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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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Cleaner, Braver, More Effective: Youth Ministry in 2026

In this episode of Youth Ministry Booster, Zac and Chad lay our cards on the table, personal stakes, ministry wins we’re chasing, habits we’re cutting, and the simple shifts that actually build momentum with teenagers.

🌦️ Cultural Forecast: Where Teen Attention Is Really Going

Teen culture is shifting—and the old plays aren’t working like they used to.

• Teens are less platform-hopping and more rooted in one primary lane
• The “grow your Instagram” for the sake of reach is a strategy that is losing effectiveness
• Vanity metrics are fading; trusted circles are winning

If reach is fragmenting, trust is the new algorithm.

🏆 The Big Youth Ministry Win for 2026: Practical Evangelism

The most effective move forward is surprisingly old-school:

Teach students how to share their faith simply and confidently.

We break it down into repeatable tools:

• A 2-minute personal testimony
• One gospel verse every student memorizes
• Three conversation-opening questions for real-life moments

Pair that with a program shift:

• Less content, more confidence
• Proverbs over lectures
• Make the move to Coaching over Influencing

End every gathering, every week with one crystal-clear action step students can actually live out this week.

🔄 From More Content to More Confidence

Instead of piling on teaching:

• Build repeatable prayers and rhythms
• Reinforce the same tools until students own them
• Measure success by clarity and courage, not coverage

Confidence compounds when expectations are clear and doable.

🎮 Rethinking Games, Hangouts, and Connection

Let’s be honest—forced mixers and tired screen games aren’t doing the work anymore.

We suggest:

• Structured hangout time instead of awkward programmatic icebreakers
• Simple competitions with small stakes
• Leader-led engagement that models participation

Connection grows when leaders go first and environments feel safe, playful, and intentional.

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Merry Christmas Adam & Eve everyone! 

The holiday calendar swirls, the phone notification buzzes, and suddenly December is deciding everything for you. We pressed pause to talk about the real pressure of ministering well at church and home.

Our gift this year to share is presence. Chad and Zac share practical ways to build margin without dropping what matters. There’s a tender side to all this too. The holidays carry joy and grief in the same pew. We talk about walking slowly enough to notice the first Christmas after a loss, the newcomer who needs a name remembered, and the family who only shows up in December. With clear expectations at home and a plan for attention—yes to phone-free days—you can serve your church without sacrificing your people

• mapping service schedules and roles before crunch time
• choosing “Christmas Adam” and micro-traditions to free family time
• weekly and twice-weekly family meetings for clarity
• device boundaries, batching messages, phone-free days
• moving prep earlier to be present with people
• shifting from the booth to visible shepherding
• noticing grief and first holidays without loved ones
• simple follow-ups that turn holiday hellos into care

“Please drop a comment and tell us how you drink your coffee”

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understand your words. We sat down with the Champion Forest student team to unpack how a “one church, two languages” model becomes one student ministry that actually belongs to everyone. If your context includes Spanish-speaking parents, English-dominant teens, and first-generation families navigating two worlds, this conversation offers a blueprint that’s both practical and hopeful.

We share how one student ministry serves Spanish-speaking families and English-dominant students without splitting community. From staffing to services, we explain the model, the mistakes, and the practical moves that make unity real.

• one church in two languages with one student ministry
• culture valued over vocabulary in programming
• integrated Wednesdays with bilingual worship moments
• Sunday hours aligned with adult services for families
• intentional staffing across student, admin and production
• communication to parents in both languages at once
• planning events together to avoid silos
• defining success as connection, not room counts
• honoring family traditions and calendars
• giving leaders courage to try and learn

We’ll drop emails in the show notes below or folks that have questions

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What if the fastest way to build a strong student ministry isn’t a bigger stage, but a crowded living room? We pull back the curtain on our biggest do-overs: why we’d start with relationships, not programs; why a right-sized room beats a flashy setup; and why coaching volunteers weekly will outperform any event on your calendar.

• starting in homes to build belonging
• coaching volunteers rather than just filling roles
• using the 80 percent rule for room choice
• fast handoffs from staff to leaders and peers
• connecting new families to adult community quickly
• becoming the storyteller to senior adults
• reframing criticism with real student wins
• choosing joy and hospitality as strategy

Make sure to drop a comment below or email us at chad.higgins at lifeway.com your stories of what it's like to be ministry in the new place that you are, or the wisdom that you would give to be featured on an upcoming episode

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Ten years in and we’re still showing up, still laughing about late-night Taco Bell runs, and still fighting for youth pastors to feel seen on that drive home after midweek. We rewind to the After Nine roots—two friends comparing notes before weekend trainings—and trace how a simple idea to be a caring voice turned into a decade of community, practical help, and honest talk about the inner life of ministry.

We mark ten years by tracing our start as a late-night voice for youth pastors, then share honest, practical ways to celebrate volunteers and students without adding noise to busy calendars. The thread is clear: what we honor out loud is what our ministries become.

• origin of After9 and the late-night drive home vibe
• why healthy ministers create healthy ministries
• celebrating too quietly and how to fix it
• practical leader appreciation ideas that scale
• milestone moments for teens with simple spiritual markers
• training your heart to notice wins, not just problems
• building community with low-cost, high-meaning gatherings
• choosing meaning over more events in busy families

Thank you guys so much for being with us in this journey

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🔥 Feel like you need to throw a last-minute mega event to fix that attendance dip? You’re not alone—but there’s a better way.

This week, Chad and Zac kick things off with a hilarious misheard small group moment 😂 and dive deep into the tension youth pastors feel when numbers start to slip. Instead of chasing hype, we talk about trading panic for purpose, and crafting a longer runway for deeper discipleship.

🎯 Learn how to move from reactive programming to intentional ministry formation. We get honest about what doesn’t work (spoiler: slip‑n‑slides 🛝 aren’t a strategy), and share what does—from simple measurable goals to empowering students and engaging parents.

🔑 What's Inside This Episode: 
📉 How to name the seasonal dip without spiraling into panic
🗓 Why a 2–3 month planning runway beats last-minute burnout
📚 Building a scope and sequence that serves 2–7 years of ministry
🧠 Helping students go beyond knowledge to confidence and competence
📊 Measuring success with more than just headcount
👫 How to publish your plan to parents and leaders for real alignment
🚫 Why SWOT analysis usually flatters but doesn’t change much
💛 The soul work behind sustainable strategy
🔁 A practical 12-week focus model that builds student discipleship skills
👀 What if your youth ministry wasn’t about doing more, but about doing what matters—better?

We’re inviting you to shift from reactive busyness to a sustainable rhythm of planning, evaluating, and forming students with purpose. From testimony practice to small group consistency and Scripture engagement, we’re talking practical ways to track real growth 📈.

🎙 Whether you're leading solo or with a team, this episode is packed with real talk, helpful tools, and hope for the road ahead. Let’s build something that lasts.

📌 Subscribe for weekly conversations that boost your ministry leadership with practical wisdom, soul care, and community.

👍 Like, comment, and share this episode if it helped you breathe a little easier about planning the next season!

#YouthMinistry #StudentMinistry

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Hey buddy...

Are your teaching methods actually connecting with how today's students learn? I mean they love Roblox, Minecraft, and Cedarwood Scents.

In this conversation, Chad and Zac challenge youth ministry leaders to move beyond traditional sermon-style approaches to create more engaging, effective learning experiences.

The disconnect is clear: while schools have changed their teaching methods to include more group work, technology integration, and interactive learning, many youth ministries still rely on one-way communication models that don't match how students absorb information the other five days of the week. 

As Chad notes, "If modern day teachers are trying to shorten lessons to be more engaging and hands-on, why are we trying to defend a longer sermon?"

• Teaching approaches should differ based on room size, audience age, and learning context
• Students learn differently in school than previous generations, with more group work and interactive methods
• Fill-in-the-blank worksheets and guided notes help students track with teaching and practice note-taking
• Visual aids and object lessons create memorable sensory connections to abstract concepts
• Teaching students to teach others builds confidence and develops them as disciple-makers
• Our goal should be equipping confident believers who can articulate and apply their faith
• Consider your specific audience when planning - teaching 10-year-olds differs from teaching adults
• Moving beyond content delivery to skill-building and confidence development transforms youth ministry

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"It's all about the numbers." Ever feel like your ministry's is trapped by attendance numbers? What if the most powerful metric isn't quantitative at all?

The stories unfolding in your student ministry reveal far more about God's work than any statistical report. We mean it! We want you to measure in stories! This webinar replay reveals why stories are a better scorecard for ministry success than numbers, showing how collecting and sharing transformation narratives creates lasting impact. 

Chuck Peters joins Zac and Chad to talk about the importance of story in leading your ministry. 

Show Notes
• Stories are already happening in your ministry whether you're collecting them or not. We just need systems to collect and share them!
• What you treasure is what you measure; focus on transformation over attendance. Stories elevate VALUES.
• Creating systems to collect ministry stories helps combat our natural forgetfulness. Become a JOURNALIST for your ministry.
• Be strategic about which stories you share with different audiences (parents, staff, church members)
• Add categories to your collected stories to easily find and share them when needed, the power of GENRE.
• Train students to tell their own stories as part of their spiritual formation, the formational discipline of TESTIMONY.
• Practice discernment; don't embellish stories or share what isn't yours to tell, INTEGRITY.
• Ask better questions to help leaders identify meaningful stories in their ministry
• Use volunteer huddles to celebrate what God is doing across different ministry areas. Help others gather PERSPECTIVE.
• Stories should make God the hero, not the ministry leader or program

Check out our storytelling resources and learn more about Youth Ministry Booster Season 7: The Power of Story at www.lifeway.com/studentleadertools.

Learn more from webinars like this one at: https://www.lifeway.com/en/special-emphasis/ministry-success-webinars

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