Youth Ministry Booster

Send us Fan Mail You can be really good at ministry and accidentally become pretty mediocre at marriage. Ouch. But if you've ever found yourself giving your best energy to students, volunteers, church events, and last-minute emergencies, only to come home with nothing left in the tank, you know the tension. This week on Youth Ministry Booster, Zac sits down with two of our favorite people, Grant and Corinne Allen, to talk about the beautiful, exhausting, and occasionally ridiculous reality of...

Send us Fan Mail Middle school ministry isn't something to survive. It's something to steward. Middle schoolers are curious, chaotic, hilarious, and learning how to become independent people for the very first time. So why do we sometimes treat them like a problem to manage instead of disciples to develop? Zac Workun sits down with Keiron Miles, a veteran middle school ministry leader, to talk about what it really takes to connect with, teach, and disciple sixth, seventh, and eighth graders. ...

Send us Fan Mail Your students already have a worldview. But is it being shaped by Scripture or by the scroll? Every teenager is building a foundation for how they understand the world. The question is whether that foundation is being formed by God's Word or by algorithms, friendships, feelings, and whatever shows up next in their feed. Zac Workun sits down with Daniel Kinkade from Lifeway Students to explore what it actually takes to build a biblical worldview in teenagers. They tackle the g...

Send us Fan Mail A broke church van is funny until you realize it might be the perfect picture of youth ministry: underfunded, wildly creative, occasionally held together with duct tape, and somehow still getting students where they need to go. Live from Nashville, Zac sits down with Blake and Rico from the Broke Church Van Podcast to talk about the stuff only youth pastors understand, and the surprisingly serious ministry lessons underneath it. Why does fun matter so much in youth ministry? ...

Send us Fan Mail Youth ministry can feel like a holy adrenaline rush. Packed rooms. Camp. Baptisms. Students responding to the gospel. The next Wednesday night is always coming. But what happens when you start needing the ministry as much as the ministry needs you? Dane Leake joins Zac for an unusually honest conversation about burnout, mental health, identity, and the hidden cost of chasing the next ministry high. Dane shares the story of his 2023 collapse, years of overwork, lack of sleep, ...