After 104 episodes, it's time for the Youth Ministry Podcast to release its Greatest Hits album. Today, Jake and Erik discuss their favorite episodes from the past two years and say "farewell" (for now) to this podcasting endeavor.

Youth Ministry Podcast

Episode 105: Greatest Hits

They say hindsight is 20/20. Today Jake and Erik look through the lens of their combined 30 years experience and ruminate on what they would've told their younger selves when they were starting out in youth ministry. Also, Jake asks listeners for some help.

Episode 104: If Only I'd Known

You have a lot to think about as a youth minister, and most of it is related to what's in front of your face every day: registration forms, staff meetings, lesson planning, receipts, and the clogged sink in the youth room. Who has time to consider things like user experience and graphic design? YOU, that's who! Today Jake and Erik offer some suggestions for how to step away from the daily grind and design meaningful ministry moments at your church.

Episode 103: Design in Ministry

Departing from a congregation is almost never easy, and yet most ministry professionals will say “goodbye” to several churches during their career. In this episode, Jake and Erik discuss ways to leave a church with grace for yourself and grace for your congregation.

Episode 102: Leaving Gracefully

Teens spend an average of nine hours online each day. Social media is ubiquitous. Young people and figuring out their online and in-person identities on the fly every day. How can the church support young people and their parents as they encounter the complicated and wonderful world of social media? In this episode Jake and Erik talk about their recent interactions with parents and teens on the topic of social media and offer suggestions for how to facilitate these conversations at your church.

Episode 101: Digital Catechism

Live, from Sparkhouse Headquarters in Minneapolis, MN – it’s the 100th episode of the Youth Ministry Podcast! In this very special episode, Erik and Jake are joined by members of the Sparkhouse team to give you a look behind the scenes of the ministry of publishing. Plus they’ll give you a recap of all the shenanigans that took place during their outrageous lock-in.

Episode 100: 100th Episode Lock-In Spectacular!

Youth ministry isn’t something you do alone. Not only do you have leaders in your congregation to support you, but you can partner with other church youth groups for all kinds of activities. Jake and Erik discuss their experiences with shared ministry events and offer suggestions for things to consider when planning these outings, retreats, and trips.

Episode 99: Shared Ministry

If you’re around young people, you’ve probably heard of TikTok. In a little more than a year since it was launched, TikTok has become one of the fastest growing and most popular apps in the world. Today Jake and Erik discuss the ways youth are interacting with this video app. Then they bring on their resident expert, Erik’s teenage daughter Anna, to answer their questions and to set her father straight on a few things.

Episode 98: Talkin' TikTok

Jake and Erik took a road trip to Sparkhouse HQ to prepare for the 100th Episode Spectacular. In today’s episode they rehash what they discussed in the car, including; establishing healthy boundaries with youth, what to do when holidays conflict with church programming, and when to perform background checks for mentors.

Episode 97: Road Trip

Youth Ministry is an ever-changing vocation. It’s important for adults to learn new ways of teaching, relating, and leading young people. There are countless ways to develop new skills for ministry—events, conferences, conventions, books, coaching, consultants, and cohorts—but which ones are right for you? In this episode Jake and Erik discuss the anatomy of a great professional development experience and offer some questions to ask before attending your next continuing education event.

Episode 96: Education, Continued

Youth ministers like to think of ourselves as a lot of things—mentors, spiritual leaders, teachers, event planners, etc. It can be tough to consider that we need to be disciplinarians at times. Jake and Erik discuss the topic of classroom management and offer some tips for how to effectively (and graciously) curtail unhelpful student behavior.

Episode 95: Classroom Management

It’s time, once again, for Jake and Erik to open up the ministry mailbag and discuss the topics you’ve suggested. Today they chat about social anxiety, parent motivation, and how to relate to the tough, perhaps bothersome kid who always shows up at youth group.

Episode 94: Ministry Mailbag

The more Bible study changes, the more it stays the same. Or does it? For a few thousand years faithful people have been studying Scripture. There are many different ways to approach this important task, but often times youth ministers feel ill-equipped to lead these conversations. Jake and Erik offer their thoughts on ways to do Bible study, but only after Jake recommends a video and Erik dives into some listener feedback.

Episode 93: Bible Study

Youth Ministry often occurs in the everyday tasks of studying, teaching, leading, and relating. Every once in a while it’s good to step away from reality and imagine a different way of doing ministry. In this episode Jake and Erik ask each other some hypothetical questions about programming, facilities, and money—and one of them considers joining a monastery.

Episode 92: Hypothetically Speaking

Parents and children are getting ready to head back to school. The church program year is also starting to ramp up, which means sending out schedules, training volunteers, while preparing all the great lesson and activities. Jake and Erik check in regarding their thoughts around the back-to-school season and discuss an important article about 21st century parenting.

Episode 91: Back to School

Veteran youth workers Erik Ullestad and Jake Bouma have close to 30 years of youth ministry experience. They also work as product developers for Sparkhouse, giving them a unique perspective on youth ministry topics.

hubhopper

Youth Ministry Podcast

hubhopper