Ministry Coach: Youth Ministry Tips & Resources

Create a Student Leadership Team that Your Youth Group WANTS to be a Part of

• Kristen Lascola • Episode 203

Share episode

Send us a text

What if building an irresistible student leadership team within your youth ministry was simpler than you thought? In this episode, we’re uncovering the secrets to creating a team that students are eager to join. By placing peers in prominent leadership roles, we’ll show you how to inspire others and generate a contagious enthusiasm that spreads throughout your youth group.  Imagine your student leadership team thriving through the perfect blend of spirituality, fun, and learning. Plus, we’ll share effective strategies to present and promote the concept of student leadership, ensuring it resonates and engages more students.

200th Episode Giveaway!!  (Details below!)

Don't miss our exciting giveaway celebrating our 200th episode!  Prizes include: 1 Year Subscription to Youth Ministry University, G Shades Curriculum, Chameleon Colors Colored Powder, Black Light Castle Sports 9 Square Balls and more!

To enter the giveaway, email us at MinistryCoachPodcast@gmail.com and put "FREE200" in the subject line or body of the email.  Also, please include your name, church and location as well.  Full giveaway details, rules and regulations can be found in the description of this episode's YouTube version here: https://youtu.be/Fuf3E16tMnU

***If you are looking to GROW your youth ministry, check out the Youth Ministry Growth Accelerator!

You may also enjoy these episodes:

(#040) How to Start a Student Leadership Team in Youth Ministry

=======

🔄 CONNECT WITH US ON SOCIAL MEDIA 📱:
Ministry Coach Podcast:
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@MinistryCoach/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ministrycoachpodcast/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ministrycoachpodcast
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ministrycoachpodcast

Kristen Lascola:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/klascola/

Jeffrey Lascola:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/grandmasterbengal/

=======

Audio Equipment Used in this Podcast:

Microphones
https://amzn.to/3V9GrrT

Microphone Preamp
https://amzn.to/3QVB3WQ

Digital Recorder
https://amzn.to/3eXmvkj

*This episode is not sponsored. Some of the links are affiliate links which simply means, if you buy something, we will receive a small commission (at no additional cost to you) Thank you!

Support the show

Speaker 1:

They're working in the snack shack, they're doing worship, hand motions, they're giving announcements, they're setting up different things. Like that you want to make it exciting, to be a part, like, wow, I want to be one of those kids. I think a lot of times people look at someone in leadership and they're like could I ever do that? And if you saw someone your own age, you'd be like well, if they can do it, can I do it? And then I think it's contagious of like I want to be part of that.

Speaker 1:

I want to be part of something else. I want to be at the core of something. How can you create a student leadership team that your students actually want to be a part of? That's what we're talking about today on the Ministry Coach Podcast.

Speaker 2:

Welcome to the Ministry Coach Podcast where every week we bring you actionable and practical tips to help you grow the size and health of your youth ministry.

Speaker 1:

My name is Jeff Laskola and this is Kristen Laskola, and today we're going to talk all about how to create a student leadership team that your students actually want to be a part of. And if you've been listening to this podcast for any length of time, you know how strongly we feel about student leadership teams, student discipleship teams, whatever you want to call them, but creating a core of students. And we can link those episodes below.

Speaker 2:

Sure. Thanks, jeff, we didn't even plan that, oh my gosh, that was perfect.

Speaker 1:

And you know, at the time of recording it is beginning of July.

Speaker 2:

Late at night.

Speaker 1:

Late at night, but beginning of July, and we and my youth ministry, we're going to launch our student leadership team in August. At the beginning of August we're going to announce it and then September will be our first meeting. So July is the perfect time to be thinking about this. So if you haven't yet got your ducks in a row and you're still kind of like on the fence, like do I need a student leadership team or not, or maybe you're like, yes, this is the year we're launching ours, then here's some tips to start to create that buzz around it so that students will actually want to join that when, after you give that announcement and have your applications out and everything that you'll actually have students sign up and it will be very encouraging.

Speaker 1:

So number one brand it, meaning don't just say, hey, guys, we're going to have like a student meeting. If you want to be in our leadership team, you can come. Like it needs a name, it needs a logo, it needs an identity all on its own, separate than your youth ministry. This thing needs to exist within your youth ministry. I often say that our student leadership team to me feels like a youth ministry within a youth ministry. So it's its own thing we call ours. Sos stands for students of service. Come up with something better, please, or you know that's pretty good.

Speaker 2:

I think you're just so used to it.

Speaker 1:

Okay, I didn't even think of it. Uh, someone named Julie did. Way to go, julie.

Speaker 2:

Thanks, Julie.

Speaker 1:

But you know what? A lot of our listeners use that name. They say we're launching our SOS team. I'm like well, maybe they do like it then, so feel free to use that If you're just like. I don't know, I'm not feeling creative. My brain is fried from summer is fried from summer.

Speaker 2:

Just call it sos. We probably live states apart.

Speaker 1:

You can have it, I don't know what sos actually stands for save our souls, is it? That's what I heard. It's like when you're in distress, but I don't know, could be wrong okay, there's students of service.

Speaker 2:

That makes sense. Save our souls, that makes sense. Sos as in help yeah you're helping. You know the community. True, it's all. I feel like it's a great. Maybe it's just become you're so used to it.

Speaker 1:

To me, because, I've been using sos for 20 years. But, yeah, use it. We've had. We have other teams at our church called salt and light and other ones I can't remember, but there are some more, so you can use any of them. I give you permission, use them all so we you can make a logo to go with it, which we have. We make team shirts. So the first night of our meeting everyone gets their team shirt and it's kind of like their team uniform and they wear it and it's kind of that like um, what do you call it?

Speaker 2:

members only members only kind of jacket uh charades, look like a backpack? I don't know this is so different, so different no, it's give me an example of putting a backpack on. Oh right, that's also break dancing potato, potato.

Speaker 1:

Um, so that's your first step. If it, if it's something that students want to join, it's got to look good. It's got to look exciting. It's got to look good. It's got to look exciting. It's got to look like it's a thing not just like, hey, you want to come here Friday night at six, for a thing like make it have its own identity, right, and of course you know I'm going to go here next to make it fun. Students don't want to be a part of anything boring. Ok, I saw this guy in TikTok the other day and I totally agreed with him and he was saying that God, like when you look at the things God has made for us to enjoy you can see how fun is a priority to him.

Speaker 1:

Like, when you look at the ocean and the rivers and the lakes and the mountains and like he's like it looks like it was created for us to play and to enjoy and to explore. And I'm like I guess I never really thought of that. I always was just struck by, wow, the beauty. But I didn't think of the beauty being like a playground for us, of like get out there and enjoy it, Like get on the water, like go and see, and you know, like we're going rafting this week, you know for our summer camp.

Speaker 1:

And I wonder, when God made lakes and rivers and all this, if he pictured that at one point, like they're going to be riding down these rapids having a good old time and that was part of the purpose of creation for enjoyment, the purpose of creation for enjoyment. So all that to say, like when we are encouraging students to do things for the Lord, there is, there is a real profound, foundational purpose of fun that we have to put in there, because that's how God created the universe. If you want to see it that way, I tend to and I think that meets a real human need and I think spirituality and pleasure and fun are all kind of mixed together and meant to go hand in hand. I don't think it's like oh, you've had your fun, time to be serious, you know, and there is a time to be serious, you know, Ecclesiastes talks about like a time for everything. But I don't think those that fun and learning and purpose have to be exclusive, mutually exclusive or anything like that.

Speaker 1:

So all that to say, make your student leadership team fun. Mine is really fun. We start with a really great meal, we talk, we hang out, there's always music and then we go into a game and I try to make it a special game that I wouldn't maybe necessarily play with my youth group, but it's like just for my leadership kids. Or I let them play more rounds, or I let them experiment with new games and like games. That's like oh man, I can't buy that many supplies for this, like 100 kids to play, but I could buy supplies for 30 kids to play this you know, by the way, I have a super special game for you guys to play you do top secret yeah is this on the air or have we cut?

Speaker 2:

no, this is on the air this is it involves these little baseballs stay tuned.

Speaker 1:

We're all very excited um, so how? Dare you well it better.

Speaker 2:

Be good is all I'm saying. You guys are gonna like it.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, yeah, yeah we like to have pool parties. You know like maybe I can't bring my entire youth group to someone's house for a pool party, but I can bring my student leadership team. So, finding someone with a cool house one of our leaders, he has a water slide and a pickleball court and a great pool and an outdoor projector. It's like the best youth group hosting house ever it is and he'll barbecue for us.

Speaker 1:

It's so much fun. We just do our student leadership thing there. I don't bring the whole youth group. We do retreats and service projects that are super fun. When I say service project I don't mean like hard labor that sucks the life out of you, but something relational that gives you joy and you look forward to and you're changed by. So we want to just make it such a great experience that students get talking about and then it kind of starts to take on a life of its own. So make sure your meetings are fun. I mentioned the games. We always have dessert. We always make sure we add in some like social kind of hanging out time. We're a little more off the cuff there than we are at like youth group, like it's a little more lax because it's a smaller group which is super duper fun. So make sure it's fun.

Speaker 1:

Number three platform these students. I think that is a contagious energy. When the students are visible it's not just like what's an sos team, but that the youth group kids know exactly who is on the SOS team because they are visible. So one way I make them visible is through our SOS like bio boards. So at our first meeting in September, I hand them this board that has a blank space for a picture and then answering a bunch of questions about them, Like what's your name? What's your favorite? What's the one food you can't say no to? What's your favorite app or website? What's your favorite? Your name, what's your favorite? What's the one food you can't say no to? What's your favorite app or website? What's your favorite?

Speaker 2:

video game. What's your?

Speaker 1:

favorite Bible story? What do you want to be when you grow up? What's your favorite movie line? What's your favorite movie Like you can make it super fun. And then they turn those in with a picture and then I post them up on the wall in our youth room. So every time kids come in they're like, whoa, what's this? Who are these kids? And then they're platformed because a lot of them have jobs that are visible. They're working in the snack shack, they're doing worship, hand motions, they're giving announcements, they're setting up different things like that. So you want to make it exciting, to be a part like wow, I want to be one of those kids.

Speaker 2:

Like.

Speaker 1:

I think a lot of times people look at someone in leadership and they're like could I ever do that? And if you saw someone your own age, you would wonder a little more Well, of course I'm not an adult, so I can't lead like an adult. But if you saw your peer leading, you'd be like, well, if they can do it, can I do it? And then I think it's contagious of like I want to be part of that. I want to be part of something else. I want to like be at the core of something. And then, number four, make sure when you give your SOS presentation, that you sell it really well. And sell it sounds cheap, but I mean talk about it in a way that makes people excited. So I think it's all I noticed, like a couple of years ago it was really in my delivery of how I painted this picture for them.

Speaker 1:

And I'll give you a couple of my highlights or talking points. And I always say, number one like you might be the kind of person like I was, I said I share my testimony and if your testimony fits in this, use your own story to leverage that excitement. And I say I was the kind of kid that just sort of showed up, listened and left, like nobody knew me. And I went to the same church for years but nobody knew me. I never got involved, I never went to anything, I just showed up and left and it was a very one-dimensional faith. Yeah, I knew a lot, but I didn't belong.

Speaker 1:

And there is a component of our faith where we're meant to belong and we're meant to serve and we're meant to do something. That's what ignites our faith is when you feel like you have this purpose beyond just consuming, because, guys listen, we really are meant to be spiritual contributors, not just spiritual consumers. And when you're only a consumer, it's so flat, it's like a one-note kind of faith. But it becomes addicting to be in the zone that God designed you to be, where you get to meet other people and serve his family and have a purpose and feel known and know others. That's what we're meant to do. We're meant to work inside and outside the church. We're meant to serve the Lord. And it's not drudgery, it's exciting. So we want to sell it for what it really is of getting these kids off the sideline and encourage them.

Speaker 1:

If you're that kind of kid like I was, I'm just sort of showing up and leaving. There's so much more to the body of Christ, there's so much more to church, there's so much more to faith that you are missing and I want to invite you to experience that. So never frame it like, hey, there's a lot to do, we could use your help. That's not very inspiring to anyone, but looking at it and communicating it as more of an invitation like this is amazing. This changed my life and I want to invite you to also be a part of that and see what it could do for you.

Speaker 2:

And honestly.

Speaker 1:

This is the truth. I think serving is what truly saved me. I've gone to church my whole life and I knew it a lot and I believed in God and, like I said, my faith was just kind of like stagnant. It was sort of one note. And then I remember somebody inviting me to start volunteering with the junior high ministry and I'm like this should be good and I went and I'm like this is a side of church I've never seen before and this is a component of my faith. Like a muscle I started working that I never had experienced before. And then people started telling me you're good at leadership. I'm like I am, and they're like you have like spiritual gifts I do. And how would I have ever known that unless I just started serving? And so that's the vision you're trying to create for these students of like guys.

Speaker 1:

Trust me, there's so much more than just showing up to church and letting everyone do the work. You're meant to do it and you will come alive when you do. Serving is just sort of like a glue, in a sense, because it like how would you describe it? It just gets you from belief to action, or something like using your whole self for the Lord instead of just receive, receive, listen, believe. Because it's like we know that salvation and faith is not just a cognitive act, you know, it's a lifestyle, it's the way we live and we're a living sacrifice to the Lord.

Speaker 1:

And so I think serving ignites that and you're like it's almost like I woke up. It was like, yes, I believe, but I feel like I woke up spiritually once. I served, and served alongside people that were doing the same thing, and I'm so glad somebody invited me to do it and I would have never done it on my own. Like, excuse me, are there any serving opportunities here? But when someone kind of shoulder taps you and you could even do that for some of your students if it's kind of slow to build momentum, you might want to shoulder tap them and say, hey, I think you'd make a really good student leader.

Speaker 1:

I think you'd be a great addition to our discipleship group. It's called SOS. Would know, would you consider signing up? It's going to be a lot of fun. We're going to learn some really cool things and I think you're going to love it. So you might want to be that person. And if you've already got a little bit of momentum, one thing I love to do and maybe this is a little further down the path than you are, but something to look forward to I like to point out to students, the leaders in the room who are former SOS students. They'll be, like you know, your small group leader, brandon. Well, guess what? He was one of my SOS students when he was in junior high and he loves serving so much. He's still doing it.

Speaker 1:

He's your small group leader. So you know, I think, pointing them to the people that you look up to. They were once SOS kids. You got to start somewhere and I'll help you find out what you're good at and what you like.

Speaker 2:

Can you think of any leader that you have who went through your ministry that was not a part of student leadership?

Speaker 1:

Like who I have as a leader now. Yeah, um, I'm sure that has happened.

Speaker 2:

But I would say what 90%? They're mostly my former leadership kids.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, because it like awoke something in them and they got stuck to the church, they continued with the family, they got consistent, you know. And there's that fall away factor where you just kind of feel like. You know that feeling where you're like if I were gone, nothing would change, you know, and I think subconsciously I kind of felt like that, like whether or not I show up doesn't matter to anyone, you know. I guess it matters to me. I need the word of God. But like, when you show up, knowing like well, they're expecting me and I have a job to do and I am an important part of this thing, you know, there's just an element of like stickiness that comes and you want to stay.

Speaker 1:

Yeah, so a lot of my SOS kids end up being very thriving, consistent members of the church and come back and be my small group leaders. It's really, really cool. So, yeah, this is the vision, this is the picture you're trying to paint of it's dynamic and it's fun and it has purpose and it has an identity and all of those things. So you know, we have way more episodes on, like the execution part, but if you can't paint the picture for people, the execution won't matter. You'll have no one to execute to, I guess.

Speaker 2:

No one to execute. That's what it sounds like you're going to say I know that's what you were thinking.

Speaker 1:

I was thinking that Because you're silly.

Speaker 2:

I am. What's the next point? That's it. Oh well, if you guys don't have a student leadership team, make sure you check out our episode on how to launch a student leadership team and go over a lot of the stuff we talked about today, but way more so. And then we actually have a couple other episodes on student leadership that you might want to check out. I'll link them all in the description below. What a guy, what a guy. All right, so we're going to do a question of the day and, if you've been following along, we are in the middle of our giveaway. I believe we have this week plus two or three more weeks of giveaway.

Speaker 1:

That's a lot of giveaways. It is a lot of giveaways.

Speaker 2:

We had a lot of companies and people donate some stuff and we're excited to give it away Tonight. We're giving away.

Speaker 1:

Give it away, give it away, give it away now. That's right.

Speaker 2:

Tonight we're giving away I believe it's about 25 pounds of Chameleon Colors color powder. It's a lot of pounds. Yeah, it's like 120 packets filled with 100 grams of colored powder.

Speaker 1:

I don't speak grams, I know.

Speaker 2:

So it's about 25 pounds.

Speaker 1:

A little over 25 pounds, which is a lot.

Speaker 2:

We're giving away one of those tonight. Make sure you get into our giveaway by going back to the episode we did. Episode 200 has all the information on how to enter. That is the episode we did on youth ministry burnout, so make sure you check that as well. We're going to do the giveaway here in a second, but first is the question of the day, which is what are your top three pizza toppings? Oh, besides cheese and like sauce, like that's a given.

Speaker 1:

Sauce, sauce. I love mushrooms. Most people don't, but I do. I love them. If it's available, I will always eat an artichoke heart on pizza, that's a good one. Mushrooms, artichoke hearts and don't hate me onions.

Speaker 2:

Oh, that's not bad. Why would I hate you for that?

Speaker 1:

I don't know.

Speaker 2:

People don't like onions. What? That's a thing People don't like onions, yes, no, people don't like mushrooms.

Speaker 1:

That's what I hate you for most people don't like mushrooms or onions, so I like them both uh, I'm gonna go with pepperoni.

Speaker 2:

Come on, classic, you can't go that was almost like a given, but I'm like. Well, some people may not want pepperoni, like you. Pepperoni, black olives, gross you hate those. And green peppers boom, boom, boom and green peppers.

Speaker 1:

Boom, boom, boom. I love green peppers. I could do that.

Speaker 2:

Well, the combination of those three is a slam dunk, let me tell you, and I could see switching out artichoke hearts, maybe for the pepperoni, maybe.

Speaker 1:

I don't think you can ever switch out artichoke hearts for anything. They stand alone.

Speaker 2:

You're probably right, all right. So the winner for today's giveaway for the Chameleon Colors is Jake Moyer. Congratulations, jake, you did it.

Speaker 1:

This is going to make your next color war, powder war all that Colorful.

Speaker 2:

Colorful fun and free, because it's now provided to you so we'll make sure that gets out gets sent out to you. If you guys are planning on doing a color powder war, make sure you check out chameleoncolorscom. They have the best selection, also their color powder balls. They're refillable, if you guys are looking to extend the life of a color powder war. Make sure you check those out.

Speaker 1:

They're really cool Game changer.

Speaker 2:

We did a review on their products. It's amazing stuff. Check that out. But if you guys want to go to chameleoncolorscom and you use code ministrycoach10, you'll actually get 10% off any order of $100 or more. So thank you, Jacob.

Speaker 1:

Thank you guys for watching and listening and make sure you sign up for the giveaway.

Speaker 2:

There's a few more, a few more weeks left to it. All right, thank you guys for watching and listening.

Speaker 1:

We'll see you next time and if you've been listening to this, sorry. Well, I was, but I'm like why does that sound bad? I don't like it. Today we're answering more of your youth ministry questions. Today we're answering your questions about youth ministry.