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Meaningful Youth Ministry Trends for 2024

Youth ministry is a dynamic and ever-evolving landscape, shaped by the unique challenges and opportunities of each passing year. As we embark on the journey of 2024, here are the latest trends shaping the spiritual development of today's youth to give you ideas and inspiration for how to breathe new life into your youth ministry in the new year. Digital Discipleship. In an increasingly digital...

Exciting Trends in Kids Ministry for 2024

As we step into 2024, the landscape of kids ministry continues to evolve, driven by innovation, changing societal norms, and the ever-growing need for engaging and impactful experiences for children. Here are some of the most notable trends shaping kids ministry in 2024 to give you insight and inspiration for how to nurture the spiritual growth in your children’s ministry in this new year. Di...

7 Tips for Simplifying Your Holiday Calendar

The holiday season is a special time for the church community, filled with opportunities to connect, celebrate, and share the joy of the season. However, managing the church's holiday calendar can be overwhelming, with the temptation to pack it full of events and activities. In this blog post, we'll explore the benefits of simplifying your approach to the holidays and focusing on just a couple of ...

Buy It or Write It: Choosing Curriculum for Kids’ Ministry

As a Children's Pastor, implementing a curriculum that will guide the spiritual growth and development of the young minds in your care is just one of your many important tasks. When it comes to curriculum, there are two main options: purchasing a ready-made curriculum or crafting your own from scratch. Both approaches have their merits, and in this post, we'll explore the pros and cons of each to ...

How to Follow Up with Families After Vacation Bible School

Summer Vacation Bible School (VBS) is an exciting and impactful event in the life of a church community. It provides a unique opportunity to share the love of God with children and families, creating lasting memories and building strong relationships. However, the impact of VBS does not end when the final day concludes. Sometimes families are introduced to church and Jesus for the first time throu...

6 Tips for Budgeting for Your Next Youth Group Retreat

Youth retreats are fun and formative experiences for the students in your youth group. They provide exciting opportunities to connect with their peers, grow in their faith, and explore activities that help them stretch their comfort zones. Planning for and pulling them off, however, can feel like an overwhelming assignment. One of the biggest challenges you may face is budgeting for the event. Wit...

Pastors: When to Recommend Professional Counselling for Congregants

As pastors, we are called to serve our congregants in any way we can. We strive to provide spiritual guidance and support to our congregants during difficult times. But there may be times when it is necessary for us to recommend that a congregant seek specialized counselling in addition to meeting with pastors and church staff. In this blog post, let's take a look at when it might be necessary for...

How To Schedule Your Week as a Senior Pastor

As a senior pastor, your work schedule is unlike most. While you might enjoy more flexibility in your calendar and diversity in your to-do’s than a typical 9-5 gig, you also face unique challenges and uncharacteristic demands. Creating a schedule that allows for deep productivity, meaningful pastoring, and sufficient rest is a puzzle that takes trial and error to figure out. While everyone is di...

How To Handle Criticism as a Lead Pastor

As a senior pastor or someone in any leadership position, criticism is inevitable. That, of course, doesn’t mean it stings any less. For most of us, our first reaction to complaints and critiques is defensiveness. Especially when the criticism feels harsh, personal, or unfair, it can be tempting to take a “haters gonna hate” mentality and harden ourselves to it. And while it’s true that so...

How to Prioritize Your To-Do List as a Church Admin

As a church admin, It can be difficult to prioritize tasks when everything feels like the most important, asks come out of nowhere, and your inbox and co-workers won’t quit interrupting. How do you stop letting your to-do list run your life and use it, instead, to set you up for success in the moment and for tomorrow? There are many productivity techniques and different methods that work for...

Talking to Youth Leader Volunteers About Boundaries

Youth ministry is designed to be a safe and nurturing space for students to encounter God, discover themselves, and develop meaningful friendships. These years are formative, the environment is fun, wholesome, and sacred. One of the most important relationships young people have are with trusted, supportive adults. Data from the National Survey of Children’s Health shows that “having one o...

Low Cost Ways to Honor Your Worship Team Members

Churches often work on tight budgets, so it can be difficult to find ways to thank and honor your worship team volunteers. However, there are plenty of low cost, high impact ways to show your appreciation for their hard work and dedication. Let’s take a look at some of the most effective and budget-friendly ways to honor your worship team volunteers. As a quick caveat, most of the suggestions in...

How to Plan Your Church Calendar A Year in Advance

New year, new you! Ok, maybe not a completely new you. But January 1st offers a fresh opportunity to set your church calendar up for success in the new year. Building out an entire calendar advance can feel intimidating, but it can help reduce overwhelm and scrambling later on in the year. Looking at your content from a bird’s eye view can also help you avoid obvious holes or redundancies in you...

How to Motivate and Reward Church Staff Without Promotion Opportunities

The church can be a great place to work when its at its best; the environment is comfortable, the people are friendly, and the mission is meaningful. But for many small to mid-size churches, there often isn’t much “upward mobility” or room for improvement. Most churches have two, maybe three “levels” on their organizational chart. Without room for promotions, it can be tricky to make sta...

How To Run Successful Church Staff Meetings

Most of us have experienced staff meetings, for better or worse. Standing meetings have the potential to be your staff’s favorite time of the week, or it can feel like black hole on their schedule every week. Staff meetings don’t have to be torture, but it requires intentionality on the part of the person or persons running the meeting. Here are a few ideas to help you turn your meetings into ...

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How to Reduce Staff and Volunteer Turnover

When you’re trying to develop a solid culture and further the mission of your church, losing staff and volunteers in droves can be Demoralizing. Not only is it frustrating, but it costs you time, money, and productivity that sets everyone back. Before we talk about strategies for retaining and developing your people, it’s important to understand the reasons why people leave in the first pl...

5 Meaningful Ways to Appreciate Your Church Volunteers

Volunteers are essential to every church. They invest in our youth, they care for our buildings, and give their time, talents, and dedication to help pull off Sunday after Sunday. These are the people who believe in your church’s mission and create the experiences that help people encounter God’s grace every weekend. For all their hard work, we are always looking for creative and meaningful...

How To Handle A Bad Audition

I’m sure you’ve found yourself in this situation before; you’ve held an audition with a prospective new band member, and they didn’t meet the standards you set for your worship ministry. How do you prepare for the difficult conversation of letting them know they didn’t make the cut? This is one of the tensions of leading in a community within the body of Christ. Each of us is a part o...

Why Young Adults Are Leaving Your Church

Many churches are struggling to attract and retain young adults in their congregations. Many of these young adults— college-aged through mid-twenties— grew up in youth groups and fell away from the church and potentially their faith during college or shortly after. This mass exodus has been felt in churches across the country, leading pastors to strategize how they can better reach this slippi...

How Do You Talk About Pastor Appreciation Month?

I’m uncomfortable, you’re uncomfortable, everyone’s uncomfortable. October is almost here, and if you’re a pastor, you know what that means – it’s pastor appreciation month. Which, if we’re being honest, feels delicate. When I served as a pastor, I was always the first to say that I didn’t need any special recognition. And while I didn’t NEED the extra recognition, I think ...