
write the calendar for 2026, I'mlike, oh yeah, let's do this
(19:09):
five to nine, and they'll stillcome, and some kids get picked
up anyways.
They're like oh, I want to come, but I don't want to spend the
night, like I'm like I do notblame you, Take me with you.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I think most people would agree it's overrated.
I think for the sake of thestudents it's underrated.
That is something that theylove, For whatever reason.
Staying up late or all night,they just love that idea.
Maybe it's because they'renever allowed to do it yeah, and
(19:39):
I think they're.
It's just something that theyreally look forward to.
So in that sense it'sunderrated I agree.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
But even for a junior hire staying out till 9 or 10
pm on a friday night, that'sstill a little risky out of
their element and here's thething go to each other's house
and spend the night afterwards.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
There you go, pawn it off on the parents.
There's a sleepover if you wantone, so bad.
What about youth group games?
Overrated, underrated orproperly rated?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Well, I think a lot of youth pastors underrate them.
I think they're most of thetime properly rated if you come
from a fun church, but I thinksometimes youth pastors just see
it as like a necessary evil ofyouth ministry, but I think they
(20:26):
are one of the most importantelements of youth ministry
because I don't think I I theycan never be overrated.
So it's either they'reunderrated or properly rated,
depending on your church.
I don't think you could everoverrate a game you know,
because here's what games do?
They create the energy that youneed to connect, and I think
(20:50):
that goes for adults too.
I'm like I know not everyone isa game person, but even the
people who aren't playing stillbenefit from that energy in the
room and they like maybe willwatch it or whatever.
But it just creates an energythat I feel like is kind of the
conduit of connection and it'sreally important because, like,
(21:12):
it fulfills, I think, aspiritual need of human
connection.
It's a method of humanconnection beyond something that
feels churchy, which is reallyhelpful for a kid, who A who's a
kid, but also for someone who'slooking to connect and that
(21:33):
might be their only way.
Like, think about a brand newkid or a really young Christian
or somebody who's checking toconnect and that might be their
only way.
Like, think about a brand newkid or a really young Christian
or somebody who's checking itout, and they might not be able
to connect through worship, theymight not be able to connect
through the small groups, yet wewant to get them there, but at
the very least they felt a partof things while we played the
(21:53):
game and that's really important, because you know that phrase
belonging before you believe.
I think that's a reallyimportant step, especially in
adolescence, that they need tocome and feel a sense of
belonging and then we move themtoward belief and then now,
hopefully, the tables will turnat some point and the game will
(22:13):
take a back seat and they willbe like oh, I can't wait to
worship, or I can't wait for themessage, or small groups or
whatever.
But I mean the game, I justthink, is such a beautiful
energy creator, connectioncreator, having shared
experiences, laughter, a way tointeract.
(22:35):
You know, because you know theyalways say like girls connect
through talking, guys connectthrough doing something together
.
I think I'm like a hybrid ofboth, because I connect with
people over games, overactivities, over competition
over something fun For me.
I feel more likely to want totalk, make small talk, after
(22:59):
we've done something like thatyeah, you know, like it just
brings a closeness in a way thatjust going up and like hey, so
how was your week?
You know doesn't really do, butwe just did something together,
we laughed together, we werehuman and I think that is
spiritual.
So I think there's a I mean,we've done episodes on this, but
(23:21):
there's real art to games.
It's not just like okay, fine,Then let's all play Monopoly.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
And that is where I think they are highly underrated
is if it's like if a youthgroup game to you is dodgeball
every week, or is just somesimple, just a really short.
Okay, we did a game, you knowmoving on but I think that in
that sense they're veryunderrated.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Well, and that kind of piggybacks off of what we
were talking about last weekwhere it's like, well, if you
just do a service project to doa service project, you're
actually in a deficit rightbecause it's the.
The bad experience is worsethan not doing it at all.
And I kind of feel like thatwith games.
If they're a constant badexperience, then just either we
(24:04):
need to figure that out or justdon't do them because, it
actually can have a negativeimpact.
It's not just do it to do it,it's like strategic what kind
kind of group do we have?
What would be really fun forthem?
What would include everyone?
What fits our space the bestway?
What is the highest potentialfor connection?
You know, just stuff like thatof just asking yourself is this
(24:27):
actually a good fit?
right in a lot of ways.
I mean, this is not the episodeto dive into each one of those.
But yeah, games are like youshould put a lot of your time
and attention toward them andnot an afterthought exactly.
Yeah, that's what I'm trying tosay yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Youth group games are , like you're saying, underrated
or properly rated, depending onhow you value them.
I do not think they'reoverrated, unless that was your
entire service, but I think whatthey do provide is this really
extended on ramp to your youthministry, where it gives people
a chance to kind of merge intoit as they feel comfortable
(25:08):
Picture, not panicked, you know,I got to get over, you know,
and so I think that it does areally good job of doing that.
And also people bond quicklyover experience, kind of what
you're saying got to get over,you know, and, and so I think
that it does a really good jobof doing that.
And also people bond quicklyover experience, kind of what
you're saying.
And I mean, think about ifyou're ever in a group of
strangers and something happenswhether hilarious or scary or
all that all of a sudden youguys connect.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
I mean did you see that?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
oh my gosh can't believe the guy said that and it
just instant bond and so it'sthe same idea with youth group
games and that it's fun andwe're enjoying things, we're
having fun together and all of asudden my teammate I become
really close to because we'rejust thrown into this
competition and we're on thesame team.
So anyways yeah definitely okay.
(25:51):
So the next one is no weekendservices for youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Ooh, I was going to say that's overrated, meaning
you definitely should have, uh,youth services on your weekend.
I think it's a really badimpression for first time
visitors that there's no placefor their family to go.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Well, a lot of people would argue well, they should
be with their family.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Okay, I'm glad you brought that up because I have
an answer for that.
So I think, yes, but you shouldbe planning family worship
nights then, because if youronly option for a student is to
come in with the adults, themessages are somewhere in limbo.
(26:38):
Either they're too advanced orinappropriate almost for a
12-year-old or they're reallywatered down for the adults.
I've been in services that weremeant for both and I'm like
thinking to myself this pastoris talking to me like I'm eight
(27:01):
years old and I can deal withthat on Christmas Eve and I can
deal with that once in a whilefor a family friendly service
time.
I'm not going to do that everysingle week.
And then, in the same way, Ifeel like when students are in
there it curbs like what adultsare allowed to talk about.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, very surface level.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, and I think it's inadvertently sends the
message like church is nottotally for you yet.
You're kind of warming up andthen you'll be one of us someday
, so just hang in there throughthe boredom until you're one of
us Do I like the idea offamilies worshiping together, of
course?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I do Right together?
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Of course I do.
I think that it could be reallygreat to launch something at
your church like a once a weekfamily worship service where
there's communion and worshipand like a Devo and where
families get to come together.
Maybe you have a barbecueoutside afterwards and it's kind
of a community night that spansall ages.
(28:06):
I think that's a really goodidea.
Another thing to be mindful ofthat I actually run into a ton
is kids showing up withoutparents.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, and I've heard people say well, the church body
should just accept them andbring them next to their family
and I think, and you're probablygoing to agree, that the idea
is wonderful.
There's a lot of shins.
It's probably not going toagree that the idea is wonderful
.
There's a lot of practicality.
It's probably not going tohappen, right because they don't
know.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
They're like well, maybe that that is their parents
, maybe they're sitting next totheir like.
You know, that is that'sputting a lot of onus on people.
To a notice this kid b go outof their way to be like hey,
buddy, come sit with us, it'd bekind of creepy if I was a kid
it would be.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I also don't.
If I was a kid and I don't wantto speak for all students paint
with that broad of a brush, butI feel like there's no way.
I probably would have gone to achurch service that had nothing
for my age group.
Yes, I would have been like Idon't want to sit with a bunch
of strangers.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, you will only attract nuclear families or
families that attend churchtogether on the weekends.
That will be your one and onlydemographic and I don't think
churches think that far, butlike we have kids who will walk
to church or skateboard tochurch or get dropped off
(29:25):
because their parents aren'tstepping foot in this building
but would not do it.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
They want to go.
There was no youth serviceexactly.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
So this kid's like yes, I'm going into the adult
service here I go sittingamongst all these adults, but
when they get in my room it'slike ah, here I'm home, yes, my
people and then their parentspick them up now eventually,
would I love those parents topark that car and come in
themselves, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
And it happens.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
A lot, you know.
But if I have nothing for astudent then my missional
outreach on the weekend isreally limited and I'm only
meeting family, I'm onlyreaching actually parents who
have junior hires instead ofjunior hires who have parents.
Oh, that was good.
(30:13):
Feel free to push that 10second back button and watch
that again isn't that what it'scalled?
A 10 second back button?
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I guess, yeah, just just repeat it over and over
again.
Yeah, I don't know.
Anyways, that's, I don't knowhow many we went through, but
that was a lot of them and we dohave episodes on most, if not
all, of these small groupsDefinitely have it on that.
Volunteer training,overnighters we just did one
about overnighters I think lastweek was that one, so and then
youth group games, all that.
(30:42):
So make sure you guys checkthose out.
Question of the day today isgoing to be if your coffee mug
could talk, what would it sayabout your caffeine habits?
if it ain't from matcha, I don'twant it I didn't know it would
have so much attitude it does,because something about the
(31:08):
caffeine and matcha does notaffect me negatively.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
If I have coffee, espresso, anything like that, I
get really bad heartpalpitations and I can't have it
.
But then I have this beautifulhot matcha in the morning and I
feel spectacular.
So if the caffeine ain't formatcha I don don't want it.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Okay.
My coffee mug would say youknow, you want this.
And then my bladder would sayno, no, we don't.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
We don't want to spend all day in the bathroom.
So the other side would be yeahmatcha for me as well Brain,
bladder the old brain versusbladder problem.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Put in the comment section below what would your
coffee mug say to you about yourcaffeine habits?
This is a community comment ofthe day.
This comes from ChristianTonkins, who is a member of our
youth ministry growthaccelerator program.
Tonkins yeah, that's prettycool.
He says I love the practicalityof the ideas and things you
offer for youth group.
I found out about DYM from thispodcast.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
You're welcome, DYM.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, doug, josh, you're welcome and that has
helped me a ton.
I love the unique games youguys come up with.
Thank you.
Well, we thank you for watchingand supporting this podcast,
christian.
We appreciate it, and thank youguys for watching and listening
.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
And we'll see you next time.
Today we're going to talk aboutsix trending topics of you
Today.
Today we're going to go oversix trending topics in youth
ministry and see.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
So you guys put your in your Sorry here's what All
right.
Youth group games.
Speaker 2 (00:01):
I think they are one of the most important elements
of youth ministry.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
No weekend services for youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:09):
I think it's a really bad impression for first-time
visitors.
Speaker 1 (00:13):
Small groups Overrated, underrated or
properly rated.
Speaker 2 (00:17):
I don't know if everyone sees the importance of
them.
Speaker 1 (00:20):
Volunteer handbook.
Speaker 2 (00:21):
I don't think everyone's going to like this
answer.
Today we're going to talk aboutand rate six trending topics in
youth ministry.
Speaker 1 (00:40):
Welcome to the Ministry Coach podcast where
every week we give youactionable and practical tips to
help you in your youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (00:47):
My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen
Laskola, and today we're goingto talk about some trends for
this next year of youth ministryand we're going to well, I'm
going to say they're overrated,underrated or properly rated.
And you're going to interviewme.
Speaker 1 (01:04):
And I'm going to agree or disagree.
Okay, okay, all right.
Okay, here we go.
Let's just jump right in.
The first thing we're going totackle is small groups Overrated
, underrated or properly rated.
Speaker 2 (01:18):
Well, I guess I would have to go with underrated.
I don't know if everyone seesthe importance of them, and I
used to think that that was justa staple of youth ministry, no
matter where you were in thecountry or what church you were
at.
I just I guess I don'tunderstand how discipleship can
(01:39):
happen or what your discipleshipmodel would be, if you don't
have small groups.
The only way I could see it islike unless your whole youth
group is a small group you know,however, it would be very
unlikely that all your membersare all boys or all girls, and
so I think like at that point,even just having a guys and a
(02:01):
girls small group would bebetter than nothing.
I mean, I just know there is acertain only a certain level of
closeness we can get in a mixedgender group.
So I think that they'reunderrated, in the sense that I
don't know that every youthpastor sees that as the primary
discipleship model, but I think,like Jesus sort of modeled that
(02:22):
same idea with the 12 and thenthe three, and it was just sort
of like that.
There were the crowds and hedid ministry and but like who
was he forming and shaping andcalling out and challenging?
It was the people he was doingthe most life with.
(02:43):
And I think that's a great modelfor small groups, a great
foundational reason why that'sthe most effective form of
discipleship.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
I agree that was kind of an easy one.
That was a softball.
They're going to get harder aswe go along.
Ooh, scandalous.
Let's go ahead and add a subpoint to this one.
Let's go ahead and add a subpoint to this one.
Small groups, but where theybreak it up every week with
different students.
Like every week you got to getin a group of people you've
never been in a group with, orsomething like that.
(03:15):
This is a thing.
Not all youth groups do this,but a lot of them that do.
Small groups do this, where itrotates, and you kind of change
it up every week.
Overrated, underrated properlyrated.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
Well, if they do it and love it, I would say they're
overrating it.
Right, it's overrated.
You should not do that.
Speaker 1 (03:30):
Yes.
Speaker 2 (03:31):
Yes.
Speaker 1 (03:31):
Wait.
So you're saying, if they'redoing it and the kids love it?
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Like I'm saying they're like no, like the youth
pastor's, like we love this, Ilove this.
I would say, well, you must beoverrating it.
Oh, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,like I don't think it's a good
idea.
Wait, let me think.
Overrated, underrated, yes, yes, yes, because you know, I just
(03:55):
know from experience, likegrowing up in church, I've been
in a lot of Bible study, lifegroups, small groups, cell
groups, all the groups you know,and one of my biggest pet
peeves would be where it was arotating door and you never knew
from week to week who was goingto be in there.
And I just felt like, whilethat might create some
relational breadth, it willnever create relational depth.
(04:17):
And I remember being sofrustrated as like, okay, now
there's four new people in thisgroup.
Do I start all over Like allright?
So the thing I've been talkingabout, that I'm struggling with,
and here's the situation thatI've been walking my team or
team group through and they'vebeen praying for I don't know,
it just felt like you know what.
Never mind, let's just talkabout the Bible study, because
(04:39):
this is too exhausting to haveto reintroduce myself every
single time, every single week.
You know when it was a littlemore open door in some Bible
studies in the past.
So I guess it depends whatyou're looking for.
I think the heart behind it isgood, in the sense that I know
youth pastors really wanteveryone to get out of their
(05:00):
cliques and get to know newpeople, which there's nothing
wrong with that.
I just don't know if smallgroups are necessarily the best
catalyst for that.
I think do that for a game orsomething, but like for where
you're hoping people are goingto do.
Life on life, keep itconsistent, because that builds
trust and depth, and if that'swhat we're supposed to do, I
(05:23):
mean, Jesus walked with the sameguys for three years, you know,
and it was like they built afoundation of honesty and truth
and love and rapport and all ofthese things, just this.
Probably we can't even fathomthe intimacy and closeness
between some of them and I justdon't think you get that.
Speaker 1 (05:46):
If you're like speed dating, small groups you know, I
can see the idea, like you weresaying, behind it, being a good
one and that everyone gets toknow each other, but again, yeah
, I agree that it's overrated ina sense.
I think there's better ways todo that.
I think if you were to the twogroups of people that I think
that you'd be more most likelyto share your heart with might
(06:08):
be those you're super close with, as in you're in a small group
and you're with those samepeople every week and you really
get to know each other, or aperson that you're like.
I feel like this is the inbetween where I don't feel like
sharing my whole heart because Idon't know you that well, but I
(06:29):
will kind of be near you andsee you again.
Speaker 2 (06:33):
I don't know.
That's just how I feel about it.
Well, it's not like someanonymous stranger where you
could just, yeah, I get whatyou're saying.
So we don't like that idea.
Overrated.
Speaker 1 (06:43):
Okay, A lot of people with their volunteers, with
their leaders, wherever you callthem.
They love the idea of puttingout like a volunteer handbook of
like training Sure.
Overrated, underrated orproperly rated.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
I don't think everyone's going to like this
answer.
I think it's overrated,overrated, and here's why.
Have you ever read youremployee handbook?
Maybe when you got hired norma,please plug your ears for this
she's the head of our hrdepartment.
We have an employee handbook.
I do not care what it says, butif somebody is talking to me
(07:18):
about it like, hey, you knowwhen you need to send a
permission slip, here's how wereally like to do it.
If you could go ahead and saveit as a PDF and then blah, blah,
blah and here's why I would bea lot more likely to listen than
it was like section five to oneof the employee handbook how to
send attachments and why Iwould just be like you know and
(07:40):
I'm not going to retain that.
So I don't think a handbook isa good idea, but it's not that I
don't think training is a goodidea.
It's just your method.
I feel like training in aministry context, so that it
doesn't feel like some HRpresentation is a lot more done
in the context of relationship.
(08:00):
I would much rather do it twoways Drip it in at my weekly
meeting.
Hey guys, we really need to makesure we're keeping accurate
attendance.
And here's why If a kid doesn'texist in our system, they're
getting no communication from us, which means they're going to
miss out on events and theycould slip through the cracks.
(08:22):
We really don't want that tohappen.
We want parents to be in theknow.
We really don't want that tohappen.
We want parents to be in theknow.
So here's these junior highinfo cards.
I'm going to put them in yourfolder.
If you have any new kidstonight that aren't on your
roster, make sure they fill thisout and we will take care of
the rest.
All right, anyways, how didyour small group go last week?
Like that was training and Ididn't hand them a handbook.
(08:44):
That felt so sterile.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:48):
It does take time because you have to sit and like
talk with them and, you know,add it in, and it's easy for
certain things to slip throughthe cracks.
You're like, oh my gosh, Inever told you guys about that,
but like it can happen atonboarding.
So like when a brand newvolunteer starts in your
ministry, a great thing to do.
I love taking them to coffee orlunch and getting to know them.
(09:09):
But then like, hey, here's afew things, just as a church,
that are like non-negotiables.
I'll just run through them withyou real quick and that would
probably be things that are morepolicy related.
Like, keep in mind, we're allmandated reporters and you know,
if you ever need assistancewith that, just give me a call
and I can help, you know, walkyou through that process.
(09:30):
You know, here's the kind ofhumor that we do or don't use
with kids.
You know we never make fun of akid or use R-rated humor or
reference a bad movie or blah,blah, blah.
So you know, do thosenon-negotiable things, you know,
through a conversation, but Idon't know, there's just
something very sterile abouthanding them a handbook.
Speaker 1 (09:53):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (09:53):
And I just don't think for your effort because
that does take time to prepareand write and research.
I just think for the effort ittakes it's a very low impact.
I don't think they're going toread it remember it or care.
So I have just noticed the bestway I got trained at North Coast
was on-the-job training, likethey gave me the parameters that
(10:18):
were like those hard lines, butthen we kind of just trained as
we went, like, oh my gosh, Ihave this girl who just won't
stop talking in my small group.
Ok, let's troubleshoot thattogether.
So here's some methods of howyou can navigate that, and I
just think it's better when itcomes up naturally.
Then let me tell you a thousandpotential scenarios that you
(10:39):
need to be ready for.
You know, I just think it feelsweird.
Speaker 1 (10:44):
So and if you have the two leader small group model
, there's always going to besomebody there.
Well, there should be somebodyelse there that has done it
before.
Speaker 2 (10:52):
I don't think you're gonna throw two new newbies or
yeah, that's a great one personwho's never done it here you go
figure it out, you know, on thefly like you're saying, but
you're kind of learning on thefly with another person, kind of
coming under their wing, andobviously you are dripping it
into them as well.
Speaker 1 (11:09):
I also think it's overrated.
I think the spirit behind itmay be underrated, where I think
maybe for your sake as theyouth pastor, it might be a good
idea to have all those thingswritten down, but maybe not so
much something like here you go,study it, I'm going to quiz you
on it, but maybe just as achecklist for yourself it might
be a good idea.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
I need to make sure I go through all these things
yeah with my leaders and drip itin and talk about these things
over time and there's somethings that you'll notice with
your leaders, like this, likesome of it felt insulting to
some of my leaders, like, well,don't ever watch a rated r movie
with a kid, you know.
But then for some, like youngerleaders, I'm like I need you to
(11:50):
look me in the eye when I saythis.
Like your social media cannothave this, this, this, you know,
and so I think a lot of timestoo, it's I like to tailor it to
who I'm talking to andemphasize different things based
on, maybe, their age, stationin life or their age, their
(12:11):
lifestyle, how I know them to be, or the kind of personality
they have.
It's just like I know it'sgoing to be real tempting for
you to post blah, blah, blah,but you know, here's why we're
really careful with our socialmedia as leaders.
So something like that, I justthink, a little more organic
training, and it takes wisdom onyour part and it takes time on
your part, but I think it's moreeffective than a handbook yeah,
(12:36):
and I've had several differentjobs where it required somewhat
of a handbook, like a manual,training manual, and people
would always get it wrong and Iwould always think it's in.
Speaker 1 (12:48):
It's in the handbook, it's in the manual.
It's clear that nobody reallypays attention.
It just doesn't feel relevant.
Speaker 2 (12:53):
Like it didn't feel relevant in the moment.
It's like okay, so if I ever amin a car with a kid and they I
just felt like these scenariosare like I don't know, worry
about it when we come to it.
And that's why the youth pastoris there to help, right?
Hey friend, I just wanted tointerrupt this episode for a
second to let you know about anawesome opportunity for you and
(13:14):
your youth ministry.
So last year we launched ourcourse and coaching program
called Youth Ministry GrowthAccelerator and the response has
been amazing.
So we've helped tons of youthpastors grow the size and health
of their youth ministry and wewant to invite you to be a part
of that as well, because maybeyou're just sort of feeling
stuck in a rut, maybe you don'tknow what to do next, maybe you
(13:37):
just have a vague plan in yourmind of what you're doing and
you want some real help to getyou from where you are to where
you want to go.
So if that sounds likesomething you've been looking
for, go togrowyouryouthministrycom and
check it out for more details.
All right, let's get back tothe episode.
Speaker 1 (13:54):
All right.
Next one is and you're comingoff the heels of one right now
all-nighters slash, overnighters, slash lock-ins.
Overrated, underrated orOverrated overrated.
Speaker 2 (14:07):
I just got home from one this morning.
I probably got the best sleepI've ever had at one.
So I have changed both of mineto a sleeping portion.
I don't go all night.
We don't play games all night.
I think this girl mistook itlast night for one of those and
she's like showing me this teenytiny basically towel that was
(14:29):
supposed to be her blanket.
She's like I didn't realizewe'd be sleeping.
Luckily, I packed two sleepingbags for our daughter and so I'm
like you can have one of hers,because I was gonna have her
like lay on one, like a pad oryeah, and then use the other one
.
So I'm like, here you go.
She's like, oh, no, it's okay.
I'm like, no, you're gonnafreeze, you know.
So I don't like them, eventhough I just did one, and I'm
(14:54):
like why am I doing this?
I have a better idea.
Speaker 1 (14:58):
Here's why I think they're overrated Because I
don't even know if you have togo into it.
Speaker 2 (15:02):
I think everyone probably agrees, Okay it's more
than just because I'm tired.
Okay, why can't we pack thesame amount of games?
It's Friday night.
People could get there at fiveo'clock, go five to nine.
That's four hours.
We went 7 pm to 8 am but westarted the movie at 1030.
(15:23):
So that was three and a halfhours only of we played four
games, we did four just dances,we had pizza and we had a half
an hour break in there to justgo, hang out, go to the snack
shack, whatever you needed to do.
I could have done that just aswell from 5 pm to 9 pm, which is
(15:44):
a reasonable hour for yourparents to pick you up.
They would have even picked youup at 10 pm if, if I wanted to
go that long.
So here's why I think it's adiminishing return at some point
Meaning, once midnight hit, Iwas trying to get them to go to
bed and I had to take off myyouth pastor hat.
(16:07):
Like I'm fun, we're buddies To.
I am a warden at a prison.
And I hate being that person.
But they get reallydisrespectful.
There's a lot of opportunitiesfor shenanigans.
The leaders are disrespected.
So one of my girls directorshad asked super nicely twice
(16:28):
like hey, girls in the corner,like you guys have to settle
down.
Like they were just beingobnoxious and rude and loud and
I had to get up.
Like hey, like they were justbeing obnoxious and rude and
(16:59):
loud and I had to get up.
Like hey, she's asked you twiceNow.
You're bordering on blatantdisrespect to her.
Speaker 1 (17:03):
So now.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
I have toism, or trying to door dash something to
the church you know true.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
Um, nothing wrong with a little taco bell at two
in the morning.
Speaker 2 (17:08):
Oh, sounds really good right now.
Um, and so I just I'm like whydo I keep doing this to myself
when we would have had aperfectly fun night all left
being best friends?
There is, I think it was threeyears ago they, the girls, still
talk to me.
Remember when you yelled at us?
(17:28):
I'm like, yep, I do, Becauseyou guys were so rude.
And it was 6 am and I finallywas just like forget it, do
whatever you want, becausenobody listens to me anyway you
lasted all the way to six beforeyou said that.
That's pretty impressive andthen I stormed out, and that was
(17:50):
that I quit well, I didn'tstorm out of the church, just
just out of that room.
I'm like fine, cause they keptturning on the lights and
they're like I'm done.
I'm like just cause you're done.
Sleeping Doesn't mean everyoneelse's.
We had an hour and a half leftto sleep and I'm not
entertaining you at 6am in themorning get in your bed.
So I just feel like it bringsout the worst in them and me.
(18:13):
And it was like we're on thishigh, we're all having fun,
we're all dancing, we're alldoing games, laughing, hot pizza
.
And then it was like we areenemies now and then we leave as
enemies.
I mean, we were fine in themorning, but I don't know.
It just doesn't feel necessary.
And what are we doing?
(18:33):
It's not like any relationshipsare getting built.
We're literally laying in adark room trying not to giggle.
Speaker 1 (18:40):
Right, like I don't know, it's just dumb.
Would it be better if youstayed up all night?
No, would it be better for themif you stayed up all night.
Speaker 2 (18:48):
They wouldn't make it .
I've tried those and they'reusually complaining and falling
asleep they're usuallycomplaining and falling asleep,
and they never remember thatpart of it, though.
Right, so nope, I'm gonna writemyself a big sticky note.
I'm gonna leave it on my deskall year, so that when I go to
write the calendar for 2026, I'mlike, oh yeah, let's do this
(19:09):
five to nine, and they'll stillcome, and some kids get picked
up anyways.
They're like oh, I want to come, but I don't want to spend the
night, like I'm like I do notblame you, Take me with you.
Speaker 1 (19:18):
I think most people would agree it's overrated.
I think for the sake of thestudents it's underrated.
That is something that theylove, For whatever reason.
Staying up late or all night,they just love that idea.
Maybe it's because they'renever allowed to do it yeah, and
(19:39):
I think they're.
It's just something that theyreally look forward to.
So in that sense it'sunderrated I agree.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
But even for a junior hire staying out till 9 or 10
pm on a friday night, that'sstill a little risky out of
their element and here's thething go to each other's house
and spend the night afterwards.
Speaker 1 (19:55):
There you go, pawn it off on the parents.
There's a sleepover if you wantone, so bad.
What about youth group games?
Overrated, underrated orproperly rated?
Speaker 2 (20:05):
Well, I think a lot of youth pastors underrate them.
I think they're most of thetime properly rated if you come
from a fun church, but I thinksometimes youth pastors just see
it as like a necessary evil ofyouth ministry, but I think they
(20:26):
are one of the most importantelements of youth ministry
because I don't think I I theycan never be overrated.
So it's either they'reunderrated or properly rated,
depending on your church.
I don't think you could everoverrate a game you know,
because here's what games do?
They create the energy that youneed to connect, and I think
(20:50):
that goes for adults too.
I'm like I know not everyone isa game person, but even the
people who aren't playing stillbenefit from that energy in the
room and they like maybe willwatch it or whatever.
But it just creates an energythat I feel like is kind of the
conduit of connection and it'sreally important because, like,
(21:12):
it fulfills, I think, aspiritual need of human
connection.
It's a method of humanconnection beyond something that
feels churchy, which is reallyhelpful for a kid, who A who's a
kid, but also for someone who'slooking to connect and that
(21:33):
might be their only way.
Like, think about a brand newkid or a really young Christian
or somebody who's checking toconnect and that might be their
only way.
Like, think about a brand newkid or a really young Christian
or somebody who's checking itout, and they might not be able
to connect through worship, theymight not be able to connect
through the small groups, yet wewant to get them there, but at
the very least they felt a partof things while we played the
(21:53):
game and that's really important, because you know that phrase
belonging before you believe.
I think that's a reallyimportant step, especially in
adolescence, that they need tocome and feel a sense of
belonging and then we move themtoward belief and then now,
hopefully, the tables will turnat some point and the game will
(22:13):
take a back seat and they willbe like oh, I can't wait to
worship, or I can't wait for themessage, or small groups or
whatever.
But I mean the game, I justthink, is such a beautiful
energy creator, connectioncreator, having shared
experiences, laughter, a way tointeract.
(22:35):
You know, because you know theyalways say like girls connect
through talking, guys connectthrough doing something together
.
I think I'm like a hybrid ofboth, because I connect with
people over games, overactivities, over competition
over something fun For me.
I feel more likely to want totalk, make small talk, after
(22:59):
we've done something like thatyeah, you know, like it just
brings a closeness in a way thatjust going up and like hey, so
how was your week?
You know doesn't really do, butwe just did something together,
we laughed together, we werehuman and I think that is
spiritual.
So I think there's a I mean,we've done episodes on this, but
(23:21):
there's real art to games.
It's not just like okay, fine,Then let's all play Monopoly.
Speaker 1 (23:26):
And that is where I think they are highly underrated
is if it's like if a youthgroup game to you is dodgeball
every week, or is just somesimple, just a really short.
Okay, we did a game, you knowmoving on but I think that in
that sense they're veryunderrated.
Speaker 2 (23:41):
Well, and that kind of piggybacks off of what we
were talking about last weekwhere it's like, well, if you
just do a service project to doa service project, you're
actually in a deficit rightbecause it's the.
The bad experience is worsethan not doing it at all.
And I kind of feel like thatwith games.
If they're a constant badexperience, then just either we
(24:04):
need to figure that out or justdon't do them because, it
actually can have a negativeimpact.
It's not just do it to do it,it's like strategic what kind
kind of group do we have?
What would be really fun forthem?
What would include everyone?
What fits our space the bestway?
What is the highest potentialfor connection?
You know, just stuff like thatof just asking yourself is this
(24:27):
actually a good fit?
right in a lot of ways.
I mean, this is not the episodeto dive into each one of those.
But yeah, games are like youshould put a lot of your time
and attention toward them andnot an afterthought exactly.
Yeah, that's what I'm trying tosay yeah, I think it's.
Speaker 1 (24:45):
Youth group games are , like you're saying, underrated
or properly rated, depending onhow you value them.
I do not think they'reoverrated, unless that was your
entire service, but I think whatthey do provide is this really
extended on ramp to your youthministry, where it gives people
a chance to kind of merge intoit as they feel comfortable
(25:08):
Picture, not panicked, you know,I got to get over, you know,
and so I think that it does areally good job of doing that.
And also people bond quicklyover experience, kind of what
you're saying got to get over,you know, and, and so I think
that it does a really good jobof doing that.
And also people bond quicklyover experience, kind of what
you're saying.
And I mean, think about ifyou're ever in a group of
strangers and something happenswhether hilarious or scary or
all that all of a sudden youguys connect.
Speaker 2 (25:29):
I mean did you see that?
Speaker 1 (25:30):
oh my gosh can't believe the guy said that and it
just instant bond and so it'sthe same idea with youth group
games and that it's fun andwe're enjoying things, we're
having fun together and all of asudden my teammate I become
really close to because we'rejust thrown into this
competition and we're on thesame team.
So anyways yeah definitely okay.
(25:51):
So the next one is no weekendservices for youth ministry.
Speaker 2 (25:57):
Ooh, I was going to say that's overrated, meaning
you definitely should have, uh,youth services on your weekend.
I think it's a really badimpression for first time
visitors that there's no placefor their family to go.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Well, a lot of people would argue well, they should
be with their family.
Speaker 2 (26:16):
Okay, I'm glad you brought that up because I have
an answer for that.
So I think, yes, but you shouldbe planning family worship
nights then, because if youronly option for a student is to
come in with the adults, themessages are somewhere in limbo.
(26:38):
Either they're too advanced orinappropriate almost for a
12-year-old or they're reallywatered down for the adults.
I've been in services that weremeant for both and I'm like
thinking to myself this pastoris talking to me like I'm eight
(27:01):
years old and I can deal withthat on Christmas Eve and I can
deal with that once in a whilefor a family friendly service
time.
I'm not going to do that everysingle week.
And then, in the same way, Ifeel like when students are in
there it curbs like what adultsare allowed to talk about.
Speaker 1 (27:21):
Yeah, very surface level.
Speaker 2 (27:24):
Yeah, and I think it's inadvertently sends the
message like church is nottotally for you yet.
You're kind of warming up andthen you'll be one of us someday
, so just hang in there throughthe boredom until you're one of
us Do I like the idea offamilies worshiping together, of
course?
Speaker 1 (27:44):
I do Right together?
Speaker 2 (27:45):
Of course I do.
I think that it could be reallygreat to launch something at
your church like a once a weekfamily worship service where
there's communion and worshipand like a Devo and where
families get to come together.
Maybe you have a barbecueoutside afterwards and it's kind
of a community night that spansall ages.
(28:06):
I think that's a really goodidea.
Another thing to be mindful ofthat I actually run into a ton
is kids showing up withoutparents.
Speaker 1 (28:14):
Yeah, and I've heard people say well, the church body
should just accept them andbring them next to their family
and I think, and you're probablygoing to agree, that the idea
is wonderful.
There's a lot of shins.
It's probably not going toagree that the idea is wonderful
.
There's a lot of practicality.
It's probably not going tohappen, right because they don't
know.
Speaker 2 (28:32):
They're like well, maybe that that is their parents
, maybe they're sitting next totheir like.
You know, that is that'sputting a lot of onus on people.
To a notice this kid b go outof their way to be like hey,
buddy, come sit with us, it'd bekind of creepy if I was a kid
it would be.
Speaker 1 (28:50):
I also don't.
If I was a kid and I don't wantto speak for all students paint
with that broad of a brush, butI feel like there's no way.
I probably would have gone to achurch service that had nothing
for my age group.
Yes, I would have been like Idon't want to sit with a bunch
of strangers.
Speaker 2 (29:05):
Yeah, you will only attract nuclear families or
families that attend churchtogether on the weekends.
That will be your one and onlydemographic and I don't think
churches think that far, butlike we have kids who will walk
to church or skateboard tochurch or get dropped off
(29:25):
because their parents aren'tstepping foot in this building
but would not do it.
Speaker 1 (29:28):
They want to go.
There was no youth serviceexactly.
Speaker 2 (29:31):
So this kid's like yes, I'm going into the adult
service here I go sittingamongst all these adults, but
when they get in my room it'slike ah, here I'm home, yes, my
people and then their parentspick them up now eventually,
would I love those parents topark that car and come in
themselves, absolutely.
Speaker 1 (29:50):
And it happens.
Speaker 2 (29:51):
A lot, you know.
But if I have nothing for astudent then my missional
outreach on the weekend isreally limited and I'm only
meeting family, I'm onlyreaching actually parents who
have junior hires instead ofjunior hires who have parents.
Oh, that was good.
(30:13):
Feel free to push that 10second back button and watch
that again isn't that what it'scalled?
A 10 second back button?
Speaker 1 (30:22):
I guess, yeah, just just repeat it over and over
again.
Yeah, I don't know.
Anyways, that's, I don't knowhow many we went through, but
that was a lot of them and we dohave episodes on most, if not
all, of these small groupsDefinitely have it on that.
Volunteer training,overnighters we just did one
about overnighters I think lastweek was that one, so and then
youth group games, all that.
(30:42):
So make sure you guys checkthose out.
Question of the day today isgoing to be if your coffee mug
could talk, what would it sayabout your caffeine habits?
if it ain't from matcha, I don'twant it I didn't know it would
have so much attitude it does,because something about the
(31:08):
caffeine and matcha does notaffect me negatively.
Speaker 2 (31:12):
If I have coffee, espresso, anything like that, I
get really bad heartpalpitations and I can't have it
.
But then I have this beautifulhot matcha in the morning and I
feel spectacular.
So if the caffeine ain't formatcha I don don't want it.
Speaker 1 (31:28):
Okay.
My coffee mug would say youknow, you want this.
And then my bladder would sayno, no, we don't.
Speaker 2 (31:36):
We don't want to spend all day in the bathroom.
So the other side would be yeahmatcha for me as well Brain,
bladder the old brain versusbladder problem.
Speaker 1 (31:46):
Put in the comment section below what would your
coffee mug say to you about yourcaffeine habits?
This is a community comment ofthe day.
This comes from ChristianTonkins, who is a member of our
youth ministry growthaccelerator program.
Tonkins yeah, that's prettycool.
He says I love the practicalityof the ideas and things you
offer for youth group.
I found out about DYM from thispodcast.
Speaker 2 (32:09):
You're welcome, DYM.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
Yeah, doug, josh, you're welcome and that has
helped me a ton.
I love the unique games youguys come up with.
Thank you.
Well, we thank you for watchingand supporting this podcast,
christian.
We appreciate it, and thank youguys for watching and listening
.
Speaker 2 (32:25):
And we'll see you next time.
Today we're going to talk aboutsix trending topics of you
Today.
Today we're going to go oversix trending topics in youth
ministry and see.
Speaker 1 (32:40):
So you guys put your in your Sorry here's what All
right.
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