Latest / Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources / The 5 MUST-HAVE Youth Ministry Resources for NEW Youth Pastors!

Transcript

The 5 MUST-HAVE Youth Ministry Resources for NEW Youth Pastors! · Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

• 0:00
  SPEAKER_00: I have a solution, especially for smaller churches.
• 0:03
  SPEAKER_00: This would be my go-to, can't do without kind of thing.
• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: The good news is half are no cost and half are very low cost.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: It is like a never-ending bottomless pit of resources.
• 0:15
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, I'm gonna give you five must-have resources for new youth pastors.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast, where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast-track the growth and health of your youth ministry.
• 0:39
  SPEAKER_01: My name is Jeff Lascola, and this is Kristen Lascola.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And today we are talking about must-have resources for new youth pastors.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, in preparing this content, I was really thinking, okay, if I was starting youth ministry all over again and I was starting today, what were like, what are the things I've discovered that I'm like, that would have made my life so much easier?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_00: This would be my go-to, can't do without kind of thing.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_00: And most of them, the good news is like half are no cost and half are very low cost.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_00: So even if you're bi vocational, don't get paid to do youth ministry, or have a super small budget, then these will work for you.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: So the number one thing I wish I had when I first started was a DYM, not well, I want to say membership, but you can do this without a membership.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_00: So they have like gold, platinum, whatever memberships where you pay a certain amount and you get like all access to, you know, I, you know, there's different tiers you can look into it, but you can do this without even having a membership.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_01: Like all a cart is what you're saying.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, because their prices are so good that it's almost stupid not to buy their stuff.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: And they're not sponsoring this episode, by the way.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I don't Yeah, come on, DYN.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I know, come on.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_00: But I as I'm saying that, I'm like, I feel like this is a commercial.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: However, it's not a commercial because they don't even know I'm doing this episode, even though I'm friends with them.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're not sponsoring this.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: I get absolutely nothing except knowing I helped you, my audience, because I stumbled across, like, they didn't exist when I first started youth ministry.
• 2:23
  SPEAKER_00: D I DYM wasn't a thing.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Josh Griffin had like a blog called More Than Dodgeball, and it had some resources and stuff on there.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_00: Doug Fields had some resources on his own, but it wasn't like it is today.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: And so their games are like dirt cheap.
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_00: They're like five bucks.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: And a lot of them are repeatable.
• 2:43
  SPEAKER_01: It's not like you do it once and it's done.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: Totally.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And it's not like I play a DYM game every single week.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think that would get a little stale, but I like to play one a month, and then they have curriculum, they have talk sheets, talk sheets, they have discussion sheets for your small group, they have leadership stuff.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, it is like a never-ending, like barrel of fun, right?
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: There, it's like bottomless pit of resources.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: And as a new youth pastor, I would look at that and be like, so you're telling me for like five bucks, I can get a whole series with graphics, you know, with slides, with an outline, with a talk sheet.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's just almost too good to be true, but it's not.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: And that's sort of how I feel about all of the resources I'm gonna talk today.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: Like, they're just a little too good to be true kind of thing.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_00: And DYM just puts out really high quality things that I resonate with.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: I think that their style is similar to my style, their energy is similar to my energy.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: So it really does fit my style of youth ministry.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: But if you want to tweak something to fit something into your style of ministry, you can absolutely do that.
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you saw, but I just drooled.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_01: You got a real problem.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: I do.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: I'm either salivating thinking about all the DYF products.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So excited about GYM.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so yeah, I've used their stuff for years.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then the cool thing is your downloads stay your downloads, like they don't expire.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: Like even now, like I bought a game recently and you go into your account, and I have all the games I've ever bought.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I can recycle them, use them again for a new class, use them for uh an event that I haven't used them before.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, DYM, I think is sort of the gold standard for me and how I do youth ministry.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: And if you aren't well versed in it yet, just go click around on their website and see what's available and what speaks to you and what you like.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_00: It's super low cost.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: So, speaking of resources, this one is also incredible because it is no cost, and that is Life Church.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: I've talked about this a million times because where was this when I was starting out in youth ministry?
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_00: Again, I stumbled across it.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know, maybe someone told me about it.
• 5:07
  SPEAKER_00: I don't remember how I found this because it's kind of hidden.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: So if you go to lifechurch.com and you go to the bottom and it says church resources or something like that, you click that button and a whole portal will open up to you of messages and series with graphics and talk sheets.
• 5:29
  SPEAKER_00: And literally all you have to do is a login with your email.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_00: And we've talked about this a million times, so I'm not gonna spend that much time on it.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_00: But in case you're new to the channel or you know, stumbled across this episode just randomly, you have got to go to life church.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_00: That would have saved me hours and hours and hours of literally sitting at my desk.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: Hmm, what should my next series be?
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: What should we talk about with junior high?
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_00: And even if you don't like people will complain about curriculum sometimes and be like, well, you know, that's cheating or whatever, you can use it as a brainstorming session.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Like, oh, I really like how they have a series on worship.
• 6:06
  SPEAKER_00: I'd like to do a series on worship.
• 6:08
  SPEAKER_00: What did they talk about?
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: I like that, but I'd like to talk about this.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: Like it, if nothing else, it gives you structure and ideas, or just go ahead and take it, you know?
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_00: And a lot of the sermons, you can hear them before you deliver them.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: So if you click like the video button, it'll take you to a live recording of the sermon for some of them, not all of them.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: The thing with Life Church is it's not always like this predictable pattern, like an outline, a transcript, a video message, a graphic.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_00: Depending on what series you're clicking on, it may be a different package availability.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_00: So because it's free, you just kind of have to go with it.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Craig Groschelle's vision was like, why not just give away our stuff for free?
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: And people, like if you read his book, Lead Like It Matters, he says he's the developer of the Bible app, the U Version Bible app, which is free.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: He is?
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: Like for some reason, I thought that had to do with uh whatever you think is wrong.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I guess it is wrong.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I can't think of his name.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_00: He talks about it a ton in his book, and he says, you know, people were like, Hey, all this stuff you're putting out for free, you can make a profit on.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_00: And he's like, He's great.
• 7:20
  SPEAKER_01: John Bevere.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Ah, he has a different app.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: It's called like um X.
• 7:27
  SPEAKER_00: I thought it was a Bible.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: I guess.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: He has a leadership app, he does.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_00: But, anyways, it's just like literally there for the taking.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's like, I don't ask for money, I don't ask for anything.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: This is just to further the kingdom, and we all benefit from it.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: It's so sweet, you know.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_00: The Bible app also, I'm sure every pastor out there has it, but there's Bible studies on there, you know.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: You can direct your people are always like, I need a Devo to tell my kids about.
• 7:57
  SPEAKER_00: There's a thousand series devos on the U Version Bible app.
• 8:02
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, what do you want a Bible study on?
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_00: It exists and it's a daily thing that they can go to.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: So Bible app, life church resources, all of that I would kind of wrap into one because it all comes from Craig Rochelle.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: Incredible stuff.
• 8:18
  SPEAKER_00: So this one is more like a resource for your families, but okay, so obviously we know we need games, we need messages, but you can't do anything in youth ministry without communication.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_00: So I have a solution, especially for smaller churches, because like I work at a large church and we have our own app for our church.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: We have a pretty smart database called Rock that we use that has different ways to communicate to our members and teams and stuff like that.
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_00: Like I can create a list of just junior high parents, I can create a list of just my parents of leadership kids, I can create a list just for incoming fifth grade parents.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're a smaller church, I don't know how developed your database system is.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_00: So what you can do is use some communication apps.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_00: So for internal stuff, we've been using Discord.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_00: And I wouldn't put that like for parents, but I use Discord for my teams, like my um leadership team, like my adult leadership team.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_00: And we have different channels in there: people that help on Tuesdays, people that help here, people for this event for camp, for this, you know, stuff leaders would need to know.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're looking for a great way to communicate to parents and maybe even students or student leaders or something like that, the band app is really incredible.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_00: I think it's, you know, there's been apps, communication apps that have been like coming across like for a long time, for years.
• 9:59
  SPEAKER_00: And I've used some and I've never been like overly impressed with any of them.
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I just kind of default back to emailing parents or posting stuff on our Instagram to communicate.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_00: But I think after my research, my friend Hayden had said asked a question about the band app.
• 10:15
  SPEAKER_00: So I started doing some research on it.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_00: And if we didn't have the database system we have to communicate, I would definitely be using the band app because you can share like schedules, you can share calendars, you can like do obviously text messages, but you can do signups, you can do attendance, you can do check-ins.
• 10:37
  SPEAKER_00: Like it's a really smart app and it's free.
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_01: So it's like does it do payments?
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: Probably not.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_00: That's a great question.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: If you're using Band App and you know the answer to that, let me know.
• 10:46
  SPEAKER_00: But it feels like the answer to a small church database problem.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: You know, like we're not gonna spend hundreds of thousands of dollars on some, you know, people tracking databases, and we don't have the need for that because of our size.
• 11:04
  SPEAKER_00: This for a youth group especially seems like the answer to that.
• 11:08
  SPEAKER_00: Like, communication is one of the biggest things in youth ministry.
• 11:13
  SPEAKER_00: I always tell youth pastors, like, you might be doing really good stuff if nobody knows about it or has a way to access it or has a clean way to participate, then it's all for naught, right?
• 11:24
  SPEAKER_00: If people can't access forms or calendars or things that will keep them engaged, then it doesn't matter how great your event is, you know, there's nothing there, nobody can go.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Um so you can give like RSVPs, you know, for your event registration, you can do um volunteer team stuff.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_00: So you can have different teams in there, different communications going and all of that.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: So it could, if we were using it, it could erase our need for Discord as well.
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think you would need both.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, if you haven't heard of the band app or you're not using it yet, that could be worth looking into.
• 12:04
  SPEAKER_00: And if you are using it and you have some experience with it, comment below.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_00: How has that been for you and what things should people know about it?
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_00: But I think for a youth pastor starting out, that would be like a gold mine of resources right there.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_00: So the fourth one, this one, yes, is a little bit of cost, but low cost, very low cost.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_00: You're welcome.
• 12:27
  SPEAKER_00: So, a long time ago, my clients, my coaching clients and the members of our YMGA course, they kept writing me and saying, You're always talking about student leadership, always talking about student leadership.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_00: What do I do?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what do I teach them?
• 12:42
  SPEAKER_00: What are you talking about?
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: Homework.
• 12:43
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to give them.
• 12:45
  SPEAKER_00: And I said, Would you guys be interested if I wrote like a nine-month student leadership curriculum?
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_00: And I know we've talked about it the last couple episodes.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: This is not a commercial for it, but when I saw the title of this episode, I'm like, it has to go there because people I think are intimidated to pull the trigger on student leadership teams because they don't know what I'm going to do with them.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_00: So I wrote nine months of curriculum.
• 13:16
  SPEAKER_00: So it has a leader guide and then a homework that you give to the students lessons for your student leadership team, one a month for the entire school year.
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the exact curriculum I use with my own students.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: I took them through it last year, which good news for you, that means I'm going to write a whole other nine months and give it to you this time next year, uh, when I'm done with it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: But it's stuff that I give to my students.
• 13:42
  SPEAKER_00: And if I were just starting out in youth ministry and there was a way to purchase nine months worth of student ministry or student leadership curriculum, and I didn't have to create it, buy it, research it, study it, I would be like, sign me up.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_00: This is kind of an anomaly in a sense that there is not a whole lot.
• 14:05
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, I can't think of any platform I've come across that has a pre-packaged, well done student leadership curriculum that's plug and play, ready to go.
• 14:17
  SPEAKER_00: Print it out, hand it to your students.
• 14:19
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, except for what we've created.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_00: And it's super low cost.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: I actually for less than a cup of coffee a month.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: You can get it.
• 14:25
  SPEAKER_01: How much is it?
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: I actually forty seven bucks for nine months.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you don't pay$47 for nine months.
• 14:32
  SPEAKER_00: You pay it once.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: Nine months worth of curriculum is$47.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, nine months worth of curriculum for$47.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_00: So to me, youth pastor, that would have fit in my budget my first year.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_00: I would have bought what I have now created.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_00: Um, I don't know why I didn't do it a long time ago.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_00: I didn't know people wanted that curriculum until they kept asking and asking and asking.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_00: Again, this isn't a commercial, this is a helpful resource thing.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: Another news, this episode is sponsored by studentleadershipjourney.com.
• 15:01
  SPEAKER_00: Studentleadershipjourney.com.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: But these are the things that I feel like would have shaved hours off of my schedule.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: Like, and I could have put that creativity toward other things, you know.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: This is stuff that used to take me hours.
• 15:19
  SPEAKER_00: Like, what game should we play?
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: I need a graphic, you know, with the DYM stuff.
• 15:23
  SPEAKER_00: I need a series, I need a scope and sequence.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know what to teach.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I don't want to spend$300 on curriculum.
• 15:30
  SPEAKER_01: Like, honestly, I could have$300 on curriculum is a bargain these days.
• 15:34
  SPEAKER_00: These days, yeah.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: I remember seeing that sticker shock when I first started in youth ministry.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_00: Like everyone was sending me emails advertising their curriculum.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, I'm not opposed to curriculum.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_00: I'm a one-man show over here.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: I could definitely use some help.
• 15:48
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'd see the price tag, and I'm like, I have 11 students in my ministry.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: I cannot justify$300 worth of curriculum.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: And now you're looking at easily six, seven hundred dollars, I think, for the low end.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: Six, seven.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're not doing that anymore.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: We stopped.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_01: The world decided that that is done.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_01: It didn't even make it to June 7th.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: What a shame.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Nope.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_01: Fickle.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: Fickle.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: Well over a thousand dollars.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_00: And I'm sure they're worth it.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: I'm sure they're so good.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: And I just remember knowing for me and where I sat in my size that that was definitely cost prohibited.
• 16:27
  SPEAKER_00: And I think I spent years and years and years writing sermons from the ground up.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: It worked a muscle in me that was really good.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: I know how to write sermons from the ground up.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's no joke, though.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_00: It takes hours and hours and hours and hours.
• 16:43
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's a good skill to have.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: I would never say it's not worth it.
• 16:47
  SPEAKER_00: However, I think the problem for a lot of youth pastors is we have dreams of doing that kind of stuff and no margin.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Like we want to be the pastor that gets to lock themselves in their office and study the scriptures and come up with a brilliant sermon.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But also we have 400 parent emails to get back to, a problem between students to address.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: We have a program we have to run tomorrow.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: We have to, you know, there's like logistical things.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: If you don't have any help, then you're in charge of all your event coordination and your attendance and the money side of things and your budget and deposits.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: And the list goes on and on and on.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think I would have saved myself a lot of time and stress if I had had these resources and then simply tweaked them or adjusted them to fit my voice, but at least have them.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_00: So these are four that I definitely would not want to do without.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_00: The fifth one, obviously, books cost money.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_00: So that this is a slight cost, but I put these in the category of yes, I would want to read these if I was a brand new youth pastor.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: I think it would set me up for success and longevity in my youth ministry career.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: One of them I did read early on, and that was Purpose-Driven Youth Ministry by Doug Fields.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_00: I think it just gives you a great framework to know like the like what is actually important in youth ministry.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: When you could do a million things, right?
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_00: Youth ministry really has no lid.
• 18:23
  SPEAKER_00: There's certain pillars of it, but what should you focus on to make sure your youth ministry actually is doing what it should be doing?
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_00: It's a classic, but it's so good.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then another one that I've read so many books, but I'd boil it down to these three, by the way.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_00: The second one is Jesus Centered Youth Ministry by Rick Lawrence.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: And that one completely changed my view on what to teach and how to teach and the purpose of teaching.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's very much centered around, obviously, you can hear it in the title, Jesus Centered Youth Ministry, but how to make every message wrapped up in the gospel.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: He talks about this idea of making a beeline to the gospel, and that every time we teach, it's like we sometimes look at it as like, oh, I did the gospel message, and it was some kind of like altar call or something like that.
• 19:18
  SPEAKER_00: But he's arguing every single message is a gospel message because that is the story woven in every story in the Bible.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: And it's very brilliant.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_00: It completely changed my teaching after I read that.
• 19:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then the third one, which also changed the way I do youth ministry and see my teaching, is So the Next Generation Will Know.
• 19:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it's co-authored by Sean McDowell and Jay Warner Wallace.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_00: A grandma at our church gave it to me, and she's like, You are my grandkids' youth pastor.
• 19:52
  SPEAKER_00: You have to read this.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, Okay.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I read it and I was like, This grandma is amazing.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_00: Like, she it's this like it gets you to take students through why they value what they value and how they what they believe is shaped by what they love and value, and how those things are interconnected.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: And it's just, I feel like a really modern approach to teaching and thought patterns of students to help them get to the bottom line of the truth of the gospel.
• 20:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it really fits in a 2026 context that feels very, very updated and relevant to where we're at in our culture.
• 20:38
  SPEAKER_00: So if I could only read three youth ministry books, those would be the three.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_00: And if I like was a senior pastor and just hired a youth pastor, I would give him or her these three books and say, read these before you do anything else.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_00: And then I'd talk about the other resources.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_00: And also you have to do your job.
• 20:59
  SPEAKER_00: So here's a login for Life Church.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_00: Here's some money to spend on DYM.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: And here's 47 bucks for your leadership curriculum.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: And oh, and the communication app.
• 21:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and I think if you could do those things, you have your set for the time being.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_00: That will resource you.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: It'd be like a gift basket of youth ministry.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_00: It would resource you, you know, at least for your first year to get going.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_01: So and most of those things, obviously, maybe not the books so much, but the rest of it is all kind of like time-saving resources.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_01: You know, to be able to maximize your time with your students and what you're kind of putting all your energy and effort into, just a way of streamlining all streamlining all that stuff.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_01: And obviously, you didn't mention it specifically, but co leader is DYM's version of like a curriculum, basically.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: And G Shades does a really great job of curriculum.
• 21:52
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it is one of those things where it is a purchase, but I think when you do obviously it's a purchase, but it's like a uh maybe a little bit more of a Substantial purchase.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_01: However, when you factor in, well, how long would this take me to make a graphic?
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: How long would this take me to make a talk sheet and write the sermon and you know all these things?
• 22:09
  SPEAKER_01: And then you probably say, okay, well, there's 52 of those a year.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_01: Let's divide that.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: And it's like, oh, okay, all of a sudden now it's a little bit more reasonable.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_01: And how much is my time worth?
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_01: So if you have the resources, the budget, or anything like that, do those things, then it's obviously a good thing to do.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: Again, if especially if you're a one-man show, you know, like sometimes you something's gotta give.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: You know, you can't have a you can't spend 12 hours on a sermon and then six hours on an amazing graphic to go along with it, and then edit a bumper video to go with it, and then develop a talk sheet for your small group leaders, and then write student leadership curriculum with a leadership lesson.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: Like you need a cheat code somewhere, and I hate even calling it a cheat code because it's not cheating, it's just resources.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_00: Think about a teacher in a classroom, right?
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_00: They don't write their own curriculum, but it doesn't mean they're not a good teacher.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: They get books from the curriculum that the district has chosen, and they're resourced with that, but it's up to them to teach it in a way that their students can understand and make it dynamic and creative and compelling and full of interesting illustrations.
• 23:23
  SPEAKER_00: And that's the same for us, right?
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: I don't think the expectation for a youth pastor to write their own curriculum and then deliver their own curriculum and then dress it all up with pizzazz and graphics.
• 23:37
  SPEAKER_00: It's like, what other industry does that?
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's not cheating, it's okay, you can still be a very good teacher because I could give you the best curriculum in the world.
• 23:47
  SPEAKER_00: If you can't communicate it, if you can't make it interesting, if you can't be creative and exciting and engaging, it doesn't matter.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_00: So the pastor is still a highly valuable piece.
• 24:01
  SPEAKER_00: That's not like I am a bot now, I just spit out curriculum.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: You don't lose yourself in the curriculum, you find yourself in the curriculum.
• 24:09
  SPEAKER_00: And so then all of that creativity can go toward how can I communicate this in the most compelling way, rather than what the heck am I going to communicate?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: Because those are two different things, you know.
• 24:20
  SPEAKER_00: That's why writers and speakers aren't always you're some people aren't good at both, you know.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_00: Like if you've ever heard someone speak who's written your favorite book, sometimes you're like, oh, like just stick to writing.
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_00: That's your gift, you know?
• 24:37
  SPEAKER_00: So what are the odds you're an incredible writer and an incredible speaker?
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: Some people are, but I just don't think that is a reasonable expectation for every youth pastor to be incredible at both.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_00: So you can't not communicate.
• 24:53
  SPEAKER_00: So if you have to put any like extra time and effort, I I'd put it toward your art of communication, not actually developing the content, because if you can't communicate content, you're dead in the water, anyways.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_01: Good point.
• 25:10
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we'll link everything in the description below.
• 25:12
  SPEAKER_01: So all those resources will be available there.
• 25:15
  SPEAKER_01: Let's do a community comment of the day.
• 25:17
  SPEAKER_01: This comes from Bethany Elise Mattingley, who says, I'm so grateful for this podcast and the great game, event, and ministry planning that this podcast offers.
• 25:27
  SPEAKER_01: I'm new in youth ministry, leading my own group for the first time, and this has been a lifeline.
• 25:32
  SPEAKER_00: Oh, then this episode is perfect for you.
• 25:34
  SPEAKER_01: Well, this is two years ago, but we still thank you, Bethany.
• 25:37
  SPEAKER_01: I hope you're going strong in youth ministry.
• 25:39
  SPEAKER_01: We're slowly getting caught up with community comments.
• 25:43
  SPEAKER_01: So sometimes they're not read immediately afterwards, but I do my best to find something.
• 25:49
  SPEAKER_01: I hope she's still in youth ministry.
• 25:51
  SPEAKER_00: Because maybe we waited too long to get to her comment and she's like, I'm quitting.
• 25:56
  SPEAKER_00: I give up.
• 25:57
  SPEAKER_01: No, no, I think Bethany's doing great.
• 25:59
  SPEAKER_00: Let us know, Bethany.
• 26:00
  SPEAKER_00: Sign of life, please.
• 26:01
  SPEAKER_00: We'd like to know.
• 26:03
  SPEAKER_01: Well, thank you guys so much for watching and listening.
• 26:06
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll see you next time.
• 26:07
  SPEAKER_00: Are you new to are you new to youth ministry and looking for some must have resources to help you in your journey?
• 26:15
  SPEAKER_00: Well, then stick around because that's exactly what I'm gonna give you really soon.
• 26:19
  SPEAKER_00: Are you new to youth?
• 26:22
  SPEAKER_00: In today's episode, I'm gonna give you five must have youth ministry resources.