You have less resources - but you know every student's name. Attendance drops when one family takes a vacation - but you have flexibility. Celebrate the wonderful journey of ministry in the smaller congregation. While making parents your partners in ministry, more ministry with less money, finding/training volunteers, and appreciating the advantages of serving in a smaller youth ministry

Insights, tips, and suggestions for small group of leaders. When put into play, these bite-sized, consumable pieces of wisdom help leaders "knock it out of the park" and set them up to win.

What does it mean to be a student leader? Leadership isn't about popularity, or a title, or a position. It's about making a lasting impact by following the call of God, taking appropriate risks, and challenging other teenagers to follow Christ. Doug Franklin wrote this book because he's committed to seeing people develop a leadership heart. He knows what it takes to help you reach a place where you move beyond your comfort zone, where you solve problems that seem impossible to conquer, where you wholeheartedly serve other people. Doug's passionate about this stuff! As you read through 99 Thoughts for Student Leaders, you'll encounter thoughts and ideas that will inspire you, challenge you, cause you to think, and help you develop your creativity. Ultimately, you'll discover the courage to become someone who leads others in making a difference.

Are the young people in your church coming to faith in Christ? Are they following Him as disciples? The elders and leaders of every church should be able to answer "yes" to both questions. It's a crucial aspect of their role as shepherds. So how can a group of men confidently affirm that their young people are growing mature in Christ? This is the purpose of YOUthWORK. Featuring hard-won insights and proven strategies drawn from twenty-five years of working with thousands of students, this practical guide will equip parents, volunteers, and full-time youth workers to shepherd young people toward maturity in Christ. It provides church leaders with a framework for understanding the how's and why's of youth ministry and features dozens of hands-on ideas for ministry.

Youth workers always need three things: prayer, ideas, and inspiration. And maybe a case of Red Bull. In this easy-to-read book, author and high school pastor Josh Griffin sifts through years of little sleep working in the trenches of youth ministry to share his personal reflections. The result is a resource packed with practical advice and useable ideas on every page that will help make your work simpler and your ministry more successful. Get a caffeine fix and step into Josh's world. Sections cover: Vision & Leadership Programs & People Small Groups & Events Everyday Ministry

Never before has there been a resource this comprehensive and relevant for teaching the New Testament to your students. With the topic overview, ideas for games, outlines for messages, study questions, and tips for using real-life experiences, you now have everything you need to lead students through more than 100 New Testament lessons.

Rural youth ministry is an amazing adventure--a truly unique beast, different from serving in the inner city or the heart of suburbia. But even though our culture is becoming increasingly urban and suburban, rural youth ministry isn't going away anytime soon.Brent Lacy is no stranger to the realities of rural ministry--the joys, the challenges, the rewards, the heartaches. He grew up in a rural community and serves as the youth pastor at a rural church today.Through the pages of this book, Brent examines keys to thriving in rural youth ministry, strategies for building solid relationships, tips on reaching your local schools, wisdom on surviving church politics, ideas on effectively using technology, and advice on adjusting to a new church or community. Whether you're new to rural youth ministry or your life has been forged in a rural setting, this book will inspire you to hold firm to God's calling. You can be successful in your ministry. You can reach your community in ways you and your church never even thought were possible. The work may be long, hard, and messy, but the rewards are amazing. The Expanded Second Edition also includes updated and additional content.

Dean Borgman, a nationally known youth ministry expert, offers a new edition of his influential classic. Reaching a broadly ecumenical audience, this book challenges readers to think about the theological nature of youth ministry. Questions for discussion and reflection are included. This thoroughly updated edition was previously published as When Kumbaya Is Not Enough. Praise for the first edition "Writing with the lens of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and welcome doctrinal breadth, Borgman has provided a 'field book' of pastoral theologies that takes seriously the social systems shaping the lives of adolescents. This book is a significant step toward the long-awaited conversation about theology and youth ministry in postmodern culture."--Kenda Creasy Dean, Princeton Theological Seminary; author of Almost Christian "In this excellent work Borgman brings theological integrity, depth, and years of wisdom like nothing else I have seen in our field."--Jim Burns, author of Teenology: The Art of Raising Great Teenagers

Life for a typical junior higher is awesome. And hard. And fun. And exciting. And boring. And crazy, right? Basically, it's a blur of all those things--and more! Junior high truly is a season of ups and downs, of possibilities and confusion, of amazing memories and embarrassing moments. To survive it all, you sometimes just need a little help--or 99 bite-sized bits of help! Mark Oestreicher and Brooklyn Lindsey--youth pastors who've worked with people your age for a long, long time--have teamed up to create this insider's guide for this wild ride. They'll help as you examine the changes in your life, figure out what you believe, see where God and church fit into the picture, choose how to interact with family and friends, and decide what matters most in life. And you'll read some true stories about the authors' own junior high years! 99 Thoughts for Junior Highers will entertain, engage, and encourage you during this crazy season of life!

Richard Dunn shows how to mentor today's teens by setting the pace--physically, intellectually, emotionally, socially and spiritually--with sensitivity to the unique issues of adolescent development.