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Before we know it, youth ministry can become really good at running events—and not as effective at making disciples.

In Part 2 of our conversation with Dr. David Odom and Deconstructing Youth Ministry, we tackle one of the biggest questions facing churches today.

How do we build student ministries that produce lasting faith, not just busy calendars?

We explore why teenagers today are both different and surprisingly the same. Students still wrestle with identity, belonging, purpose, and faith, but they’re doing it in a world shaped by social media, digital overload, and increasing isolation. That’s why relational youth ministry matters more than ever.

Dr. Odom shares two powerful truths every youth leader should remember:
✅ True discipleship happens in the context of relationships.
✅ The leader is the lesson.

We also unpack Dr. Odom’s research into the three arenas of effective youth ministry:
🔹 Teenagers in the youth group
🔹 Teenagers and their families
🔹 Teenagers in the congregation

We discuss practical parent ministry strategies, helping students connect to the larger church, creating meaningful service opportunities, mentoring teenagers into leadership, and avoiding the trap of measuring success by attendance, events, and programming alone.

🎙️ In this episode:
• The future of youth ministry
• Gen Z and Gen Alpha discipleship
• Relational ministry vs. attractional ministry
• Student leadership development
• Parent ministry strategies that actually work
• Building intergenerational church connections
• Why students need to be known, not just entertained
• Youth group trends worth keeping—and retiring

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What actually makes a youth ministry fruitful? Bigger crowds? Flashier events? Viral moments? In this episode  Zac sits down with JP Black to wrestle honestly with those questions: presence, not popularity.

From the moment you walk into JP’s student building—covered in photos, memories, and a “Trophy Wall of Awesome”—you can feel a culture of belonging. But the real transformation didn’t come from décor. It came from a deliberate shift away from event management toward spaces where students encounter God.

JP shares how the post-COVID reset forced his team to rebuild from the ground up. Instead of chasing attendance as proof of “anointing,” they began measuring spiritual fruit through markers like confession, repentance, prayer, and resilient discipleship. The result? A ministry less driven by hype and more shaped by genuine transformation.

One standout example is their redesigned Venture Weekend, now treated as a modern “stone of remembrance.” Students participate in a powerful concert of prayer, laying down idols and naming what’s holding them back.

Fruitful youth ministry isn’t built on popularity, it’s formed through presence, repentance, prayer, and patient discipleship.

• history and community markers in the student space
• why the Trophy Wall of Awesome matters for belonging
• JP’s calling story and long obedience
• post-COVID reset of metrics and motives
• presence of God as the ministry north star
• redesigning Venture Weekend for encounter
• splitting middle school and high school for depth
• testing hype vs transformation through repentance
• practical ways to bring camp home weekly
• modeling humility and pressing on from Philippians 3
• concert of prayer and a seventh grader’s salvation
• how to connect with JP Black

First Rockwall Students on Facebook and Instagram 

Instagram: @JPBlack_

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Youth Ministry Deconstructed with David Odom | What If We've Been Doing Youth Ministry Wrong?

Have we built youth ministries that attract students… but struggle to form lasting faith?

In this first episode of a 3 part series of the Youth Ministry Booster Podcast, Zac Workun sits down with Dr. David Odom from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and author of Youth Ministry Deconstructed, for a conversation about the past, present, and future of student ministry. Together we talk  the history of youth ministry, the assumptions we've inherited, and why many youth pastors are feeling both hopeful and exhausted in today's ministry landscape. 

This isn't a conversation about abandoning youth ministry. It's a conversation about rethinking it, breaking it down to rebuild it.

Dr. Odom challenges youth leaders to evaluate whether our ministries are producing attendance or discipleship, activity or transformation, participation or ownership of faith.

In Part 1

✅ The surprising history of youth ministry in America

✅ How Youth for Christ helped shape modern student ministry

✅ Why youth ministry became a "church within a church"

✅ What David Odom means by "deconstructing" youth ministry

✅ Why doubt can be a sign of spiritual growth

✅ The problem with measuring success only by attendance

✅ Better discipleship metrics for youth pastors

✅ The difference between programs and environments

✅ Why small groups may need to become even smaller

✅ How mentoring relationships help students own their faith

Key Takeaways

Youth ministry isn't broken because youth pastors aren't trying hard enough.

Student doubt is not always a crisis.

Attendance matters, but it isn't enough.

Programs don't disciple people. Environments do.

"We're not just trying harder. We're rethinking what we're doing.""Student doubt is not a freak-out moment. It's often a faith-forming moment.""The question isn't simply how many students showed up. The question is whether we're helping students build a faith that lasts.""Think in terms of environments, not programs."

About David Odom

Dr. David Odom serves as a leader, researcher, and professor with decades of experience in student ministry. His book, Youth Ministry Deconstructed: Rethinking Your Ministry to Build Lasting Faith in Students, challenges churches to evaluate the assumptions behind modern youth ministry and reimagine discipleship for the next generation.

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And we're back! Back in Nashville that is! 

Zac and Chad sit down with Kyle Wilshire to talk about why youth ministry has to move past keeping students busy and doing and start forming students who go and live sent. 

We unpack the Great Commission, what mission trips can and cannot do, and how to build everyday courage for gospel conversations in real life and online. 

Pickup Kyle's book "GO" here

In a digital-first generation, the “ends of the earth” are closer than ever. This conversation explores digital discipleship, social media integrity, and practical ways students can start meaningful conversations about faith online and in person. 

In This Episode:

• Why the Great Commission means “as you go”
• How to create a missional culture in youth ministry
• The real value of student mission trips
• Turning mission trip moments into long-term discipleship
• Helping students overcome fear in evangelism
• Digital discipleship and sharing faith online
• Practical ways students can live on mission every day

Don't Miss... 
• Ghostbusters memories and why timing matters 
• A senior speech that shows the power of owning a moment 
• Youth ministry as belonging and the tension when students drift 
• Why “go” matters and what “as you go” means 
• Mission trips as disruption that widens worldview 
• Turning a trip into lasting formation through reminders and follow-up 
• Reframing evangelism so students are not carrying the results 
• Building gospel familiarity so conversations feel natural 
• Acts 1:8 as a map for where we witness 
• Modeling faith as leaders in parking lots and daily life 
• Digital discipleship and using social platforms as witness 

Whether you’re a youth pastor, volunteer leader, parent, or student ministry team member, this episode will encourage you to create a ministry culture that both welcomes students in and sends them back out with purpose.

https://www.lifeway.com/en/product/go-teen-bible-study-book-P005852665

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When a student walked into the office during the pandemic asking whether his father would live long enough for a transplant, it exposed a gap many youth pastors feel but rarely name: we can teach Scripture and organize programs, but do we know how to shepherd teenagers when fear, grief, and uncertainty overwhelm them?

We sit down with Dr. Randy Jackson to talk about a gospel-shaped approach to soul care that equips parents as the primary shapers of a teen’s faith. We trace his journey from a pandemic crisis to building a practical framework that deepens conversations at home and in small groups and why equipping parents remains the most strategic work in student ministry.

This episode offers practical tools for youth pastors, volunteers, and parents who want to move beyond behavior management and into Christ-centered care for the inner lives of teenagers.

🧠 What You’ll Learn in This Episode

• A clear, Scripture-rooted definition of soul care for youth ministry
• Why crisis moments reveal the limits of program-driven ministry
• How the Gospels connect soul care with healing and restoration
• Eight core components of biblical soul care every leader can practice
• Why parents and grandparents remain the primary influencers in teens’ lives
• How to equip families to talk about identity, emotions, and mental health
• The most transferable skill for shepherding students: active listening
• How better questions lead to deeper spiritual conversations
• Why vulnerability should come from scars, not  wounds
• How volunteers can provide meaningful care without being counselors

📖 The 8 Components of Gospel-Shaped Soul Care

Dr. Randy Jackson outlines eight practical dimensions of caring for the soul that apply to both ministry leaders and parents:

1. Time — Slowing down to be present (Psalm 90)
2. Influence — Recognizing who shapes a teen’s inner world
3. Motivation — Understanding the “why” behind behavior
4. Vulnerability — Modeling honest faith from healed places
5. Empathy — Entering a student’s experience without rushing to fix
6. Mindfulness — Paying attention to God, self, and surroundings
7. Discernment — Seeing spiritual realities beneath surface issues
8. Communication — Speaking truth with grace and clarity

Parents and grandparents outrank social media influencers, celebrities, and youth pastors as the most influential voices in teenagers’ lives.

Connect w/ Dr. Randy Jackson, Youth Pastor, FBC Atlanta, Texas

Email: [email protected]

Facebook: facebook.com/rsjacksonus

Book Recommendations:

• Aundi Kolber, Try Softer
• T. Dale Johnson, The Church as a Culture of Care
• Paul David Tripp, Instruments in the Redeemer's Hands
• Harley Atkinson, W. Lee Barnett, and Mike Severe. Ministry with Youth in Crisis. 3rd ed.
• Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline
• Robert D. Jones, Kristin L. Kellen, and Rob Green. The Gospel For Disordered Lives
• Kara Powell and Brad Griffin, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager

- J. Alasdair Groves and Winston T. Smith, Untangling Emotions

- Timothy Paul Jones. Family Ministry Field Guide: How Your Church Can Equip Parents to Make Disciples

- Edward T. Welch, Caring For One Another: 8 Ways to Cultivate Meaningful Relationships

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Which snack would you like to popsicle? 

In this episode, Chad Daugherty joins Zac and the crew for a conversation that starts with dad-life fitness in the “llama lift lair” and ends with a practical blueprint for building a healthy, sustainable volunteer culture.

Let's talk about the wild world of Gen Alpha — deodorant before rec, ball pumps on standby, and a suspicious loyalty to red Doritos. Then everything shifts when a middle schooler asks a deceptively deep question: Why does the Bible use so many bread images for God?

Suddenly, frozen Uncrustables become a doorway to manna, the Bread of Life, communion, and daily dependence on God.

That pivot — from silly to sacred — is youth ministry in a nutshell.

🔑 Key Takeaways
Pause Your Way Out
When big questions land, you don’t have to have instant answers. Chad shares how to slow the moment, invite students into discovery, and model a faith that seeks together.
Clarity → Confidence → Consistency → Culture
Healthy volunteer teams aren’t built on hype. They grow through clear expectations, steady investment, and repeatable rhythms.
Recruitment Is Not Development
Most ministries stop after “yes.” Real leadership happens in what comes next.

A Simple Leadership Rhythm
Pray • Ask • Invest • Wait
Care that continues long after the initial excitement fades.

👥  Chad’s 3–2–1 Weekly Volunteer System
A practical framework you can start this week:
Pray for 3 people
Make 2 proactive touchpoints
Schedule 1 face-to-face connection
Coffee, hallway chat, game night, or visit
Do this for 50 weeks:

💯 ~100 families personally touched
🤝 50 in-person connections
🌱 A culture shaped over time

Make sure you hit the links below, whether we're gonna see you in a couple states, in a couple regions in the next few ways, or catch us online

Lifeway.com/essentials

Lifeway.com/experience

We'd love to see you in Virginia, in North Carolina, or one of our youth pastor summit locations

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What if your calendar didn’t own your ministry — but served it?

Welcome to the podcast garage Amanda Mejias! Lifeway Specialist for Girls' Ministry and Women in Youth Ministry. Check this pastoral note: We to need to make the move from submission (giving in after the fight) to surrender (choosing trust before the fight begins).

In this episode, Zac and Amanda unpack a simple, repeatable framework to audit your year:

Stop – Start – Change

• Stop what burns energy without bearing fruit (even if it’s beloved).
• Start where your God is calling you out: only when you have conviction and capacity.
• Change the good-but-not-great by adjusting structure, timing, and goals to serve outcomes that actually matter.

We talk:

• Anchoring your plans to your church’s mission
• Working backward from your budget cycle
• Defining fruit before you plan
• Volunteer buy-in and giving ideas real runway
• Why leaders must measure what matters

Plus, a live case study: Her Good Retreat — a focused gathering for women leading in youth and college ministry. Born from real needs (belonging, rest, targeted training), it models how vision, people, and place shape events that last.

Key Points
• the value of discipline through a swim lesson story
• moving from submission to surrender
• defining fruit before planning
• annual audit using stop, start, change
• aligning events to church mission
• budgeting timelines and approvals
• volunteer capacity and early buy-in
• when to kill traditions and when to tweak what you inherited
• launching Her Good Retreat for women in youth and college ministry
• links to Youth Pastor Summit and  Experience

Check the links below for the Her Good Retreat this March, the Youth Pastor Summit locations in April, and the Preaching Experience in May. Like, rate, subscribe, and review, and we’ll see you next time

Her Good

https://www.lifeway.com/en/events/her-good-retreat

Preaching Experience

https://www.lifeway.com/en/events/experience-2026

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Trade the contemporary hype for a deep concern with holiness! 

What if your youth ministry felt unmistakably sacred and still radically welcoming?

In this episode of Youth Ministry Booster, Zac Workun sits down with Ribbin Dorado to explore a youth ministry model built on formation over frenzy, one that helps teenagers love the church they’re actually growing into.

Together, we unpack a fresh durable, and repeatable,  youth ministry framework designed for long-term faith formation:

• A two-hour Sunday night gathering that prioritizes formation over games
• A monthly rhythm that includes a Student Sabbath at home, complete with table liturgies
• A mid-month Worship in the Round, where students lead and testify
• Sacred worship spaces using incense, kneelers, and iconography to signal reverence. Elements of signs, symbols, and wonder. 
• Memorizing creeds, spontaneous testimonies, and students “fighting for the mic” to name where they see God at work
• Teaching shaped by the lectionary, offering a balanced diet of Scripture and resisting cherry-picking

We also talk about rethinking leadership in student ministry:

• Hospitality leaders who cultivate belonging
• Formation leaders who guide 30-minute Bible circles
• Thoughtful training, interviews, and resources that treat leaders as ministers—not just volunteers
• Language that dignifies the calling and responsibility of those shaping students’ faith

At the core is the soul of the youth pastor. Ribbin challenges leaders to abide in Christ (John 15), practice the daily Examen, read Scripture beyond sermon prep, and develop a living rule of life. Teenagers don’t just hear what we teach, they catch what we love. 

We lead from overflow, not exhaustion.

Finally, we reframe success in youth ministry:

• Are students worshiping with the broader church?
• Are families practicing prayer and Scripture at home?
• Two years after graduation, are students rooted in a local church?

Formation is a long obedience in the same direction—formed inwardly and sent outwardly.

Subscribe, rate, and review on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or YouTube. Check out Lifeway.com/Essentials for free roundtable days this spring in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, and North Carolina. Sign up and bring your team.

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Well well look who just sledded into town! Hi Joseph Kellogg! 

"Presence rises above parties every time."

Joseph traces how one ordinary moment in a youth ministry service became a lifetime of discipling teenagers—with humility, consistency, and deep trust in what God does when leaders simply show up.

We talk about Pre-iPhone youth ministry to the post-Christian reality: what’s actually changed (and what hasn’t)
We explore the changes in student ministry: from lock-ins and flyers to algorithms and anxiety, and why presence still beats parties every time: 

• Creating sustainable youth ministry rhythms  prevent burnout.
• Learning calendar competency (not just busyness)
• Real Sabbath, not “ministry-adjacent rest”
• Faithful presence in the in-between moments—ball games, car rides, late-night queso conversations
• Partnering with parents who grew up in youth group starts by asking them what they remember and what they imagine.
• How to honor what parents loved about their own youth ministry experiences
• Acts 2 as a youth ministry framework
• Start with the essentials. Build a balanced discipleship calendar. Design ministry that feeds students a full plate—not just sugar highs.
• For new and seasoned youth pastors alike
• New leaders: a playbook for pace, purpose, and longevity
• Veteran leaders: language for what your gut already knows—students are hungry

🎧 If you’re longing to lead youth ministry that produces fruit that remains, this conversation will steady you, challenge you, and remind you why you said yes in the first place.

Make sure to check the links below to sign up for either an essentials event coming to you in Oklahoma, Arkansas, Virginia, North Carolina, or for our preaching conference, The Experience, back in Nashville again this May.

Lifeway.com/essentials

Lifeway.com/experience

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New Year, New Episode.

Welcome special guest Wyatt Pennington everybody! A new father, emerging and awesome youth ministry leader Wyatt walks us through a practical reframe: treat parents as partners, not an inbox. He details quarterly parent nights that include worship, teaching for adults, prayer, and a genuine response, plus simple series-based resources that turn “What did you learn?” into real conversations around the table. The result: families feel pastored, not processed—and students keep growing after Wednesday night ends.

We also tackle the screen-shaped world teens inhabit. Instead of declaring tech the enemy, Wyatt models a wiser way: analog alarm clocks, physical Bibles that never ping, printed workbooks, and clear boundaries that make space for God. We unpack how algorithms disciple kids with precision and why embodied practices and honest witness can out-form what big tech outspends. Finally, we get granular on communication: preach shorter sermons with one sticky point, yup just one, and lead descriptively by sharing your actual habits and failures, and commit to loving Jesus when no one is watching.

High Points
• new dad lessons on sacrifice and joy
• modeling boundaries students can see
• calling story from midweek to camp
• caught not taught approach to mentoring
• rebalancing ministry toward parents
• practical parent nights with response
• screens, algorithms, and formation
• analog habits that make space for God
• descriptive leadership over prescriptions
• why shorter sermons carry further

Signups for the Youth Ministry Preaching Experience are live. Check it out at lifeway.com/experience come check it out… sign up, let’s hang out in Nashville for three days and talk about what it means to teach, preach, and connect with students in 2026 and beyond

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Want a youth ministry that outlasts the hype cycle and survives staff turnover without losing momentum? Oh for sure, eh! 

This week's conversation with Canadian veteran youth pastor Jonathan Kornelsen dives into the shift from big events to spiritual formation, equipping teens to lead, and building a ministry that actually gets healthier over time.

Jonathan outlines nine core convictions from his Youth Ministry Blueprint—clarifying mission and priorities before any program, crafting a discipleship strategy with measurable wins, protecting leader health as the true foundation, building a volunteer pipeline with strong onboarding, and designing gatherings that are excellent without becoming the point. We connect those principles to biblical models: Nehemiah’s prayerful planning, Moses’ detailed tabernacle instructions, Paul’s leadership structures, and Jesus’ focus on disciples over crowds. The result is a practical path for ministries of any size to create belonging, sustain growth, and hand off a stronger system to the next leader.

The takeaway is direct: stop chasing attendance as the primary metric and measure formation, ownership, and calling.

Jon shares a nine-conviction blueprint for building healthy, transferable structures that outlast any one leader.

• defining mission, vision, and priorities before programming
• building a discipleship strategy with clear wins
• prioritising leader health as the true foundation
• equipping students to lead worship, teach, and serve
• onboarding and aligning volunteers with clear expectations
• designing programs that form disciples, not consumers
• creating belonging through small groups and culture
• assessing health with simple tools beyond headcount
• applying biblical models for structured, durable ministry
• resourcing and connecting with Youth Ministry Blueprint

Order Youth Ministry Blueprint on Amazon and follow us on Jonathan at Youth Ministry Blueprint
https://www.youthministryblueprint.com/

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