In a world overflowing with information, our attention spans are shrinking faster than ever. Our students are overwhelmed with emails, social media posts, texts and advertisements – all vying for a sliver of their precious time. This begs the question: how do we get students to notice our events and care about what we have…
British-Greek automotive designer, Alec Issigoris, who designed the mini automobile once said that a camel is a horse designed by committee. He’s not lying. Hey youth pastor Paul Turner here from thediscipleproject.net and I have been serving students for over 30 year and I want to help you build a successful youth ministry. Today, I want…
10 key habits that contribute to success in youth ministry, drawing inspiration from principles identified by Napoleon Hill for millionaires. Listen to the episode for context and suggestions on how to achieve each of these habits. Have a Definitive Purpose: Know why you exist as a youth pastor. What is your mission within the church…
How clear was your vision for your job, your ministry, your family, your life in 2023? If it wasn’t clear, was it due to outward causes? Inward turmoil? Some of both? “It’s a lack of clarity that creates chaos and frustration. Those emotions are poison to any living goal.” ~ Steve Maraboli Plans solve problems,…
Plans fix problems is a simple maximum, coined by Brianna Wiest, but worthy of a discussion because many of you reading this are filled with anxiety, fear and worry because you don’t have a plan to solve any number of youth ministry problems you have to grow your youth ministry to disciple your students to…
I am, currently, a bi-vocational youth worker. I have held this title before so I am well versed in it’s demands. For me it boils down to keeping these two elements in line, balance and boundaries. Balance Have you ever tried to balance a see-saw? You have to have the right amount of weight on…
It’s the beginning of the year and, if you’re like me, you’re looking for new books to read. These are books I have already read, wrote, or are on my reading list for 2023. I have divided this list into three sections Ministry Nuts and Bolts, Soul Care and Other Non-Fiction. Ministry Nuts and Bolts…
Three Pillars of Youth Ministry This past year, I felt like I was all over the map as far as programming, teaching and planning, then I had a talk with my pastor. I wanted to find out what his thoughts were about narrowing down the focus of the youth ministry to three pillars. These three…
Welcome to part two of my series The Five Plans Every New Youth Pastor Needs To Have. You can start at the first post here, If you like. I started youth ministry by just reading my bible, praying about it and then teaching on what God showed me. There’s nothing wrong with that, it was…
There are weeks where I struggled with pre-youth group anxiety. I was anxious with questions like would the service go well? was I prepared? was the sermon good enough? would the students like the game? These questions were all part of my need to make sure things were perfect. Why? Why did I need to…
