For Episode 100 and our Season 3 Finale, Jeff welcomes the innovative and solid youth ministry guru - Mark Matlock! Mark starts with describing the beginning of his ministry journey, and how both creativity and wisdom help us pave the way for relevant methods and maximum impact when it comes to investing in the next generations of the church. He also teases the intriguing book project he's working on in collaboration with Barna and the biggest study they have ever done.

Summer Camp is a thrilling and effective staple of youth ministry...but for many of us, our format for content delivery might be older than some of those cabin bunks. Promoting life change through Scripture and the Spirit, AND introducing habits and perspectives that help students maximize their daily walk with Jesus means we need to have two-pronged approach to what we present at camp. Listen in as Jeff discusses what it looks like to deliver both the spiritual and practical content elements without sacrificing clarity or purpose.

As we approach the end of Season 3 and the milestone of Episode 100, Jeff shares some exciting news about a special guest, a big giveaway, and the new format for the podcast starting with Season 4 this fall. Listen for details, and be sure to check our website and social media profiles to make sure you're ready for the future!

For this special Juneteenth episode, Jeff reflects back on Episode 6 when he was able to talk with Mikiala Tennie and Karli Loving about the then-recent killing of George Floyd and conversations of racial tension that were enveloping the national headlines. He shares some brief thoughts about what he has learned and observed in the last three years before revisiting that conversation.

How can we set up a healthy and consistent annual rhythm for our youth volunteers? You might prefer more frequent and shorter meetings, longer monthly meetings, a blend of the two, or something totally different. But there is a good structure that allows your volunteers to feel prepared, recognized, and cared for...and it's still one that affords flexibility depending on your ministry context and number of volunteers. Listen in as we discuss components and formats for establishing a solid rhythm for your youth volunteers!

How can you make this summer effective and beneficial for you and your students? Listen in as we discuss 3 ways to capitalize on this unique and wild season of youth ministry.

With hyper middle school students, and technology and social media affecting attention span and ability to impress all students, we need solid methods for connecting with our students during programming. These 5 methods should give you a good starting rotation that you can tweak and add to over time.

Youth ministry roles are always the most plentiful on church job boards, and ever since COVID, it seems more difficult to land a role and/or find the right person to fill a role. Once that massive hurdle is cleared, you have several smaller hurdles that combine into another massive one...the first year on the job. How long should you wait to implement change? What about the upperclassmen who probably aren't thrilled to have you hijack their last year or two? What happens when you fail at something? Take 14 minutes and listen in on these three ways to maximize your first year in a new spot.