What do you do when you notice your attendance dropping or not rising? Panic? Plan an outreach event? Re-strategize? Curl up into a ball and cry? The podcast crew talks through the internal and external pressures of keeping numbers up and creative ways to healthily navigate the numbers game.

Today's conversation is a good one! No matter how "put together" a student appears on the outside, every student will face hurts and challenges at some point in their teenage journey. How should we, as their youth pastors, respond? We jump right in and discuss what we have learned and put into practice as we've cared for students through the years.

We're still basking in the excitement of Doug Fields being a youth pastor at Mariner's Church, and talking about many of the ins and outs of our experience being on a church staff. Great discussion you won't want to miss if you're on a church or ministry staff or will be in the future!

Strong leaders recognize that they are lifelong learners, so how does that learning take place? The podcast crew shares what learning looks like for them (podcasts, conferences, conversations) and how to get the most out of these learning opportunities!

Such a fun and eye opening conversation with Doug, Josh, Katie & Jessica. How can you develop and bring the best out in your students? Is student leadership the only way to grow leaders in your ministry? How can we invite students into ministry no matter where they are on their faith journey? This is a great one!

The greatest news to hit the youth ministry world is announced in this episode. Listen now!

The podcast crew is back together and tackle the topic of sermon series planning. Why plan a series vs. doing 1-offs? How exactly do you plan a sermon series? What are some of the teaching topics we should cover over the course of the school year? We answer those questions and a ton more! Plus, you'll find out who DYM's IT Director is ... spoiler alert: it's sure not Doug!

Josh Griffin, Doug Fields & Jessica Sanchez talk about conflict in ministry. They share how they personally deal with conflict, what they've learned about themselves and others in conflict, best practices in tense moments, and the "other side" of conflict in the church (reconciliation).

Josh Griffin, Doug Fields, Katie Edwards & Jessica Sanchez pull from their collective 100+ years (crazy, right?!) of youth ministry experience to talk about longevity in ministry. They talk about what has helped them make it for the long haul: building a strong team, self care, margin, and developing trustworthy friendships are just a few of the nuggets of wisdom they share.

Josh Griffin, Doug Fields, and Jessica Sanchez talk about the weirdest prize ever given out at youth group and so much more. Questions are answered about keeping your senior pastor informed about the amazing things happening in your ministry, getting students excited, and message prep.Send in your questions to podcast@downloadyouthministry.comQuestions:7:12 What's the weirdest prize you've ever given away?10:51 How do I get my senior pastor to hear the amazing things our ministry is doing when people only tell him negative things?15:02 How do I get students excited about small group?21:18 What's your weekly message prep routine?