Youth Ministry Interviews: Mentor Me

In this episode Matt McGill, co-founder of Download Youth Ministry, talks with Josh Griffin about life, ministry, and leadership. They talk about what it looks like to have a youth ministry that is aligned with and supporting the church as a whole and the tensions that arise in attempts to do that well. Matt McGill is at his BEST in this entertaining, encouraging and very informative audio mentoring resource.

In this episode Josh gets to sit down with small groups pastor Steve Gladen of Saddleback Church to pick his brain on all things small groups. Steve has been doing leader training for years and has some valuable and transferable training tips for your ministry leaders, whether they lead junior high or high schoolers in any capacity. If you want your leadership IQ to go up a few points, tune in to this one!

Doug Fields and John cover a few issues in this intimate “backstage chat” – Work/life pace, fighting to surround yourself with people can speak the truth in love to you, focusing on your family in the midst of ministry pressures, and how to be great at the job you do. Acuff recently came out with a new book called Do Over and about intentionally building a career.

Allyson Evans is Pastor and Group Leader for Kids and Student Ministries at LifeChurch.tv, a multi-site church based in Edmond, Oklahoma, where she has worked for thirteen years. In this role, Allyson is responsible for providing the vision and direction for the NextGen ministry. Her team partners with Campus Pastors and other teams to staff NextGen, provide development and training for staff and volunteers, and create curriculum and programming for birth to 12th graders.

Jeff Wallace is a speaker, author, strategist, mentor, and life coach. He is nationally known as an Urban Ministry innovator and leader. After 18 years as the Youth Pastor, Jeff recently became Executive Pastor at Peace Baptist Church in Decatur, Georgia. He has produced several resources designed to empower and equip youth leaders, parents, and students in urban environments. Jeff enjoys coaching Jr. High football, watching hours of Sports Center, and doing life with his wife Quovadis and three boys.

Josh Griffin sits down with the best-selling Christian author since CS Lewis – Lee Strobel. Yes. THE Lee Strobel. Author of the “Case for Christ” and countless other books that help investigate the claims of Christianity. Josh and Lee have a rich conversation surrounding leadership, apologetics and ministry.

In this episode of Mentor Me, Josh Griffin sits with marriage and family expert, Ted Cunningham, and talks about setting students up for healthy marriages.

In this episode, Josh talks about youth culture with author, speaker, and veteran youth worker Jonathan McKee. Jonathan shares the importance of staying in touch with culture and a few small steps we can take move from reacting to it to interacting with it. This is a great Mentor Me for any of us who have ever overheard a conversation between two students and thought to ourselves, “What in the world are they talking about?!”Jonathan also mentions ‘Sex Matters’ a message just released in the DYM Store! http://www.downloadyouthministry.com/shop/sex-matters

In this Mentor Me, Doug and Cathy Fields talk about marriage and ministry. Cathy is a veteran youth worker of 30 years, mother of 3, married to a youth pastor, and the real brains behind all Doug's projects. Doug and Cathy give us a sneak peak into their marriage and life as they answer questions for DYM members and discuss shared roles in ministry, ministering to your own children, growing spiritually (together and apart) in your marriage... and MUCH more!

In Find Your Voice, Sam Collier speaks directly and simply to students and young adults about influence and leadership, in terms of how they lead and how they are influenced, and how to be purposeful about both. Talking through his own experience, he encourages young people to learn to discover their voice and then raise it well so the world hears the story they have to tell.http://orangebooks.com/tribe-students/find-your-voice/

Junior High Students are my favorite humans on the planet! I’ve been doing Jr. High Ministry at Saddleback for 21 years and I am convinced it is the most important ministry in the church.

Alan Fadling (M.Div., Fuller Theological Seminary) is executive director of The Leadership Institute in Orange, California, training Christian leaders to integrate spiritual formation and leadership development. A certified spiritual director, Fadling has also taught courses on spiritual formation at Hope International University. He is currently part of a planting team for a new church called The Following in Orange County, California. He lives in Mission Viejo, California, with his wife, Gem, and their three sons.

Doug Fields interviews author, speaker and author of Life Hurts, God Heals: Megan Hutchinson.

Dr. Marv Penner directs All About Youth and the National Center for Excellence in Youth Ministry. In addition to his teaching, speaking and writing, Marv specializes in parent/adolescent conflict resolution, sexual abuse recovery, eating disorders and marriage and family issues. He is the author of several books including Help! My Kids Are Hurting and Hope and Healing for Kids Who Cut.

Doug Franklin is the president of LeaderTreks, an innovative leadership development organization focusing on students and youth workers. Doug and his wife, Angie, live in West Chicago, Illinois. They don’t have any kids, but they have 2 dogs that think they are children.

Neely McQueen is the Lead Student Ministries Pastor at Overlake Church in the Seattle area.

Greg Stier is the CEO and Founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries. His life goal is to be mobilizing teenagers across America to share their faith. Dare 2 Share

Reggie Joiner is the founder and CEO of the reThink Group, a nonprofit organization providing resources and training to help churches maximize their influence on the spiritual growth of the next generation. The reThink Group (www.reThinkGroup.org) provides innovative curriculum resources and training for leaders who work with preschoolers, children, families, and students. They have partners throughout the United States and eight other countries. The reThink Group is also the architect and primary sponsor of the Orange Conference (www.TheOrangeConference.com) and the Orange Tour (www.OrangeTour.org) which provide national training opportunities for senior pastors, church leaders, and ministry volunteers.

In this interview, Josh Griffin has a conversation with Kara Powell, author of Sticky Faith.

Doug Fields interviews his longtime friends Eddie and Tommy - the Skit Guys.

This month we interviewed youth ministry veteran Duffy Robbins.

Every leader needs mentors - here's a clear mentoring voice pouring into your life with some targeted wisdom for youth workers. Doug Fields interviewed his mentor and youth ministry legend Jim Burns.