Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

This ONE THING Will Make the Biggest Impact in Your Youth Ministry in 2025!

• Kristen Lascola • Episode 227

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Are you ready to grow the size and health of your youth ministry? Check out
GrowYourYouthMinistry.com *** Prioritizing this in your Youth Ministry will have the biggest impact on your students.  We will be explaining the what, the why, and the how so that you can implement some of these opportunities into your student ministry this year!  Although serving can be done inside or outside the church, in this episode we will be discussing service outside of the church walls and the impact it will have on your youth group. 

Have you ever wondered how to engage your young congregation in community service without overwhelming them? Explore our personal experiences and insights on crafting meaningful projects that align with the talents and interests of youth, steering clear of common missteps. Get ready to learn how to foster an environment where serving becomes a joyful and spiritually enriching part of ministry life.

Imagine a volunteer experience that is as fulfilling for the participants as it is beneficial for the community. We challenge the traditional perceptions of arduous service and delve into how thoughtful, skill-appropriate projects can ignite a lifelong passion for helping others.

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We love hearing from you all and we do our best to provide powerful and insightful youth ministry content on a weekly basis to be that coach and mentor you may not have, but desperately need.
If you have an episode idea, please E-Mail us at MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com!

If you have it on your heart to support this ministry, please consider going to our Patreon page at: www.patreon.com/ministrycoach

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You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#225) 5 Things Every Youth Pastor Should Be Doing to Kick Off 2025!

(#177) How to Get Better Results in Youth Ministry - Start the Year Strong!

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Speaker 1:

Today we're talking about the best way to make the biggest impact in your youth ministry this year.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast where we give you weekly tips and tactics to help you fast track the growth and health for your youth ministry.

Speaker 1:

My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen Laskola, and today we're going to be talking about how to make a huge impact in your youth group in 2025. If you're asking yourself the question, how can this be one of our best years yet? How can we cultivate a great culture and spiritual fruit in the lives of the students, then stick around, because this episode is definitely for you, and so the short answer to that is serving. But what we're going to do is we're going to unpack everything that entails, because it's not as simple as so have them serve the end Like how do we do it in the way that produces the kind of fruit that we're looking for and the kind of culture shift we're looking for.

Speaker 1:

And over the years I think I've learned a few nuanced, like tactics sounds weird in this context, but like methods, I guess of how to do serving so that it has maximum impact for everybody involved. Meaningful, I think, is the key word there, because the cautionary tale here and I have more than enough examples of this under my belt, but bad serving experiences have the opposite effect that we're looking for. So I don't think you can just kind of throw out a blanket statement and say serving and anything and everything counts and it's all good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

It's actually not, and having a bad serving experience can actually make your youth group or your leadership team, or whoever this is designed for in your youth ministry, to take a couple steps back.

Speaker 2:

Do you have any examples that, off the top of your head, would be a negative serving experience?

Speaker 1:

We'll get into that, okay, yes, that's going to be one of my examples.

Speaker 1:

I have, I mean which one do I choose? And so it's like this took a long time to learn because I think in my first few years of youth ministry I just thought service project equals fruit. There we go by, being almost like it was a checklist, Like I did one. What else do you want from me, you know, but there's almost this art to it to make sure that it's accomplishing what you're hoping it to accomplish. So here's some things practically to consider when you're starting to think along the lines of service or a project for your students.

Speaker 1:

I usually use my student leadership team for it. If you're a smaller youth group, then it could be all your students are invited and their families as well. Just sort of depends on the numbers you're working with, and we'll actually get into that in a second too. So things to consider when you're looking at a service project. Number one is this the right fit for our age group? So sometimes there's a really great project but the skill level required is way over the heads of You're not going to be building homes with a sixth grader is what you're saying.

Speaker 1:

I mean if you had enough skilled laborers and then they could do like never give a junior hire a paintbrush.

Speaker 2:

I learned that sharpies something, something really innocent like that.

Speaker 1:

They could go get the nails Could they though. Gosh, what a tangled web we've woven. All these bad memories keep coming back to me. Maybe your group is different, but one hard and fast rule is I never give junior hair paintbrush ever again, or power tools I just was burned.

Speaker 1:

Too many times I was like this is easy, you can do it. Nope, nope and nope. Anyways. So great example, like make sure that you're giving them something that is theirs, not only their skill level for the age group you're working with, but also their interest level.

Speaker 1:

And I'll give you some examples of things that did not fly for us and it was like, oh, we're putting in a good, hard day's work, but it was like something nobody cared about and really didn't have a big impact on us or the community, and it was just like so we just worked to work. Like that was kind of lame and I'm sure you could build an argument about well, that's good for your development, but I don't know it just sometimes, what we project as meaningful when we put it in the hands of people, sometimes it's just not, no matter how much we wish it were. So make sure you just like gauge that you're the expert in that age age group, hopefully as the youth pastor, so you can know is this, does this fit their skills? Number two is this meaningful work, like we were just talking about, or is this just?

Speaker 2:

work so like a service project at the senior pastor's house. Remember that, Like pastors would always say like we have a service project you guys can do. I need a bunch of weeds pulled and you're like, wow, okay, free labor.

Speaker 1:

I see what you did there, Wow genius, you can babysit my kids as a service project. There you go. So I'll give you, since you were asking earlier, an example of one that did earlier, an example of one that did. It was not meaningful work. There is a walking trail in our town, a very short one, that nobody uses.

Speaker 2:

Really it's not like it's in a weird weird you know which one I'm talking to I don't, really don't know why they ever put it there same. It's kind of a long and it's kind of sketchy right a sketchy riverbed with just bad smells and there's no reason for it. I really don't know why they put it there.

Speaker 1:

So it's not like a hiking trail that everyone in the community enjoys.

Speaker 2:

You're not enjoying beauty from it.

Speaker 1:

It almost feels like a random little commute trail. I don't really even know the purpose of it, nobody does and no one knows it's there and no one uses it, and it's probably a grand total of a fourth of a mile at the most, someone must have needed to spend some taxpayer dollars and no clue check off a box at the end of the year.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so they were like, hey, why don't the junior hires and high schoolers clean brush from the trail? It was like, okay, so we did. And we went out there and it was like trying to sell this project to the students and literally like just moving some branches and trimming some hedges. I don't even really remember, I just remember like this is so stupid, like what are we even doing here? And it just felt like work for the sake of work. It just kind of felt like, uh, you're useless junior hires. How about you just get on this trail for a bit and kill some time?

Speaker 1:

You know it didn't feel like, look at us making a difference in our world or anything like that. It was just kind of like I want to do some free yard work on an abandoned trail out in the middle of nowhere. No, thank you. But we did so. I actually I said, yes, please, but I would never do something like that again. So it was just work, and so don't just try to fill your quota for serving by, like just taking any old project Well, it got us outside and like in the dirt, it must have been serving. And I'm like I don't know that we're really called to that kind of stuff. I mean, if you feel like you are, then good, we need it must have been serving. And I'm like I don't know that we're really called to that kind of stuff. I mean, if you feel like you are, then good, we need people like you.

Speaker 2:

But I just felt like the same project would have made sense had this been a functional, well-traveled trail that people could enjoy, but it just has never been used. Probably will never be used.

Speaker 1:

Yeah.

Speaker 2:

It didn't make sense. It should never be used.

Speaker 1:

It's very scary back there, and so you're going to have to use your wisdom on what projects you're considering or that come across your path. Like I can't answer that for you, but I just have realized I want from now on to put my students in situations for meaningful work, not just tasks for the sake of tasks. And the way my students operate is they gas out pretty quick on that kind of stuff.

Speaker 2:

They're just like all right, we're done for the day, especially on a hot day where you're just like it's boring you know, and it's like so if you can sell them a vision on like here's the impact we're having.

Speaker 1:

It's different, but some projects just you're really going to be hard pressed to find the meaning in it. And number three, are there relational components, and I think that's when I've seen students come alive the most is when they're serving in a capacity where they get to. I mean, the relational component with each other is huge, but like serving in a relational component to others, like I brought my students to an elderly home that was run by the state and so it was people that it was like well, their families can't take care of them and there's nowhere else for them to go, and we just kind of would bring some fun. Like I had a kid who knew how to play the piano and they had a piano in their like multi-purpose room and so you know he would play the piano and then the girls would do some crafts with them. We played a game, um, and then it was just like chatting with people, like hearing their story and socializing, and like that was such meaningful work and they had to get out of their comfort zone a little because they were shy. Like I'm just talking to someone I don't know, but they really rose to the occasion and then I think they left very proud of themselves.

Speaker 1:

So relational components, I think, are what make the best serving experiences, not just labor, and a lot of organizations are very happy to have your students come and do free labor. However, here's a philosophy I adopted through working with our community service ministry at our church. Because we have a community service ministry at our church, because we have a community service whole department and with a pastor over the whole thing and they do big things, like our church is doing service projects every single day in some capacity, and he says that the experience of the volunteers is as important as the work itself, and he says that ministering goes both ways. So how we handle serving experiences with the students is really important for, like a future member of the body of Christ, like I used to kind of look at it differently, where I'd be like, well, you're serving, it's supposed to suck you know, where I'd be like well you're serving

Speaker 1:

it's supposed to suck, you know, and like it's good for you. But he kind of changed my mindset on that where it's like no, when we're putting our people in positions of serving, we have to remember not just the people we're serving but the people we are putting in positions to serve. Their experience is just as important as the people receiving. And I was like, really Like, I thought like we were supposed to just like, oh well, but what we're doing is we're training people on how to love serving or find their gifts or see it as something they could do for a lifetime, not like, oh, I got to put up with cleaning a trail on Saturday morning, but put them in positions where it was so life-giving that it sparks in them a love and a desire to serve. And you're not going to please everyone and at the end of the day, it is like a sacrifice to the Lord and so, but just, I guess, overall, don't neglect that experience.

Speaker 1:

Like that one is very important. And then the last thing to consider when looking at a project is is it challenging in a good way? You know, some projects are just way too simple and you feel like any monkey could have done this like why did you need me? I remember saying that to someone once. They asked me to help with something, and then the project they were asking me to do. I just said to him any monkey could have done this and they were like but you're the monkey we wanted and.

Speaker 2:

I was like so go do it. Kind of feels flattering, kind of feels demeaning.

Speaker 1:

I don't know I'm here too late, but just like the kind of work that's almost just like, were you guys just scrounging for something for?

Speaker 1:

us to do Like, all right, we're going to organize this bin. I remember oh my gosh, this unlocked a memory my worst serving experience ever. I was on the cheerleading team at a Christian school in junior high and if you were a and really I don't know like showing up to practice on time, coming to all the games, just kind of being a good example, you would get invited to something called the coach's invitational and it just was kind of like student of the month is sort of how it felt. So one time a bunch of girls and I got invited to the coach's invitational and here's what it literally was. It was such a bait and switch. We show up at her house and her living room is full of unwrapped Christmas gifts and she this is not a joke had us wrap her Christmas gifts.

Speaker 2:

Congratulations.

Speaker 1:

For her family. But here was the fun part, so that was like a service project for her like you were saying come over to the pastor's house and and repaint his friends like, yay, like am I unspiritual if I'm not into? That a lawnmower that won't start, so you can get a work in so she would say, let us come into her kitchen one at a time and make a pie on her kitchen table by ourselves.

Speaker 2:

Was it also for her family?

Speaker 1:

I think we did get to leave with the pie, but I just remember it was like dead silent and I'm just like in her kitchen alone and I'm just like filling this pie with like apples or whatever we were doing, and I'm like like nowadays. I'd be like am I on a reality?

Speaker 2:

show.

Speaker 1:

Like this is nuts, so yeah, and then, when you were done making your pie, you went back into the living room little. Santa's elves wrapping all her gifts and there were a ton. I'm like where did you get all this stuff? Looks like she cleared out some like going out of business, like warehouse.

Speaker 2:

These packages are not going to wrap girls. Let's go, let's go, let's go seriously.

Speaker 1:

But you know, when you're in seventh grade, you just are like okay sure you're not gonna like fight like a 40 year old woman on like that's funny, that that was a like um reward right exactly to this day. Like sometimes, I have to ask my friends did I dream?

Speaker 2:

that really happened they're like no, that really happened when, when you would have been better off performing worse and not having to go exactly what kind of trophy did I win, you guys, you suckers. You didn't get to wrap all these gifts, but you did get a free pie. There was no like you made music or food there.

Speaker 1:

It was just like we gotta move on. We gotta move on, okay. Oh, trauma, okay. So why do we serve? Because people are made to serve. So let's continue with the idea we were talking about before of the experience of the one serving is as important as the one being served, because it breathes life into their relationships with God and each other.

Speaker 1:

And I've watched people who kind of knew each other bond like and gel with the snap of a finger over serving when they have to work alongside each other over meaningful work that fits their skill level, like solve problems together and help each other out, and it just creates like and I don't mean this in a weird way, but like magic, like it's just like there's something in the air that it's just like this bonding, beautiful, like I've just seen it so many times.

Speaker 1:

And it's like we did it, we struck gold, like here. I led a service project last spring where we built, like this beautiful educational garden for one of our local elementary schools and let me tell you it was way over my skill level. I did not know what in the world we were doing, but I'm like I'm here, I'm going to give it my best shot. However, the laborers there were very skilled and so all I had to do was kind of wind them up, let them go. But watching how people bonded and worked together and just had so much joy and serving, and the chemistry that built like like there's nothing like bonding with someone over doing meaningful work, like I just cannot think of any other replacement for it.

Speaker 1:

Like. I don't think there's any other formula than like working with someone shoulder to shoulder, like and then watching something beautiful happen, like the things that we built and planted, and the before and after, and everyone's just feeling so proud and relying on each other and being extra helpful and wanting to give it their best, like it just creates, because that's really what we're meant to do, like we are meant to serve, we are meant to work for the Lord, and so when we put people in these positions where that gift gets to be expressed and that purpose gets to be expressed like, it's like the Holy Spirit just lights it on fire and it's so exciting to be a part of. And so us, as the pastors and the leaders in the church, like creating these experiences for people will be probably the biggest impact that will have in your church. That goes well beyond that serving day.

Speaker 1:

Like now, when I see these guys around church, like people I never would have talked to before. Like a contractor who owns his own company, who I would never run in the same circle as he's like Kristen, good to see you, you know. And it's like we have that memory between us of like oh, wow, you know. And that chemistry continues and it gives people and here's what I noticed, too is serving within the church is a very big deal, and that could be a whole other episode. Today we're talking mostly about serving outside the church, but there's speaking of the contractors that own their own company, some men especially. There's not a lot of places where they feel like they fit in to serve.

Speaker 2:

Like my skill set can be used.

Speaker 1:

Exactly so. It's like, well, I'm not going to be like holding babies in the nursery not my gift. I am not going to be in the worship band, like I'm out of town so much it's probably hard for me to get on a greeting team or an usher team or something like that. But when these special projects come along, you can shine. Need someone who knows something about city water, like which I do not. Right, and I was just like all right, his name was carl. I'm like all right, carl, I don't know where these sprinklers need to go not the faintest idea, but I'm gonna trust you.

Speaker 1:

And he got to engage all of his skills and and then the cool thing too is he calls up his buddies and it's like oh, I have a guy here and now they're involved in like what are you guys doing? Oh yeah, I could bring piping for this and I talk like I know what I'm talking about.

Speaker 2:

I do not something about sprinklers.

Speaker 1:

That was weird, Um, and it just gave people who do have specialized gifts in the business world, in the secular world, a chance to bring those into the church. And so pairing adults and students too was really powerful. So the skilled laborers did a lot of the building, but the students had a huge role too, and we gave them the planting projects. They could fill the like. We had a ton of like pathways. We had to do gravel. They could help fill that. But the purpose behind it was this is a school that most of you have a vested interest in and attend here, or at least it's in our community, and this is going to be like this amazing program for students Like they're going to grow their own food and then they're going to like serve it in the cafeteria at your school.

Speaker 1:

Like how cool is that? And you guys get to learn about animals and agriculture. We're going to build it, and then this is going to benefit you and your siblings and your friends for years to come, and so it was a really difficult project, but it was really perfect for all the categories that we're talking about. So now let's move on to the how. So you might be thinking to yourself yeah, I agree with all that. That sounds great. And you're all fired up, like what do I do now? Okay, so here's some of the how behind it.

Speaker 1:

So choose a project, obviously that fits all the categories we just talked about. And then, once you do that and you have a project that you're like, I think this could work, based on the four or five things to consider we just talked about. Number one get super organized, okay. So, like we were saying in the beginning, sometimes the serving experience is so bad that, again, it does more harm than good, and this sense I mean more, not that the project was bad. So let's say, you pick a great project, something people could get on board with, but you have no organization going on and so people show up there's no like standing around Exactly.

Speaker 2:

Is there anything I can do?

Speaker 1:

Oh my gosh, it is one of my pet peeves and I've been a part of those projects where I'm like I am giving you my time, which is my most valuable thing I have, because I could never get it back, but I'm here to serve. You don't have tools for me, you don't have direction for me, you don't have direction for me, you don't know where I should be. And I remember recently getting asked to come to help set up something for a special event for a church, and I did it. I showed up and I said, all right, I'm here, like where do you need me? What can I do to help? Oh, we're good. And then just kept walking. I'm like, holy, activate, activate, activate. Because I was so disappointed, like why did you drag me out of bed to come and then just be like we're good, right, like then, why did you ask me?

Speaker 2:

to come. It's. It's better for both you and them because, hey, they're there to serve and it gives them something to do. And also, if they're constantly having to come to you and say, like, what do I, what do you have for me, what do you have for me? You're like. I finished that Now. What do I do?

Speaker 1:

Now I do?

Speaker 2:

You're going to spend the whole time being like, uh, I don't know, um sweep that you know sidewalk over there and you're just going to be not engaged in the process either?

Speaker 1:

So from both perspectives it's very stressful. Um and I've had that experience before where people just keep constantly asking you now, what now?

Speaker 1:

what? And you're like, um, hold on, let me think so. It's like having not. So having the project maybe split up into little, like this is the cleaning team, this is the painting team, this is the building I donrary, but. And then having the right tools is really important. And then another element of organization, if you can, is having a team lead over each of the miniature projects within the projects, so like if you're going to an elderly home and you're going to minister to them during Christmas or Thanksgiving or Easter, valentine's, whatever around holidays is really good for that stuff.

Speaker 1:

So you might get a volunteer and say hey, could you run the craft and come up with it? Get the supplies, give me the receipt, I'll pay for it, but I just need someone to own that. And then you say okay, we need someone to own, like the music, you know, could you guys put together a couple little songs, and I think they would love that and then you're the team lead of decorations.

Speaker 1:

You know, I think it'd be fun if we brought balloons and streamers or I don't know whatever. I'm just thinking off the top of my head, but having people own these different parts, and then you're saying how can I help you? Do you need me to buy materials? Do you need me to you materials? Do you need me to you know? And so having more leaders than just you being the point person for everything, because you probably will be so stressed and you'll give a short answer, like they did to me that day, like oh, we're good.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

Cause it's just like I don't know there's too much going on. I can't now give attention to. What do you need to do?

Speaker 2:

Right, and if you were the team lead for just the examples that you gave and someone came in, you would have to explain every single one of those tasks to each person and that's just going to take time away. And in the meantime you've got a line of 10. Other people are like okay, well, I guess when it's my turn you can explain. You know whatever.

Speaker 1:

Okay, so that brings up. Another really good point is having the right amount of people. So we like when we do service projects at our church, we will cap it at a certain number based on the project. So there is kind of an art to that as well, like it's that really thinking ahead of how many people realistically do we need to pull this off? Because most of the time I find that there's too many people at a project instead of not enough. Both are bad, but when there's too many people you fall into that nobody is necessary and it's just like there's nothing for us to do.

Speaker 1:

The project I did at that school we were good. We were good Then the last day because this was a huge project. So we worked on it for like three days, four days, I don't remember. It was a long time. And I remember the last day they sent me a whole other crew of people because other projects were done and they were like, uh, they'd have nowhere to go. Can they come to your project? I'm like, okay, but now I mean I can't imagine that's the most stress I've ever been in my life. But I was so stressed out because all these people with shovels coming up to me where do you need me and I'm like there's hundreds of you, I don't know what. Where are we and I?

Speaker 2:

I mean you guys dig a hole and then you guys fill it.

Speaker 1:

I was. I was going to malfunction. Like it was so stressful because there were so many people eager to serve, wanting to help yeah, and there's too many of them. I couldn't manage them anymore. Like it got out of control. It wasn't like, oh great, my 10 working on gravel, my 10 working on dirt, my 10 working on this. Now it was like just the floodgates open. So be very careful of having too many people on your project. It's okay to cap it or work in shifts you don't want to have them like hey, you're going to need to be here for 12 hours today.

Speaker 2:

Can you do that? Yeah?

Speaker 1:

fair.

Speaker 2:

As opposed to let's have three shifts of four hours or something more reasonable, and we did that, but yeah, it just got out of hand at the end.

Speaker 1:

It was bad and I'm sure you've been a part of a project like that where all of a sudden there's so many people, you and you just have that feeling like it makes zero difference if I'm here or not, like if I were you're creating out you and even the jobs you're creating.

Speaker 2:

It's like this is a one person job and now we're trying to make it two or three people. That happened on a service project once before, right, it just felt like this is so awkward, right like I'll turn the screw and you hold the piece of metal like I could totally get us working together, buddy and it just was. It was I mean you.

Speaker 1:

You get to know someone really feel like it's like just a little service pat on the head, like aren't you cute? Like look at you, you can turn a screw um, and because people really want to do something meaningful.

Speaker 1:

They do want to work hard, but not like obnoxiously so, and so the other problem is obviously not having enough people, and I don't have to explain to you why that is a bad thing. That's pretty obvious. But the point of it is making sure that you gauge the amount of manpower, woman power, people power that you are going to need for a job.

Speaker 2:

Yeah.

Speaker 1:

You know, and when you feel like you've hit it, just say. Sign ups are closed or hey, we'll catch you on the next one Because, again, you don't want to diminish the experience for the people that are coming and then making sure kind of what you were saying along the lines of working in shifts that you don't overdo it. So I would reasonably say, if you're working with junior hires, two hours is it? That's all you get. Do not try to make it go longer. You will regret everything.

Speaker 1:

You will be like no, never again, Because they have a certain attention span of what they can give you and that's not their fault. That's just where they're at Frontal lobe. Where are you? It's not there, so don't go looking for it. High schoolers, I think you could probably get three hours out of an adult. I think you could do four hour shifts and be great. You don't want a bunch of junior hires on your hands that are bored with hammers you know so no, no, no.

Speaker 1:

So just make sure you're tailoring the time Well and, like we were talking about before, like picking a worthy cause. So the trail was a definite no, not a worthy cause. But we have an organization in our town called rains that is a therapeutic horsemanship program for autistic kids, very worthwhile cause.

Speaker 1:

We have another that we work with called Divine Path in our town and they give life skills and culinary skills and job skills to autistic adults. Very worthy cause. We will do anything for them and that is what makes a project meaningful, like I'm doing something to impact people who really deserve it, and that kind of puts the wind in the sails. You know what I mean. So I'll give you examples of the best ones. We've done Rains, like I just talked about, so I'll go to her and say where do you need junior hires for two hours? Can you give me a project that you think would fit with their skill level? And she trusted us with paint and here's why it didn't matter that much that time, because it was over dirt right and it was painting a fence white and I felt pretty comfortable with that indoor painting no, that's what I was

Speaker 2:

gonna say no, but outdoor where the dirt kind of just paint drops and it's gonna get on anything of mild importance. It's a hard no um.

Speaker 1:

I had junior hires paint my office once it was all over the ceiling.

Speaker 2:

I was like thanks guys, Looks good.

Speaker 1:

So good, so good. And then Divine Path. They're an organization that, like I said, gives life skills to autistic adults. So the project we do with them if you have any kind of organization in your area like this, whether it's down syndrome, autism, something like that we throw a dance for them.

Speaker 2:

And oh, I just got the chills even thinking about it formal, like really nice, like a valentine's day catered and all that. Yeah, so this year it's at.

Speaker 1:

It's on valentine's day. We invite them to our church. We I'm just lucky that my guy's director is also a DJ, so he DJs the event. You could just make a playlist on Spotify, it doesn't really matter. We do a mix of just dance and a mix of free dance. We cater it, we find a life group at our church who will sponsor it, so it's not like I'm spending hundreds of dollars on catering and they dress up. We have like a photo booth and really all they want to do is dance. I used to play a bingo game with them and then had this big prize table and if they won bingo they got to come up and choose a prize and I think that was really fun. But all they kept asking me the whole time is when are we dancing again?

Speaker 2:

And.

Speaker 1:

I'm like so you guys just really want to dance, that's it. And watching the students, like dance with them and get out of their shell. Like I'll tell the students when we eat dinner you are not sitting at a junior high table, I want you all to spread out, go mingle, cause they want to know. I mean, they're the friendliest people in the world. They're just like who are you? And let me tell you everything about everything. You know. They're just so fun and talkative that it just really puts the junior hires guard down. And then they are ministered to as well and they realize man, why am I always so worried about being cool? Like it's so much more fun to just let loose and be yourself.

Speaker 1:

And so we debrief after and like hey, what did you guys learn through this?

Speaker 2:

project.

Speaker 1:

It's so impactful, and then Well, real quick on that.

Speaker 2:

If you, if you go in your town, wherever you are at, and you go in your town, step one, get in your car, the town.

Speaker 1:

Now what.

Speaker 2:

I digress no, if you go to local restaurants or things that will provide catering, yeah, it's.

Speaker 1:

it's always worth asking yes I got a yes last year yeah, I just say hey, this is what we're doing.

Speaker 2:

You know, would there be any discount or anything like that you could provide? You know, it's always the worst I could say is no yeah and it's slappy in the head.

Speaker 1:

And I got Jersey Mike's to do it. Last year they didn't. It wasn't like free, but he gave us a super deep discount and I said I'll post pictures and give you a shout out on. Instagram.

Speaker 1:

And I don't think that's like why he said yes but it was kind of a nice perk for him, like, hey, like I know you would never ask for credit, but I'll give it to you, you know. So, yeah, great idea. And then we do starving to serve, which is another great service project where we've talked about it before. The students fast for 27 hours. They get sponsors for that and all of the money they raise goes toward an organization called outside the bowl which builds um soup kitchens.

Speaker 1:

The bowl which builds soup kitchens sustainable soup kitchens, like not just feeds them once, but these ones that are gospel centered, so they preach the word of God and feed. I think they give like some crazy statistic of each soup kitchen feeds like a thousand people a day or something crazy in their town.

Speaker 1:

It's super cool. And so the students where their service comes in is they commit to fasting, which is very hard for them, and they raise the funds and it all goes to outside the bowl. So those are like our three big ones that have the most impact and that I've seen have um like.

Speaker 1:

when I asked students like what are your best memories of junior high, they always say one of the service projects, like no matter how many times we play predator or go whitewater rafting or give away prizes or do cool events, they always say serving.

Speaker 2:

Interesting.

Speaker 1:

Because I think it had the biggest impact. Like it's rare which sounds weird, but it's rare to get an opportunity to be a part of something bigger than yourself, because a private individual, especially a student, doesn't always have the resources or connections just to be like we're going to go serve, like down syndrome community members today it's like they wouldn't even know where to start. But you as the pastor or a leader usually can, you know, get in those doors and and make things happen. And people do want to be a part of that.

Speaker 2:

They just don't know how to start alongside your friends in the ministry.

Speaker 1:

You've just created these bonding experiences. So, yeah, if anything's going on your calendar this year, you don't need a ton of service projects, just have two, three. I used to try to do an every month and I realized that was biting off way more than I could chew and the quality level was going down. So now I have my three kind of staples and I'm like these are the most impactful and I can do them very well. And then that's not talking about serving inside the church, like I said, because we do that consistently. People should be serving within the church on a regular basis. This is just talking about a project outside.

Speaker 1:

So, hopefully that was helpful. I think we hit it all.

Speaker 2:

Yeah, we did another episode a while back along the lines of service projects. I think you talked about several of the ones here, but if that's something you want to check out, make sure you take that. I was going to say take that a listen, take that a listen, take that a watch and see what you think.

Speaker 1:

Take that a listen. I like that phrasing I guarantee.

Speaker 2:

If my aunt said that being 87, I'd be like take that a listen Must be a saying and I wouldn't question it.

Speaker 1:

I think probably most people aren't questioning that right now.

Speaker 2:

Take that a listen, you guys. The question of the day today is what is a song that you wish would play as your intro music whenever you walk into a room?

Speaker 1:

This question is so well timed. I just spoke at a winter camp. I just got back and I was talking to one of their staff and like they were getting me mic'd up and stuff and I said, oh, I never gave you my entrance music. And they're like, huh, I'm like, yeah, like I like an entrance song when I like go up on stage and like I'm gonna just run like down the aisle, and they're like, okay, it's like just trying to go with it and I'm like I'm totally kidding.

Speaker 2:

But if I did have one and you wanted to use one it would be you forgot the name I did.

Speaker 1:

It goes like this though y'all ready for this?

Speaker 2:

I don't know if it has a name, does it?

Speaker 1:

I don't know if it has a name. Does it Ready for this? I don't know. But it's on the Space Jam soundtrack and the beginning is so good. It's like it sounds like lasers and then the beat drops and I would just want to do a tunnel of high fives.

Speaker 2:

So this is like every house, every store, every time you walk in. I'm not just talking about speaking no, no, no, this is any time you walk in.

Speaker 1:

Oh, this is even better. I just picture like my hair blowing and like the lights going down and everyone's scared. There's.

Speaker 2:

Albertsons, and there's what's happening. Kristen's here.

Speaker 1:

And like no one gives me a high five, I just start writing that's even better.

Speaker 2:

Maybe I should have clarified.

Speaker 1:

Make sure you put yours in the comments section below. What's yours?

Speaker 2:

Mine would be, and I've always thought this, ever since I was a kid. You know you walk through like, especially like a store, department store, things like that, and the ever since I was a kid you know, you walk through like especially like a store, department store, things like that, and the automatic doors open. Yeah, I always felt like it was like a very sci-fi star warsy kind of thing.

Speaker 1:

So I always wanted the imperial march from star wars.

Speaker 2:

It's a little evil, well I think it's more um it's.

Speaker 1:

It's a lot of pomp and circumstance okay, you are a pomp and circumstance kind of guy with my giant feather coming out of my hat as I march in with kingly robes when you said the doors opening, I just pictured why I just died yeah, or that one like that. Just felt a little more like dramatic, but yours feels evil imagine going to every store like that.

Speaker 2:

People would turn be like oh, I don't know who he is. He must be important, though. Do you hear that?

Speaker 1:

music.

Speaker 2:

He's like yankee doodle, with a feather in that cap wow, okay, maybe not the feather, but you know what I mean. You said feather, a big plumy one, um. So make sure you guys put in the comment section below what is the song that you wish would be your entrance music anytime you walk. Walking into an empty apartment at the end of a long day that's gonna put you in the mood for anything. All right, uh, let's do a question or a comment of the day and we'll call it quits.

Speaker 2:

This comes from amethyst kurtz, who says I love that every episode gives me a fresh perspective on my ministry and or something I can take and use in my youth group right away. I've been listening since episode one.

Speaker 1:

Sorry, super cringy, sorry about that when I first started.

Speaker 2:

Wait, you're cringy, or she's.

Speaker 1:

Well, you're, you super cringy, sorry about that when I first started in Wait, you're cringy or she's cringy.

Speaker 2:

Well, you are cringy and our first episode is cringy. She did not say anything about that.

Speaker 1:

Oh, I'm like that's not Okay, gotcha.

Speaker 2:

Amethyst did not say that Amethyst. Okay, then she says been listening since episode one when I first started in my current ministry position, and since then I've built a leadership team from the ground up and my average youth attendance has doubled. The tips and advice from this podcast has played a role in helping my team build a healthy culture that encourages growth my favorite youth ministry podcast.

Speaker 1:

Hey, I like that, that's a really good one.

Speaker 2:

That was an all-star comment. Thank you, amethyst, appreciate that. Hey, mal, you're an all-star. That would be really good one.

Speaker 1:

That was an all-star comment. Thank you, Amethyst. Appreciate that You're an all-star.

Speaker 2:

That would be a good one. There's another one. We're going to quit while we're way behind. Thank you guys for watching and listening and we'll see you next time. All that glitter's gold.

Speaker 1:

Only shooting stars make the mold, Break the mold. Today we're talking about how you can make the biggest impact in your youth ministry in this year Time. Three days, four days, five days Helicopter.