Hybrid Ministry

Episode 195: Young Leaders vs Older Leaders: Who Connects Better?

April 2nd, 2026  |  20 mins 45 secs

church youth ministry, hybrid ministry, nick clason, small group leader training, small group leaders, small group ministry, student ministry leadership, student ministry small groups, youth discipleship, youth group leaders, youth group leadership, youth group small groups, youth ministry, youth ministry best practices, youth ministry debate, youth ministry leadership, youth ministry leadership training, youth ministry philosophy, youth ministry strategy, youth ministry structure, youth ministry tips, youth pastor, youth pastor discussion, youth pastor training

Volunteer Leaders are so crucial to a healthy youth ministry.
But as you recruit, should you focus more on older leaders?
Or younger leaders?

In this debate style episode we have two leaders make their case on both sides of the aisle!
Let's dive in, together!

Episode 194: Same Small Group Leader for 7 Years vs Changing Every Year

March 26th, 2026  |  25 mins 44 secs

church youth ministry, hybrid ministry, nick clason, small group leader training, small group leaders, small group ministry, student ministry leadership, student ministry small groups, youth discipleship, youth group leaders, youth group leadership, youth group small groups, youth ministry, youth ministry best practices, youth ministry debate, youth ministry leadership, youth ministry leadership training, youth ministry philosophy, youth ministry strategy, youth ministry structure, youth ministry tips, youth pastor, youth pastor discussion, youth pastor training

Small Group Leaders are the life-blood of any good student ministry. But what is our most effective strategy to deploy them? Is it to saddle a great leader with students for their entire careeer? Or is it rather to introduce students to great leaders along their journey?

In this first debate style episode we have two amazing youth pastors, on two different sides of the argument, and they're going head to head, and you get to be the voter!

Episode 193: The Student Ministry Leadership Mistakes I Made My First 6 Months

March 19th, 2026  |  13 mins 32 secs

christian leadership, church leadership, church staff leadership, church team leadership, faith based leadership, hybrid ministry, leadership development, leadership mistakes, leadership transition, leading in church, leading volunteers, ministry growth, ministry management, ministry meetings, ministry mindset, new supervisor lessons, nick clason, pastor promotion, student ministry leadership, time management for pastors, youth ministry leadership, youth pastor advice, youth pastor leadership lessons

I just started in a new role at my job 6 months ago.
It's been much harder than I anticipated, and I wanted to share with you the leadership mistakes I made, so that you can avoid them for yourself!

Episode 171: Grow Your Youth Group: EXPLOSIVE Attendance Secrets

October 16th, 2025  |  17 mins 39 secs

church growth, church leadership, confidence in ministry, delegation in ministry, discipleship strategies, grow your youth group, how to lead volunteers, humility in leadership, hybrid ministry, leadership development, ministry growth tips, ministry lessons, ministry mistakes, next gen ministry, small group leaders, student ministry leadership, volunteer leader tips, volunteer recruiting, youth group chaos, youth group recruiting, youth group strategy, youth ministry, youth pastor training

These 5 Shifts in my approach to volunteers revolutionized by youth ministry.
These aren’t quick hacks — they’re the foundational principles that changed my thinking but they led to real, measurable growth.

The best news of all, not for me in the moment, but you is that each of these shifts were like levels in a video game that come with the big bad boss of a failure story that I had to defeat, from one of my 15 years in youth ministry, each boss becoming more and more epic, the final one left me questioning not only my job, but my career in ministry.