We've Got Your Back Youth Workers | UMC YoungPeople
Connecting young people and their adult leaders to God, the church, and the world
6
September 2017

We've Got Your Back Youth Workers

By Jeremy Steele

You know what? You don’t have to do it alone. You don’t have to sit on your couch or at your favorite coffee shop and figure out what in the world you are going to do this week or how you are going to help your kids discuss the latest crazy thing that has happened in their world. And, to be honest, you really shouldn’t.

Youth ministry is only hazardous to your health if you do it alone (or play chubby bunny but that’s another discussion altogether). Doing youth ministry alone it simply not an option. It will burn you out, make you not like the church, and give you way more stress than anyone should have on their plate.

Not only that, if you think you have to come up with every lesson yourself AND go to all the games and recitals AND know what to say when a teen tells you about the intense bullying they are dealing with at their school, you will probably fail. Like, fail big. You’ll teach something way out of left field, tell a student something really unhealthy about bullying or totally bail on every important event in your student’s lives.

That is why we are here. We’ve been there. We’ve burned out a time or two and we want to help be your coaches and lesson writers and first level processing of major events. That is why we are putting all of this content together for free. We can’t replace a real, flesh-and-blood mentor, but we want you to not have to sweat all the games and lessons and coaching so that you can spend time doing ministry with youth.

And here’s the best part. This is all stuff that worked in our own groups.! That’s right. Actual teenagers and youth volunteers responded to this. It’s our best stuff, and we think that rather than trying to make a buck or two selling it to you, we want to leverage these resources for the Kingdom work you are doing.

So, that’s it. We want to be the first place you turn for games, ideas, lessons, and coaching. We can’t wait to hear how you’re using all of this!

When he's not playing with his four children with his wonderful wife, Jeremy is the associate pastor at Los Altos UMC in Los Altos, CA. Jeremy has spent over twenty years working in youth and children's ministry and continues to train children and youth workers as well as writing and speaking extensively in that field. His most recent book is the "All the Best Questions." You can find a list of all his books, articles, and resources for churches at JeremyWords.com.