Sometimes you’ll have a day when you are just feeling weak. Mentally. Physically. Spiritually. Something-ally. Here is a list of Bible verses that you will find comforting. The more you read these verses in context, the richer they are, and the more you will find them encouraging. But even in isolation without context, you will find them helpful and encouraging. Take comfort.

I hate it when people talk about teams. I find it cringe. At my school, the classrooms used to have posters that said stuff like, “Teamwork. Teamwork. Team work. Teams work.” Or “Teamwork makes the dreamwork.” So so lame.In youth and kids’ ministry, we’re aiming to help youth and kids become like Jesus to the glory of God. This means helping them grow in their faith as we read the Bible and pray, being focussed on mission and inviting people to know Jesus, creating a welcoming atmosphere, and being active in serving.

When someone thinks of youth ministry, their mind usually goes first to Friday night. And fair enough. That’s where the bulk of the action is. But, we do a disservice to youth ministry if we restrict it just to Friday night. Friday night is kind of like the cake. But the way we use the rest of the week can be a bit like icing. There’s extra stuff we can do that makes our ministry even more effective. Some of this is stuff we should probably be doing anyway, stuff like prayer and prep. This is part of the cake. But there’s other stuff that, if we have the time, capacity and energy, can take our ministry to the next level. Here’s some stuff that I’d encourage every youth leader to think about when it comes to during-the-week-ministry.

As a youth leader, the 30-40 minutes you spend in discussion groups could well be the most important thing you do each week. For a short period of time, you get to disciple a bunch of youth as you press into the most important things they will ever discuss with another person.

By “session”, I mean that part of youth group where all of the youth seated, and at some point, the talk happens. Here are some thoughts on how to do this well.

At Youth, we are primarily on about making disciples. That’s our emphasis. That’s the point of what we’re on about. But youth are youth. They have a lot of energy and an appetite for fun. This isn’t a bad thing. This is a good thing. Done well, games are a great way to foster community and friendship, create good vibes, and burn energy. Done badly, games can create chaos, confusion, frustration, exclusion, punch-ups, and even lawsuits (no joke—this once happened at a church I was at!).

For many youth, whether or not they feel welcome determines whether or not they keep coming to Friday Youth. If they keep coming, they will keep hearing the gospel of Jesus, the gospel that has the power of salvation! If they don’t come back, they may not hear about Jesus. Therefore, it’s heaps important that we think through how we go about welcoming. Here are some tips to help us think through how we go about welcoming.

Many Kids’ Church teams are blessed with teenage leaders. At Hope Church, we have a team of junior leaders that we call “LiTs”. They are a great blessing to our teams. However, given that they are younger and have less life experience than the adult leaders on their teams, they will require specific support as we grow them into godly, competent leaders and teachers of God’s Word. Here are a few thoughts on how we can support them.

If I’m honest, discipline is one of the things I find hardest about leading at Kids’ Church. I want to disciple these kids and share Jesus with them. I don’t want to discipline them. But we have to. It’s really hard. Strike the right balance between “fun” and “firm” is tough. It gets particularly tricky when you have a child (or multiple children) with special needs. If we get discipline right, it makes discipling much easier and way more effective.

At one level, MCing at Kids’ Church is one of the easiest jobs to do. If you have a good system going, you can prepare it in 10 minutes. But it’s also one of the hardest jobs to do as it involves a lot of up-the-front stuff.

The kids’ church talk is finished. You head off into our discussion groups. You walk over to your table. There are no chairs. There are a couple of pencils but they’re blunt. And there’s no red or green. You have the sheets from last week. And … you’re not really sure what you’re meant to be doing. But you’ve got five kindergarten kids with you waiting for you to do something. Except for the kid who has sensed your uncertainty and run away. And the other one who keeps interrupting you with anecdotes about Pokemon every time you try to speak.

You’re sitting in a meeting with your Kids’ Church team. Your leader tells you that you are down for a talk next term. You’re freaking out! What? Why? How on earth do I do this? It can feel pretty daunting. But fear not. You can do it! Here are ten tips to help you on your way.

Matthew 28:18-20, often referred to as the Great Commission, is a pivotal passage for understanding Christian mission. Sometimes I hear people saying that it doesn’t apply to all Christians, just the disciples, those immediately present with Jesus when he said what he said. Therefore, unless we are “evangelists”, we are “off the hook” when it comes to evangelism.

In youth and children's ministry, leaders pour their hearts into their work, sacrificing time on Friday nights, Sunday mornings, and various points throughout the week. The sacrifices are worth it. But after a long week/term/year, it’s easy to forget what we’re on about, why we’re on about it, and how we go about it.