With mental health at the forefront of our cultural conversation, you can get easily get overwhelmed trying to make sense of it all. How can you know what the teens in your group are talking about when they talk about their mental challenges? When is it the kind of challenges that require professional help? And where do you fit in as a youth worker? Join the conversation as this week you’ll learn from a Canadian clinical psychologist who not only has been working directly with adolescents and their families but is training school psychologists and many other mental health professionals on this important topic.

Dr. Kelly Dean Schwartz recommended the book Too Safe for Their Own Good as well as the website teenmentalhealth.org.

To learn more about how to practically respond to adolescent mental health challenges, join us at a CYWC Regional Training near you.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team.

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

Youth culture is changing at such a rapid pace that keeping up with the times is nearly impossible for any youth worker. Yet it’s clear that having a framework for understanding how we ought to engage with our culture is more important than ever. So how do you go about understanding what teenagers are facing today without having to start a TikTok account or watch a bunch of Twitch streamers? How can you empower the youth in your ministry to become more thoughtful with how they interact with culture?

Learn more about Walt Mueller at CPYU.org.

Or subscribe to the Youth Culture Matters Podcast or Youth Culture Today Daily Podcast.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team.

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

As a youth worker, you don’t have the power to change the weather patterns or calm the stormy ocean, but you can help teens learn how to build a boat that will carry them through the rough waters they find themselves in throughout their lives. Join the conversation as Iona Snair unpacks the conversations you can be having with the teens in your group that will lead them to resilience.

Learn more about Life Teams at lifeteams.ca and Youth For Christ at yfccanada.org.

Find the “I’m Listening” Curriculum here.

And you can register for CYWC Regional Training at cywc.ca

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team.

Mentioned in this episode:

Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

You know that your students should be reading the Scriptures on their own, but how do you encourage them to take that step? How can you move from just telling students about the truth of Scripture to helping them discover and search out the truth for themselves? Listen in and discover a practical model that will help you teach your students to read the Bible this week.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

Have you had weeks where the ice breakers are falling flat and staying on topic just seems like a chore? You aren’t alone. Leading conversations with students can be extremely challenging, and although the list of suggested questions is helpful, some weeks they just aren’t cutting it. What are you supposed to do when no one wants to answer the questions? Who even writes these things? Have they been tested in real small groups before? When your students have lost interest, bringing them back to an authentic conversation about real life and real faith feels like a lost cause.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

It can be a weird dynamic in your group when the students who are coming don’t necessarily want to be there. They don’t engage in games, lessons, small groups, or large events. Maybe these students even come from Christian homes that support your ministry, but the teens themselves just aren’t interested in it. What can you do to help those students engage?

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

You likely want to build bridges to the families and parents of the teens in your group, but what do you do when the feeling isn’t reciprocated? What happens when teens have parents who are antagonistic when it comes to faith? What does it mean to honour parents when the parents don’t believe in the Scriptures that teach us that principle?

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

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Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

If you’ve been in youth ministry for more than a couple weeks you’ve experienced a student in your ministry that causes a ruckus. Someone who derails conversation and shifts the tone of the gathering. It’s such a common occurrence that if we aren’t careful we can assume it isn’t worth dealing with. But the truth is that there’s so much at stake and we need to thoughtfully process what to do when a teen acts out in our group.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

Thinking about this particular topic, you should know that Life Teams has fantastic resources to take this further. They are available HERE.

Mentioned in this episode:

Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

If you’ve been in youth ministry for more than a couple weeks you’ve experienced a student in your ministry that causes a ruckus. Someone who derails conversation and shifts the tone of the gathering. It’s such a common occurrence that if we aren’t careful we can assume it isn’t worth dealing with. But the truth is that there’s so much at stake and we need to thoughtfully process what to do when a teen acts out in our group.

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

Thinking about this particular topic, you should know that Life Teams has fantastic resources to take this further. They are available HERE.

Mentioned in this episode:

Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.

You likely hope the teens in your ministry are part of a Sunday morning service, but sometimes the sermons aren’t that accessible for teens. What can you do as a volunteer to help them not only pay attention, but actually love and learn that part of their faith experience? Are there things you can do that help an intergenerational service connect more with teenagers?

We want to hear from you! Submit your youth ministry question at youthministry.team

We mentioned Renegotiating Faith, a Canadian research project available HERE.

And check out Sam’Parle, one of our Québécois keynoters at CYWC Montreal.

Mentioned in this episode:

Update for 2024

Lots has changed since this episode initially aired! So to stay current with us here in 2024, head to https://www.youthworker.community/ to find out what we're up to.