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In episode 197 of the Youth Ministry Booster Podcast Zac and Chad break it down as real, struggling, pastors, and humans. This is a difficult and unprecedented time. It requires muscles and leadership that we have never exercised so we lack the endurance.

However, there is a hope, there is a faith stronger than ours. We turn to that in this time of increasing weakness to find promise beyond our current circumstances.

Show Notes: 

• This is a season to fix the deeper problem.
• Our pain is not a problem to be solved or program to be tweaked but an existential pain to experience, to walk through, and deepen our trust and faith in God. 
• The real fix we need in this season is in our willingness to abide in him.
• Check the source of your strength and fortitude. 
• We can no longer fake it. 
• Stop pretending like this is happening to someone else. 
• Don’t allow this challenge to become our character, but to change our character. 
• Above all, your people need a pastor who will walk with them through this as it is happening, guide, care, and point them back to the Love that is with us through it all.

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Everybody answers to somebody. In the world of youth ministry this usually means your senior pastor, leader, or direct report. No matter what size church you serve there is someone senior to your youth ministry leadership and that person and your relationship with them is vital for your ministry and for you.

It's true. Better working relationships with senior leadership is the number one improvement metric for most exiting youth ministers.

In this episode co-host Kristen takes the driver seat to ask her senior leader Chris Brown about leadership and the importance of youth pastor and senior pastor relationships.

Check the show notes and quotes for some goodies about humble leadership and teaming up for better ministry.

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Show Quotes Notes:
"The bridge that truth travels over is relationship. Ministry is always incarnational."

"There was not one moment of leaving, there was a constant feeling of those thoughts of leaving."

"If there is anything else you would rather do, pursue that first. When it is absolutely clear that you cannot be satisfied doing anything else, then come back and do ministry."

"Don’t commit to this for a job. Get another job and do this for volunteering."

"The greater you can lead is directly parallel to the thickness of your skin."

If you are not good with people being frustrated with you then do it a different way.
If you don’t feel called then become the high powered volunteer who is praised.

"Leadership means living with low level of frustrations toward you"

“Senior pastors remember back... Do you remember when you were an intern? Do you remember when you were in youth ministry? How important was the investment of the senior leader in your life?"

My teaching gifts are not alone to draw and keep the crowds. Families will come to church if their kids are loving church. 

"Your senior pastor is probably feeling more insecure than you are feeling right now."

"Your senior pastor is you, just 20 or 30 years older. None of us feel like when have what it takes."

"Do the job your senior leader should be doing relational. Ask them out to lunch, coffee, or soft drinks."

"Shared leadership is better than your leadership.

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It's alive! It's alive! Well Zac is at least back alive and healthy (after Flu B and some quasi-tragic recovery).

In this holiday recorded episode Zac and Chad talk about the necessity of the practice of silence for the the lives of youth pastors and their youth ministry.

Check the show notes and quotes for some goodies and let's have a conversation about the things we aren't saying. Hit us up on social!

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Twitter: https://twitter.com/ministrybooster/
Facebook:.https://www.facebook.com/youthministrybooster/
Website: https://community.youthministrybooster.com/

Show Quotes Notes:
According to Chad you have gotta read the Starlight Archive by Brandon Sanderson 

"Only guy I know in Eddie Bauer button-down wearing Sunoco brand undershirts."

Why do we fear the silence? 
1. It exposes our worries or anxieties 
2. We fear of what could happen in the unexpected 
3. We worry that we didn't fill enough time

"We are missing out on the neutral space of contemplation"

Have you made space for silence in your ministry, in your life? 

The importance of Silence for:  

• Hearing from God
• Processing what was just said
• Disruption: Pushing back on

"Youth ministers love to subvert MTV and Disney culture. Silence is a way to do that."

"Youth ministry is cultural when it emulates where it makes sense and subvert and push back where it is not right."

"There is a truth in the silence that your sermon words will never convene."

"Silence will free us from having to say everything all the time."

"We speak and ask for response but we never allowed silence to speak in between." 

"Youth ministry is most formative when it helps students do things they can’t do themselves."

"Your students are longing for peace."

“The Presence Is More Important Than the Program” A.W. Tozer

“If the Holy Spirit didn’t show up would we even notice?” A.W. Tozer

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What's up everybody! This episode is an important word of care for both your students and you the student minister. Hear the encouraging words of our new friend Dwight Johnson share about ACEs (Adverse Childhood Experiences) and how being more informed and trained about trauma will better serve you to serve your students.

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Facebook:.https://www.facebook.com/youthministrybooster/
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Instagram
Email

Show Quotes: 

• How well do you know the room?
• Walk the roster. Whose student’s story do you not know? 
• Their formative experiences will shape how they hear from you, how they engage with your ministry. We need to listen and adapt so that we may help.
• We so often put ourselves on islands of serving others, but living alone.
• Too often, we place all the worry of what needs to happen on our shoulders. Our work is to put a team together around our students to walk through the trauma well. 
• Doing ministry well comes through training. 
• Vicarious Trauma. The painful resonance of working with people 
• We need people to help us when we take the work home with us.  
• We are not exempt from facing our own trauma.

Resting isn’t sleeping.

Resting is your work ethic.

Resting is worship.

• We need eyes in on our lives, for the purpose of being whole, aware, and healed.
• When the people of God learn how to rest, the Holy Spirit will give everything we truly need.
• Acknowledge your brokenness. God wants to heal your busy and broken body.
• There are valleys and mountains to this work and God is in both places.

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We made it y'all! 4 years of meeting, interviewing, and recording and we are here to high five and kick the tires for at least 4 more!

Thanks for all the support, encouragement, listenership, subs, ratings, and reviews! They mean the world to us.

Whether this is episode #1 for you or you have hit all #193. Thank you! 

Join up with collaborative and caring youth ministry leaders @ Youth Ministry Booster

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"I'll see you at the moo oovie movies" #FYP

Just in case you haven't heard there is a brand new app that more than just the kids are in to nowadays. It's called TikTok and it's making us question everything we thought we knew about social (in a good way!).

Whenever we want to talk about leading edge tech and social media we turn our eyes north to Brady Shearer and his team at Pro Church Tools. They have been creating great content and apps for churches of every size to rethink and level up their interactions online.

Join up with collaborative and caring youth ministry leaders @ Youth Ministry Booster

Pro Church Tools: https://prochurchtools.com/

Brad Shearer on Instagram

Show Quotes: 

• "The exciting state of social media right now requires little to no gear."
• "Tik Tok is Adobe After Effects within in free application."
• "70% of TikTok is 18-24 year old young adults."
• TikTok is the the auto sound app.
• TikTok is creating a cultural moment of TikTok of famous. It is deeply concerned with 
• Virality is not just possible it is probable.
• TikTok is not based on your friend and family network. It is purely algorithmic based. Where you are and what you 
• It tunes itself to build a profile of what you like. 
• GenZ was known for keeping things intimate and disappearing
• However, the also aspired the to be famous Youtubers.
• Tiktok is a performance app for dancers, creatives, and comedians. 
• TikTok is social for the sake of being social. 
• The biggest problem for most churches is that we are using social to promote and not connect or relate.
• We need to social as a ministry itself.
• If someone is already paying attention then go to where their attention is already gathered. 
• Don’t reschedule when you already know you have their attention. 
• Sunday morning is more of an experience than communal. 
• The better metric than past attendance is measuring next steps. 
• The tough truth is that most folks just don’t care about church
• Our job is not to get mad but to respond to it. 
• Finding the intersection between faith and culture. People are just as curious about faith as they have ever been before. 
• TikTok is like a puppy.  It is trained to go wherever you train it to go.

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Chad is back and we are talking everything #NYWC19, YS In Tampa, and this month's theme for Youth Ministry Booster "Culture of Worry." Our students are more anxious and worried than ever, and we think that Student Pastors are too!

Youth ministry leader you must address the balancing the emotional and relational load of ministry creates within you. The cup of stressors has to overflow eventually but where will you put the spill?

Your family? A regrettable habit? An addiction to video games, Youtube, or Netflix?

We all find ways to self-medicate through the strain that ministry creates. Where are you going to put all the stress, exhaustion, and desire to do good?

Show Notes:
"Social is the multiplier for our insecurities. We were always insecure but now we just reach our maximum capacity quicker and on an almost daily basis."

We are just broken down faster and faster.

"Facebook comments can collapse around those who are really in need."

“We are far too quick to offer answers instead of listening for wisdom.” 

“There is pain on my face that I can’t always speak with my typed words.” 

“I need to see your face to help you heal in your faith.” 

“Comments are not good for counsel and care.” 

“Care stems from relational investment.”

“Face to face conversation holds us to a level of integrity 

“Anxiety often comes from feeling over-worked or under-worked. It is related to how we feel about what we have or have not accomplished. Better big picture plans usually facilities better day to day feelings of worry.” 

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When is it time to "make a change?" What does it mean to "make change" in your youth ministry?

If leadership for youth ministry is important then a measure of change is always necessary.

Hear from Kristen Lascola and Zac Workun as the discuss what it means to navigate change as a process and lead through change as a leader!

Live Episode 200 Party @ NYWC 2019. Join Party Join The Fun

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Show Notes:
“When is the change necessary?”

“We need this move to be smooth.”

At a leadership level change is happening all the time. It may not always be huge, but there is always something to be changing towards improvement.

Some times the most important changes are not significant but subtle.

Where are you putting your relational energy?

Change Management is simply doing it what it takes, or making the changes to remove the friction to make ministry better. 

Who you are and is directly related to your characters and capacity to lead.
 
You have to know what you are best at, we can’t mis-guess this quality. 

You know you need to recruit more help when you are utterly dependent on the wireless mic. 

The minute you can go wired on your 

Stop trying to be the Swiss army knife of your youth ministry. 

“We all have been there, stop trying to stay there.”

“You could be all things to all people, but it doesn’t mean you should be all things to all people.” 

“If you have to be everything you are really a less version of who you are.”

“There is a critical point in your leadership where I am I no longer the touch point for everything in the ministry.”’ 

“Your role, your position, give so much value and authority to what you say to the leaders who show up to help you.”

“Your adult leaders are your small group to lead.” 

“The mark of the great is your ability to produce a great leader.”

“We are emotionally attached to some of our ministry tasks.”

“We are really protective of our titles.”

“Leadership preys on your insecurity.”

Inviting Folks Into The Process Helps To Make Leadership:

Less Scary
More Fun
Strengthening

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Hey-oh! It's time to talk about the important work of connecting with students just outside your door!

At Youth Ministry Booster, we believe that there is really important student ministry work to be done just outside the walls of the church. Campus ministry in multiple forms is an invaluable asset to the ways in which students can become connected into the life of a church community. It will always look a little different everywhere, but one thing is always true, schools are full of students who need the gospel of Jesus! 

Learn more how you can connect and collaborate with youth ministers nationwide and in your neighborhood.

We wanted to talk with someone who is leading out and has learned a lot about it.

Meet Matthew Swifty Perry

Connect With Swifty
Matt on Facebook

Matt On Instagram

Show Notes:
The Story behind “Swifty” 
He really likes Taylor Swift, like he is a “fearless” Taylor Swift fan!

“You’ve known about God, but now know about me!” - Jesus

“I knew that God had called to me to church plant one, so I knew I needed to leave home to go learn what I didn’t know.”

“Sometimes you get interns because you go out and recruit them, other times you get them because they recruited themselves.”

“Don’t wait around to get asked, go and invite yourself to see how you can help and learn.” 

"What did you learn in the first 6 years. Serving."

Your chance to lead is when you pick a vacuum after the service. 

Learn how to serve without being asked. 

Leadership 101: taking the initiative to start serving. 

My job as a leader is to learn. I don’t want to be the smartest person in the room.

“Everyone has something to teach us.”

‘There is nothing I can plan that will have better production than what students can see on TV or game on their phone.” 

“My competition wasn’t another church but it was all of the activities of downtown San Diego: food, concerts, and bands.” 

“It has to be student-led.” 

“Campus ministry is encouraging and empowering students”

“We have 15,000 students within a 15 mile radius of our church.” 
“I don’t want to reach 10% of my church, I want to reach 10% of my schools.” 

“I don’t want to just reach my church people, I want to reach the people of my city.” 

3 Roadblocks To Developing On Campus Ministry: 

Roadblock 1: Staffing and Resources: 
Have a prayerful, written plan for your senior leaders.

Communicating the Vision of Campus Ministry To Senior Leadership 

Finding fresh volunteers Recruiting moms, college students without Wednesday classes

“School campus time of 30 minutes is the best way to connect with new students.” 

“We moved everything to Wednesdays. AM into PM, 8am-9pm on Wednesdays.” 

“When it comes to spending your time and their finances, have clear communication on the front end and not the back end.” 

Roadblock 2: Mobilizing The Students: What Comes Next? 
“How do you get the students excited?” 

“It was more important to have a club and a presence and be on campus 

“We have 7 churches that are ready to be a part of this thing together.” 

“Campus ministry can be good for the hype, how do we make it good for the church?” 

Roadblock 3: What Has This Done For The Student Ministry of Your Local Church?

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A little less than four years ago Chad Higgins and Zac Workun started a podcast to help youth pastors. The last few weeks have pushed some really exciting developments!

This October Lifeway Christian Resources (Nashville, TN) has acquired Youth Ministry Booster to become its primary training vehicle for coaching and equipping youth ministers nationwide.

This move enables Youth Ministry Booster to become the premier live video environment for youth ministry training, resourcing, and coaching. We are so excited for this continuing collaboration as youth ministers are matched into cohorts of masterminds and sharpening their skills, and getting the support and encouragement of soul care that is so deeply needed!

What Does This Mean?

YMB membership means you now get a whole library more of content! There has never been a better time to join!

New & Upcoming For Youth Ministry Booster in 2020: Community Based Courses
The high quality on-demand videos of Lifeway Students + the live video environment of Youth Ministry Booster means we will now offer in-depth learning with live elements inside of our community!

Every semester we are going to dive deep into the practical life and leadership lessons it takes to run a successful youth ministry. These new community-based interactive courses will rocket your growth as you learn from leading youth ministers, some of the very best of us!

“Funny for how you do, or funny for how you did!”

About the #NYWC19 Youth Ministry Booster Booth
Crown The Funniest Youth Pastor @ YS YMB #Live200

• Post short Instagram Story Videos
• Friday night @ The Late Night Podcast 9:45pm-10:45pm the top 3 finalists (as determined by social media) will be given a 5 minute set to compete for the title of Funniest Youth Pastor! 
• Follow the Facebook event to learn more

Thanks again for your listenership and support! 

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