Middle School Ministry Podcast

Parents are freaking out. Whether it’s because we’re asking their students to wear masks or because we aren’t social distancing enough, everyone seems to be on edge.It doesn’t matter where you fall on the spectrum of “Open up now!” or “Wait until Christmas!” we still have to deal with parents and their students and do our best to gain their trust in this crazy season.Things we talk about this episode:•How can you gain the trust of parents with planning?•Who needs to know your plan?•Why is it important to over communicate what you plan to do?

Bread Head Part 2This was a quick game I cooked up after last week. It’s in the resource folder!Dad JokesAsk students to record their dads telling jokes. You’ll groan AND laugh! A quick bumper is in the resource folder. QaurantmemesImages to make your quarantine a little better. TrialsOur campus student pastor gave the lesson. Our leaders got the question sheet in the resource folder!Show and TellThis great DYM sidekick game was a hit in our group!https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/show-and-tell-online-gameQuiet Time Part 2This week we talked about HOW to have a quiet time. We also sent out the quiet time guide included below. https://www.dropbox.com/sh/lhbaiqrk5q2ov85/AACR5AaqwnuoCVliJ-SAMj3Ga?dl=0

In this week’s episode Michele and Ronald brainstorm a little bit about what the first phase of bringing back student ministry will look like in their churches.No matter what stage of re-opening or quarantining your area is in, having a plan is a great first step to meeting in person again!Things we talk about this episode:•Getting creative with a plan•Holding onto that plan loosely•Being ready to keep doing what you’re doing•How not to stress out your senior leadership

It’s everything we did this week to interact with Middle School students online!Wednesday Online Youth Group:Bread HeadLast week we made a joke about having bread in the shape of our heads. Then we made it into a challenge! Boy did our students deliver! It was awesome! And really funny too! Maybe ask your students to bake likenesses of your pastors this week!Who’s That Leader?We played this game but with a twist! We shot silly string at one of the three of the pastors on camera who we all thought was the leader the screen mentioned. Funny and messy!https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/whos-that-leaderQuarantmemes Quick images. Use them in your social or on your livestream. Make it happen! They’re in the folder below!IntegrityThis week our high school pastor encouraged us to live a life of integrity like Daniel! It was a great talk for us and our students! You can find the leader sheet we gave our small group leaders in the folder below.Friday Zoom Lunch:What’s Behind The Mask?A great game from Derry Prenkert! My students had a blast with this one! You should definitely give it a shot, whether on zoom or somewhere else! Great idea!https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/what-is-behind-the-mask-gameSunday Lesson:This was the third week of Scott Huff’s “Unplugged” series. I’m taking each week he planned and making it into two. The thought of putting out a 20 minute YouTube lesson gives me the twitches. We started the “Why Have a Quiet Time” lesson and I included some quiet time guides in the resource below!Unplugged series:https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/unplugged-teaching-seriesAll the Free Resources:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/7nje3ohbu733ziz/AACLkstckCwndsLe_fuv6QGta?dl=0

From bacon to Kahoot, things cost money! In this crazy Covid-19 season, is your church on a spending freeze, being really cautious about funds, or letting all things go on like normal?This week, Michelle and Ronald talk budget. There’s a lot of ministry that can happen for almost zero dollars! And middle school students tend not to care if you’re spending a ton of money or very little. Here’s some things we talked about:•The cost of bacon for the average household.•What we spend our money on right now•How the DYM Gold Membership is the BEST deal in Youth Ministry•And how to write a letter.

It’s everything we did this week to interact with Middle School students online!Wednesday Online Youth Group:Star Wars EnactmentWe asked students to retreat their favorite scene from any of the 9 Star Wars movies! It went pretty well! This time we learned our lesson though and DIDN’T use copyrighted music of any kind.Quick on the DrawEasy game from DYM! We actually had students submit ideas to us and we put those into Pick Me. You should pick up this game for your next Zoom!https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/quick-on-the-drawQuarantmemes Funny images for a crazy time. There are some in the resources folder below!Signs and WarningsWe talked about the temptations that come our way and how God has given us a way to escape! God is with us when we go through hard times and that should be an encouragement to us! The leader questions we used are in the resource folder!Friday Zoom Lunch:Star Wars for DaysThis week’s Zoom lunch was super chill. I asked who had watched any Star Wars movie this week and what everyone’s weekend plans for Mother’s Day were. Simple and easy and a great way to spend time with students!Sunday Lesson:This was the second week of Scott Huff’s “Unplugged” series. This week we talked about HOW we pray and it was a great lesson. I included a week long prayer guide in the resource folder for you!Unplugged series:https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/unplugged-teaching-seriesAll the Free Resources:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9rya0dio4zguyjy/AABBAVrVbC1Hhh13hq1KO3nHa?dl=0

How do you plan for things that may or may not be happening? Have you decided to cancel everything for the summer or are you holding out hope that things will be good enough to happen again sometime this summer?With sign-ups stopped or at least at an all time low, what are your summer plans? Are you going digital? Are you going to try to make SOMETHING happen even if it’s social distancing cook outs?Let us know!Some things we talk about:•Plans while COVID is still happening•How long do you wait until you pull the plug?•What does VBS look like with this going on?•Are you students on a Pass/Fail basis?

Ms online 05.03.20It’s everything we did this week to interact with Middle School students online!Wednesday Online Youth Group:Dance CompetitionSo last week we let the Freshman dictate the challenge to the student ministry. They said we should have a dance competition. It was a hit and lots of small groups completed virtually! I Love My PhoneWe stole this from Derry Prenkert and his church’s student ministry. It was a total blast and the students really loved interacting with it over the YouTube comments. Also, we cheated. Every time.A graphic for you to use is in the resource folder link below.Quarantmemes I’m still not tired of these. I may never be tired of memes. Grab some of the ones we used in the resources download below.Keep GoingPersevere! In a time where it feels like we’re seeing trial after trial, it’s important to remember the words of James and keep going! The resources folder has the follow up questions we used to drive this home with students.Friday Zoom Lunch:Ice Break QuestionsMy Zoom meetings will definitely need a little something to get them started. These questions were AWESOME. Just having some things ready to go made everyone logging in way less awkward.https://youthgroup.downloadyouthministry.com/small-group-ice-breaker-questions/Possibilites 2We played this game over Zoom lunch. It’s available to Gold Members as a part of this month’s Member Perks. But you can still grab the first one! It made for a good Zoom call letting one student choose and answer and the rest of us try to guess what they chose.https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/game-of-possibilitieshttps://dymmembership.com/Sunday Lesson:We started Scott Huff’s “Unplugged” series this week and I love it! Spiritual disciplines is something we really try to instill with our students. I also made a quick sheet of paper students can print off to use in helping them practice praying this week. Grab it in the folder!Unplugged series:https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/unplugged-teaching-seriesAll the Free Resources:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/bp9zroe15axvynv/AADuQ_pepe9-tyDuF2PI6imOa?dl=0

We all can’t wait for things to go back to normal! But what is normal? And will it be something we even get back to eventually?This week Michelle and Ronald talk about getting back, being a little beat up, and what things may or may not look like in middle school ministry once we’re allowed to hang out in person again.Some things we talk about:•Are you going to keep doing online shows?•Is this like 9/11 in that some things will change and NOT go back?•Games, teaching time, interaction, on stage stuff, what stays what goes and what changedMentioned on the podcast:DYM Communityhttps://www.facebook.com/groups/DYMCommunity/Got a middle school ministry question?https://podcast.downloadyouthministry.com/submit-questions/Do you listen to the Podcast? Consider leaving a review of the podcast!

Masterpiece TheaterA DYM winner! We posted this game to our Insta-story and emailed parents to let them know how to compete and then showed the compiled video with some classical music during our live show. A hit AND for DYM Gold Member’s only!https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/masterpiece-theaterThank You QuarantineWe totally ripped off Justin Knowles who ripped off Jimmy Fallon’s “Thank You Notes” segment and did “Thank You Quarantine” during our show. Here are the ones we used. What about you?Student Issued ChallengeLast week and this week’s challenges went REALLY well and the winner BOTH weeks were the Freshmen. So we let them set the challenge for this next week. Just a neat way to encourage students to be engaged!Quarantmemes A few memes for your pleasure, insta-story, or middle school text thread.FarWe talked this week about how God can feel far away, no matter what’s going on in the rest of the world. We encouraged students to connect to God even when He feels far away!Friday Zoom Lunch:Middle School Zoom lunches have been cool but, awkward. I need a plan for each lunch or things get silent and weird. I thought this was so crazy! So we have an opening question, a game, and a sign off thing to do. This week’s game was The Color of Things on sidekick. Find the link for the game below and Sidekick below!All the Free Resources:https://www.dropbox.com/sh/yix3o4sv18dmk3f/AADsffa5NUIXREmdyFcm1l77a?dl=0