As much as we believe that every follower of Christ should be serving their community in some capacity there are times a volunteer leader needs to step down. If you’ve ever wondered how to tell if someone should step down or what your role could be if someone is in the process of doing so, this episode is for you! Join Rob from Briercrest and Jeremy as they share frameworks from decades of experience, both as volunteer leaders and point leaders. 

There are generally four main categories of why a volunteer leader needs to step down, and defining it will allow you to engage better. Is it an issue of:

Conflict, Chemistry, Competency, and/or Character?

From there, start with a conversation leading with curiosity! “Help me understand” is a powerful statement, especially when addressing observable behaviors. And remember - your goal is always to move towards restoration. 

Looking for a youth leader job description? Access that HERE.

Looking to be equipped for ministry? Briercrest has so many opportunities that you could access – no matter where you are at in your ministry journey. Check them out at Briercrest.ca

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

Your students won’t always be in your youth ministry. They’ll move on at some point. At the very least, they’ll all move on after graduating high school.

And the research is clear that any time a student experiences a transition in their life there’s a significant chance that faith might not make it through the transition. But that’s where you come in – you can help make sure that a student’s faith remains strong.

Join today’s conversation as Jeremy interviews Rolf Nanninga from Power to Change - Students and Theresa Catania from Rexdale Alliance and they share a number of ways that you can get in the corner of students and families during the transition seasons (even those not yet part of your ministry).

One great way to support your students that are graduating high school is by offering them access to more financial resources. In light of that, you should get them to check out the NEXT Steps awards, which are designed to encourage a healthy transition to post-secondary by offering funds and by facilitating connections to faith communities on campus.

You can also reach out to Rolf Nanninga anytime as he’d love to support you as you send your students to post-secondary. You can also subscribe to his P2C youth leaders' monthly actionable email stream. 

Here is the event Theresa mentioned: Faith in Transition to Post Secondary event from 2022.  Feel free to have your students and parents attend the event in 2023 either in person or virtually on May 12th 2023. Details and registration here. 

Youth Worker Community also has topical resources on helping your graduating students -- access those HERE.

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

Revelation is hard to understand at the best of times. It frustrates and fascinates many people with its imagery and apocalyptic tone. And unless you are a Bible scholar, it’s likely you feel intimidated when students ask questions about it. Join today’s conversation with Cody Machett, co-author of Revelation for the Rest of Us with Scot McKnight, as he talks about how to engage students with the book of Revelation.

Cody has so many good things to say, but you might discover in this conversation that the best thing you can do to teach your students about Revelation (or really any book of the Bible) is to model what it looks like to journey into Scripture in community. You don’t need all the answers. Just curiosity, a willingness to say “I don’t know,” and the ability to engage scripture as fully as possible, including asking the surprising question, “How does [this piece of Scripture] make you feel?”

Want to read more? Go check out Revelation for the Rest of Us: A Prophetic Call to Follow Jesus as a Dissident Disciple by Scot McKnight and Cody Matchett

Want to chat more about revelation and/or youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

The weekly rhythms of your relational ministry certainly helps disciple students. You don’t want to give up on that. Yet, there’s something special about the experiences that happen outside of the normal rhythms. It’s those special events, retreats, camps, or unique gatherings that so many students point back to as integral for their faith journey. Why is that? And how do you plan those kinds of experiences or events, the kind that transforms your students' faith? Join today’s conversation with AJ and Kaitlin from Briercrest as they offer the frameworks they use when planning and running large events for teenagers!

The first step to any great event is knowing yourself, your team, and your audience. Then, get brainstorming! 

The best brainstorming:

1. Allows time for preparation

2. Has a key prompt

3. Has set expectations beforehand 

4. Invites new voices to the table

5. Isn’t limited by your list

And finally some general tips and tricks:

• Over communicate

• Know your calendar

• Give clear details

• Clarify expectations

• Start earlier than you think you need to

Want to read more from AJ’s blog on mountain top experiences? https://www.briercrest.ca/blog/whyretreat

Want to check out more of what Briercrest and Youth Quake are up to? 

www.briercrest.ca

youthquake.ca 

Looking for a great series that you can use this week in your ministry? Check out YQ at Home 2023: youthquake.ca/athome

And lastly, you should take your students to this year’s Youth Quake! www.youthquake.ca/registration

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected] 

The last three years have left many of our students feeling like they don’t have roots 

or a solid foundation to stand on. On top of that, as followers of Jesus our students 

can feel like much of the world is against them. But the truth is that the one who is for 

them is intimately greater than what is against them. Through her extensive research 

on developing gritty faith in teens, Ebonie Davis shows us the practices we need to 

help our students embrace in order for them to move from fragile to resilient.

Here’s some questions you can wrestle with as you listen to this conversation:

• How would you define resilient faith or “durable joy”?
• How would you describe the state of resilient faith, or “durable joy” in your teens?
• Talk about the factors that adjust the state of resilient faith or durable joy in your teens. These could be positive or negative factors.
• What are one or two barriers you will need to overcome to build durable joy in our teens? 
• Is there a rhythm, habit, or practice that you would like to “disrupt” in your kids? What is it?
• What is one way you could disrupt that rhythm, habit, or practice?
• Ebonie talked about four habits to help build Jesus focused durable joy in teenagers. Which of those habits would you like to lean into first with your teens? What is one way you could do that?

You should pick up Ebonie’s book here: https://www.amazon.ca/Disrupting-Teens-Joy-Discover-Jesus-Focused/dp/1942145543

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

Disagreement is part of being human, so it shouldn’t be any surprise that you have times when you disagree with leadership. Join today’s conversation where Jeremy interviews Kevin Janzen to discover practical steps you can take whenever you find yourself at odds with someone in leadership. Whether it’s someone’s behavior, or a small disagreement about a program element, or even significant theological questions, here’s a few tips on what to do:

1. Lead with humility 
2. Pray for your leader
3. Test things out
4. Meet with your leader 
5. Figure out what’s next
6. Honour leadership and steward your position well

There are so many ways for you to connect both in person and virtually this season! Check out these awesome conferences: 

Canadian Youth Pastor Summit (East) on March 21-23, 2023

Youth Quake by Briercrest in May, 2023

Kevin Janzen is the Next Gen Coach with the Alberta and Northwest Territories of the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada.

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

Whether you were just at a youth worker training event or you brought students to a retreat – these types of gatherings can be a big game changer for your ministry. But the impact of the event can be measured by not only what happens during it, but what happens afterwards. Join today’s conversation as Matt Wilkinson from Today’s Teens Conference walks you through a simple takeaway step that will help you make the most of the events that you and your students take part in.

There are so many ways for you to connect both in person and virtually this season! Check out these awesome conferences: 

YWC Winter Conferences

Canadian Youth Pastor Summit (East) on March 21-23, 2023

Youth Quake by Briercrest in May.

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

Even if your ministry doesn’t include a class type environment, chances are you’ve struggled to know what to do with students who don’t engage in the way you hope they would. If so, this conversation is still for you! 

Join Kara, a fellow Canadian youth worker, and Jeremy as they tackle what you can do with hyperactive teens that don’t do well in a class type environment. Kara will offer a few ideas that you can take action on this week:

1. Set clear expectations
2. Collaborate and talk with parents and families
3. Involve and embrace them

If you have a struggle that you wrestle with, would you drop it into this form? We’ve got some great questions so far – keep them coming! 

And if you would like to offer your own wisdom to someone else’s question, you can head to the same form (click through to page two).

There are so many ways for you to connect both in person and virtually this season! Check out these awesome conferences: 

YWC Winter Conferences

Canadian Youth Pastor Summit (East) on March 21-23, 2023

Change Conference on February 24, 2023

Today’s Teens Conference on February 25, 2023

Youth Quake by Briercrest in May.

Want to chat about youth ministry? Give us a shout by emailing [email protected]

We want to hear from YOU!

If you have a struggle that you wrestle with, would you drop it into this form?

And if you would like to offer your own wisdom to someone else’s question, you can head to the same form (click through to page two).

There are so many ways for you to connect both in person and virtually this season! Check out these awesome conferences: 

YWC Winter Conferences

Canadian Youth Pastor Summit (East) on March 21-23, 2023

Change Conference on February 24, 2023

Today’s Teens Conference on February 25, 2023

Youth Quake by Briercrest in May.

We’ve talked about loving the students who are seemingly unlovable (check out episode 42!), but what do you do when you have students who are actively impacting other students negatively? Maybe it’s feedback from parents upset that their kids have come home knowing a new curse word. Or maybe it’s that you’ve noticed the culture of your group start to slide into a place you’d rather not see it go. What are you supposed to do when it seems like one student is ruining it for the rest of them?

Join today’s conversation with Sid and Jeremy as they talk through practical steps you can take:

1. Clarify the purpose and culture of your ministry.
2. Have a one on one conversation with the student (and maybe their parents).
3. Have a conversation with those being influenced (and maybe their parents too!).

There are so many ways for you to connect both in person and virtually this season! Check out these awesome conferences: 

Canadian Youth Pastor Summit (East) on March 21-23, 2023

Change Conference on February 24, 2023

Today’s Teens Conference on February 25, 2023

Youth Quake by Briercrest in May.

You can check out all of YWC’s events here: https://youthworker.community/events/

We’d love to get your wisdom in these conversations by either submitting questions or helping to answer them! You can do that using this link.