This Friday we’re scheduled to resume our weekly Skypecast conversation at 2:00 PM EST, but due to all the technical difficulties I’ve decided to move our discussions to Talkshoe.com instead. There are several advantages: it works on the first try every time, it’s much more user-friendly, Mac users can now join us, and there’s easy telephone access for those who want to call in to talk instead of using a computer microphone. A chat room is integrated for those who just want to listen online and participate via text.

How do I join the conversation?

When Friday at 2:00 PM EST roles around each week, here’s how you can join the LIVE youth ministry conversation.

1. Call (724) 444-7444 and enter ID number 19105#. If you’re a registered Talkshoe user, enter your pin number at the prompt. Otherwise, just press 1#. (Long distance charges may apply.) OR…
2. Visit our Talkshoe page to listen and join the chat. You can also use Talkshoe’s optional free software to talk in high quality with your computer mic.

This Week’s Topic: Balancing “fun” and Bible study in youth group

We all struggle with trying to balance “entertainment” and Bible study in youth group. What balance have you found works best for your group? What “fun” elements should be included in youth group? Or should we disregard the entertainment side altogether? Come prepared to share your thoughts or just to listen to what others have to say.

We also have a lot of catching up to do. Let’s talk about what’s been happening in your ministry so far this summer. How has God been working? What are you excited about? What issues have come up that you’d like to bounce off other youth workers? We want to hear all your stories from this summer so far.

Upcoming Schedule

The schedule and topics are maintained on our LIVE Youth Ministry Conversations page, but here’s a glance at what’s coming up.

• August 1: The balance between “fun” and Bible study in youth group.
• August 8: Getting parents involved in the spiritual lives of their teens.
• August 15: No conversation.
• August 22: Problems with youth group as a “minichurch.”
• August 29: No conversation.
• September 5: Evaluating the spiritual depth of our youth ministries.
• September 12: Working with students who suffer from depression and eating disorders (special guest, TBA).

What is the Life In Student Ministry Conversation?

Join us every Friday at 2:00 PM Eastern Time for a LIVE conversation between me and many other youth workers from around the country. Together we talk about anything and everything pertaining to “life in student ministry” and you’re invited to join the conversation! Although we usually set the topics beforehand, there’s always time for you to chime in, ask for input on an issue, share your advice with others, or just tell us about something exciting in your ministry, all LIVE via voice and video feeds!

More information can be found on our LIVE Youth Ministry Conversation page.

Last Friday Steve Quatro joined our Skypecast as our featured guest. He is the director of the Kern Center for Vocational Ministry, a ministry that helps high school students pursue their calling into full-time church ministry by offering them scholarships, resources, paid internships, and a lot more. They also provide youth workers with free materials and discipleship curriculum who are working with youth group teenagers that are considering full-time ministry as a career. It was a very valuable discussion. I really learned a lot from Steve and all his practical advice and wisdom. Here’s a recording of the Skypecast for those who are interested in hearing what he had to say. Even if you don’t yet have a teenager who’s expressed an interest in ministry, encourage them to start thinking about it and have some of Steve’s tools handy for later.

NOTE: The next Skypecast is scheduled for August 1 at 1:00 PM Central Time. We’ll debrief about summer ministry and talk about the balance between “fun” and Bible study in youth group.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Click the Play button below to listen to the Podcast here:

 

 Helping teens pursue a calling into full-time ministry [47:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

We’ve taken a little break from our Friday Skypecasts since I was away on a missions trip for a couple weeks and then last Friday was July 4th. I’m excited to talk with you all again this Friday, though. We always have such great conversations about youth ministry, our struggles, our praise reports, and sharing advice. What an encouraging time! I love it!

This Friday we have a lot of catching up to do. Let’s talk about what’s been happening in your ministry so far this summer. How has God been working? What are you excited about? What issues have come up that you’d like to bounce off other youth workers? We want to hear all your stories from this summer so far.

We’ll also have a special guest joining us. Steve Quatro is the director of Kern Center for Vocational Ministry and is an adjunct professor at Azusa Pacific University. He’s working with a team of Christian leaders to develop a program for high school students who may be sensing God calling to pastoral ministry. They are working hard to interface with youth workers on this issue, both to gain input and also equip us for guiding such teens. Steve whats to hear about what you do with students who express interest in serving God vocationally. Do you encourage your students to consider it? How young do you start planting the seeds? He’ll also give us some insights to use in our personal ministries, which I’m looking forward to hearing.

If you get a chance before the Skypecast, check out their website at www.ministryasvocation.org. They have college scholarships available, resources, and tools for exploring the Lord’s calling in vocational ministry.

What is a Skypecast?

If you’re new to Life In Student Ministry, every Friday at 1:00 PM Central Time many youth pastors from all over the world connect together in an audio “chat room” to talk about “life in student ministry.” We pray for each other, hear each others stories, give input into situations, and train each other to be more effective in our ministry to teenagers. For information about how to join the Skypecast (it’s FREE!) and to hear an audio highlight clip of what it’s like, check out the Life In Student Ministry Skypecast page.

Upcoming Skypecast Schedule

• July 11: Helping teens follow the Lord’s calling into vocational ministry (Steve Quatro, special guest)
• July 18: No Skypecast
• July 25: No Skypecast
• August 1: The balance between “fun” and Bible study in youth group
• August 8: Getting parents involved in the spiritual lives of their teens
• August 15: No Skypecast
• August 22: Problems with youth group as a “minichurch”
• August 29: No Skypecast
• September 5: Evaluating the spiritual depth of our youth ministries
• September 12: Working with students who suffer from depression and eating disorders (special guest, TBA)

I apologize for the Skypecast schedule being so sporadic. I’m traveling a lot these next couple months. Mark this schedule on your calendar, though, so you can participate when I’m here. Of course, in each Skypecast there will always be time dedicated to whatever special needs you want to bring to the table for discussion.

Stay Up-To-Date

To stay up-to-date with the latest Skypecast information, become a fan of the Life In Student Ministry Facebook Page or follow me on Twitter.

Our weekly Life In Student Ministry Skypecasts are quickly becoming a highlight of my week. I love connecting with you all LIVE online to discuss issues, ideas, struggles, and praise reports about our “life in student ministry.” I learn a lot from you all. Thank you so much for your input into my life and ministry.

Due to my youth group’s missions trip to Belize, I’ll be unable to host our weekly Skypecast for a couple weeks. In fact, the next Skypecast is on Friday, July 11, at 1:00 PM Central Time. Be sure to mark you calendar for that one, though, because it’s going to be a very valuable time for all of us. Steve Quatro, a professor at Azusa Pacific University, is developing a service for students who are sensing God’s calling to vocational ministry. He is working hard to interface with youth workers in this endeavor and is looking forward to talking with us a bit about two things: 1) About our experiences with students who are considering vocational ministry; and 2) How we, as youth workers, can help move students in that direction when they feel the Lord tugging on their heart. Check out their website at www.ministryasvocation.org for more information.

There will also not be a Skypecast on July 18 (I’m traveling again), but we’ll probably resume our regular weekly schedule on July 25. The weeks following it are jammed with a lot of other great upcoming topics for discussion:

• The balance between “fun” and Bible study in youth group
• Working with students who suffer from depression and eating disorders
• Evaluating the spiritual depth of our youth ministries
• Our dreams for our youth ministries
• Getting parents involved in the spiritual lives of their teens
• Problems of youth group as a “minichurch”

Of course, there will always be time dedicated to whatever needs you want to bring to the table for discussion, too.

Stay Updated
To stay more up-to-date with Skypecast information, become a fan of the Life In Student Ministry Facebook Page or follow me on Twitter.

More Info
For more information about the Skypecasts, including info on how to access it each week, check out the Skypecast page.

Click the Play button below to listen to a highlight clip of a past Skypecast:

 

 Skypecast Highlights from 05-09-2008 [5:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Grahame Knox, a veteran youth worker in the U.K., graciously donates a free ebook he wrote called, 40 Icebreakers for Small Groups. It’s full of great ideas to get the blood pumping, adrenaline flowing and teens interacting with each other. Here’s his description:

40 Icebreakers for Small Groups is an ebook compiled from several previous articles posted on my blog Insight. I thought it might be helpful to put them together in an eBook to download. In addition, I’ve added several extra icebreakers which don’t appear in the articles!

Divided into two sections, “Getting To Know You” and “Group Builders,” these icebreakers encourage sharing, openness, listening, co-operation and discussion, providing a creative foundation for a small group study or teaching time.

40 Icebreakers for Small Groups ebook

CONTRIBUTE TO FREEBIE FRIDAY: If you’ve benefited from others who have freely shared their youth ministry resources online, consider giving back to the community by sharing your own materials here. Send me your donations for review and if I publish them in a Freebie Friday, you’ll receive full credit, a link, lots of gratitude and a warm feeling inside that comes from sharing with others.

Featured Skypecast Guest Today

Adam McLane of Youth Ministry Exchange is gracious to join us for today’s Life In Student Ministry Skypecast. Four youth pastors who are connected with his ministry lost their jobs this month, so he’s going to talk a bit about transitions in youth ministry. He’ll also discuss social networking, blogging, and general technology stuff in youth ministry. Come to hear his thoughts and bounce your questions and ideas off him. It starts at 1:00 PM central time this afternoon. More info here.

We had another great Skypecast discussion last Friday! Thanks to everyone who came! It was really a beneficial time for all of us to hear about how God is working in other ministries, to be encouraged in tremendous ways and to receive advice from others who have often already gone through the exact the same things we are. I love hanging out and talking with you all about anything that pertains to “life in student ministry” and “what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph. 4:29).

This week we covered several great topics, including:

• Building relationships with teens this summer
• Prioritizing time and responsibilities in ministry
• The balance between teaching from a plan and allowing the Holy Spirit to lead differently last-minute
• The difference between teaching from a curriculum and teaching from our lives
• What stresses us out the most in youth ministry
• Handling conflict
• Disciplining kids in our ministry
• Keeping different literacy levels and age groups of teens engaged together without leaving some behind

It’s been over a year since my last podcast, so what better time to publish another one than to feature some of the highlights from last Friday’s Skypecast conversation. To join in the conversation again this Friday, visit the Life In Student Ministry Skypecast page at 1:00 PM Central Time and click the link to join the discussion via Skype. If you don’t have a microphone, don’t worry — you can still interact via the group chat room.

Subscribe to the podcast in iTunes

Click the Play button below to listen to the Podcast here:

 

 Skypecast Highlights from 05-09-2008 [5:30m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

If you’re a fan of the Life In Student Ministry Facebook page or if you follow me on Twitter, you saw me mention an open youth ministry round-table Skypecast discussion for Friday afternoon. About eight of you showed up! Despite some initial technical difficulties, the conversation actually went very well for a first-time attempt. In fact, we’re going to try it again this Friday and possibly make it a regular thing. We discussed several issues together that we’re currently facing in our ministries:

• One-on-one discipleship plans
• Handling ministry responsibilities on our day off
• How to answer students’ tough questions about God
• Summer ministry plans
• Some of our favorite youth group games
• And more

It was a fun and energizing time to just hang out, relax and talk about life and ministry. I’m looking forward to the conversation again this Friday at 1:00 PM Central Time. Plus, I’ll have a LIVE video feed running this time, too.

Joining Skypecasts is really quite simple. For details about how this works, visit my new Skypecast page. All you need to listen is a Windows computer and Skype (it’s FREE!). If you’d like to participate in the discussion, you’ll also need a working microphone.

This Friday at 1:00 PM Central Time, login to Skype and hang out with me and other youth workers online. In the meantime, add me to your Skype contacts: rockinyp Oh, and become a fan of my Facebook page so you don’t miss out on opportunities like this again in the future. I’ll be announcing featured guests through the Facebook page who are already lined up to join us in up-coming conversations.

[ Life In Student Ministry Skypecasts ]