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.
As I sat there with my family late into the second quarter, disappointed by an underwhelming Super Bowl game, I thought hard about whether or not we would tune into Kendrick Lamar’s Halftime Show. Even as a youth pastor (and a black one at that), I don’t know Kendrick Lamar’s music very well and felt […]
I was 20 years old when I graduated from Bible college and began my professional youth ministry career. I. Knew. Nothing. You would think a bachelor’s degree in Youth Ministry would equip you with a little something for the real world, but I knew absolutely nothing about healthy staff culture, sustainable systems for youth ministry, […]
Reimagine Youth Ministry is an organization devoted to educating and training youth pastors to do youth ministry in the era of mental health awareness. Below, the owner of Reimagine, Kristy, has shared her story of how her mental health organization came to be. I Saw The Problem Of Mental Health Eight years ago, I felt […]
Not to brag, but my leaders are pretty great at creating a welcoming youth ministry environment. Last Sunday, for instance, one of my small group leaders created (from scratch) an Armor of God Escape Room experience for his middle school guys. I’ll pause here so you can give a proper applause… That kind of creativity […]
Do I even need to give the verse? I mean, we get it. 1 Peter 3:15. Always be prepared to give a reason for the hope within you (paraphrased). But sometimes I wonder if apologetics in youth ministry is less about students sharing and and less about them knowing. Sometimes I wonder if incorporating apologetics […]
Tell me if this sounds familiar. You’ve sent six parent emails, three parent text blasts, and four handouts home to parents, and yet the day of the event, you have Jimmy’s mom calling you to ask where the event is and how much it costs and why you aren’t providing transportation from the church to […]
It’s camp season. Best time of the year. But as you start buying an absurd amount of pool noodles and beach balls and scour Amazon for a pineapple themed Bluetooth speaker, there’s likely a small, negative thought nagging at you in the back of your mind. If you’ve been in youth ministry for a few […]
I’m an incredibly imperfect student pastor, and the youth ministry environments I create are imperfect, too. One of the areas of weakness I’m working on right now in my youth ministry is creating a culture of diversity and inclusion. Students are naturally inclusive on all kinds of social issues, but when it comes to just […]
There are an endless supply of curriculums on the market. How do you evaluate which one is the best fit for your ministry? Check out this podcast episode from Student Ministry Conversations to learn some best practices for evaluating and utilizing youth ministry curriculum in your ministry! The entire podcast episode is fantastic, but in […]
I recently had a conversation with a teenager where I was asking them to explain a certain behavior pattern they’d been exhibiting recently. Their face went blank—almost dead-eyed—and they didn’t speak for a long time. After a painfully silent two minutes, I asked again, “What’s going on? What are you feeling that’s leading you to […]
