Youth Ministry Hacks

Justin got to sit down with Gerald who was a long time youth pastor, now speaker, coach, and author and got to talk about his new book, WHEN LIFE GIVES YOU LEMONS, and how it can help youth workers everywhere. Gerald serves as the Founder and President of the Stello Initiative, a 501c3 organization that mobilizes young adults to serve through service based conferences (For God So Loved Tour). Gerald’s passion for the next generation is best expressed by preaching biblical truth to students and adults around the globe. This passion has positioned him as a trusted voice for multiple organizations including North Point Ministries, Bigstuf Camps, Passion City Church, Calvary Chapel, Newsprint Church, Orange Conference and many more.Gerald is the author of “Before You Go,” a resource designed to help students follow Jesus and grow in their faith after high school. He also co-authored Starting Now, a devotional for college freshman. His most recent book entitled “When Life Gives You Lemons,” serves as a practical g

Justin got to sit down with Eric Epperson, the VP of Story for CIY (Christ In Youth). Justin and Eric talk about how to craft the best stories for teaching, social media, marketing etc. There is a lot of practical wisdom to help make youth workers better. CIY Digital Summer Camp: ciy.com/at@ericeppersonSPONSORS: Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin and Matthew sit down with Theo Davis, who wrote a very helpful blog post on the DYM Blog about how white your pastors can talk and help with racism. His post on Facebook has thousands of views and shares and we have a great conversation about the current state of our country and how to chat about it with students. Theo Davis serves as the Multi-Site Youth Pastor at Restore Community Church in Kansas City, Missouri. He has worked in youth ministry for 15 years in a variety of settings which include church plants, rural churches, and mega-churches on the East Coast and now Midwest. He received his degree in Youth Ministry from Eastern University in 2008 and has continued to leverage his education with real-world experience. He and his wife Malia are huge gamers and named their kids after video game characters — Zelda & Shepherd (from The Legend of Zelda and the Mass Effect Series). Theo also loves action figures and spends his spare time developing his musical and visual art talents. Follow him on

We asked in the DYM Facebook group and on our Instagram accounts for questions that you wanted us to hack through and we did! So many great questions and some pretty mediocre answers coming your way!Sam Grosso InstagramSponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

We asked in the DYM Facebook group and on our Instagram accounts for questions that you wanted us to hack through and we did! So many great questions and some pretty mediocre answers coming your way!Sam Grosso InstagramSponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

First of all, Justin loves Oklahoma. Just know that. Justin and Matthew sit down with Sam Grosso from Victory Church in Tulsa, OK about how he is leading his leadership team in this digital age we all have been forced to during COVID-19. Lot’s of good and practical insight in this episode. Sam Grosso InstagramSponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin Knowles sits down with Jon Rush, Youth Director at Elevation Church in South Carolina, about how to go about small groups and doing them online in the age of COVID-19. Check out Jon Rush on Instagram: @_jonrushElevation Youth Instagram: @elevationythElevation Youth YoutubeSponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin and Matthew just wanted to take a second to let you know a few things that are happening with the podcast during this time, what they are doing in their church and how they are thinking of you the listener.Links in the show:Free Resources and Ideas To Minister During COVID19 from DYMhttps://youthgroup.downloadyouthministry.com/Sandals Church Youth Ministry:Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/sandalschurchyouthIG: https://www.instagram.com/sandalsyouth/Sponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin Knowles and Matthew Ferrer chat through 3 types of meetings if you are looking to hack your ministry into a jump-start. The discuss 3 types of meetings, with asking certain questions, to really navigate how to bring some fresh breath into what you have going on in your youth ministry. Sponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin Knowles and Matthew Ferrer chat through hack on casting vision for putting on something that has never happened before or does not exist yet in your ministry. How do you come up with it? Pitch it to hire ups? Get people behind it when you have nothing to promote it because you never done it before? This episode explores all those questions. Sponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin Knowles and Matthew Ferrer are back in 2020 with a brand new show, a special guest and talking about what to do when you are fired or step down from your position. We thought we would start off the year with a pretty vulnerable episode where Justin opens about about being fired and talks through the process in the aftermath in part 1 of this two part episode. Sponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

To close our 2019, we leave you with our live show at Youth Specialties National Youth Workers Convention in Tampa, Florida! Justin (Matthew could not join us) and special limited-time guest host Karl Romeus sit down in a full room of guests and have a bunch of the live audience members come up and share some of their own hacks! It’s a great show and we can’t wait to see how God continues to use the Youth Ministry Hacks Podcast in 2020!Sponsors:Youth WorksYouthworks.com/DYMGive Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin and Matthew (with special guest Karl) dive into the 2nd part of the conversation on message prepping and speaking. If you have not listened to episode 60, we recommend you go back and check that out first. Matthew plays interviewer and peppers Justin and Karl about how they come up with content, sermon series, etc from starting on the 50,000 foot level and slowly bring it to the on the ground “how to’s”. If you are looking for some solid message prep and speaking hacks, this is the one. If you want a chance to win the free Kristen Ivy book, It’s Personal, rate and review this podcast and you will be entered to win!Sponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Justin, Matthew & Karl dive into part 1 of 2 of message prepping and speaking. Matthew plays interviewer and peppers Justin and Karl about how they come up with content, sermon series, etc from starting on the 50,000 foot level and slowly bring it to the on the ground “how to’s”. If you are looking for some solid message prep and speaking hacks, this is the one. If you want a chance to win the free Kristen Ivy book, It’s Personal, rate and review this podcast and you will be entered to win!Sponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

The crew talks through some hacks on how to start the school year off to gain the most momentum possible and share some of the learnings along the way. Sponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Matthew and Justin are back… and with a new co-host! Karl Romeus is joining the Youth Ministry Hacks Podcast and we love it. He is going to add so much to the show!We get to know Karl a little bit in the first half of the show and then we all talk through our hacks we have learned this summer. Sponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Matthew and Justin sit down with Kristen Ivy for an incredible conversation. Her newest book is It’s Personal: Five Questions You Should Answer to Give Every Kid Hope (Orange Books, May 15, 2019) co-authored with Orange founder and CEO Reggie Joiner and Rev. Dr. Virginia Ward. In a world where kids are known by a number on a jersey, digits on a car pool tag, and random usernames, Ivy describes the need for more adults who will stop and take the time to know them personally. It’s Personal revisits the story of Zacchaeus and Jesus’ simple model for how to be personal.It’s Personal centers around the five questions every leader working with kids should be able to answer: Do you know my name? Do you know what matters to me? Do you know where I live? Do you know what I have done? Do you know what I can do? Taking the time to answer these five questions for a kid or teenager could radically change someone’s faith -- maybe even that of the adult leaders themselves.Kristen Ivy is the executive director of messaging a

In this episode Justin sits down with Frank Gil (from 15 Minutes With Frank podcast) and he explains some hacks on how to pull off a successful Youth Group Tonight service. What is that? It’s a great way to switch up your normal programming and making your service like the late night talk shows on TV.Super fun and super creative and Frank has pulled it off well. We hope you enjoy!Frank’s Youth Group Tonight Resourcehttps://www.downloadyouthministry.com/youth-group-tonightExtreme Bingo Boxes of Doomhttps://www.downloadyouthministry.com/extreme-bingo-gameBingo Numbers on The TVhttps://www.downloadyouthministry.com/bingoHow To Play Extreme Bingohttps://blog.downloadyouthministry.com/play-extreme-bingo-dym-boxes/Sponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

Matthew is back! And Justin is here too I guess. Lot’s of ministries have to share their space and that makes it difficult to feel like you “own” it. Justin and Matthew know all about this as they have been doing it for years. In this episode they chat through practical hacks on how to make a shared space feel like it’s all yours. Justin’s Pre/Post Service Playlisthttps://open.spotify.com/playlist/2OTbbNAhl2WXsyZ1n6BP4VSponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2

In this episode, Justin sits down with Derry Prenkert (from the My Third Decade Podcast on the DYM Podcast Network) to talk through hacks on how to create better alignment between the children’s ministry and student ministry so you can work better together and have an aligned vision from birth to high school. Morning After Ministry ShowAndy Stanley VideoDerry on InstagramSponsors:Give Centralhttps://www.givecentral.org/Download Youth Ministry Universityhttps://www.dymuniversity.com/a/10517/QbmGUcX2Emory University – Candler School of TheologyCandler.emory.edu/youthministryhacks