Mike Haynes is a youth ministry veteran and the creator of G Shades. A vibrant contributor to the youth ministry landscape, Mike’s passion is to help students and youth pastors alike see life through the lens of the gospel. He and his wife Anna have five kids spanning elementary, middle, and high school, and he serves as the high school pastor at Christian Fellowship Church in Ashburn, Virginia.
Youth pastors know the weight of choosing the right curriculum. Pick a curriculum that’s biblically weak, and your students miss out on depth. Choose a curriculum that’s too heady, and your students check out entirely. Find a curriculum that’s too generic, and your students never connect. So what should you be looking for? A great […]
For many students, Easter is just another holiday—spring break, chocolate bunnies, and an excuse to wear something nice to church. Your church may even host a community event around Easter time! But the cross isn’t just a story—it’s the turning point of human history. So how do we cut through the noise and help teenagers […]
The beautiful thing about youth ministry is that there are hundreds of topics you can choose to walk through with your students. You want to spend three years in Romans? Done. Feel like talking about friendship for 5 weeks? Great. Fancy a skip through the classic Old Testament stories? Love it. The world is your […]
Have you ever looked out at your students during a sermon and seen blank stares, crossed arms, or that “I’d rather be anywhere else” look? Welcome to the struggle of spiritual apathy. Many teenagers aren’t rejecting faith outright—they just feel disconnected, disinterested, or stuck in a cycle of going through the motions. So how do […]
Every youth pastor has been there—it’s Tuesday, and you have no idea what you’re preaching on Wednesday. Maybe you’ve been too busy to plan ahead. Maybe you like the freedom of picking topics week to week. It’s possible your students ask great questions, and you just want to follow their lead. But here’s the thing: […]
Ask ten youth pastors how much time they spend on lesson prep, and you’ll get ten completely different answers. Youth pastor lesson prep take wildly differing amounts of time depending on gifting, capacity, and (if we’re honest) time management skills. Some agonize over every word and spend hours crafting the perfect message. Others scramble last-minute, […]
Anxiety is no longer just a personal struggle—it’s a generational crisis. And they’re bringing those anxieties into your youth group. As youth pastors, we can’t just tell students to “pray more” or “stop worrying”—we need to give them biblical tools and real hope to navigate their anxiety. Here’s how to teach teenagers about anxiety in […]
One of the beautiful things about the Church is its diversity. We serve different groups of people with different needs. That’s especially true when it comes to serving teenagers. That’s part of why we created the Small G Plan, because small churches need a plan built just for you. But even within small youth groups, […]
Choosing a youth ministry curriculum isn’t just about finding something that fills time on Wednesday nights—it’s about choosing a tool that shapes students’ faith. But with so many options, how do you know which curriculum is actually worth investing in? The reality is, not all curriculum is created equal. Some are engaging but shallow. Others […]
One of the biggest debates in youth ministry is how structured teaching should be. Some leaders prefer a laid-back, discussion-based approach, while others believe in following a structured teaching plan. But here’s the reality: Students thrive when there’s a plan.Faith grows deeper with intentional teaching.A structured approach doesn’t kill flexibility—it enhances it. So what does […]
