The Sidekick Podcast

The great thing about Online Church is that with the ever-changing landscape of technology, churches can do a variety of different things that it could never do just a few years ago. For instance, less than 18 months ago, live-streaming from your phone was unheard of. Now with the likes of Periscope and Facebook Live, it is part of the norm.

And because technology continues to change and evolve, it enables Churches to use it to reach more people and engage them helping them come to know Christ.

That is why Tom has Sly King. Sly is in charge of Social Media and the Online Church at the Worship Center Christian Church.

* How did Sly get into ministry

* What is Talkback after the service

* What they do before the service

To connect with Sly, check him out on Twitter (twitter.com/sly_king48) and you can even check out a blog post he recently did about Building Your Church’s Online Ministry.

What about you? What are you doing on Sunday to connect and engage with viewers of  your online services? Share your experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick so we can all learn from each other.

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

The Orange Conference is coming up April 26-28, 2017. It is a fantastic experience for children, student and family ministers. And, with the 2nd Annual ReThink Leadership coming up those same days right next door, it is perfect for Senior and Campus Pastors. 

But what if you can’t make it to either of these 2 great events. How do you get to experience Orange without going to the conference? Simple, you go to the Orange Tour! The Orange Tour happens every year all across America where reThink takes the Orange Conference in packs it into 1 full day of learning. It’s awesome.

And that is why Tom brought in Lisa Givens to the podcast. Lisa is a volunteer leader at New Life Christian Church in Chantilly, VA (Tom’s Church). She went to the Orange Tour in Richmond, VA and is going to share about:

* What her background is and how she got involved in student ministry

* What she learned at the Orange Tour in Richmond from the likes of Jon Acuff and others

* How bad she is at 90s TV trivia

You don’t have to be a Rocket Scientist to realize that technology is all around us. And because there is always an “app” or technological tool for you to use personally and for your ministry, it is hard to determine what you should or should not be using to better your ministry.

That is why Tom brought in Christopher Wesley to talk about one of his recent blog posts, “Where Does Technology Belong In Your Ministry?“. In this episode they will talk about…

* Fall and Ministry

* What are the factors that contribute to determining whether or not you use technology in your ministry

* A shameless plug (tease of course) of his Student Ministry band’s album coming out Oct. 15th.

If you want to connect with Chris you can find him in a few different places:

* On Twitter (twitter.com/chrisrwesley).

* At his Blog (http://www.christopherwesley.org)

* Chris’ book, “Rebuilding Youth Ministry” (http://www.christopherwesley.org/books/rebuilding-youth-ministry

So what do you think? What are the factors you use in determining whether or not you should use technology in your ministry? Share your thoughts and insights below or on social media using the hashtag #ymsidekick. Join the conversation. 

Also, Tom would love to hear from you about what you’d like a future topic to be. To email Tom some ideas email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

Everyone wants to win. Everyone wants success! And in ministry that is no different as every volunteer wants to be successful in what their role is.

That is why it is so important for ministry leaders to set up their volunteers to succeed in their roles, whatever they may be. So, in today’s episode, Tom brings back Cory Sullivan to talk about this. Specifically, they talk about

* Outlining expectations well ahead of time of what you, as the ministry head, is expecting each leader to do

* What it means to make the leaders the heroes

* How the ministry head should be and can be preparing behind the scenes

* Apps such as Lead Small, Min Hub, Evernote and Trello to get the whole team on the same page.

Cory is a great resource and you can find him here.  You can also follow him on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/big_sully55). He’s a great resource so hit him up and pick his brain…he’d love that

What about you? How are you setting leaders up for success? Share your experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick so we can all learn from each other.

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

“The worst thing I did as a father was to teach them it’s just about obeying the law”. I had a father tell me that in regards to how he raised his sons. He made “doing the right thing” about obeying the law.

But what happens when the law changes? In particular, what happens once illegal things like pot becomes legal? How should teens make decisions since it is no longer illegal? How should we as parents and student ministers be teaching students to make wise decisions?

That is why Tom invited Ben Kerns on the podcast. Ben just wrote a post speaking about just this subject. So in today’s podcast Tom and Ben talk about

* Ben’s blog post, “Pot, Prostitution, and Porn: Develop a theology of morality in an amoral context“.

* Then they unpack it a little more on what are some practical ways to be teaching students now.

You can connect with Ben a few different ways.  He’s on Twitter (twitter.com/averageym), has an awesome blog (http://www.averageyouthministry.com) with tons of great insights each week.

So what do you think?  How have you been teaching your students about making wise decisions? And how effective has that been? Join the conversation by sharing your thoughts and insights below or on social media using the hashtag #ymsidekick. 

Also, Tom would love to hear from you about what you’d like a future topic to be. To email Tom some ideas email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

The world is changing all the time. And because the world is changing it affects the way that we can and should effectively minister to students.

Today, Tom and Jeremy Zach from reThink (aka Orange) talk about what’s trending this Fall in Student Ministry world. Jeremy is great to have on the podcast because he is constantly talking to student pastors and constantly chatting with them.

So, in this episode, Tom and Jeremy is what is in the today’s podcast:

* What’s trending in student ministry

* Creating environments in your student ministry

* How we can set up leaders in those environments to win with students

* What’s ahead on the Orange Tour

If you want to connect with Jeremy you can find him here (youthministrytestpilot.com) or find him on Twitter (twitter.com/jeremyzach).

What do are you seeing trending in student ministry right now where you are at? Share your stories below or on social media using the hashtag #ymsidekick. Join the conversation. 

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

He may deny it, but Josh Griffin is a Student Ministry legend. For years Josh has lead the Student Ministry program at Saddleback Church in California. Talk about big expectations, try attempting to fill the shoes Doug Fields left behind! Josh didn’t just fill them but led that team and program well for many years until just a few months ago. Josh, along with Doug Fields, created Download Youth Ministry as a way to coach and raise up the new batch of youth ministers all over the world.

Josh joins Tom today to talk about how to successfully manage a student ministry leadership team. In this episode they talk about:

* Josh’s ministry experience and what he is doing now

* Various ways that Josh successfully managed his student ministry teams

* How Download Youth Ministry is helping student ministers

It was great having Josh on the podcast and I know that he would love to connect with other student ministers to process ministry. You can connect with him on Twitter here (twitter.com/joshuagriffin) and you can learn more about Download Youth Ministry here (http://downloadyouthministry.com).

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!

Also, sign up for the Sidekick Scoop (http://ht.ly/TVyKF) to get content from all over the ministry world (especially online and student ministry topics).

Join the conversation. How do you effectively and successfully manage your student ministry team before? Share below or on social media using the hashtag #ymsidekick.

Church Planting is tough…let’s just be honest here. It takes a special person and calling for someone to go plant a church…especially in a city you don’t know very well. Joel Pazmino has that calling as he is getting ready to launch a church in Washington, DC.

One of the ways that Joel is becoming apart of the community in Columbia Heights is through his use of social media…particularly Facebook.  That is why, in today’s episode Tom and Joel talk about:

* How he was called into ministry and Church Planting

* How he is using social media, particularly Facebook, to build relationships

* How he is specifically using Facebook to become apart of the community and inspire others.

It has been great having Joel apart of New Life for the past year and I know that he would love to connect with other Church planters to process ministry. So, connect with Joel! You can find him on Twitter here (twitter.com/joelec) and you can learn more about his Church Plant, Columbia Heights Project here (http://columbiaheightsproject.com).

If you want to connect with and learn more about Passion for Planting and all their resources goto: church-planting.net.

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!

Also, sign up for the Sidekick Scoop (http://ht.ly/TVyKF) to get content from all over the ministry world (especially online and student ministry topics).

What training resources are you using now? Join the conversation by sharing below or on social media using the hashtag #ymsidekick.

Social Media and digital communication is ever changing and evolving. And too often churches tend to be on the outside looking in. That is why it’s so important to link up with professionals working in Churches on the front lines of digital communication.

Katie is a Web Content Manager at Brentwood Baptist Church. And, oh by the way, is an Adjunct Professor at University of Florida. Yeah she’s an Adjunct Professor at a major University and she’s not even 30 yet!  She is a social media guru and really invested in learning how to do digital communication better…not just for her and her church but to be a resource for everyone else as well.

So, in today’s episode, Tom and Katie talk about:

* What her current job is and how she got to be where she is today

* What she does with Church Communications Facebook page

* What’s trending in Church Communications (real surprise, it involves Snapchat and Instagram insights :))

* Facebook Live insights

Katie is a great resource and you can find her here.  You can also follow her on Twitter here (https://twitter.com/katiejallred). She’s a great resource so hit her up and pick her brain.

What about you? What communication and social media trends are you seeing that churches should be aware of. Share your thoughts below or on social media using #ymsidekick so we can all learn from each other.

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.

Student Leadership has always been a fantasy for Tom. It’s been a huge desire but he’s never been able to pull off effectively in a “official” way. And the reality is that this is probably the case with a lot of student ministries. Student ministers desperately want student leadership in their programs, but don’t know where to start or how to do it effectively.

That is why Tom brought in Jen Bradbury to the podcast.  Jen is a Student Minister in the great state of Illinois and is a great practitioner and thinker in the student ministry field.  AND, she is passionate about student leadership.

So today, Tom and Jen have a great conversation about what it takes to make a great student leadership program in your ministry.

* How Jen got involved in student ministry

* Why she values having students lead and how she organizes her leadership program for them

* How you can get a student leadership program started up in your student ministry

Having students in leadership can be a huge win for your students and your ministry if done right. That is why is it is key to get one started and going the right way. Jen is a great person to talk to and if you have questions about this or any other student ministry subject, she would love to talk to her. Hit her up on Twitter (@ymjen) or follow her on her blog (she also post regularly on DownloadYouthMinistry.com).

What do you think?  Do you have a student leadership program set up in your student ministry? How is it going? Share your experiences below or on social media using #ymsidekick so we can all learn from each other.

To email Tom some ideas on future episodes email him here.

Make sure you goto iTunes and subscribe (http://ht.ly/QdLHJ) to the podcast and see what cool things we do each and every week!  And make sure you rate the show, especially if you like it.