The Strategic Student Ministry Podcast: Recent Episodes
Jesse Wyrick
Being intentional in your ministry can be overwhelming. That’s why the Strategic Student Ministry Podcast releases content aimed at helping you build and grow strategic ministries. If you are looking to start, shape, or strengthen your student ministry, join me as I discuss tools and tips, alongside joys and mistakes I’ve discovered over a decade of working with youth.
Today’s episode discusses the connection between strategy and stewardship. After implementing our student ministry process, we get caught meeting the needs that come across our desk instead of working toward seeing God’s vision for our ministry accomplished. Specifically, this tends to happen within our finances. So, today we’ll take a fresh look at how to analyze our financial decision-making in light of our strategic process.
If we let it, the Covid-19 pandemic can teach us a lot about making ministry decisions. When things change, we need to be able to pivot quickly but with priority. That’s what we’ll talk about in today’s episode; Making decisions through change.
If you’re looking for unique fundraising ideas during Covid, consider a movie night. We finished one up last weekend and it went great. In this episode, I’ll talk about what made it successful and what I would change for a better experience next time.
If you ever take a trip with your students, and even if you don’t, you are likely to encounter those dreaded legal documents called forms. Today, we’ll talk about how to get them signed, how to keep them organized, and how to get them turned in with minimal stress.
A few weeks ago, our ministry concluded the Authentic Love study offered by Lifeway Resources. In this episode, I’ll talk about how it went as well as what I’d change for a better experience next time.
Because we want students to engage with Scripture, we must teach in a way that allows them to interact. That’s what we’ll talk about today.
Because we want students to know the Bible, we must have a plan to teach it to them. More than just a calendar of what we are teaching, we should strive to have a plan for how to teach it. That’s what we’ll talk about the next two weeks.
Chances are, if you hang around a church long enough, someone is going to ask you to preach. While this isn’t a student leader’s primary function, we need to be ready – sometimes at a moment’s notice. That’s what we’ll tlk about today.
If you are anything like me, you like to solve problems quickly; this allows you to determine and solve the next one. Unfortunately, some problems can’t be solved. Sometimes, people just need people around them. That’s what we’ll talk about today.
Just like with other disciplines, it can be easy to slip into a lax spiritual preparation as we ready ourselves for the day. This is a dangerous development because we never know the temptations, obstacles, or crises that may await us. Ultimately, God is in control of these and us, but we must prepare everyday as if our ministry and our students depend on it.
Now, this may go without saying, but you can’t please everyone. And everyone is a lot of people. Sure, we can try, but because all people have opinions, and might I say that church people have extra opinions; They have normal people opinions and then they have church opinions, too! We can get stuck on this ride of people pleasing that contains a moving target and very few darts to throw at it.
With this episode we embark on a journey of reflection. After over a decade in student ministry I often look back and think, why didn’t anyone tell me that? Or why didn’t I listen? Today, we’ll look at this truth; Ministry is a journey.
Because we are around students and their families, we may be introduced to information we wish we didn’t know. In the case of suspected abuse or neglect, we student leaders need to know what to do. That’s what we’ll talk about today on the podcast.
Resource link: https://www.childwelfare.gov/pubPDFs/clergymandated.pdf
Because we live in a world of endless communication, we can get pulled into the trap of constant communication or allow necessary correspondence to slip away. The balance can be tough, so today we’ll start the conversation.
Because we can’t be everywhere or do everything, we need to the help of volunteers. Now, we’ve talked about them before, but not like we will today. On this episode we’ll deal with this one fundamental truth about appreciating and keeping volunteers, stop wasting their time!
If you want to be a student pastor, at some point you’ll have to apply for a job. While the application process can look a lot like the world of business, there are many differences. Today, we’ll discuss what to expect when sending in that resume.
Whether you agree with them or make them yourselves, the New Year brings a time of self-reflection and goal setting. You should plan to leverage this to challenge your students. The “how-to” can be a bit tricky, so today we’ll talk about it.
Over a decade of ministry, I have found little help for student leaders trying to equip parents. The Whole Sex Talk provides a biblically centered material to help churches and parents feel prepared for open and ongoing conversations about all aspects of sexuality with their students. See how it went for us, what the parents had to say, and what I would change for an even better run next time.
Because we want our group to feel like a family, we need to be strategic about helping students interact and grow in their relationships with each other. We can’t force these, but we don’t need to; most students want to connect, so we just need to provide opportunities.
When students have something great to invite friends to, we need to be aware of the new student experience. What do we want them see, hear, and feel when attending the first time? That’s what we’ll discuss on today’s episode of The Strategic Student Ministry Podcast.
Getting new students to attend your group starts well before someone invites them to attend. Students need to feel important and invested in your group before they will ever invite someone else.
If you are on staff, you likely have office hours. Navigating the difference and importance of office and work hours can be tricky. That is what we’ll discuss on today’s episode of the Strategic Student Ministry Podcast.
Whether you are on staff or not, congregational relations are vital to the success of your family and ministry within the local congregation you serve. Without proper love, appreciation, and connection, we can feel isolated in our ministry.
When considering the success and longevity of student pastors, little has more external influence than their families. Without proper priority, praise, and protection, families can become a tool of the enemy, rendering leaders burned out and ineffective.
Striving to connect students to Jesus and each other is hard. Ultimately, it’s going to take God working to produce fruit in our ministry. That’s why we must be more than intentional when it comes to our personal spiritual disciplines. We can cheat and look strategic, but we can’t cheat and be successful. That’s what we’ll discuss on today’s episode.
Knowing that students will encounter sexual temptation somewhere, and in or day everywhere seems a better description, we must be strategic about training them for a life defined by sexual holiness. That’s what we’ll talk about on today’s episode, students and purity.
When you collect students in groups, some of them are bound to be attracted to one another. As your group grows, so does the chance of dating relationships beginning within your group. How should we handle these? That’s what we’ll discuss on today’s episode of the Strategic Student Ministry Podcast.
As we seek to grow transformed followers of Jesus Christ, we have to consider the importance of the word “transformed.” When they go into the world, seeking to make and grow disciples, they must be equipped to speak to the issues of the world from a biblical worldview, while being confident of its truth and relevance. That’s why today’s episode will focus on the importance of apologetics within your student ministry.
Once we are “growing transformed followers of Christ” we want to empower and equip them to “purposefully reproduce themselves by sharing His Gospel and love with the world around them.” That is why this week’s episode is dedicated to students and evangelism.
Since we are striving to “grow transformed followers who purposefully reproduce themselves” we need to focus on their growth so that we can direct their reproduction. That’s why on today’s episode we’ll be looking at students and discipleship.
Growing faith does not happen without continual and intentional Bible intake. Connecting students to Scripture is vital, but difficult. Most students would much rather be on social media, play video games, or sleep than open up the Bible. What can be done? That’s what we’ll discuss on today’s episode entitled Students and Bible Reading.
Praying with students is great. Praying for them is wonderful, but if they never learn to pray, and lead in prayer, we have failed to instill in them a necessary and foundational part of the Christian life. In today’s episode, we’ll discuss ways to help students grow in prayer.
Whether you meet once or twice a week, you’ll want to plan what you do while you’re all together. Knowing what to include and what to cut out can be tricky. That’s why on today’s episode we’ll look at what to do with the time you have together.
Because we are attempting to grow transformed followers of Jesus Christ who purposefully reproduce themselves we need to be careful to grow well-rounded ones. Connecting students with only students in our ministry is easier, but it’s not always the greatest for growth. Today we’ll look at the strategic balance of making connections with students, families, and the whole congregation.
Whether we like the term “leadership” or not, we are leading/guiding others. Because students are always watching volunteers and leaders of student ministry – and the whole church for that matter – we must ensure that we understand the basics of Christian leadership.
Because students need to hear other voices, and by that I mean styles and perspectives, seeking to let our students hear other passionate and faithful speakers is a great thing! On today’s episode, we’ll look at some basic questions surrounding bringing in other people to help point your students to Christ.
Because money is a limited resource, and we want as many students to join us on youth trips as possible, we want to be strategic about helping them raise money toward their trips. That’s why today’s episode will cover the basics of good fundraising.
With a process, a plan, a calendar, and a team, it’s time to create a budget. Whether we like it or not, budgets are necessary. While problems are not solved by money, we need money to do ministry. That’s why today’s episode will focus on creating, focusing, and keeping a strategic budget.
To spread the joy and blessing of serving, as well as protect yourself from a “I do everything around here” ministry style, build a team of people to assist you in decision making, church relations, and responsibility. Influencing students is not a solo task. We need people who can help us refine, implement, and grow our ministry’s influence. We need a leadership team!
After creating a Strategic Calendar with essential elements, we need to consider everything else we do. Because student ministry is more than three or four yearly events, we need to consider what happens quarterly, monthly, and weekly. That’s why today’s episode is about bringing focus to our seemingly frantic ministry schedules.
With the bulk of our processes on paper, it’s time to put actions to our thoughts, dates to our ideas, and times for our events. On this week’s episode we’ll look at the importance of creating a strategic calendar.
With a process in place, and thoughts on effective pace, it is time to consider the point of the whole thing; moving students forward! Assessing where they are and setting goals to where they want to go are key elements in their spiritual growth. In today’s episode we’ll consider how to encourage progress by honest assessment and realistic goal setting.
We don’t just want to be strategic about our process, how we move students toward the spiritual destination, we need to be strategic about how they enter and exit our ministry. On today’s episode, we’ll look at the two main ramps of the process.
The pace at which we lead our students through the strategic process is key. In today’s episode we’ll focus on how to maximize efficiency in movement. Going too fast can increase frustration or mistakes and cause burn-out. Going too slow can lead to apathetic and lazy students that never reach their potential.
With a spiritual destination, alongside our core values and major steps, today’s episode will focus on helping your students progress through the steps. How do you know what actions need to be taken? How do you motivate your students to grow from where they are to where you want them to go? Transitions help answer these questions.
Now that we have a spiritual destination and core values, we need to begin building our Student Ministry Process. This is the overall growth plan for your students. In this episode, we'll use our core values to begin forming our major steps.
When building a strategic student ministry, you need more than a spiritual destination, you need values to influence action. This will help drive and define how the process will move toward that destination. Core values help determine what kind of student you want to create. What do you want them to believe, what do you want them to do? Core values help answer these questions.
When considering strategic movement in student ministry, a foundational first element is a biblically grounded and realistic destination. It this episode, we’ll look at the importance of knowing where you’re headed, answer some common questions, and discuss how to begin, or reevaluate, your ministry’s spiritual destination.
How do leaders continually define their calling by God’s standards? What do they do when a student says they feel called into ministry? And what are some common pitfalls regarding our call? All this and more on today’s episode of The Strategic Student Ministry Podcast.
Resource link from episode: The Call to Ministry – https://www.sbts.edu/press/the-call-to-ministry/