youth ministry resources

Freebie Friday: 2014/2015 Planning Calendar

Our Youth Ministry Planning Calendar is back!

You asked for it and we have updated the Planning calendar for the 2014/2015 youth ministry calendar.

Here are a few things we love about this youth ministry planning calendar.

1. Planning at a glance. I love being able to plan things over the whole year. With this calendar you are able to plan monthly, or look over the whole year.

2. Make a to-do. I love being able to check things off. There is something about checking or crossing something off your list that is just refreshing. I love this calendar because you can make a list for the month and check it off.

3. Monthly calendars are coming next week! All of our monthly calendars that we plan are coming next week. We are also working on a preaching series template that will go live soon. So, keep checking back for more freebies.

Fall 2014 Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Fall 2014 Planning Calendar.

Spring 2015 Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Spring 2015 Planning Calendar.

Spring/Summer 2015 Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Spring/Summer 2015 Planning Calendar.

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The Printable Youth Pastor 2014/2015

The Printable Youth Pastor Series is back!

We want great resources for you to use. Last year while planning out the fall, I created a template that we use for fall planning and idea was born to created a series of printable things to help you in youth ministry. I am quite particular when it comes to planning out the calendar. I like having the whole year calendar in front of me, and I have a neu year calendar on the wall. They make the best looking year calendars.

The resources in this series will be:

Fall Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Fall 2014 Planning Calendar.

Winter/Spring Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Spring 2015 Planning Calendar.

Spring/Summer Planning Calendar

Click HERE to download the Spring/Summer 2015 Planning Calendar.

A five days a week print off (Click here to download)

Preaching Series Template: Download Here

Preaching Series Template Weekly: Here

Sermon Series Outline Template

Also, if you want the editable files they will be available after everything is on this page.

Is there anything else we should add to the printable youth pastor series that you would use? What about a social media plan template?

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Freebie Friday: Youth Alpha Film Series

Are you looking for a video resource for reaching unchurched students? If you are, then you need to check out alpha’s youth film series(you can find them on facebook here). A few youth pastors in Vancouver, British Columbia decided to make videos that would engage students into conversations about Jesus. These videos are amazing, and they shot it all over the world. Take a look and see if the students in your youth ministry could use this?

What is it?

It’s like Nooma meets Departures. The video series as described on their website states, “Alpha’s Youth Film Series is twelve episodes designed to engage high school students in some of life’s biggest questions. It was filmed all over the world in cities like London, New York, Vancouver, and Jerusalem. It’s Alpha for a new generation.”

Who is it for?

It’s designed for students in your community who don’t go to your church, or youth ministry.

How could you use it?

You could run a youth alpha group in your church, home, or in your local school.

We are going to run a group in January in the local high school. Our hope for this series is to get the students in my youth ministry thinking about where their friends are at spiritually. We are praying and hoping that students from the local high school come to know Christ, and end up in a church being discipled.

Check out the first episode!

So, is this something you could use?

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Freebie Friday: 4 great websites for free vectors

I am always on the lookout for new graphics for this website, and for my youth ministry to go with different series. I keep going back to 4 websites for vector images.

You might be asking what is a vector image? Here is some more info from wikipedia. To be able to use a vector file from one of these sites you will need to use adobe illustrator. If you don’t have this program, start saving your pennies. This is one program that is so worth it! I design posters, banners, and logos that can go on a poster 11×17 to a banner that is 4ft by 11ft. The great thing about a vector is that the image stays crisp whatever the size.

Here are 4 amazing websites:

for designer (fordesigner.com)

This is my favorite website for vector images. The only program with this website is that there is so much content, you will have to dig a lot to find the images you are looking for.

Vecteezy (http://www.vecteezy.com/)

This vector website has great quality vectors, but it also has tons of crappy ads everywhere. This was the first vector website I stumbled upon 5+ years ago. You might see some of my images I have used from this website on here.

Design Kindle (http://www.designkindle.com/)

This is one of my newest website finds. I love this website. It has awesome icons, and other vectors for your website, or youth ministry. This is one great website!

pixel pixel pixel! (http://www.pixelpixelpixel.com/)

Pixel is a great website for vectors, fonts, and icons. This is where I look for high end fonts and vectors. They don’t have a ton of resources on the site, probably because they are high end.

Where do you get your resources for designing your youth ministry stuff?

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Freebie Friday: 3 Thanksgiving 2012 Lessons

The folks at youthministry360 have developed some really solid Thanksgiving resources. They’ve launched a Thanksgiving page that features three Thanksgiving lessons and a handful of Thanksgiving games. The best part? It’s all FREE!

Here is what you will get:

3 awesome thanksgiving lessons

1. Changing Thankfulness

Lesson Objective: To help students understand how offering thanks to God expanded throughout the Bible, and what that means as they look for ways to offer their own thanks to God.

Lesson Includes: Teaching Plan, PowerPoint

2. Thankful In All Things

Lesson Objective: To help students understand that a thankful heart involves more than just words and thoughts; it’s a spiritual attitude that develops when we give God thanks for all things.

Lesson Includes: Teaching Plan, PowerPoint, Student Handout

3. Thankful In Praise

Lesson Objective: At a time when we are mindful of all we have, the proper response to God’s blessings is to praise Him for the favor He has showed us, and the great things He has done in our lives.

Lesson Includes: Teaching Plan, PowerPoint

And one thanksgiving game!

If you want to go download one or all of the Thanksgiving resources from ym360, simply go to https://youthministry360.com/blog/free-thanksgiving-lessons-and-games.

(And if you have any questions or problems with the download, the ym360 team is standing by to help out!)

Have an awesome thanksgiving!

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Book Review: Zag

zag book review

Zag: The Number One Strategy of High-Performance Brands by Marty Neumeier

In an age of me-too products and instant communications, keeping up with the competition is no longer a winning strategy. Today you have to out-position, out-maneuver, and out-design the competition. The new rule? When everybody zigs, zag. In his first book, THE BRAND GAP, Neumeier showed companies how to bridge the distance between business strategy and design. In ZAG, he illustrates the number-one strategy of high-performance brands—radical differentiation.

This is the best book on marketing in the business. I love this book and it is easy to read. It’s so easy to read that you could finish it off in a few hours. When people ask about design and communicating a message, I refer them to Zag. See the image below to see how the book is laid out.

Now, you are probably what does a book on branding have to do with youth ministry? That is a great question. I personally think that branding has a lot to do with youth ministry. We are constantly communicating to teenagers. Teenagers live in a world where they are bombarded by information. Marty Neumeier states how this information is making people/teens block out all information, he observes that the human mind deals with clutter the best way it can: by blocking it out. As a result, “the newest barriers to competition are the mental walls that customers erect to keep out clutter. For the first time in history, the most powerful barriers to competition are not controlled by companies, but by customers.” We are trying in the midst of all that information to communicate God’s truth to them. We want teenagers to be moved by God, accept him into their lives and become apart of our crazy community called the church. Any time you communicate a message it is apart of a brand. Your church right now is a brand whether you like that or not. Zag will give you some simple tools to communicate clearly.

This was one of my favourite books last year. I hope you pick it up. I loved how this book is about branding, and it is actually branded well.

Make sure to check out Zag on Amazon HERE!

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Free Valentines Lesson for Youth Ministry

Free Valentines Lesson from YM 360

Youth ministry 36o is one of my favourite sites out there. Make sure to check out their free lesson on valentines day. Here is some more info on the lesson:

Lesson Title>>> AMAZING LOVE: Finding And Living Real Love

Lesson Objective>>> To help students contrast the world’s idea of love with the real examples of love found in the Bible.

Scripture Focus>>> Ruth 1:16-18; 2:8-12; 4:9-15

Sounds good right? Go to the site to get the lesson. You can download it here.

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Why I ditched my Moleskine!

Do you own a moleskine?

Every hipster pastor and their dog has a moleskine. It has in recent years become the standard of cool (whatever that means!). I have been using one for years. I first picked it up when I entered seminary 6 years ago. It was a great way to take notes.

There are a few features that I would love for moleskines to have.

1. Pages that you could tear off.

2. Cheaper price.

3. Customizable

With those options floating around, I found a great new notebook called Ecosystem.

Check it out below!

the ecosystem life

An ecosystem journal, planner or notebook has a unique past, present and future: The book’s past is the various parts made of 100% post-consumer recycled paper, its present is your thoughts and ideas recorded on the pages, and the future is your next step: save the book, or recycle it.

What kind of notebook do you use?

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