web02.fireside.fm Fri, 01 May 2026 21:06:45 -0500 Fireside (https://fireside.fm) Hybrid Ministry - Episodes Tagged with “Youth Group” https://www.hybridministry.xyz/tags/youth%20group Thu, 15 Jan 2026 05:00:00 -0600 Hybrid Ministry is complicated and hard. Or is it? How do pastors and youth pastors create a vibrant extension, not replacement, of what's already happening during their weekly church services? To cater in a digital ministry way to an online focused ministry audience. Reaching Millennials, Gen Z and even Gen Alpha is going to require us to rethink some of the ways we do church. Follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick en-us episodic Digital Discipleship made easy Nick Clason Hybrid Ministry is complicated and hard. Or is it? How do pastors and youth pastors create a vibrant extension, not replacement, of what's already happening during their weekly church services? To cater in a digital ministry way to an online focused ministry audience. Reaching Millennials, Gen Z and even Gen Alpha is going to require us to rethink some of the ways we do church. Follow along on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick no Digital, Online Church, Hybrid Ministry, Church, Meta, Gen Z, Millennials, Digital Marketing, Church Marketing, Youth Ministry, Student Ministry, Nick Clason, Digital Ministry, Church Social Media, Youth Ministry Social Media, YouTube for Church, YouTube for Youth Ministry, TikTok for Churches, TikTok for Youth Ministry, Instagram for Churches, Instagram for Youth Ministry, Facebook for Church, Facebook for Youth Ministry, Cell Phone Usage at Church Nick Clason nickclason@hybridministry.xyz Episode 184: Amazing, On-Going, Youth Group Retreat Game Pt. 2 + Lock-in Survival Tips https://www.hybridministry.xyz/184 3dfbb3e2-687e-4c7f-b647-db8b6c316c51 Thu, 15 Jan 2026 05:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 184 Amazing, On-Going, Youth Group Retreat Game Pt. 2 + Lock-in Survival Tips full Nick Clason In this episode I sit down and share the entire inspiration for this D-Now, Winter Retreat & Summer Camp on-going games with my friend, Andrew Jansen. Andrew is a 10+ year youth worker, and his assassin game sparked this entire podcast mini-series. He expains his creative (and super CHEAP) adaptation to this game. Plus! Andrew shared his lock-in survival guide for FREE! 28:30 no In this episode I sit down and share the entire inspiration for this D-Now, Winter Retreat & Summer Camp on-going games with my friend, Andrew Jansen. Andrew is a 10+ year youth worker, and his assassin game sparked this entire podcast mini-series. He expains his creative (and super CHEAP) adaptation to this game. Plus! Andrew shared his lock-in survival guide for FREE! Andrew's Lock-in Guide: https://www.patreon.com/posts/10-year-veterans-146449370?utmmedium=clipboardcopy&utmsource=copyLink&utmcampaign=postsharecreator&utmcontent=join_link SHOW NOTES Shownotes & Transcripts https://www.hybridministry.xyz/184 BECOME A HYBRID HERO https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry ❄️ WINTER SOCIAL MEDIA PACK https://www.patreon.com/posts/winter-seasonal-144943791?utmmedium=clipboardcopy&utmsource=copyLink&utmcampaign=postsharecreator&utmcontent=join_link 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.patreon.com/posts/9-amazing-dym-142425755 //OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Assassin Game with Clothes Pins 03:41 Social Media While You’re Busy 05:02 Assassin Game Rules 06:20 Ways to Play the Game 09:31 Pro-Tips 13:42 No Prize? No Problem - Do this! 14:30 Pro-Tip #2 18:52 How are you going to play, moving forward? 19:37 Could you play this game at summer camp? 21:50 Two Final Assassin Rules to Follow 23:47 FREE Lock-in Survival Guide -------------- TRANSCRIPT Nick Clason (00:01.378) Well, what's up everybody? I'm here with Andrew. Andrew, how you doing this morning, bro? Andrew Jansen (00:07.725) doing good. God is good. It's a good morning. Getting into my emails and excited to talk about the game thing that you want to talk to me about. Nick Clason (00:17.39) Yeah. I'm glad, like, I hope that talking about the game thing is more exciting than your emails. That's, that's, that's my hope for all of this. Um, but yeah. So I, you know, I, you and I, we've known each other for a couple of years now, mostly through zoom, but we've hung out two times in person. And one of the times that we hung out in person, I was at your church. Um, Andrew Jansen (00:26.057) I hope so too. Yeah. Definitely. Nick Clason (00:44.974) Helping you out with like a like a retreat conference. What would you call that thing? It's a conference, right? Andrew Jansen (00:51.297) Yeah, it's like a student conference between like 250, 500 people give or take which year you're at the conference. Yeah. Nick Clason (00:58.21) Yeah, that's a big, that's a big range. But one of the things that you guys did that I loved was you had this game happening in the background of the conference, I guess. It wasn't like a stage game, though you had stage games. It wasn't like a big thing that in the main general session that took a lot of time, if any time. Like aside from maybe just like explaining the rules. it was like, it was this like assassin type game. tell me, like just explain to the people. Cause what I loved about it was that it was an activity to do in the margins and ongoingly throughout the weekend that kind of kept you, kept students engaged and having something, you know, to kind of like focus on and do like above and beyond just like all the normal conference attend attending like stuff. So. Andrew Jansen (01:33.39) Yes. Nick Clason (01:55.478) Where did this idea come from? How did it go? Like, let's talk about it. Andrew Jansen (01:56.152) Yes. Andrew Jansen (02:00.139) Yes, so like all great ideas, I stole it from, I believe we played this game in my youth ministry growing up. So my youth pastor, question mark, shout out Jake Lindhart. He's a great youth pastor. But I'm sure he stole that from somebody as well before him, but it's the original game was played with rubber bands and you would like, you would like snap a rubber band on. So I grew up in the nineties. Nick Clason (02:18.446) Yeah Nick Clason (02:24.568) Okay. Andrew Jansen (02:29.701) early 2000s youth group era where we did all kinds of things that would get you fired nowadays, but where you would literally snap people with rubber bands and if you snapped them while they weren't looking, then they were assassinated and they would give you their name that they had been given at the start of the game. Nick Clason (02:34.67) Okay. Nick Clason (02:43.04) Yeah. Nick Clason (02:50.432) Was their name like their name or a name of like another person? Andrew Jansen (02:54.145) It's the name. So let me let's explain the game real quick. And then we can kind of go into the like a little bit more of like what we change rules, that kind of stuff. So the game is essentially everybody signs up and then you take everybody and write their name down and then you assign their name to somebody besides them. It's easier to make a list and kind of just go like numbered. Nick Clason (02:57.805) Yeah. Nick Clason (03:05.272) Yeah. Nick Clason (03:20.024) Okay. Andrew Jansen (03:23.693) And like, so number one would have name number two. And then if you have 50 students, number 50 would have number one. And the goal is to assassinate that person and a bit like you win if you get your own name. So that's the, like if you get handed your own name and you've been playing it for a while and it's not like the first person you kill and something that just means your youth pastor messed up and that's okay. Nick Clason (03:27.181) Yeah. Nick Clason (03:31.694) Okay. Nick Clason (03:39.426) Okay. Andrew Jansen (03:49.137) give grace. But if you get your own name at the end, then you are the assassin champion. And that's kind of the concept behind the game. Nick Clason (03:56.461) Yeah. Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. And so like I was saying, like I was watching kids at your conference, like running around, like, you know, hiding from each other. Like one kid came up to me and was like, can you go get that girl over there? Cause she like knows like I'm coming for her, you know? So was like sort of all sort of like strategy and like gamesmanship. So how did you adapt it then for, for this one? Andrew Jansen (04:25.688) for sure. Right. So I believe we did this a few years ago at the same conference with Nerf guns, but I had a whole bunch of like clothes pins at our church that we use for various things. feel like every time we need clothes pins, we just went and bought them until we had thousands of clothes pins. And I was like, we got to do something with these clothes pins. But it's funny when you act, when you're like, Hey, we talked about this assassin's game. Nick Clason (04:35.671) Okay. Nick Clason (04:47.822) hehe Andrew Jansen (04:58.366) It did not go the way that I was like hoping it would go or the way that I was planning it to go. I think they had fun. They had a blast. Like kids were running around like crazy, screaming, like getting really into it. We had to tell a couple of kids to calm down, which that's, I'd rather tell kids calm down than be like, Hey, come on, like get into it. Nick Clason (05:00.046) I'm Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (05:16.386) Right, you should, yeah, you should care about this more, yeah. Andrew Jansen (05:20.33) Right. They were very into it. I kind of talked about it with some of the volunteer board members and kind of figured out what is something that can happen. I think of it as like a meta event. It's always just constantly in motion. Obviously, you don't want to have it happening during praise and worship time or while you're in small groups or the speaker is speaking. all that in between transition, walking around time. Nick Clason (05:29.358) me. Nick Clason (05:38.647) Yeah. Nick Clason (05:42.167) Right. Andrew Jansen (05:49.625) we gave students clothes pins and those clothes pins had the name of their that they wrote their name on the clothes pin and then we handed them their target clothes pin and that was the person that they were trying to go get so you had to clip on the clothes pin Nick Clason (06:03.63) Okay, so in theory, if every kid comes in, signs up, writes their name on a clothespin, then that's your pool of contestants. because one of the things you guys did was you didn't make this required for everyone. You're like, if you want to play, swing by the table and sign up. Andrew Jansen (06:09.666) Mm-hmm. Andrew Jansen (06:22.978) For sure. Cause I mean, if you have, if you make everybody do it, you're going to have like 10 people that are just like, I'm just going to throw away this clothes pin and then they're, they're out. They're not, you're like, Hey, I got you. Where's your clothes pin? And like, I threw it away. Cause I don't care about this at all. Cause I'm a punk eighth grade student or whatever. And like, so, so it's, we wanted to make it be just, if you're, if you're interested in playing this type of game, you know, go, go sign up. We, Nick Clason (06:37.438) Mm. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Andrew Jansen (06:53.572) started with them writing their own names. And then I think it turned into kids can't write at all. And like, we were like, who, what is this? What is your name? Like, it was like, my name's Steve. And I was like, that does not say Steve at all. And that is not cursive or that I don't know what font that is, but you need to practice writing. But we ended up making that list and then writing their names down. Nick Clason (06:56.832) Okay. Nick Clason (07:00.972) Yeah. What fart? geez. Andrew Jansen (07:21.472) And then we handed them out at lunch, I think. We made the order and we're like, OK, this student is getting this kid's name so that the list was in a circle, so to speak. Nick Clason (07:23.872) Okay, yeah. Nick Clason (07:34.038) Now, you need to like, there any, are there any like hacks that youth pastors need to think about with like assigning it or is it just like, just do it randomly and it's fine? Andrew Jansen (07:44.993) Yeah, I had it so that was the part that I think went that was the craziest because originally we were just write your name and on the pin and then take the neck though like the last person that wrote their name down take their clothes pin so they just were in order as they went but that got Completely they just started chucking them into a bucket and they were like I signed up and then ran away Nick Clason (08:02.498) Gotcha. Andrew Jansen (08:11.928) So I would say have that like it would be easiest to do. All right get in line Go to a sign-up station get signed up and do either alphabetical order or do the order in which you signed up is the order in which you You know like are trying to get the next person Nick Clason (08:31.981) Yeah. So is that, I mean, that's a pretty like administratively heavy task, right? So like if you're a youth pastor, you're running an event, you're running a retreat or a D now, like would you recommend having a really organized person facilitate some of that off to the side so that you're not having to get sucked down into the weeds on that? Andrew Jansen (08:51.21) Absolutely. Yeah. If you have an intern, definitely that's a great intern task is just sit there, get all the students signed up and write their names down on a clothes pin or how whatever assassin's weapon you're using. But we use like a Nerf gun, I think a few years ago, probably can't get away with rubber band anymore, but yeah. Nick Clason (09:06.936) Yeah. Okay. How did the Nerf gun work? Like how did that, like was it successful would you say? Or was clothespin like a better idea? what, cause I let one of the things, like in a couple of episodes I'm actually gonna talk to another guy and he created an AI like app for taking pictures, like an assassin picture game. So if like, if you can be confidently sure that everyone has a cell phone, that's a great opportunity, like a great way to do it. But. Andrew Jansen (09:34.754) Nice. Andrew Jansen (09:38.434) Yep. Yeah. Nick Clason (09:40.302) Like I like this one being analog, right? In some way, because if kids don't have phones or like whatever, they're able to still do it. How'd the Nerf gun thing like work? Like, was it confusing? Was it like, cause I would imagine if you're on the other side of the room, you get like hit by a Nerf dart. Like, do you know for sure who shot it? Like what if multiple people shot it? Like, you know what mean? Like that type of stuff. was it, was it, did it, yeah, how'd it go? Andrew Jansen (10:06.882) I think it went well. was, they did popsicle sticks and you had a popsicle stick with a person's name on it and you were collecting popsicle sticks. I thought it went well because if you're shooting the Nerf gun and you hit your target, you're gonna immediately go up and be like, hey, I hit you. Like that was my dart that hit you. If it's like crossfire or something like that, I mean, middle schoolers are gonna cheat for sure. Freshman boys. Nick Clason (10:10.721) Okay. Nick Clason (10:17.271) Yeah. Nick Clason (10:24.835) Yeah. Nick Clason (10:31.853) Yeah. Andrew Jansen (10:35.96) typically will be like, I've killed everybody in this room already. I'm like, no, you haven't. We haven't even started yet. that like, like, I'm like, nice try. But the, the, the nerf, I think it worked well because it, the first of all, the nerf gun was very low power. So you had to be, I think you had about five feet to, to like be able to like shoot it and, and hit them. And then, and it was also fun because Nick Clason (10:36.738) That's, yeah. Ha! Nick Clason (10:51.459) Yeah. There you go. Nick Clason (10:59.938) Right. Andrew Jansen (11:03.192) There was one this will haunt my dreams forever because I think it was like a junior high school girl was like carving numbers in her little plastic nerve gun with how many kids that she was like assassinating and she I think yeah, I was like Yeah, I was like Let me know when you're not in the same town that I'm in so that I can sleep well Yeah, it was terrifying but they they got into it which is they this seems to be some Nick Clason (11:08.514) Yeah. Nick Clason (11:15.55) my gosh. That is like what horror movies are made of, bro. Andrew Jansen (11:32.832) a type of game that it's a meta happening all throughout the conference, all throughout the event. And they really, really love trying to assassinate their friends. Nick Clason (11:38.925) Yeah. Nick Clason (11:44.77) Yeah, and if you don't have a budget for a prize for the winner, these types of events are a great way to pit churches or youth groups or small groups or color groups or however you want to break it up against each other. And you can just give 1,000 points to the winner, and 1,000 points is free for youth pastors. And then, yes. Yeah, dude. Andrew Jansen (12:03.565) Yes. Yep, I love points. have unlimited points in my budget. It's great. have trillions and trillions of points. Nick Clason (12:12.288) It's truly the only unlimited thing we as youth pastors have access to, you know, aside from maybe Bibles that were discarded or old couches. But other than that, points are for sure unlimited. So, all right. So is there anything else, any other like pro tips that you would have if someone's like, all right, this sounds like a cool idea. You know, just something to kind of like run on in the background of my D now or my summer camp, my retreat, like. Andrew Jansen (12:17.016) for sure. Nick Clason (12:40.556) You have any pro tips that you'd give a youth pastor so that doesn't flop and fail or like to maybe help them avoid middle schoolers trying to cheat or is that just an inevitability? Andrew Jansen (12:49.56) Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they will cheat for sure. But I would say that have your like sign up sheet, your sign up, like the starting of the Assassin's Game, have that organized and fleshed out before you start, because that's the hardest part of getting that train to leave the station is just getting every student signed up and then assigning who their target is in a way that allows it to go like. Nick Clason (12:53.666) Yeah. Nick Clason (13:09.902) Mm. Andrew Jansen (13:17.068) Number one has number two and then all the way through like number 50 has number one. Because if you get off in that process, then you're going to get like someone's going to go, I won because I got my own name. And then you're like, no, how do I fix this? got switched? What got swapped? What happened? Nick Clason (13:20.588) Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (13:35.358) Is there, so is there no mathematical way for them to get their own name until they win? Like is that how it should work? I'm like, I'm not a statistician, so I'm not over here able to like think of this on the fly. So, okay, so there's no possible way for them, like if they get their own name and they didn't win, it's messed up somehow, yeah. Yeah, cause I did remember seeing the guy behind the desk, cause it wasn't you. Andrew Jansen (13:42.508) That's how it should work. If you number them... Andrew Jansen (13:53.997) Something, yeah, something messed up. Yep. So I would say do that either. Nick Clason (14:02.434) But the guy behind the desk, he was like, way to just throw him under the bus. I was trying not to do that. But he was like, like I just saw him like an internal like moment of panic when like some people were like giving him things. He's like, that's, that might not be right. Like that right there was like, this game seems amazing and intricate, but like that moment, like every youth pastor has been there where they have an amazing game. And then there's that moment of panic where they're like thinking, crap, I, something isn't working right. Andrew Jansen (14:02.614) Yeah, it was Dawson. Yeah, he's a great guy. Andrew Jansen (14:15.735) Yes. Andrew Jansen (14:31.998) Mm-hmm. for sure. No, loved Dawson was a youth leader of mine and he you know He's a youth pastor at the church that I was at. So no, I love Dawson. He did a great job It's my fault. I didn't lead him well in executing those things. So it's all it's all on me No, it was it definitely there's a moment of panic when a group of students are like, hey I got like my friend like my friend and I got each other's names and we're not Nick Clason (14:46.798) There you go. Andrew Jansen (15:00.396) the first and last person. And that was all the, that was all the clothes pins were jumbled up in a bin and we did not have a good like start and then like sign up the way, like the best, not, not that it wasn't good. We just didn't have the best version of that that we could have, could have rolled out. And then I would say that one of the reasons why it didn't go exactly the way we had hoped was we had flag football. Nick Clason (15:02.349) Yeah. Nick Clason (15:12.556) Right. Nick Clason (15:16.93) Right, Yeah. Andrew Jansen (15:29.944) and open gym at another location during that free time where they could play assassins. So a quarter of the conference was over at the gyms and everybody that was playing assassins that didn't want to go play flag football or open gym was at our church. And they, if you got a name of somebody that was over there, you couldn't like, was like, well, it was raining. Nick Clason (15:33.41) Mm. Yeah. Nick Clason (15:56.558) Mmm. Andrew Jansen (15:58.999) They, if you weren't over there, yeah, it was a little bit too far to walk, especially in the rain. So it, that, was one of the things of making sure you have an extended free time where you're not like off on different locations or different parts of town or anything like that, where you have like, if you're at a camp where everybody's on campgrounds, it's a good game to play throughout the week or like we're doing a lock-in for New Year's Eve. Nick Clason (16:00.104) It was like too far to walk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (16:16.408) Yeah. Nick Clason (16:22.112) Yeah. Andrew Jansen (16:27.03) And we're doing this, we're actually doing, I'm doing the Assassin's Game with the students at the lock-in when we're gonna try to revamp and correct some of the things that we noticed that did not quite go as planned. Nick Clason (16:33.902) There you go. Nick Clason (16:39.926) Okay, so that's a great, that's a great, so like the things you're talking about is like making sure you have it like the sign up and the assignments of who gets who a little more fleshed out, right? Like that was one of the things you talked about. Are you doing it with clothes pins or like how are you playing at your lock-in? Andrew Jansen (16:48.641) Mm-hmm. Andrew Jansen (16:58.616) Yeah, I still have, we have 900 clothes pins instead of a thousand. we're still looking to get rid of some of those clothes pins. But I think it'll work out well because it's gonna be a smaller group. We're not gonna have 250 students that are running around like crazy. So we're gonna have them sign up. I have a list of all of- Nick Clason (17:18.456) Yeah. Andrew Jansen (17:27.008) I know these students because they're my students. So I'm going to have like some options and a set chunk of time where they can really, you know, get after it and assassinate their friends with clothespins. Nick Clason (17:30.402) That helps, yeah. Nick Clason (17:35.884) Yeah. Yeah. Now, is this a game that you could envision happening? Like if someone wanted to do this over like the course of like a week long summer camp, let's say like a three, four, five day summer camp. Can it last that long? Do you think or does it need to be like a quicker spur? Andrew Jansen (17:51.33) Mm-hmm. Andrew Jansen (17:59.001) I think the more time you have, the better it can go because then you can be a little bit more methodical. People can get into it. I've seen people army crawl through like cafeteria chairs to like get there like is here's another hack for the game. Make sure you let them know what parts of the body are allowed to get assassinated or not because obviously we don't want Nick Clason (18:02.008) Okay. Nick Clason (18:10.13) Hehe. Nick Clason (18:14.059) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (18:28.238) Probably good, yeah. Andrew Jansen (18:29.036) to, yeah, we don't want to have a horrible situation with some clothes pins or whatever you're using. Definitely the rubber band game needed that. I saw kids like army crawling through cafeteria chairs to like slowly go get their friends like shirt sleeve because it was throughout the week instead of just that like five or six hours over the weekend of the conference where they could play. So I think it lasts for sure. At least two days. Nick Clason (18:36.895) Yeah. Nick Clason (18:47.032) Yeah. Nick Clason (18:51.629) Yeah. Nick Clason (18:55.894) Yeah. So then on like a game, so then on like a gameplay side, like if you, like if you assassinate someone, you get their clothes pin. So you're only at any given moment. You're only carrying around one, right? Like you don't, you don't walk around with like a big handful of clothes pins at any moment. So that way, cause you, bring it back to like home base or whatever to let someone know like this person's out. Andrew Jansen (19:15.734) No. Yep. Andrew Jansen (19:22.978) Yeah, and that lets the person that's doing the sign up and has that list allows them to kind of see like, okay, this person's making their way through all of these people. And you kind of can tell like, okay, and you know, if somebody loses a pin, you have a better chance of going, that was this person. They lost their pin at this point and you can just write the next person's name and give them that pin. Nick Clason (19:32.226) Yeah. Nick Clason (19:47.052) Yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, nice. All right, anything else that someone who's trying to do this needs to think through or that you learned seeing it be done? Andrew Jansen (20:01.362) For sure. I would say the two quick things that we didn't really touch on is clear boundaries, like out of bounds, when they can and cannot assassinate somebody is really important. Obviously, hearing about Jesus and praising Jesus through worship music takes precedent over the praising Jesus through fun. I mean, it's still praising Jesus. It's just a different Nick Clason (20:09.132) Mm. Nick Clason (20:23.266) The game, yeah. Yeah. Andrew Jansen (20:28.268) way that we're doing that and we want to have Jesus be the main thing. So making sure that they're not assassinating each other during small group time, praise and worship time, or any of the main session type times is important. So let them know like, hey, we're only doing this during free time, lunchtime, game time, whatever. And have like, I would say have like lights out if you're at a camp for a week. Like, hey, once it's lights out, would. Nick Clason (20:38.231) Yeah. Andrew Jansen (20:56.972) That's just, you're asking for trouble. Like, Hey, why were you in the girls dorm? I was trying to get her like, no, like that's we're not playing at night time. So I would say that would be one. And then making sure like the, out of bounds, like, Hey, we're not, you're not going to be off camp property. You're not going to be off church property. No, you cannot get on the roof. No, you cannot crawl through the drainage pipes and like all of those usual things. Like what can I like, Nick Clason (20:57.09) Yeah. Nick Clason (21:02.917) Yeah Andrew Jansen (21:24.16) latch on underneath the church van and then crawl onto the windshield and like I'm like no what you're gonna die that thing that's don't do that. They get really into it so making sure that you you kind of have those you know outlines of like what the boundaries are for both like physical where they can play the game and then also the times in which they play the game. Nick Clason (21:29.102) Yeah. Nick Clason (21:44.364) Right. Yeah, that's good. It's Nice. And you mentioned that you're going to play this at your lock-in, most any now, how many years have you been youth ministry again, Andrew? So most youth pastors who have at least hit the 10 year mark in youth ministry are team anti lock-in, but for some incredibly weird reason, your team pro lock-in. Andrew Jansen (21:52.769) Yes. Andrew Jansen (21:59.513) Ten years. Andrew Jansen (22:13.342) I am pro. Pro lock-in. Yes. Nick Clason (22:13.492) And so, yeah. So as I said at the beginning, you have a completely free lock-in guide planning sheet down below. If any one of you is insane enough to do a lock-in like Andrew, this can help you. I will not be a customer of this sheet, but I will let other people know that it exists. Andrew Jansen (22:23.17) Yes. Andrew Jansen (22:38.434) For sure. Yeah. And it, it's just everything that I've learned over the years. I love lock-ins. we did lock-ins at, in our youth group growing up, think almost every year are I'm from Wichita, Kansas. And we had a big like Wichita area citywide lock-in with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of students that would, sign up for all of this crazy stuff. So, this is just all the stuff that I've learned kind of, some hacks, both attending a lock-in, putting on a lock-in. Nick Clason (22:57.901) Yeah. Andrew Jansen (23:08.188) And I've added some things to it over the years. So yeah, if anybody has any questions, they can email me or reach out to you and you can give them my info or whatever. But it's really helpful. Nick Clason (23:11.948) Yeah. Nick Clason (23:22.156) Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right, man. Well, yeah, dude, go for it. Give a give a little bit. Give a give like a sneak peek. Andrew Jansen (23:26.232) Do you want me to talk about it or is that good? For sure. A sneak peek. one of the... Nick Clason (23:35.47) But don't give it all away, because we still want them to go get it, you know what I mean? So like, make it a big old teaser, like cliffhanger, of ultimate proportions. Andrew Jansen (23:39.764) Absolutely. For sure. So first of all, shout out to my wife for making it look super amazing and incredible because honestly, yeah, she's amazing. I wish that I would hire her tomorrow if that were possible. Nick Clason (23:49.112) Dude, your wife is, this shirt right here, your wife designed. Yeah. Yeah, she... Yeah, but she works for you for free, so why would you do that? Andrew Jansen (24:02.082) That's true. It's not for free. do. I have to like rubber feet and like get her food and take, make sure she's locked in on all that stuff. speaking of lock-ins, the, the number one hack from my lock-in survival guide, and this is an exhaustive or, perfect in any way, there's definitely stuff that can be added to it. But I would say that at the end of the night, I always start with, or end with a movie after cleanup. Nick Clason (24:06.286) there you go. Yeah. Nick Clason (24:30.582) Yeah. Yeah. Andrew Jansen (24:31.692) Because once you clean up, you get through all of the things, you're exhausted, you're tired. Hey everybody, it's time to clean up. And then by 5 a.m., 6 a.m., whenever you're winding down the final hours of a lock-in where your body is running on Monster Energy Drink and Tylenol mostly, then you can really let them say they're gonna watch the whole movie and they will probably fall asleep. So you cut out quite a bit of lock in time where it's still like you give your leaders a break. You can get breakfast stuff ready to go if you want to do breakfast, but always do clean up, everybody clean up. And then we're going to go watch a movie. And that really helps. It's still fun. There's still those crazy kids that are like, I just drink four Mountain Dew Code Reds. How am going to sit still during this movie? And they're still like able to have something engaging, but most of the kids will nap and parents will show up and it's just a win. Nick Clason (25:01.728) Yeah. Nick Clason (25:28.75) Bro, a code red doesn't even touch like your level of tiredness at 5 a.m. if you haven't slept. Like I don't care how wired up on sugar you are. And then there's always those kids, right, that it's over. like, I watched the whole thing. It's like, no you didn't, bro. You were snoring logs over there. Yeah, yeah. Andrew Jansen (25:37.095) yeah. Andrew Jansen (25:44.886) Yep, yeah. How did you watch the whole thing where you were completely submerged under chairs and blanket and pillow? yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (25:51.03) What's that drool next to your face? What's that from? Is that from your code red? Yeah, no, I've done that before. I have done lock-ins, to be clear. I always end with the movie as well. It's the best way to just calm everybody down and just get to the finish line. That's what that's called. It's called survive and advance onto the finish line. Nice, dude. Well, hey. Andrew Jansen (26:04.682) Mm-hmm. yeah. Andrew Jansen (26:12.514) survive in advance. I love it. Nick Clason (26:16.726) I appreciate you hopping on. If you're listening, like go grab Andrew's Locket Guide, play Assassin, let us know, let him know if you did it and what other hacks you might have down below in the comments. until next time, my friends, thanks for being here. See ya. Keywords youth ministry, games, assassin game, youth pastors, event planning, engagement, conference activities, youth retreats, fun activities, youth group, d-now, winter retreat, fall retreat, summer camp, on-going games In this episode I sit down and share the entire inspiration for this D-Now, Winter Retreat & Summer Camp on-going games with my friend, Andrew Jansen.
Andrew is a 10+ year youth worker, and his assassin game sparked this entire podcast mini-series.
He expains his creative (and super CHEAP) adaptation to this game.
Plus! Andrew shared his lock-in survival guide for FREE!

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https://www.patreon.com/posts/10-year-veterans-146449370?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Assassin Game with Clothes Pins
03:41 Social Media While You’re Busy
05:02 Assassin Game Rules
06:20 Ways to Play the Game
09:31 Pro-Tips
13:42 No Prize? No Problem - Do this!
14:30 Pro-Tip #2
18:52 How are you going to play, moving forward?
19:37 Could you play this game at summer camp?
21:50 Two Final Assassin Rules to Follow
23:47 FREE Lock-in Survival Guide

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:01.378)
Well, what's up everybody? I'm here with Andrew. Andrew, how you doing this morning, bro?

Andrew Jansen (00:07.725)
doing good. God is good. It's a good morning. Getting into my emails and excited to talk about the game thing that you want to talk to me about.

Nick Clason (00:17.39)
Yeah. I'm glad, like, I hope that talking about the game thing is more exciting than your emails. That's, that's, that's my hope for all of this. Um, but yeah. So I, you know, I, you and I, we've known each other for a couple of years now, mostly through zoom, but we've hung out two times in person. And one of the times that we hung out in person, I was at your church. Um,

Andrew Jansen (00:26.057)
I hope so too. Yeah. Definitely.

Nick Clason (00:44.974)
Helping you out with like a like a retreat conference. What would you call that thing? It's a conference, right?

Andrew Jansen (00:51.297)
Yeah, it's like a student conference between like 250, 500 people give or take which year you're at the conference. Yeah.

Nick Clason (00:58.21)
Yeah, that's a big, that's a big range. But one of the things that you guys did that I loved was you had this game happening in the background of the conference, I guess. It wasn't like a stage game, though you had stage games. It wasn't like a big thing that in the main general session that took a lot of time, if any time.

Like aside from maybe just like explaining the rules. it was like, it was this like assassin type game. tell me, like just explain to the people. Cause what I loved about it was that it was an activity to do in the margins and ongoingly throughout the weekend that kind of kept you, kept students engaged and having something, you know, to kind of like focus on and do like above and beyond just like all the normal conference attend attending like stuff. So.

Andrew Jansen (01:33.39)
Yes.

Nick Clason (01:55.478)
Where did this idea come from? How did it go? Like, let's talk about it.

Andrew Jansen (01:56.152)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (02:00.139)
Yes, so like all great ideas, I stole it from, I believe we played this game in my youth ministry growing up. So my youth pastor, question mark, shout out Jake Lindhart. He's a great youth pastor. But I'm sure he stole that from somebody as well before him, but it's the original game was played with rubber bands and you would like, you would like snap a rubber band on. So I grew up in the nineties.

Nick Clason (02:18.446)
Yeah

Nick Clason (02:24.568)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (02:29.701)
early 2000s youth group era where we did all kinds of things that would get you fired nowadays, but where you would literally snap people with rubber bands and if you snapped them while they weren't looking, then they were assassinated and they would give you their name that they had been given at the start of the game.

Nick Clason (02:34.67)
Okay.

Nick Clason (02:43.04)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (02:50.432)
Was their name like their name or a name of like another person?

Andrew Jansen (02:54.145)
It's the name. So let me let's explain the game real quick. And then we can kind of go into the like a little bit more of like what we change rules, that kind of stuff. So the game is essentially everybody signs up and then you take everybody and write their name down and then you assign their name to somebody besides them. It's easier to make a list and kind of just go like numbered.

Nick Clason (02:57.805)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:05.272)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:20.024)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (03:23.693)
And like, so number one would have name number two. And then if you have 50 students, number 50 would have number one. And the goal is to assassinate that person and a bit like you win if you get your own name. So that's the, like if you get handed your own name and you've been playing it for a while and it's not like the first person you kill and something that just means your youth pastor messed up and that's okay.

Nick Clason (03:27.181)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:31.694)
Okay.

Nick Clason (03:39.426)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (03:49.137)
give grace. But if you get your own name at the end, then you are the assassin champion. And that's kind of the concept behind the game.

Nick Clason (03:56.461)
Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. And so like I was saying, like I was watching kids at your conference, like running around, like, you know, hiding from each other. Like one kid came up to me and was like, can you go get that girl over there? Cause she like knows like I'm coming for her, you know? So was like sort of all sort of like strategy and like gamesmanship. So how did you adapt it then for, for this one?

Andrew Jansen (04:25.688)
for sure.

Right. So I believe we did this a few years ago at the same conference with Nerf guns, but I had a whole bunch of like clothes pins at our church that we use for various things. feel like every time we need clothes pins, we just went and bought them until we had thousands of clothes pins. And I was like, we got to do something with these clothes pins. But it's funny when you act, when you're like, Hey, we talked about this assassin's game.

Nick Clason (04:35.671)
Okay.

Nick Clason (04:47.822)
hehe

Andrew Jansen (04:58.366)
It did not go the way that I was like hoping it would go or the way that I was planning it to go. I think they had fun. They had a blast. Like kids were running around like crazy, screaming, like getting really into it. We had to tell a couple of kids to calm down, which that's, I'd rather tell kids calm down than be like, Hey, come on, like get into it.

Nick Clason (05:00.046)
I'm

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:16.386)
Right, you should, yeah, you should care about this more, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (05:20.33)
Right. They were very into it. I kind of talked about it with some of the volunteer board members and kind of figured out what is something that can happen. I think of it as like a meta event. It's always just constantly in motion. Obviously, you don't want to have it happening during praise and worship time or while you're in small groups or the speaker is speaking. all that in between transition, walking around time.

Nick Clason (05:29.358)
me.

Nick Clason (05:38.647)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:42.167)
Right.

Andrew Jansen (05:49.625)
we gave students clothes pins and those clothes pins had the name of their that they wrote their name on the clothes pin and then we handed them their target clothes pin and that was the person that they were trying to go get so you had to clip on the clothes pin

Nick Clason (06:03.63)
Okay, so in theory, if every kid comes in, signs up, writes their name on a clothespin, then that's your pool of contestants. because one of the things you guys did was you didn't make this required for everyone. You're like, if you want to play, swing by the table and sign up.

Andrew Jansen (06:09.666)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (06:22.978)
For sure. Cause I mean, if you have, if you make everybody do it, you're going to have like 10 people that are just like, I'm just going to throw away this clothes pin and then they're, they're out. They're not, you're like, Hey, I got you. Where's your clothes pin? And like, I threw it away. Cause I don't care about this at all. Cause I'm a punk eighth grade student or whatever. And like, so, so it's, we wanted to make it be just, if you're, if you're interested in playing this type of game, you know, go, go sign up. We,

Nick Clason (06:37.438)
Mm. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (06:53.572)
started with them writing their own names. And then I think it turned into kids can't write at all. And like, we were like, who, what is this? What is your name? Like, it was like, my name's Steve. And I was like, that does not say Steve at all. And that is not cursive or that I don't know what font that is, but you need to practice writing. But we ended up making that list and then writing their names down.

Nick Clason (06:56.832)
Okay.

Nick Clason (07:00.972)
Yeah. What fart? geez.

Andrew Jansen (07:21.472)
And then we handed them out at lunch, I think. We made the order and we're like, OK, this student is getting this kid's name so that the list was in a circle, so to speak.

Nick Clason (07:23.872)
Okay, yeah.

Nick Clason (07:34.038)
Now, you need to like, there any, are there any like hacks that youth pastors need to think about with like assigning it or is it just like, just do it randomly and it's fine?

Andrew Jansen (07:44.993)
Yeah, I had it so that was the part that I think went that was the craziest because originally we were just write your name and on the pin and then take the neck though like the last person that wrote their name down take their clothes pin so they just were in order as they went but that got Completely they just started chucking them into a bucket and they were like I signed up and then ran away

Nick Clason (08:02.498)
Gotcha.

Andrew Jansen (08:11.928)
So I would say have that like it would be easiest to do. All right get in line Go to a sign-up station get signed up and do either alphabetical order or do the order in which you signed up is the order in which you You know like are trying to get the next person

Nick Clason (08:31.981)
Yeah. So is that, I mean, that's a pretty like administratively heavy task, right? So like if you're a youth pastor, you're running an event, you're running a retreat or a D now, like would you recommend having a really organized person facilitate some of that off to the side so that you're not having to get sucked down into the weeds on that?

Andrew Jansen (08:51.21)
Absolutely. Yeah. If you have an intern, definitely that's a great intern task is just sit there, get all the students signed up and write their names down on a clothes pin or how whatever assassin's weapon you're using. But we use like a Nerf gun, I think a few years ago, probably can't get away with rubber band anymore, but yeah.

Nick Clason (09:06.936)
Yeah.

Okay.

How did the Nerf gun work? Like how did that, like was it successful would you say? Or was clothespin like a better idea? what, cause I let one of the things, like in a couple of episodes I'm actually gonna talk to another guy and he created an AI like app for taking pictures, like an assassin picture game. So if like, if you can be confidently sure that everyone has a cell phone, that's a great opportunity, like a great way to do it. But.

Andrew Jansen (09:34.754)
Nice.

Andrew Jansen (09:38.434)
Yep. Yeah.

Nick Clason (09:40.302)
Like I like this one being analog, right? In some way, because if kids don't have phones or like whatever, they're able to still do it. How'd the Nerf gun thing like work? Like, was it confusing? Was it like, cause I would imagine if you're on the other side of the room, you get like hit by a Nerf dart. Like, do you know for sure who shot it? Like what if multiple people shot it? Like, you know what mean? Like that type of stuff. was it, was it, did it, yeah, how'd it go?

Andrew Jansen (10:06.882)
I think it went well. was, they did popsicle sticks and you had a popsicle stick with a person's name on it and you were collecting popsicle sticks. I thought it went well because if you're shooting the Nerf gun and you hit your target, you're gonna immediately go up and be like, hey, I hit you. Like that was my dart that hit you. If it's like crossfire or something like that, I mean, middle schoolers are gonna cheat for sure. Freshman boys.

Nick Clason (10:10.721)
Okay.

Nick Clason (10:17.271)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:24.835)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:31.853)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (10:35.96)
typically will be like, I've killed everybody in this room already. I'm like, no, you haven't. We haven't even started yet. that like, like, I'm like, nice try. But the, the, the nerf, I think it worked well because it, the first of all, the nerf gun was very low power. So you had to be, I think you had about five feet to, to like be able to like shoot it and, and hit them. And then, and it was also fun because

Nick Clason (10:36.738)
That's, yeah.

Ha!

Nick Clason (10:51.459)
Yeah.

There you go.

Nick Clason (10:59.938)
Right.

Andrew Jansen (11:03.192)
There was one this will haunt my dreams forever because I think it was like a junior high school girl was like carving numbers in her little plastic nerve gun with how many kids that she was like assassinating and she I think yeah, I was like Yeah, I was like Let me know when you're not in the same town that I'm in so that I can sleep well Yeah, it was terrifying but they they got into it which is they this seems to be some

Nick Clason (11:08.514)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:15.55)
my gosh. That is like what horror movies are made of, bro.

Andrew Jansen (11:32.832)
a type of game that it's a meta happening all throughout the conference, all throughout the event. And they really, really love trying to assassinate their friends.

Nick Clason (11:38.925)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:44.77)
Yeah, and if you don't have a budget for a prize for the winner, these types of events are a great way to pit churches or youth groups or small groups or color groups or however you want to break it up against each other. And you can just give 1,000 points to the winner, and 1,000 points is free for youth pastors. And then, yes. Yeah, dude.

Andrew Jansen (12:03.565)
Yes.

Yep, I love points. have unlimited points in my budget. It's great. have trillions and trillions of points.

Nick Clason (12:12.288)
It's truly the only unlimited thing we as youth pastors have access to, you know, aside from maybe Bibles that were discarded or old couches. But other than that, points are for sure unlimited. So, all right. So is there anything else, any other like pro tips that you would have if someone's like, all right, this sounds like a cool idea. You know, just something to kind of like run on in the background of my D now or my summer camp, my retreat, like.

Andrew Jansen (12:17.016)
for sure.

Nick Clason (12:40.556)
You have any pro tips that you'd give a youth pastor so that doesn't flop and fail or like to maybe help them avoid middle schoolers trying to cheat or is that just an inevitability?

Andrew Jansen (12:49.56)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they will cheat for sure. But I would say that have your like sign up sheet, your sign up, like the starting of the Assassin's Game, have that organized and fleshed out before you start, because that's the hardest part of getting that train to leave the station is just getting every student signed up and then assigning who their target is in a way that allows it to go like.

Nick Clason (12:53.666)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:09.902)
Mm.

Andrew Jansen (13:17.068)
Number one has number two and then all the way through like number 50 has number one. Because if you get off in that process, then you're going to get like someone's going to go, I won because I got my own name. And then you're like, no, how do I fix this? got switched? What got swapped? What happened?

Nick Clason (13:20.588)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:35.358)
Is there, so is there no mathematical way for them to get their own name until they win? Like is that how it should work? I'm like, I'm not a statistician, so I'm not over here able to like think of this on the fly. So, okay, so there's no possible way for them, like if they get their own name and they didn't win, it's messed up somehow, yeah. Yeah, cause I did remember seeing the guy behind the desk, cause it wasn't you.

Andrew Jansen (13:42.508)
That's how it should work. If you number them...

Andrew Jansen (13:53.997)
Something, yeah, something messed up. Yep. So I would say do that either.

Nick Clason (14:02.434)
But the guy behind the desk, he was like, way to just throw him under the bus. I was trying not to do that. But he was like, like I just saw him like an internal like moment of panic when like some people were like giving him things. He's like, that's, that might not be right. Like that right there was like, this game seems amazing and intricate, but like that moment, like every youth pastor has been there where they have an amazing game. And then there's that moment of panic where they're like thinking, crap, I, something isn't working right.

Andrew Jansen (14:02.614)
Yeah, it was Dawson. Yeah, he's a great guy.

Andrew Jansen (14:15.735)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (14:31.998)
Mm-hmm. for sure. No, loved Dawson was a youth leader of mine and he you know He's a youth pastor at the church that I was at. So no, I love Dawson. He did a great job It's my fault. I didn't lead him well in executing those things. So it's all it's all on me No, it was it definitely there's a moment of panic when a group of students are like, hey I got like my friend like my friend and I got each other's names and we're not

Nick Clason (14:46.798)
There you go.

Andrew Jansen (15:00.396)
the first and last person. And that was all the, that was all the clothes pins were jumbled up in a bin and we did not have a good like start and then like sign up the way, like the best, not, not that it wasn't good. We just didn't have the best version of that that we could have, could have rolled out. And then I would say that one of the reasons why it didn't go exactly the way we had hoped was we had flag football.

Nick Clason (15:02.349)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:12.556)
Right.

Nick Clason (15:16.93)
Right, Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (15:29.944)
and open gym at another location during that free time where they could play assassins. So a quarter of the conference was over at the gyms and everybody that was playing assassins that didn't want to go play flag football or open gym was at our church. And they, if you got a name of somebody that was over there, you couldn't like, was like, well, it was raining.

Nick Clason (15:33.41)
Mm.

Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:56.558)
Mmm.

Andrew Jansen (15:58.999)
They, if you weren't over there, yeah, it was a little bit too far to walk, especially in the rain. So it, that, was one of the things of making sure you have an extended free time where you're not like off on different locations or different parts of town or anything like that, where you have like, if you're at a camp where everybody's on campgrounds, it's a good game to play throughout the week or like we're doing a lock-in for New Year's Eve.

Nick Clason (16:00.104)
It was like too far to walk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (16:16.408)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (16:22.112)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (16:27.03)
And we're doing this, we're actually doing, I'm doing the Assassin's Game with the students at the lock-in when we're gonna try to revamp and correct some of the things that we noticed that did not quite go as planned.

Nick Clason (16:33.902)
There you go.

Nick Clason (16:39.926)
Okay, so that's a great, that's a great, so like the things you're talking about is like making sure you have it like the sign up and the assignments of who gets who a little more fleshed out, right? Like that was one of the things you talked about. Are you doing it with clothes pins or like how are you playing at your lock-in?

Andrew Jansen (16:48.641)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (16:58.616)
Yeah, I still have, we have 900 clothes pins instead of a thousand. we're still looking to get rid of some of those clothes pins. But I think it'll work out well because it's gonna be a smaller group. We're not gonna have 250 students that are running around like crazy. So we're gonna have them sign up. I have a list of all of-

Nick Clason (17:18.456)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (17:27.008)
I know these students because they're my students. So I'm going to have like some options and a set chunk of time where they can really, you know, get after it and assassinate their friends with clothespins.

Nick Clason (17:30.402)
That helps, yeah.

Nick Clason (17:35.884)
Yeah. Yeah.

Now, is this a game that you could envision happening? Like if someone wanted to do this over like the course of like a week long summer camp, let's say like a three, four, five day summer camp. Can it last that long? Do you think or does it need to be like a quicker spur?

Andrew Jansen (17:51.33)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (17:59.001)
I think the more time you have, the better it can go because then you can be a little bit more methodical. People can get into it. I've seen people army crawl through like cafeteria chairs to like get there like is here's another hack for the game. Make sure you let them know what parts of the body are allowed to get assassinated or not because obviously we don't want

Nick Clason (18:02.008)
Okay.

Nick Clason (18:10.13)
Hehe.

Nick Clason (18:14.059)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (18:28.238)
Probably good, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (18:29.036)
to, yeah, we don't want to have a horrible situation with some clothes pins or whatever you're using. Definitely the rubber band game needed that. I saw kids like army crawling through cafeteria chairs to like slowly go get their friends like shirt sleeve because it was throughout the week instead of just that like five or six hours over the weekend of the conference where they could play. So I think it lasts for sure. At least two days.

Nick Clason (18:36.895)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:47.032)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:51.629)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:55.894)
Yeah. So then on like a game, so then on like a gameplay side, like if you, like if you assassinate someone, you get their clothes pin. So you're only at any given moment. You're only carrying around one, right? Like you don't, you don't walk around with like a big handful of clothes pins at any moment. So that way, cause you, bring it back to like home base or whatever to let someone know like this person's out.

Andrew Jansen (19:15.734)
No. Yep.

Andrew Jansen (19:22.978)
Yeah, and that lets the person that's doing the sign up and has that list allows them to kind of see like, okay, this person's making their way through all of these people. And you kind of can tell like, okay, and you know, if somebody loses a pin, you have a better chance of going, that was this person. They lost their pin at this point and you can just write the next person's name and give them that pin.

Nick Clason (19:32.226)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (19:47.052)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, nice. All right, anything else that someone who's trying to do this needs to think through or that you learned seeing it be done?

Andrew Jansen (20:01.362)
For sure. I would say the two quick things that we didn't really touch on is clear boundaries, like out of bounds, when they can and cannot assassinate somebody is really important. Obviously, hearing about Jesus and praising Jesus through worship music takes precedent over the praising Jesus through fun. I mean, it's still praising Jesus. It's just a different

Nick Clason (20:09.132)
Mm.

Nick Clason (20:23.266)
The game, yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (20:28.268)
way that we're doing that and we want to have Jesus be the main thing. So making sure that they're not assassinating each other during small group time, praise and worship time, or any of the main session type times is important. So let them know like, hey, we're only doing this during free time, lunchtime, game time, whatever. And have like, I would say have like lights out if you're at a camp for a week. Like, hey, once it's lights out, would.

Nick Clason (20:38.231)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (20:56.972)
That's just, you're asking for trouble. Like, Hey, why were you in the girls dorm? I was trying to get her like, no, like that's we're not playing at night time. So I would say that would be one. And then making sure like the, out of bounds, like, Hey, we're not, you're not going to be off camp property. You're not going to be off church property. No, you cannot get on the roof. No, you cannot crawl through the drainage pipes and like all of those usual things. Like what can I like,

Nick Clason (20:57.09)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (21:02.917)
Yeah

Andrew Jansen (21:24.16)
latch on underneath the church van and then crawl onto the windshield and like I'm like no what you're gonna die that thing that's don't do that. They get really into it so making sure that you you kind of have those you know outlines of like what the boundaries are for both like physical where they can play the game and then also the times in which they play the game.

Nick Clason (21:29.102)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (21:44.364)
Right. Yeah, that's good. It's Nice. And you mentioned that you're going to play this at your lock-in, most any now, how many years have you been youth ministry again, Andrew? So most youth pastors who have at least hit the 10 year mark in youth ministry are team anti lock-in, but for some incredibly weird reason, your team pro lock-in.

Andrew Jansen (21:52.769)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (21:59.513)
Ten years.

Andrew Jansen (22:13.342)
I am pro. Pro lock-in. Yes.

Nick Clason (22:13.492)
And so, yeah. So as I said at the beginning, you have a completely free lock-in guide planning sheet down below. If any one of you is insane enough to do a lock-in like Andrew, this can help you. I will not be a customer of this sheet, but I will let other people know that it exists.

Andrew Jansen (22:23.17)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (22:38.434)
For sure. Yeah. And it, it's just everything that I've learned over the years. I love lock-ins. we did lock-ins at, in our youth group growing up, think almost every year are I'm from Wichita, Kansas. And we had a big like Wichita area citywide lock-in with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of students that would, sign up for all of this crazy stuff. So, this is just all the stuff that I've learned kind of, some hacks, both attending a lock-in, putting on a lock-in.

Nick Clason (22:57.901)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (23:08.188)
And I've added some things to it over the years. So yeah, if anybody has any questions, they can email me or reach out to you and you can give them my info or whatever. But it's really helpful.

Nick Clason (23:11.948)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (23:22.156)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right, man. Well, yeah, dude, go for it. Give a give a little bit. Give a give like a sneak peek.

Andrew Jansen (23:26.232)
Do you want me to talk about it or is that good? For sure. A sneak peek. one of the...

Nick Clason (23:35.47)
But don't give it all away, because we still want them to go get it, you know what I mean? So like, make it a big old teaser, like cliffhanger, of ultimate proportions.

Andrew Jansen (23:39.764)
Absolutely. For sure.

So first of all, shout out to my wife for making it look super amazing and incredible because honestly, yeah, she's amazing. I wish that I would hire her tomorrow if that were possible.

Nick Clason (23:49.112)
Dude, your wife is, this shirt right here, your wife designed. Yeah.

Yeah, she...

Yeah, but she works for you for free, so why would you do that?

Andrew Jansen (24:02.082)
That's true. It's not for free. do. I have to like rubber feet and like get her food and take, make sure she's locked in on all that stuff. speaking of lock-ins, the, the number one hack from my lock-in survival guide, and this is an exhaustive or, perfect in any way, there's definitely stuff that can be added to it. But I would say that at the end of the night, I always start with, or end with a movie after cleanup.

Nick Clason (24:06.286)
there you go. Yeah.

Nick Clason (24:30.582)
Yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (24:31.692)
Because once you clean up, you get through all of the things, you're exhausted, you're tired. Hey everybody, it's time to clean up. And then by 5 a.m., 6 a.m., whenever you're winding down the final hours of a lock-in where your body is running on Monster Energy Drink and Tylenol mostly, then you can really let them say they're gonna watch the whole movie and they will probably fall asleep.

So you cut out quite a bit of lock in time where it's still like you give your leaders a break. You can get breakfast stuff ready to go if you want to do breakfast, but always do clean up, everybody clean up. And then we're going to go watch a movie. And that really helps. It's still fun. There's still those crazy kids that are like, I just drink four Mountain Dew Code Reds. How am going to sit still during this movie? And they're still like able to have something engaging, but most of the kids will nap and parents will show up and it's just a win.

Nick Clason (25:01.728)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:28.75)
Bro, a code red doesn't even touch like your level of tiredness at 5 a.m. if you haven't slept. Like I don't care how wired up on sugar you are. And then there's always those kids, right, that it's over. like, I watched the whole thing. It's like, no you didn't, bro. You were snoring logs over there. Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (25:37.095)
yeah.

Andrew Jansen (25:44.886)
Yep, yeah. How did you watch the whole thing where you were completely submerged under chairs and blanket and pillow? yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:51.03)
What's that drool next to your face? What's that from? Is that from your code red? Yeah, no, I've done that before. I have done lock-ins, to be clear. I always end with the movie as well. It's the best way to just calm everybody down and just get to the finish line. That's what that's called. It's called survive and advance onto the finish line. Nice, dude. Well, hey.

Andrew Jansen (26:04.682)
Mm-hmm. yeah.

Andrew Jansen (26:12.514)
survive in advance. I love it.

Nick Clason (26:16.726)
I appreciate you hopping on. If you're listening, like go grab Andrew's Locket Guide, play Assassin, let us know, let him know if you did it and what other hacks you might have down below in the comments. until next time, my friends, thanks for being here. See ya.

]]> In this episode I sit down and share the entire inspiration for this D-Now, Winter Retreat & Summer Camp on-going games with my friend, Andrew Jansen.
Andrew is a 10+ year youth worker, and his assassin game sparked this entire podcast mini-series.
He expains his creative (and super CHEAP) adaptation to this game.
Plus! Andrew shared his lock-in survival guide for FREE!

Andrew's Lock-in Guide:
https://www.patreon.com/posts/10-year-veterans-146449370?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Assassin Game with Clothes Pins
03:41 Social Media While You’re Busy
05:02 Assassin Game Rules
06:20 Ways to Play the Game
09:31 Pro-Tips
13:42 No Prize? No Problem - Do this!
14:30 Pro-Tip #2
18:52 How are you going to play, moving forward?
19:37 Could you play this game at summer camp?
21:50 Two Final Assassin Rules to Follow
23:47 FREE Lock-in Survival Guide

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:01.378)
Well, what's up everybody? I'm here with Andrew. Andrew, how you doing this morning, bro?

Andrew Jansen (00:07.725)
doing good. God is good. It's a good morning. Getting into my emails and excited to talk about the game thing that you want to talk to me about.

Nick Clason (00:17.39)
Yeah. I'm glad, like, I hope that talking about the game thing is more exciting than your emails. That's, that's, that's my hope for all of this. Um, but yeah. So I, you know, I, you and I, we've known each other for a couple of years now, mostly through zoom, but we've hung out two times in person. And one of the times that we hung out in person, I was at your church. Um,

Andrew Jansen (00:26.057)
I hope so too. Yeah. Definitely.

Nick Clason (00:44.974)
Helping you out with like a like a retreat conference. What would you call that thing? It's a conference, right?

Andrew Jansen (00:51.297)
Yeah, it's like a student conference between like 250, 500 people give or take which year you're at the conference. Yeah.

Nick Clason (00:58.21)
Yeah, that's a big, that's a big range. But one of the things that you guys did that I loved was you had this game happening in the background of the conference, I guess. It wasn't like a stage game, though you had stage games. It wasn't like a big thing that in the main general session that took a lot of time, if any time.

Like aside from maybe just like explaining the rules. it was like, it was this like assassin type game. tell me, like just explain to the people. Cause what I loved about it was that it was an activity to do in the margins and ongoingly throughout the weekend that kind of kept you, kept students engaged and having something, you know, to kind of like focus on and do like above and beyond just like all the normal conference attend attending like stuff. So.

Andrew Jansen (01:33.39)
Yes.

Nick Clason (01:55.478)
Where did this idea come from? How did it go? Like, let's talk about it.

Andrew Jansen (01:56.152)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (02:00.139)
Yes, so like all great ideas, I stole it from, I believe we played this game in my youth ministry growing up. So my youth pastor, question mark, shout out Jake Lindhart. He's a great youth pastor. But I'm sure he stole that from somebody as well before him, but it's the original game was played with rubber bands and you would like, you would like snap a rubber band on. So I grew up in the nineties.

Nick Clason (02:18.446)
Yeah

Nick Clason (02:24.568)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (02:29.701)
early 2000s youth group era where we did all kinds of things that would get you fired nowadays, but where you would literally snap people with rubber bands and if you snapped them while they weren't looking, then they were assassinated and they would give you their name that they had been given at the start of the game.

Nick Clason (02:34.67)
Okay.

Nick Clason (02:43.04)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (02:50.432)
Was their name like their name or a name of like another person?

Andrew Jansen (02:54.145)
It's the name. So let me let's explain the game real quick. And then we can kind of go into the like a little bit more of like what we change rules, that kind of stuff. So the game is essentially everybody signs up and then you take everybody and write their name down and then you assign their name to somebody besides them. It's easier to make a list and kind of just go like numbered.

Nick Clason (02:57.805)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:05.272)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:20.024)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (03:23.693)
And like, so number one would have name number two. And then if you have 50 students, number 50 would have number one. And the goal is to assassinate that person and a bit like you win if you get your own name. So that's the, like if you get handed your own name and you've been playing it for a while and it's not like the first person you kill and something that just means your youth pastor messed up and that's okay.

Nick Clason (03:27.181)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:31.694)
Okay.

Nick Clason (03:39.426)
Okay.

Andrew Jansen (03:49.137)
give grace. But if you get your own name at the end, then you are the assassin champion. And that's kind of the concept behind the game.

Nick Clason (03:56.461)
Yeah.

Okay. Yeah. Gotcha. And so like I was saying, like I was watching kids at your conference, like running around, like, you know, hiding from each other. Like one kid came up to me and was like, can you go get that girl over there? Cause she like knows like I'm coming for her, you know? So was like sort of all sort of like strategy and like gamesmanship. So how did you adapt it then for, for this one?

Andrew Jansen (04:25.688)
for sure.

Right. So I believe we did this a few years ago at the same conference with Nerf guns, but I had a whole bunch of like clothes pins at our church that we use for various things. feel like every time we need clothes pins, we just went and bought them until we had thousands of clothes pins. And I was like, we got to do something with these clothes pins. But it's funny when you act, when you're like, Hey, we talked about this assassin's game.

Nick Clason (04:35.671)
Okay.

Nick Clason (04:47.822)
hehe

Andrew Jansen (04:58.366)
It did not go the way that I was like hoping it would go or the way that I was planning it to go. I think they had fun. They had a blast. Like kids were running around like crazy, screaming, like getting really into it. We had to tell a couple of kids to calm down, which that's, I'd rather tell kids calm down than be like, Hey, come on, like get into it.

Nick Clason (05:00.046)
I'm

Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:16.386)
Right, you should, yeah, you should care about this more, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (05:20.33)
Right. They were very into it. I kind of talked about it with some of the volunteer board members and kind of figured out what is something that can happen. I think of it as like a meta event. It's always just constantly in motion. Obviously, you don't want to have it happening during praise and worship time or while you're in small groups or the speaker is speaking. all that in between transition, walking around time.

Nick Clason (05:29.358)
me.

Nick Clason (05:38.647)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:42.167)
Right.

Andrew Jansen (05:49.625)
we gave students clothes pins and those clothes pins had the name of their that they wrote their name on the clothes pin and then we handed them their target clothes pin and that was the person that they were trying to go get so you had to clip on the clothes pin

Nick Clason (06:03.63)
Okay, so in theory, if every kid comes in, signs up, writes their name on a clothespin, then that's your pool of contestants. because one of the things you guys did was you didn't make this required for everyone. You're like, if you want to play, swing by the table and sign up.

Andrew Jansen (06:09.666)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (06:22.978)
For sure. Cause I mean, if you have, if you make everybody do it, you're going to have like 10 people that are just like, I'm just going to throw away this clothes pin and then they're, they're out. They're not, you're like, Hey, I got you. Where's your clothes pin? And like, I threw it away. Cause I don't care about this at all. Cause I'm a punk eighth grade student or whatever. And like, so, so it's, we wanted to make it be just, if you're, if you're interested in playing this type of game, you know, go, go sign up. We,

Nick Clason (06:37.438)
Mm. Yeah.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (06:53.572)
started with them writing their own names. And then I think it turned into kids can't write at all. And like, we were like, who, what is this? What is your name? Like, it was like, my name's Steve. And I was like, that does not say Steve at all. And that is not cursive or that I don't know what font that is, but you need to practice writing. But we ended up making that list and then writing their names down.

Nick Clason (06:56.832)
Okay.

Nick Clason (07:00.972)
Yeah. What fart? geez.

Andrew Jansen (07:21.472)
And then we handed them out at lunch, I think. We made the order and we're like, OK, this student is getting this kid's name so that the list was in a circle, so to speak.

Nick Clason (07:23.872)
Okay, yeah.

Nick Clason (07:34.038)
Now, you need to like, there any, are there any like hacks that youth pastors need to think about with like assigning it or is it just like, just do it randomly and it's fine?

Andrew Jansen (07:44.993)
Yeah, I had it so that was the part that I think went that was the craziest because originally we were just write your name and on the pin and then take the neck though like the last person that wrote their name down take their clothes pin so they just were in order as they went but that got Completely they just started chucking them into a bucket and they were like I signed up and then ran away

Nick Clason (08:02.498)
Gotcha.

Andrew Jansen (08:11.928)
So I would say have that like it would be easiest to do. All right get in line Go to a sign-up station get signed up and do either alphabetical order or do the order in which you signed up is the order in which you You know like are trying to get the next person

Nick Clason (08:31.981)
Yeah. So is that, I mean, that's a pretty like administratively heavy task, right? So like if you're a youth pastor, you're running an event, you're running a retreat or a D now, like would you recommend having a really organized person facilitate some of that off to the side so that you're not having to get sucked down into the weeds on that?

Andrew Jansen (08:51.21)
Absolutely. Yeah. If you have an intern, definitely that's a great intern task is just sit there, get all the students signed up and write their names down on a clothes pin or how whatever assassin's weapon you're using. But we use like a Nerf gun, I think a few years ago, probably can't get away with rubber band anymore, but yeah.

Nick Clason (09:06.936)
Yeah.

Okay.

How did the Nerf gun work? Like how did that, like was it successful would you say? Or was clothespin like a better idea? what, cause I let one of the things, like in a couple of episodes I'm actually gonna talk to another guy and he created an AI like app for taking pictures, like an assassin picture game. So if like, if you can be confidently sure that everyone has a cell phone, that's a great opportunity, like a great way to do it. But.

Andrew Jansen (09:34.754)
Nice.

Andrew Jansen (09:38.434)
Yep. Yeah.

Nick Clason (09:40.302)
Like I like this one being analog, right? In some way, because if kids don't have phones or like whatever, they're able to still do it. How'd the Nerf gun thing like work? Like, was it confusing? Was it like, cause I would imagine if you're on the other side of the room, you get like hit by a Nerf dart. Like, do you know for sure who shot it? Like what if multiple people shot it? Like, you know what mean? Like that type of stuff. was it, was it, did it, yeah, how'd it go?

Andrew Jansen (10:06.882)
I think it went well. was, they did popsicle sticks and you had a popsicle stick with a person's name on it and you were collecting popsicle sticks. I thought it went well because if you're shooting the Nerf gun and you hit your target, you're gonna immediately go up and be like, hey, I hit you. Like that was my dart that hit you. If it's like crossfire or something like that, I mean, middle schoolers are gonna cheat for sure. Freshman boys.

Nick Clason (10:10.721)
Okay.

Nick Clason (10:17.271)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:24.835)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:31.853)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (10:35.96)
typically will be like, I've killed everybody in this room already. I'm like, no, you haven't. We haven't even started yet. that like, like, I'm like, nice try. But the, the, the nerf, I think it worked well because it, the first of all, the nerf gun was very low power. So you had to be, I think you had about five feet to, to like be able to like shoot it and, and hit them. And then, and it was also fun because

Nick Clason (10:36.738)
That's, yeah.

Ha!

Nick Clason (10:51.459)
Yeah.

There you go.

Nick Clason (10:59.938)
Right.

Andrew Jansen (11:03.192)
There was one this will haunt my dreams forever because I think it was like a junior high school girl was like carving numbers in her little plastic nerve gun with how many kids that she was like assassinating and she I think yeah, I was like Yeah, I was like Let me know when you're not in the same town that I'm in so that I can sleep well Yeah, it was terrifying but they they got into it which is they this seems to be some

Nick Clason (11:08.514)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:15.55)
my gosh. That is like what horror movies are made of, bro.

Andrew Jansen (11:32.832)
a type of game that it's a meta happening all throughout the conference, all throughout the event. And they really, really love trying to assassinate their friends.

Nick Clason (11:38.925)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:44.77)
Yeah, and if you don't have a budget for a prize for the winner, these types of events are a great way to pit churches or youth groups or small groups or color groups or however you want to break it up against each other. And you can just give 1,000 points to the winner, and 1,000 points is free for youth pastors. And then, yes. Yeah, dude.

Andrew Jansen (12:03.565)
Yes.

Yep, I love points. have unlimited points in my budget. It's great. have trillions and trillions of points.

Nick Clason (12:12.288)
It's truly the only unlimited thing we as youth pastors have access to, you know, aside from maybe Bibles that were discarded or old couches. But other than that, points are for sure unlimited. So, all right. So is there anything else, any other like pro tips that you would have if someone's like, all right, this sounds like a cool idea. You know, just something to kind of like run on in the background of my D now or my summer camp, my retreat, like.

Andrew Jansen (12:17.016)
for sure.

Nick Clason (12:40.556)
You have any pro tips that you'd give a youth pastor so that doesn't flop and fail or like to maybe help them avoid middle schoolers trying to cheat or is that just an inevitability?

Andrew Jansen (12:49.56)
Yeah. Yeah. I mean, they will cheat for sure. But I would say that have your like sign up sheet, your sign up, like the starting of the Assassin's Game, have that organized and fleshed out before you start, because that's the hardest part of getting that train to leave the station is just getting every student signed up and then assigning who their target is in a way that allows it to go like.

Nick Clason (12:53.666)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:09.902)
Mm.

Andrew Jansen (13:17.068)
Number one has number two and then all the way through like number 50 has number one. Because if you get off in that process, then you're going to get like someone's going to go, I won because I got my own name. And then you're like, no, how do I fix this? got switched? What got swapped? What happened?

Nick Clason (13:20.588)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:35.358)
Is there, so is there no mathematical way for them to get their own name until they win? Like is that how it should work? I'm like, I'm not a statistician, so I'm not over here able to like think of this on the fly. So, okay, so there's no possible way for them, like if they get their own name and they didn't win, it's messed up somehow, yeah. Yeah, cause I did remember seeing the guy behind the desk, cause it wasn't you.

Andrew Jansen (13:42.508)
That's how it should work. If you number them...

Andrew Jansen (13:53.997)
Something, yeah, something messed up. Yep. So I would say do that either.

Nick Clason (14:02.434)
But the guy behind the desk, he was like, way to just throw him under the bus. I was trying not to do that. But he was like, like I just saw him like an internal like moment of panic when like some people were like giving him things. He's like, that's, that might not be right. Like that right there was like, this game seems amazing and intricate, but like that moment, like every youth pastor has been there where they have an amazing game. And then there's that moment of panic where they're like thinking, crap, I, something isn't working right.

Andrew Jansen (14:02.614)
Yeah, it was Dawson. Yeah, he's a great guy.

Andrew Jansen (14:15.735)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (14:31.998)
Mm-hmm. for sure. No, loved Dawson was a youth leader of mine and he you know He's a youth pastor at the church that I was at. So no, I love Dawson. He did a great job It's my fault. I didn't lead him well in executing those things. So it's all it's all on me No, it was it definitely there's a moment of panic when a group of students are like, hey I got like my friend like my friend and I got each other's names and we're not

Nick Clason (14:46.798)
There you go.

Andrew Jansen (15:00.396)
the first and last person. And that was all the, that was all the clothes pins were jumbled up in a bin and we did not have a good like start and then like sign up the way, like the best, not, not that it wasn't good. We just didn't have the best version of that that we could have, could have rolled out. And then I would say that one of the reasons why it didn't go exactly the way we had hoped was we had flag football.

Nick Clason (15:02.349)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:12.556)
Right.

Nick Clason (15:16.93)
Right, Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (15:29.944)
and open gym at another location during that free time where they could play assassins. So a quarter of the conference was over at the gyms and everybody that was playing assassins that didn't want to go play flag football or open gym was at our church. And they, if you got a name of somebody that was over there, you couldn't like, was like, well, it was raining.

Nick Clason (15:33.41)
Mm.

Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:56.558)
Mmm.

Andrew Jansen (15:58.999)
They, if you weren't over there, yeah, it was a little bit too far to walk, especially in the rain. So it, that, was one of the things of making sure you have an extended free time where you're not like off on different locations or different parts of town or anything like that, where you have like, if you're at a camp where everybody's on campgrounds, it's a good game to play throughout the week or like we're doing a lock-in for New Year's Eve.

Nick Clason (16:00.104)
It was like too far to walk. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (16:16.408)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (16:22.112)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (16:27.03)
And we're doing this, we're actually doing, I'm doing the Assassin's Game with the students at the lock-in when we're gonna try to revamp and correct some of the things that we noticed that did not quite go as planned.

Nick Clason (16:33.902)
There you go.

Nick Clason (16:39.926)
Okay, so that's a great, that's a great, so like the things you're talking about is like making sure you have it like the sign up and the assignments of who gets who a little more fleshed out, right? Like that was one of the things you talked about. Are you doing it with clothes pins or like how are you playing at your lock-in?

Andrew Jansen (16:48.641)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (16:58.616)
Yeah, I still have, we have 900 clothes pins instead of a thousand. we're still looking to get rid of some of those clothes pins. But I think it'll work out well because it's gonna be a smaller group. We're not gonna have 250 students that are running around like crazy. So we're gonna have them sign up. I have a list of all of-

Nick Clason (17:18.456)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (17:27.008)
I know these students because they're my students. So I'm going to have like some options and a set chunk of time where they can really, you know, get after it and assassinate their friends with clothespins.

Nick Clason (17:30.402)
That helps, yeah.

Nick Clason (17:35.884)
Yeah. Yeah.

Now, is this a game that you could envision happening? Like if someone wanted to do this over like the course of like a week long summer camp, let's say like a three, four, five day summer camp. Can it last that long? Do you think or does it need to be like a quicker spur?

Andrew Jansen (17:51.33)
Mm-hmm.

Andrew Jansen (17:59.001)
I think the more time you have, the better it can go because then you can be a little bit more methodical. People can get into it. I've seen people army crawl through like cafeteria chairs to like get there like is here's another hack for the game. Make sure you let them know what parts of the body are allowed to get assassinated or not because obviously we don't want

Nick Clason (18:02.008)
Okay.

Nick Clason (18:10.13)
Hehe.

Nick Clason (18:14.059)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (18:28.238)
Probably good, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (18:29.036)
to, yeah, we don't want to have a horrible situation with some clothes pins or whatever you're using. Definitely the rubber band game needed that. I saw kids like army crawling through cafeteria chairs to like slowly go get their friends like shirt sleeve because it was throughout the week instead of just that like five or six hours over the weekend of the conference where they could play. So I think it lasts for sure. At least two days.

Nick Clason (18:36.895)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:47.032)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:51.629)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:55.894)
Yeah. So then on like a game, so then on like a gameplay side, like if you, like if you assassinate someone, you get their clothes pin. So you're only at any given moment. You're only carrying around one, right? Like you don't, you don't walk around with like a big handful of clothes pins at any moment. So that way, cause you, bring it back to like home base or whatever to let someone know like this person's out.

Andrew Jansen (19:15.734)
No. Yep.

Andrew Jansen (19:22.978)
Yeah, and that lets the person that's doing the sign up and has that list allows them to kind of see like, okay, this person's making their way through all of these people. And you kind of can tell like, okay, and you know, if somebody loses a pin, you have a better chance of going, that was this person. They lost their pin at this point and you can just write the next person's name and give them that pin.

Nick Clason (19:32.226)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (19:47.052)
Yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, nice. All right, anything else that someone who's trying to do this needs to think through or that you learned seeing it be done?

Andrew Jansen (20:01.362)
For sure. I would say the two quick things that we didn't really touch on is clear boundaries, like out of bounds, when they can and cannot assassinate somebody is really important. Obviously, hearing about Jesus and praising Jesus through worship music takes precedent over the praising Jesus through fun. I mean, it's still praising Jesus. It's just a different

Nick Clason (20:09.132)
Mm.

Nick Clason (20:23.266)
The game, yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (20:28.268)
way that we're doing that and we want to have Jesus be the main thing. So making sure that they're not assassinating each other during small group time, praise and worship time, or any of the main session type times is important. So let them know like, hey, we're only doing this during free time, lunchtime, game time, whatever. And have like, I would say have like lights out if you're at a camp for a week. Like, hey, once it's lights out, would.

Nick Clason (20:38.231)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (20:56.972)
That's just, you're asking for trouble. Like, Hey, why were you in the girls dorm? I was trying to get her like, no, like that's we're not playing at night time. So I would say that would be one. And then making sure like the, out of bounds, like, Hey, we're not, you're not going to be off camp property. You're not going to be off church property. No, you cannot get on the roof. No, you cannot crawl through the drainage pipes and like all of those usual things. Like what can I like,

Nick Clason (20:57.09)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (21:02.917)
Yeah

Andrew Jansen (21:24.16)
latch on underneath the church van and then crawl onto the windshield and like I'm like no what you're gonna die that thing that's don't do that. They get really into it so making sure that you you kind of have those you know outlines of like what the boundaries are for both like physical where they can play the game and then also the times in which they play the game.

Nick Clason (21:29.102)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (21:44.364)
Right. Yeah, that's good. It's Nice. And you mentioned that you're going to play this at your lock-in, most any now, how many years have you been youth ministry again, Andrew? So most youth pastors who have at least hit the 10 year mark in youth ministry are team anti lock-in, but for some incredibly weird reason, your team pro lock-in.

Andrew Jansen (21:52.769)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (21:59.513)
Ten years.

Andrew Jansen (22:13.342)
I am pro. Pro lock-in. Yes.

Nick Clason (22:13.492)
And so, yeah. So as I said at the beginning, you have a completely free lock-in guide planning sheet down below. If any one of you is insane enough to do a lock-in like Andrew, this can help you. I will not be a customer of this sheet, but I will let other people know that it exists.

Andrew Jansen (22:23.17)
Yes.

Andrew Jansen (22:38.434)
For sure. Yeah. And it, it's just everything that I've learned over the years. I love lock-ins. we did lock-ins at, in our youth group growing up, think almost every year are I'm from Wichita, Kansas. And we had a big like Wichita area citywide lock-in with hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of students that would, sign up for all of this crazy stuff. So, this is just all the stuff that I've learned kind of, some hacks, both attending a lock-in, putting on a lock-in.

Nick Clason (22:57.901)
Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (23:08.188)
And I've added some things to it over the years. So yeah, if anybody has any questions, they can email me or reach out to you and you can give them my info or whatever. But it's really helpful.

Nick Clason (23:11.948)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (23:22.156)
Yeah. Yeah, for sure. All right, man. Well, yeah, dude, go for it. Give a give a little bit. Give a give like a sneak peek.

Andrew Jansen (23:26.232)
Do you want me to talk about it or is that good? For sure. A sneak peek. one of the...

Nick Clason (23:35.47)
But don't give it all away, because we still want them to go get it, you know what I mean? So like, make it a big old teaser, like cliffhanger, of ultimate proportions.

Andrew Jansen (23:39.764)
Absolutely. For sure.

So first of all, shout out to my wife for making it look super amazing and incredible because honestly, yeah, she's amazing. I wish that I would hire her tomorrow if that were possible.

Nick Clason (23:49.112)
Dude, your wife is, this shirt right here, your wife designed. Yeah.

Yeah, she...

Yeah, but she works for you for free, so why would you do that?

Andrew Jansen (24:02.082)
That's true. It's not for free. do. I have to like rubber feet and like get her food and take, make sure she's locked in on all that stuff. speaking of lock-ins, the, the number one hack from my lock-in survival guide, and this is an exhaustive or, perfect in any way, there's definitely stuff that can be added to it. But I would say that at the end of the night, I always start with, or end with a movie after cleanup.

Nick Clason (24:06.286)
there you go. Yeah.

Nick Clason (24:30.582)
Yeah. Yeah.

Andrew Jansen (24:31.692)
Because once you clean up, you get through all of the things, you're exhausted, you're tired. Hey everybody, it's time to clean up. And then by 5 a.m., 6 a.m., whenever you're winding down the final hours of a lock-in where your body is running on Monster Energy Drink and Tylenol mostly, then you can really let them say they're gonna watch the whole movie and they will probably fall asleep.

So you cut out quite a bit of lock in time where it's still like you give your leaders a break. You can get breakfast stuff ready to go if you want to do breakfast, but always do clean up, everybody clean up. And then we're going to go watch a movie. And that really helps. It's still fun. There's still those crazy kids that are like, I just drink four Mountain Dew Code Reds. How am going to sit still during this movie? And they're still like able to have something engaging, but most of the kids will nap and parents will show up and it's just a win.

Nick Clason (25:01.728)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:28.75)
Bro, a code red doesn't even touch like your level of tiredness at 5 a.m. if you haven't slept. Like I don't care how wired up on sugar you are. And then there's always those kids, right, that it's over. like, I watched the whole thing. It's like, no you didn't, bro. You were snoring logs over there. Yeah, yeah.

Andrew Jansen (25:37.095)
yeah.

Andrew Jansen (25:44.886)
Yep, yeah. How did you watch the whole thing where you were completely submerged under chairs and blanket and pillow? yeah. Right. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:51.03)
What's that drool next to your face? What's that from? Is that from your code red? Yeah, no, I've done that before. I have done lock-ins, to be clear. I always end with the movie as well. It's the best way to just calm everybody down and just get to the finish line. That's what that's called. It's called survive and advance onto the finish line. Nice, dude. Well, hey.

Andrew Jansen (26:04.682)
Mm-hmm. yeah.

Andrew Jansen (26:12.514)
survive in advance. I love it.

Nick Clason (26:16.726)
I appreciate you hopping on. If you're listening, like go grab Andrew's Locket Guide, play Assassin, let us know, let him know if you did it and what other hacks you might have down below in the comments. until next time, my friends, thanks for being here. See ya.

]]> Episode 183: Multi-Day Youth Group Game for Winter Retreats & DNows (Rules, Setup, & Free Files) https://www.hybridministry.xyz/183 3472ad85-ae11-45ee-b285-ac8a9748bb23 Thu, 08 Jan 2026 05:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 183 Multi-Day Youth Group Game for Winter Retreats & DNows (Rules, Setup, & Free Files) full Nick Clason In this special, interview style episode, Nick Clason sits down with Jay Reynolds to discuss a game concept that Jay used for every session during a recent Winter Retreat. This video is just in time for DNow season where you can program games that build over multiple days and can last the duration of your entire winter retreat, summer camp or disciple now event! Jay shares next level expert tips to make sure you win! 29:06 no In this special, interview style episode, Nick Clason sits down with Jay Reynolds to discuss a game concept that Jay used for every session during a recent Winter Retreat. This video is just in time for DNow season where you can program games that build over multiple days and can last the duration of your entire winter retreat, summer camp or disciple now event! Jay shares next level expert tips to make sure you win! BECOME A HYBRID HERO https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry ❄️ WINTER SOCIAL MEDIA PACK https://www.patreon.com/posts/winter-seasonal-144943791?utmmedium=clipboardcopy&utmsource=copyLink&utmcampaign=postsharecreator&utmcontent=join_link SHOW NOTES Shownotes & Transcripts https://www.hybridministry.xyz/183 THE FLOOR FILES (Courtesy of Jay!) https://www.patreon.com/posts/youth-retreat-147249016?utmmedium=clipboardcopy&utmsource=copyLink&utmcampaign=postsharecreator&utmcontent=join_link FREE E-BOOK https://www.patreon.com/posts/complete-guide-142500019 9 FREE GAMES! https://www.patreon.com/posts/142425755 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.patreon.com/posts/9-amazing-dym-142425755 //OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Retreat Games that Extend the whole Weekend 02:21 Exploring the Game Show 'The Floor' 05:17 Adapting 'The Floor' for Retreats 08:07 Randomization and Contestant Selection 10:40 Categories and Audience Participation 12:13 Prizes and Momentum Building 14:17 Logistics and Setup Tips 17:01 Category Hacks 19:43 Did Jay really just do that?! 21:50 Next-Level Set-up Hacks 25:15 Final Thoughts and Encouragement -------------- TRANSCRIPT Nick Clason (00:01.075) Alright, what's up everyone? I'm here with my friend Jay. Jay, how we doing this morning, bro? Jay Reynolds (00:07.379) Man, I'm good, I'm good. It's almost, it's looking like it might want to snow outside. So I might figure out some, hanging in some snow later. Nick Clason (00:15.672) Doesn't snow a lot in Raleigh? Like is that a thing that you deal with very often? Jay Reynolds (00:20.085) No, really never. it basically I'm from the north and I've lived down here if you spill a cup of ice They shut the schools down. It's so it's yeah. It's a big deal around here Nick Clason (00:22.424) Ha Nick Clason (00:28.62) Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, mean, certainly that's how it goes in Texas as well. But I'm with you. I'm also from the North. So I know what it was like, but the more years I'm here, like the more I'm forgetting, you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, man, it's cold, you know? And I was back home Thanksgiving, during, you know, in Minnesota in November. It was cold. It was a cold experience. And they're like, you're from here. And I'm like, not anymore. So. Jay Reynolds (00:56.969) Yeah, yeah. My in-laws live in Buffalo, and so I just recently spent Thanksgiving in Buffalo. yeah, 20, know, 24 degrees and a wind blowing feels like, you know, seven, you know? And yeah, so. Nick Clason (00:58.149) Ha ha! Nick Clason (01:02.652) yeah. Nick Clason (01:07.808) Yeah, dude. Well, I appreciate you hopping on. I posted a thing in the DIY and Facebook group asking for like retreat games and things that kind of like you could go back to. And you responded with a comment about like you tried to emulate a game show called The Floor. that what it's called? All right. So for people like me who who don't know what you're talking about, like explain this game show to me like I'm a five year old. Jay Reynolds (01:29.119) yeah, yeah, yeah. Jay Reynolds (01:36.501) Yeah. Okay. Wonderful. So, um, it's a game show. I watch it on Hulu. I don't know which network technically has it. Um, but on Hulu it's, uh, Rob Lowe is the host and it's called the floor. And it's basically, I mean, it's, it's a nice floor setup. It's like all led, whatever. And basically the floors is made up of a hundred boxes. And for the game show, every box, so a hundred people have like their specialty category. Maybe it's like, Star Wars characters, you know, or maybe it's like cereal brands or maybe it's like college football teams in the SEC. I don't know. Like it's just everybody comes with their specialty and what you need to do is you basically challenge somebody, you know, it's like it's randomized, you know, it's one to a hundred and it's like, say it lands on, you know, 49 and say their category is cats, you know, and they get to choose who do they want to challenge. and their box 49 is connected to a bunch of other boxes. And so they basically challenge somebody and let's say they challenge somebody it's bridges. I don't know. I'm just making stuff up here, right? But it's just all random categories and then they go up to the front and they challenge. And what the challenge looks like is there's basically a picture on the screen and they just have to guess what it is. So it's pretty simple kind of trivia. Nick Clason (02:46.264) K-E-A-A. Nick Clason (02:58.071) Hmm. Jay Reynolds (03:00.885) And now in the game show they have like each contestant, know when they're battling they have 45 seconds And so if they're like thinking a lot of time like, you know, what is that? Like their own 45 seconds is kind of like going down on the clock think of like when you play chess There's like that like your own time clock So that's how it's played in the game You know on the game show And when I saw that I was like, man, I think I could play that Nick Clason (03:19.51) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nick Clason (03:24.791) Okay. Jay Reynolds (03:28.985) in like a retreat weekend, you know? And so now I have asked multiple times, Nick, with my leadership, can I get an LED floor so that I could really play this game? And of course, what do you think my answer I got is? Nick Clason (03:31.105) Yeah. Nick Clason (03:41.623) Yeah. They probably were like if we had the budget yes, but right now You know the Lord hasn't blessed our our church with the funds to do an LED floor. That'd be my guess Jay Reynolds (03:52.234) Yeah. That's you are 100 % correct. You're 100 % correct. So, so thinking so since I was not, you know, recipient of a blessing of an LED floor, but I still had this, this gumption to want to play this game. So I figured it out. I was like, okay, I can't do a hundred. Like, you know, in programming, you know, there's programming, you're like, man, that game would be a banger, but it might be like three hours long. And it's just like, do I have that amount of time? No, but Nick Clason (04:04.811) Right. Nick Clason (04:20.247) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (04:24.181) What I decided to do is how can I make it manageable and reproducible in my context? And so when we go off to retreat with middle schoolers, we take over a whole campground and we basically use a gym. We convert the gym to like our main auditorium. And so what I did is just use some painter's tape and I created boxes on the ground, basically built a frame and then did 16 boxes. Nick Clason (04:29.645) Yeah. Nick Clason (04:37.006) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (04:46.445) Okay. Jay Reynolds (04:51.393) And so basically I narrowed down 16 categories. And in that, what I did was I just chose simple categories, just like I mentioned before, simple ones that middle schoolers would want to get into, know, thinking through food, snacks, know, common pop culture type stuff, things that the whole crowd will get into. And so basically what I did was like, okay, 16 boxes, I can do about four, five questions per round and kind of see how it goes. Nick Clason (04:54.604) Yeah. Nick Clason (05:04.758) Right, right, right. Nick Clason (05:19.085) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (05:20.987) Originally when I played it, I was like, okay, I'm just going to pick 16 kids. It's going to be the same 16 kids. You know, when I start the game, what I mentioned is once you win against somebody else, then you take over their box. Right. So in 16 boxes, if you're number 16 and you play against someone who's 15, now you take over their category, right? And, and there's one less person they get kicked out. and then your goal is to take over the whole floor. Nick Clason (05:34.673) gotcha, okay. Nick Clason (05:44.877) Yeah. Nick Clason (05:50.922) Right, gotcha, okay, interesting, that's fun. Totally, yeah. So, you take over the cat, I've been looking it up here while you've been talking, like the setup on the game show looks amazing. So, I can imagine how you can set up 16, how do you, in a retreat type setting, how do you determine your 16 contestants? Jay Reynolds (05:53.097) Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah. Jay Reynolds (06:13.577) Yeah, so completely random, you know? And what I really did was I just randomized and just picked 16 kids. I mean, some ways that you could do that. And so I would suggest 16 because it's an easy multiple, right? You can do four questions each time and you can carry it through, say, a typical retreat. Maybe there's four main sessions. You know, you could play around with that. If you only have three sessions that maybe you do nine or do some type of multiple of that. Nick Clason (06:16.824) Yeah. Nick Clason (06:26.732) Right. Nick Clason (06:41.346) Right, right, right. Jay Reynolds (06:42.005) But I would say in a typical four sessions, four questions is pretty good and you get the crowd all into it. But how to pick kids. Here's what I originally thought. I would just pick 16 kids and the same kids that were in their box on Friday night would be the same kids playing throughout. But as I thought about it, in my retreat, we had a couple hundred kids and I was like, how should I do this? So. Nick Clason (06:58.862) Mmm. Nick Clason (07:04.503) Right, right, right. Jay Reynolds (07:07.475) I just completely randomized it. It was kind of like a game day decision. And the only people that stayed was if they won out. So Friday night, whoever won, you know, now they had like the large and basically what does it mean to win on like the first session for question? There's 16 boxes. They didn't take over the whole floor, but whoever has the largest section, right? So it's four questions. So it's just like, if they have three, you know, they own like three other boxes, you know, Nick Clason (07:10.935) Yeah. Nick Clason (07:15.63) Mmm. Jay Reynolds (07:37.481) then they have the largest section, they win. And so I would give some type of prize for the night. And the way that the show works is they would do like eight or nine boxes, you know, and you win. And whoever has the most boxes like connected, you know, the largest area on the floor, they would win like a high dollar prize. Right. So I just mimic that. And I was like, here's like tons of candy to like go back in your cabin, that type of thing. And so there was intrigued to win for that night. Nick Clason (07:41.558) Ahem. Nick Clason (07:55.98) Right, right. Jay Reynolds (08:06.557) or that session, even if you don't win the overall. Does that make sense? Yeah. Nick Clason (08:06.657) Right. Nick Clason (08:10.412) Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so and then you're randomizing, you're calling up a couple contestants to go head to head and then are you just asking like trivia questions to them back and forth or like where are you sourcing your questions from? Jay Reynolds (08:26.709) Yeah, great question. So what I did is out of 16, I built like basically in Pro Presenter, I built 16 categories and it's all picture related. And so behind them, there's a big old screen, you know, and let's just say it was a serials, you know, like cereal, like, and so they just have to guess, oh, that's Reese Puffs, that's Honey Nut Cheerios. And what I did instead of like, playing like chess, how the game show is like each has your own 45 seconds. It's a whole lot to manage. Nick Clason (08:38.829) Yeah. Nick Clason (08:43.095) Right. Nick Clason (08:56.385) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (08:56.629) I just put one timer up and so I flipped a little bit of the game show and I made it whoever has the most correct in 45 seconds. And I encourage high crowd participation, right? And so like the kids up there and you know sometimes a kid would get a little bit of stage fright and they're like, oh, I know what that is. That is definitely, you know, Lucky Charms, but I can't, I just can't think of what the name is, but the whole crowd's yelling Lucky Charms, you know? Nick Clason (09:01.912) Gotcha. Nick Clason (09:06.229) Okay. Nick Clason (09:10.37) There you go. Nick Clason (09:14.733) Right? Nick Clason (09:25.599) Right. Jay Reynolds (09:26.365) And so it keeps the whole crowd engaged while at the same time, know, so, you know, a good game, I believe it's just like, it's not just for the contestants on stage, but it gets the whole crowd also into it. Nick Clason (09:29.41) Yeah. Nick Clason (09:37.87) Yeah, and I love that, that you encourage crowd participation rather than try to stifle it because then that makes, that means everyone in the room is able to join in and participate. And yeah, it's not just for the people up there. It's beautiful. Jay Reynolds (09:42.441) Yeah. Yeah. Jay Reynolds (09:48.944) Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And that's where a lot of the prizes, I tried to make them like, maybe there was like, actually, I think that's the year I gave away like some panda hats and like, so I may have like made like a panda shirt or something. That was kind of our little subtle branding. And so that just kind of went with it. It was like, oh, this was for you, but it's also paired with like five bags of candy to share with your cabin. You know what I mean? And so. Nick Clason (09:59.468) Okay. Nick Clason (10:05.015) Right. Nick Clason (10:12.192) Nice, yeah. So there's more incentive for the people in the crowd. Like if their buddy's up there, they might get to, yeah, that's awesome. Jay Reynolds (10:16.915) Yep. Exactly. Yeah. You know, and so that just cries a call a lot of crowd participation. Here's what I didn't expect, but something awesome that happened. So in 45 seconds, you know, you sometimes go into it thinking like, this game is going to be great. This kid's going to get like eight. This kid may get seven, like clear winner. That didn't always happen. Like this kid got eight. This other kid got eight. Time ended. Now I'm like in the moment, like, well, what do I do? Right. Nick Clason (10:26.519) Yeah. Nick Clason (10:36.173) Yeah. Nick Clason (10:41.165) Mmm. Nick Clason (10:44.801) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jay Reynolds (10:45.649) And so, so here's what I did. Like I'll just give a little secret sauce so you don't have to think through it if you play this. And so I just like, okay, you guys tie. How do we end this? And so I basically just put my hand out and you know, and then for the contestants hand behind the back, you know, go to the next one, the first one, you know, high five and answer correctly. Then they got to choose and that was created in the whole, like the whole room, like this anticipation who's going to get it, you know? Nick Clason (10:51.308) Yeah. Nick Clason (11:07.362) Yeah they win. Nick Clason (11:13.527) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (11:14.173) And then it's like the one kid that happened to and they guessed they were so confident and they got it wrong, you know? But then the other kid got it, right? And it just creates like kind of like this little bit of storybook kind of ending whenever they tie. And so it just works, you know, pretty well. Nick Clason (11:20.758) Yeah, dude Nick Clason (11:27.297) Yeah. Nick Clason (11:30.7) Yeah dude, that's awesome. Okay so, a kid wins the majority of the board Friday night. So Saturday morning let's say, you come back to play it again. You're getting random contestants. Now if someone was on the board but they weren't selected or they weren't eliminated, did you swap them out with new contestants? So you just had the people who like, so like one carryover from Friday night and then everyone else was new? Jay Reynolds (11:37.78) Yes. Jay Reynolds (11:52.467) Yep. Nick Clason (12:00.672) on the board on Saturday? Is that how you handled it? Okay, great. Jay Reynolds (12:03.285) That's how I handled it, right? And so some of that, you know, sometimes when you play a game, it's like, oh yeah, that kid, you know, gets participated, but somebody wins before they get there, right? And it's just like, it's kind of that concept. And you know, what, what I had a little bit of the workflow is that every kid who had a box, I gave them basically like piece of paper. I'm number one, two, you know, whatever their number was that went with the box. And so that also helped for, you know, like in the moment there's all these kids around. It's like, oh, it, Nick Clason (12:23.18) Right, right, right, yeah. Right. Jay Reynolds (12:32.445) chose number 12, you know, to be able to cue the folks in the back and be able to set up Prober Center, everything correctly. It was like, we got number 12, you know, coming on up, you know? And, and so it's like while they're traveling, it's able to kind of like cue some of the tech team. So they're able to get the next things all set up. But with that, it was all new kids. Like if you want now when it come to Saturday night and Sunday morning, Nick Clason (12:44.834) Yeah, yeah. Nick Clason (12:49.656) Right. Jay Reynolds (12:58.471) If you won Friday night, you were still on the board, you know, unless you lost, you know? And so, so it is basically kind of like you win, you get to stay in the game and earn the right to keep going. Nick Clason (13:01.186) Right. Right, right, right. Nick Clason (13:08.04) Yeah. Yeah, I think that part's really cool. So did you have a kid make it all the way through or did like a winner from Friday end up getting eliminated on Saturday and you kind of kept daisy chaining it all the way to the end? Jay Reynolds (13:20.529) I think it was... We may have had, at least a Saturday night, we have Friday winter and Saturday morning winter into it. I can't remember Sunday morning. May have had a couple. Because we didn't play it this year, we played it last year. And so I'm a little bit of a year plus removed from like into it. But it just created a cool environment. But also like some of the dynamics, let's say like it was number 15, they beat 16, they beat, you know... Nick Clason (13:29.966) Okay, that's cool. That's cool. Nick Clason (13:35.134) Yeah, yeah. Right. Jay Reynolds (13:49.253) 14, you know, and they had like their pocket, like all the way on the end. Well, the next day we showed up, it was, um, Hey, do you want to like play or do you want to kind of go back and just like sit in your leg little area? And so that's kind of where like, we'll just sit in our area. Okay. Let's throw up a randomizer. What do we get next? Number two, right? They're almost the other side of the floor. And so, you know, it may have been like, Oh, you didn't win, you know, or you didn't play that day or that, that session. Nick Clason (13:52.631) Right. Nick Clason (14:01.506) Right. Nick Clason (14:11.555) Right? Nick Clason (14:18.454) Yeah, to win, but you survived because you weren't on that part of the floor. I get it. Jay Reynolds (14:20.989) Exactly. So some of that, and if you watch the game show, that's how like people will play. Like, I won like three rounds. I have a small little section, but I'm like in an aisle. I'm like all the way in the corner. Maybe it's better. go back and then, know, but it's also like, I'm playing for the category, right? Now let me talk a little bit about categories, you know, cause I, I chose all that myself, the game show, like you, you go in saying, this is my category. And it's like, you're almost like, Nick Clason (14:33.986) Yeah. Nick Clason (14:41.399) Okay, yeah. Jay Reynolds (14:49.393) You're bringing category to the game show. Nick Clason (14:52.01) Yeah, like that's you're an expert in that category is how it works on the game show you're saying Jay Reynolds (14:54.835) Yeah. Yes. But in my context, I don't know. And I'm like, to keep things to be able to be randomized, I was basically like, here's your category. You are now an expert. You know, like you are now an expert on dogs, you know, or you are now an expert on fruit, you know, you are now in and it was all common stuff that's in their world. And so so instead of it being as eclectic as what you might experience, like watching the game show, as I just made it more actually slide on the side of common. Nick Clason (15:01.859) Mm-hmm. Gotcha, okay, cool, cool, cool. Right. Nick Clason (15:14.296) Right. Nick Clason (15:20.429) Sure. Jay Reynolds (15:23.477) and that most people are going to know what it is, right? Because when you think through audience engagement, actually, the more eclectic it gets, the more you minimize participation, right? And so in this context, it's like playing other games, like if you play um or pie in the face type games, it's like you actually want some of those topics that people are going to know. Nick Clason (15:28.417) Right. Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (15:36.302) 100%, yeah. Jay Reynolds (15:49.353) you know, car brands, type of thing, know, shoe brands, you know, like some of those things. And it just creates a higher engagement, which ends up being a better experience for the entire audience. Nick Clason (15:51.586) Yeah. Nick Clason (15:59.982) Yeah, okay, so one like just last little point of clarification I have is when you get two contestants, do you have them bounce back and forth like you say a carb brand, I say a carb brand until the one person can't remember or do you give them each 45 seconds and they have to list as many as they can and then the other person goes. Jay Reynolds (16:18.355) Yeah, no, great question. in using the slides, you know, and for us, we had a screen right behind us. So it's easy for them to see, easy for the whole crowd to see that type of thing. And it was basically like a, you know, person A is person B. So A, know, it's just like, that's let's say it's animals like, that's a panda, you know, next person, person B. that's a, that's an eagle person A. that's a dolphin. You know, that's a shark, you know. Nick Clason (16:30.843) yeah, that's right. Nick Clason (16:41.366) Okay. Gotcha. So it's not like a speed thing against him. It's like, person A, this slide is yours and you either get it or you don't. Got it. Okay. Cool, cool, Jay Reynolds (16:50.517) Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, if it takes you a second, know, like animals is pretty easy, you know, but, know, when you get into like, and I think like for, was it like cereals? I may have had a picture of the cereal. I may have had the box and kind of canvad out the name of it or something like that, but make it so it's recognizable. But you're like, it takes you a minute or not a minute, but it takes you a few moments to think about it. You know, the overall timer was 45 seconds. Nick Clason (17:06.71) Right, right. Jay Reynolds (17:17.053) and was just whoever got the most correct, but it was just back and forth, back and forth, that type of thing. Yeah. Nick Clason (17:19.286) Yeah. That's awesome. I love it. Okay. Now you told me when we were texting back and forth, like, do you still have the purpose under file? Like, is that something that, that, you could get and we could give to people who are listening? Yeah, that'd be amazing. Jay Reynolds (17:34.581) Dude, I'd love to, you know? And so, yeah, and I use ProPresenter and so, you know, it's all built in ProPresenter, but I, man, I think it's all built in folders. So if you don't use, you know, if somebody's listening and they wanna try it out, I think I have folders that are all like the images. And I built, I built the floor off 16, but I built like two other categories. So if like something happened, like they, or something glitches, you know, things like that. So I think I technically built like. Nick Clason (17:51.714) Yeah. Nick Clason (18:01.27) Right, you gotta fall back, yeah. Okay. Jay Reynolds (18:03.317) 18 categories. But man, I would gladly share it, you know. Nick Clason (18:07.818) Yeah, that'd be super cool. Yeah, so we'll get that from you and we'll link it down below. I think the thing I like the most about this is that you can make this the game for your D now, your winter retreat, your fall retreat, whatever, and you can just go back to it. And as opposed to every session, let's say you got four sessions over the course of a weekend, you don't have to come up with four things. This thing carries you all weekend long. the more they know it or get to understand the rules of it, by the end of it, the hype level is probably gonna be raising every single time they do it. So maybe Friday night, it's basic understanding and basic learning, but by the end of it, people get the rules, they're locked into it, and they're trying to carry home the ultimate floor champion moniker, if they get to take home that final prize or whatever. I think those are some of my favorite styles of games, things that can just, that well that you can kind of keep going back to. And so that's what I love about it. And I did not understand it at all when we were texting. So as you've described it more, I'm more more into it. And even my wheels now are turning. I'm like, all right, we got a winter retreat coming up. Do we incorporate this? Or do we bring this with us to summer camp or something like that? Because this sounds super fun, super amazing. And just a great way to like, build the competition and build the camaraderie. Jay Reynolds (19:37.181) Yeah. And I think, you know, that's exactly it, man. You know, and if you think through like and how we set it up, like I think we just set up like two or three, you know, or maybe it's like two blocks and just like right as a center aisle. But let's just talk a little bit about that. Like I use painter's tape so that way it's not messing with the floor at all. Super cheap. But then what I did to make it easier is like think through if you were playing like that, that kids like dock game, you have to build boxes. Nick Clason (19:49.485) Yeah. Nick Clason (19:55.319) Right, and cheap. Nick Clason (20:05.709) Yeah, yeah, yeah. Jay Reynolds (20:06.451) Yeah. So think of it in that a whole frame on the outside was just solid lines to be able to build it. But on the inside, it was all like, you know, just think through each box by itself, because then when you have some volunteers like, box eight takes over seven, you know, and now you pull that one strip between the two. Now, you know, it's all box eight, right? You know? And so that just makes it easier logistically, because if you run long strips, Nick Clason (20:11.607) Right. Nick Clason (20:16.91) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (20:26.163) Mmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Nick Clason (20:32.558) Totally. Jay Reynolds (20:34.451) like across multiple boxes on the interior, then like, now I have to like weirdly pick up like. Yeah, and that will be logistically, you know, that's like something like, I didn't think of it until I was in the in the in the situation. Now it's an issue is that think through like small like so the boxes say, you know, two or three feet wide, you know, just the interior pieces are all single pieces. Nick Clason (20:40.788) Yeah, cut it and yeah. Nick Clason (20:50.124) Right, yeah. Nick Clason (20:59.852) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (21:00.393) So it's a little bit longer to set up, not much, but a little bit longer to set up, but much easier for flow by game flow. Nick Clason (21:08.046) Yeah, I got you. Okay, so then, you know, seven overtakes eight. On Saturday morning, do you redraw, like, the seven box, or has seven still overtaken eight on Saturday morning for that morning's board? Does that make sense? Jay Reynolds (21:24.713) Yeah. Say seven takes over eight. And so now, yeah. And so basically your goal is to win the whole floor, you know? And so, ultimately, you know, and so now you get down to it is like, let's just say you winner keeps winning and they keep staying, they keep playing all this kind of stuff. And now you get down to it. They have 15 boxes, you know? And so let's just say it's one against number now, like let's say nine that won everything. One didn't. Nick Clason (21:31.458) The whole thing, yeah. Nick Clason (21:40.097) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (21:51.063) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (21:52.319) play at all. And it's just the kid who just got in that day and they just sat and watched nine keep winning, keep winning. And they get up there and then one who's had no action the entire time. They beat this person who's won everything. It's like a David and glide style matchup. And then they win that round. They win it all, you know? And so that's the other thing. What's intriguing about it. It's like, you know, some games it's like, if you're, could have the sheer advantage. Nick Clason (21:56.278) Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (22:09.918) moment yeah yeah that's cool that's cool Jay Reynolds (22:21.885) or you keep winning and then now it like builds all this momentum. It's nice because it's almost, it's like there's neutralizers built into this game all the way throughout, you know? And it could just be like, just luck of the draw. Like, I don't know, I don't eat cereal. I only eat toast. Like I don't even know. And then that kid who's like, man, just sat, I randomly got chosen. You know, the kid who's like, man, I don't know it. I just eat cereal every day. I don't even know why I'm here, but I know this. And then I ended up winning everything, you know? Nick Clason (22:29.238) Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (22:37.857) you Nick Clason (22:47.351) Yeah. Yeah, that's cool. Jay Reynolds (22:50.813) And so that's the cool thing that makes it so easy and fun and all that kind of stuff. Nick Clason (22:57.43) Yeah, that's amazing. Nice. All right, bro. That really does sound super fun, super cool. So any last final parting words about retreats or games or this game in particular before we hit stop and close out the recording? Jay Reynolds (23:15.219) Yeah, dude, I think the last thing I'd say as far as for playing this game, because it builds on itself, you know, think through, I think how I played it was Friday night. I think I only did three questions, you know, because of Friday night, you have the rules, you have all this kind of stuff and not just the rules for this game, but, know, just think through your retreat overall. What is all of it, you know, entail? And so, you know, we did maybe three questions and then that allowed us to choose which other session do we want to do five, you know? Nick Clason (23:25.954) Okay. Nick Clason (23:33.197) Right. Jay Reynolds (23:43.517) And so just think through some of that from a momentum standpoint on how you want to play it. The other thing from a momentum is let your, you know, your session prizes build. So Friday night, maybe it is like a, you know, hat in like two bags of candy, you know, but then Saturday morning, you know, I think we did prizes that like relate. We were going to do like some, some, I don't know, pool games and things like that. So we gave away like beach towels, you know, Nick Clason (23:43.725) Mm. Nick Clason (23:47.447) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (23:54.669) Mmm. Nick Clason (24:12.436) Okay. Yeah. Jay Reynolds (24:12.871) and candy, right? And so it just kind of built and it just seemed that, you know, as the game builds, because it's over multiple sessions, that if you have budget and that's how you kind of ministry works, I would encourage you to think through, let your prizes build also, you know, and because that is just going to intuitively kind of go in with the whole game, you know, that type of thing. And so for me, my style is I always get other leaders involved, you know, small group leaders, things like that. I'm like, Hey, pick two kids to play, pick two kids to play. Nick Clason (24:26.935) Yeah. Nick Clason (24:32.673) yeah that makes sense Nick Clason (24:40.8) huh. Jay Reynolds (24:42.687) You know, and so, you know, that's how I help in the randomization, you know, but I'm getting other leaders involved in that process. That also helps like in a ministry. it's not like, Jay just picked his favorite kids to play to try to win, you know, well, no, I picked this leader and that lead, you know, and so it's like, I try to, so depending on how the structure is set up, getting other voices involved, help to take away like what could be speculation. Does that make sense? Yeah. Nick Clason (25:04.513) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (25:09.408) Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. Yeah, I love it, man. Well, I, again, I appreciate your time. I thought this was a great conversation, great game. Like, and that one of the things I think is so, like interesting in the world of youth pastors, cause I did this too once where I was like watching a game show, you know, just at home with my wife and I was like, I can make that into a game. You know what mean? And that's just the way our brain, we never turn off, we never stop thinking, we never stop ideating. And so I've never heard of this concept before, I've never even heard of this game show, but you're so right. It's a perfect youth ministry game and I love the fact that it can span the whole thing. And that's exactly what I was looking for, for all these different conversations, all these different ideas. And so again, really appreciate you hopping on and we'll throw the link to your. Jay Reynolds (25:33.036) yeah. Never. Never. Jay Reynolds (25:48.627) Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (25:57.634) your files and stuff like that down below. really appreciate you giving that away and that'll be super helpful for anyone who wants to take it and run with it. Jay Reynolds (26:05.683) Yeah, feel free. And hey, if one of your listeners wants to try it out and they get a little confused or want to kind of process through a little bit more, dude, feel free. You know, they can reach out and connect me with them. I'd love to kind of just help walk alongside someone who's trying to, you know, trying something new in their context, trying something to see what it would work. And I hope for folks who try it. Nick Clason (26:14.851) Yeah. Jay Reynolds (26:25.683) Man, hope you end of the day, if you're gonna play game like this, it's just as much as you having fun with your kids, with your students having fun, because that's kind of the momentum that really builds and getting them all into it. Nick Clason (26:36.364) Yeah, perfect. All right, Jay. Well, I appreciate it, And everyone else, thanks for listening. And we'll talk again soon. See you. Jay Reynolds (26:43.455) Cool, great chat man, take care. retreat games, youth ministry, game show, audience engagement, trivia games, youth retreats, interactive games, fun activities, group games, community building, disciple now, summer camp, dnow, games that build, games that last multiple sessions, youth ministry, student ministry, youth group In this special, interview style episode, Nick Clason sits down with Jay Reynolds to discuss a game concept that Jay used for every session during a recent Winter Retreat. This video is just in time for DNow season where you can program games that build over multiple days and can last the duration of your entire winter retreat, summer camp or disciple now event!
Jay shares next level expert tips to make sure you win!

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Retreat Games that Extend the whole Weekend
02:21 Exploring the Game Show 'The Floor'
05:17 Adapting 'The Floor' for Retreats
08:07 Randomization and Contestant Selection
10:40 Categories and Audience Participation
12:13 Prizes and Momentum Building
14:17 Logistics and Setup Tips
17:01 Category Hacks
19:43 Did Jay really just do that?!
21:50 Next-Level Set-up Hacks
25:15 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

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TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:01.075)
Alright, what's up everyone? I'm here with my friend Jay. Jay, how we doing this morning, bro?

Jay Reynolds (00:07.379)
Man, I'm good, I'm good. It's almost, it's looking like it might want to snow outside. So I might figure out some, hanging in some snow later.

Nick Clason (00:15.672)
Doesn't snow a lot in Raleigh? Like is that a thing that you deal with very often?

Jay Reynolds (00:20.085)
No, really never. it basically I'm from the north and I've lived down here if you spill a cup of ice They shut the schools down. It's so it's yeah. It's a big deal around here

Nick Clason (00:22.424)
Ha

Nick Clason (00:28.62)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, mean, certainly that's how it goes in Texas as well. But I'm with you. I'm also from the North. So I know what it was like, but the more years I'm here, like the more I'm forgetting, you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, man, it's cold, you know? And I was back home Thanksgiving, during, you know, in Minnesota in November. It was cold. It was a cold experience. And they're like, you're from here. And I'm like, not anymore. So.

Jay Reynolds (00:56.969)
Yeah, yeah. My in-laws live in Buffalo, and so I just recently spent Thanksgiving in Buffalo. yeah, 20, know, 24 degrees and a wind blowing feels like, you know, seven, you know? And yeah, so.

Nick Clason (00:58.149)
Ha ha!

Nick Clason (01:02.652)
yeah.

Nick Clason (01:07.808)
Yeah, dude. Well, I appreciate you hopping on. I posted a thing in the DIY and Facebook group asking for like retreat games and things that kind of like you could go back to. And you responded with a comment about like you tried to emulate a game show called The Floor. that what it's called? All right. So for people like me who who don't know what you're talking about, like explain this game show to me like I'm a five year old.

Jay Reynolds (01:29.119)
yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (01:36.501)
Yeah. Okay. Wonderful. So, um, it's a game show. I watch it on Hulu. I don't know which network technically has it. Um, but on Hulu it's, uh, Rob Lowe is the host and it's called the floor. And it's basically, I mean, it's, it's a nice floor setup. It's like all led, whatever. And basically the floors is made up of a hundred boxes. And for the game show, every box, so a hundred people have like their specialty category. Maybe it's like,

Star Wars characters, you know, or maybe it's like cereal brands or maybe it's like college football teams in the SEC. I don't know. Like it's just everybody comes with their specialty and what you need to do is you basically challenge somebody, you know, it's like it's randomized, you know, it's one to a hundred and it's like, say it lands on, you know, 49 and say their category is cats, you know, and they get to choose who do they want to challenge.

and their box 49 is connected to a bunch of other boxes. And so they basically challenge somebody and let's say they challenge somebody it's bridges. I don't know. I'm just making stuff up here, right? But it's just all random categories and then they go up to the front and they challenge. And what the challenge looks like is there's basically a picture on the screen and they just have to guess what it is. So it's pretty simple kind of trivia.

Nick Clason (02:46.264)
K-E-A-A.

Nick Clason (02:58.071)
Hmm.

Jay Reynolds (03:00.885)
And now in the game show they have like each contestant, know when they're battling they have 45 seconds And so if they're like thinking a lot of time like, you know, what is that? Like their own 45 seconds is kind of like going down on the clock think of like when you play chess There's like that like your own time clock So that's how it's played in the game You know on the game show And when I saw that I was like, man, I think I could play that

Nick Clason (03:19.51)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (03:24.791)
Okay.

Jay Reynolds (03:28.985)
in like a retreat weekend, you know? And so now I have asked multiple times, Nick, with my leadership, can I get an LED floor so that I could really play this game? And of course, what do you think my answer I got is?

Nick Clason (03:31.105)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:41.623)
Yeah.

They probably were like if we had the budget yes, but right now You know the Lord hasn't blessed our our church with the funds to do an LED floor. That'd be my guess

Jay Reynolds (03:52.234)
Yeah.

That's you are 100 % correct. You're 100 % correct. So, so thinking so since I was not, you know, recipient of a blessing of an LED floor, but I still had this, this gumption to want to play this game. So I figured it out. I was like, okay, I can't do a hundred. Like, you know, in programming, you know, there's programming, you're like, man, that game would be a banger, but it might be like three hours long. And it's just like, do I have that amount of time? No, but

Nick Clason (04:04.811)
Right.

Nick Clason (04:20.247)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (04:24.181)
What I decided to do is how can I make it manageable and reproducible in my context? And so when we go off to retreat with middle schoolers, we take over a whole campground and we basically use a gym. We convert the gym to like our main auditorium. And so what I did is just use some painter's tape and I created boxes on the ground, basically built a frame and then did 16 boxes.

Nick Clason (04:29.645)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (04:37.006)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (04:46.445)
Okay.

Jay Reynolds (04:51.393)
And so basically I narrowed down 16 categories. And in that, what I did was I just chose simple categories, just like I mentioned before, simple ones that middle schoolers would want to get into, know, thinking through food, snacks, know, common pop culture type stuff, things that the whole crowd will get into. And so basically what I did was like, okay, 16 boxes, I can do about four, five questions per round and kind of see how it goes.

Nick Clason (04:54.604)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:04.758)
Right, right, right.

Nick Clason (05:19.085)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (05:20.987)
Originally when I played it, I was like, okay, I'm just going to pick 16 kids. It's going to be the same 16 kids. You know, when I start the game, what I mentioned is once you win against somebody else, then you take over their box. Right. So in 16 boxes, if you're number 16 and you play against someone who's 15, now you take over their category, right? And, and there's one less person they get kicked out. and then your goal is to take over the whole floor.

Nick Clason (05:34.673)
gotcha, okay.

Nick Clason (05:44.877)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:50.922)
Right, gotcha, okay, interesting, that's fun. Totally, yeah. So, you take over the cat, I've been looking it up here while you've been talking, like the setup on the game show looks amazing. So, I can imagine how you can set up 16, how do you, in a retreat type setting, how do you determine your 16 contestants?

Jay Reynolds (05:53.097)
Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (06:13.577)
Yeah, so completely random, you know? And what I really did was I just randomized and just picked 16 kids. I mean, some ways that you could do that. And so I would suggest 16 because it's an easy multiple, right? You can do four questions each time and you can carry it through, say, a typical retreat. Maybe there's four main sessions. You know, you could play around with that. If you only have three sessions that maybe you do nine or do some type of multiple of that.

Nick Clason (06:16.824)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (06:26.732)
Right.

Nick Clason (06:41.346)
Right, right, right.

Jay Reynolds (06:42.005)
But I would say in a typical four sessions, four questions is pretty good and you get the crowd all into it. But how to pick kids. Here's what I originally thought. I would just pick 16 kids and the same kids that were in their box on Friday night would be the same kids playing throughout. But as I thought about it, in my retreat, we had a couple hundred kids and I was like, how should I do this? So.

Nick Clason (06:58.862)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (07:04.503)
Right, right, right.

Jay Reynolds (07:07.475)
I just completely randomized it. It was kind of like a game day decision. And the only people that stayed was if they won out. So Friday night, whoever won, you know, now they had like the large and basically what does it mean to win on like the first session for question? There's 16 boxes. They didn't take over the whole floor, but whoever has the largest section, right? So it's four questions. So it's just like, if they have three, you know, they own like three other boxes, you know,

Nick Clason (07:10.935)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (07:15.63)
Mmm.

Jay Reynolds (07:37.481)
then they have the largest section, they win. And so I would give some type of prize for the night. And the way that the show works is they would do like eight or nine boxes, you know, and you win. And whoever has the most boxes like connected, you know, the largest area on the floor, they would win like a high dollar prize. Right. So I just mimic that. And I was like, here's like tons of candy to like go back in your cabin, that type of thing. And so there was intrigued to win for that night.

Nick Clason (07:41.558)
Ahem.

Nick Clason (07:55.98)
Right, right.

Jay Reynolds (08:06.557)
or that session, even if you don't win the overall. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Nick Clason (08:06.657)
Right.

Nick Clason (08:10.412)
Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so and then you're randomizing, you're calling up a couple contestants to go head to head and then are you just asking like trivia questions to them back and forth or like where are you sourcing your questions from?

Jay Reynolds (08:26.709)
Yeah, great question. So what I did is out of 16, I built like basically in Pro Presenter, I built 16 categories and it's all picture related. And so behind them, there's a big old screen, you know, and let's just say it was a serials, you know, like cereal, like, and so they just have to guess, oh, that's Reese Puffs, that's Honey Nut Cheerios. And what I did instead of like, playing like chess, how the game show is like each has your own 45 seconds. It's a whole lot to manage.

Nick Clason (08:38.829)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (08:43.095)
Right.

Nick Clason (08:56.385)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (08:56.629)
I just put one timer up and so I flipped a little bit of the game show and I made it whoever has the most correct in 45 seconds. And I encourage high crowd participation, right? And so like the kids up there and you know sometimes a kid would get a little bit of stage fright and they're like, oh, I know what that is. That is definitely, you know, Lucky Charms, but I can't, I just can't think of what the name is, but the whole crowd's yelling Lucky Charms, you know?

Nick Clason (09:01.912)
Gotcha.

Nick Clason (09:06.229)
Okay.

Nick Clason (09:10.37)
There you go.

Nick Clason (09:14.733)
Right?

Nick Clason (09:25.599)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (09:26.365)
And so it keeps the whole crowd engaged while at the same time, know, so, you know, a good game, I believe it's just like, it's not just for the contestants on stage, but it gets the whole crowd also into it.

Nick Clason (09:29.41)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (09:37.87)
Yeah, and I love that, that you encourage crowd participation rather than try to stifle it because then that makes, that means everyone in the room is able to join in and participate. And yeah, it's not just for the people up there. It's beautiful.

Jay Reynolds (09:42.441)
Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (09:48.944)
Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And that's where a lot of the prizes, I tried to make them like, maybe there was like, actually, I think that's the year I gave away like some panda hats and like, so I may have like made like a panda shirt or something. That was kind of our little subtle branding. And so that just kind of went with it. It was like, oh, this was for you, but it's also paired with like five bags of candy to share with your cabin. You know what I mean? And so.

Nick Clason (09:59.468)
Okay.

Nick Clason (10:05.015)
Right.

Nick Clason (10:12.192)
Nice, yeah. So there's more incentive for the people in the crowd. Like if their buddy's up there, they might get to, yeah, that's awesome.

Jay Reynolds (10:16.915)
Yep. Exactly. Yeah. You know, and so that just cries a call a lot of crowd participation. Here's what I didn't expect, but something awesome that happened. So in 45 seconds, you know, you sometimes go into it thinking like, this game is going to be great. This kid's going to get like eight. This kid may get seven, like clear winner. That didn't always happen. Like this kid got eight. This other kid got eight. Time ended. Now I'm like in the moment, like, well, what do I do? Right.

Nick Clason (10:26.519)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:36.173)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:41.165)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (10:44.801)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (10:45.649)
And so, so here's what I did. Like I'll just give a little secret sauce so you don't have to think through it if you play this. And so I just like, okay, you guys tie. How do we end this? And so I basically just put my hand out and you know, and then for the contestants hand behind the back, you know, go to the next one, the first one, you know, high five and answer correctly. Then they got to choose and that was created in the whole, like the whole room, like this anticipation who's going to get it, you know?

Nick Clason (10:51.308)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:07.362)
Yeah they win.

Nick Clason (11:13.527)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (11:14.173)
And then it's like the one kid that happened to and they guessed they were so confident and they got it wrong, you know? But then the other kid got it, right? And it just creates like kind of like this little bit of storybook kind of ending whenever they tie. And so it just works, you know, pretty well.

Nick Clason (11:20.758)
Yeah, dude

Nick Clason (11:27.297)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:30.7)
Yeah dude, that's awesome. Okay so, a kid wins the majority of the board Friday night. So Saturday morning let's say, you come back to play it again. You're getting random contestants. Now if someone was on the board but they weren't selected or they weren't eliminated, did you swap them out with new contestants? So you just had the people who like, so like one carryover from Friday night and then everyone else was new?

Jay Reynolds (11:37.78)
Yes.

Jay Reynolds (11:52.467)
Yep.

Nick Clason (12:00.672)
on the board on Saturday? Is that how you handled it? Okay, great.

Jay Reynolds (12:03.285)
That's how I handled it, right? And so some of that, you know, sometimes when you play a game, it's like, oh yeah, that kid, you know, gets participated, but somebody wins before they get there, right? And it's just like, it's kind of that concept. And you know, what, what I had a little bit of the workflow is that every kid who had a box, I gave them basically like piece of paper. I'm number one, two, you know, whatever their number was that went with the box. And so that also helped for, you know, like in the moment there's all these kids around. It's like, oh, it,

Nick Clason (12:23.18)
Right, right, right, yeah. Right.

Jay Reynolds (12:32.445)
chose number 12, you know, to be able to cue the folks in the back and be able to set up Prober Center, everything correctly. It was like, we got number 12, you know, coming on up, you know? And, and so it's like while they're traveling, it's able to kind of like cue some of the tech team. So they're able to get the next things all set up. But with that, it was all new kids. Like if you want now when it come to Saturday night and Sunday morning,

Nick Clason (12:44.834)
Yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (12:49.656)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (12:58.471)
If you won Friday night, you were still on the board, you know, unless you lost, you know? And so, so it is basically kind of like you win, you get to stay in the game and earn the right to keep going.

Nick Clason (13:01.186)
Right. Right, right, right.

Nick Clason (13:08.04)
Yeah. Yeah, I think that part's really cool. So did you have a kid make it all the way through or did like a winner from Friday end up getting eliminated on Saturday and you kind of kept daisy chaining it all the way to the end?

Jay Reynolds (13:20.529)
I think it was... We may have had, at least a Saturday night, we have Friday winter and Saturday morning winter into it. I can't remember Sunday morning. May have had a couple. Because we didn't play it this year, we played it last year. And so I'm a little bit of a year plus removed from like into it. But it just created a cool environment. But also like some of the dynamics, let's say like it was number 15, they beat 16, they beat, you know...

Nick Clason (13:29.966)
Okay, that's cool. That's cool.

Nick Clason (13:35.134)
Yeah, yeah. Right.

Jay Reynolds (13:49.253)
14, you know, and they had like their pocket, like all the way on the end. Well, the next day we showed up, it was, um, Hey, do you want to like play or do you want to kind of go back and just like sit in your leg little area? And so that's kind of where like, we'll just sit in our area. Okay. Let's throw up a randomizer. What do we get next? Number two, right? They're almost the other side of the floor. And so, you know, it may have been like, Oh, you didn't win, you know, or you didn't play that day or that, that session.

Nick Clason (13:52.631)
Right.

Nick Clason (14:01.506)
Right.

Nick Clason (14:11.555)
Right?

Nick Clason (14:18.454)
Yeah, to win, but you survived because you weren't on that part of the floor. I get it.

Jay Reynolds (14:20.989)
Exactly. So some of that, and if you watch the game show, that's how like people will play. Like, I won like three rounds. I have a small little section, but I'm like in an aisle. I'm like all the way in the corner. Maybe it's better. go back and then, know, but it's also like, I'm playing for the category, right? Now let me talk a little bit about categories, you know, cause I, I chose all that myself, the game show, like you, you go in saying, this is my category. And it's like, you're almost like,

Nick Clason (14:33.986)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (14:41.399)
Okay, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (14:49.393)
You're bringing category to the game show.

Nick Clason (14:52.01)
Yeah, like that's you're an expert in that category is how it works on the game show you're saying

Jay Reynolds (14:54.835)
Yeah. Yes. But in my context, I don't know. And I'm like, to keep things to be able to be randomized, I was basically like, here's your category. You are now an expert. You know, like you are now an expert on dogs, you know, or you are now an expert on fruit, you know, you are now in and it was all common stuff that's in their world. And so so instead of it being as eclectic as what you might experience, like watching the game show, as I just made it more actually slide on the side of common.

Nick Clason (15:01.859)
Mm-hmm.

Gotcha, okay, cool, cool, cool.

Right.

Nick Clason (15:14.296)
Right.

Nick Clason (15:20.429)
Sure.

Jay Reynolds (15:23.477)
and that most people are going to know what it is, right? Because when you think through audience engagement, actually, the more eclectic it gets, the more you minimize participation, right? And so in this context, it's like playing other games, like if you play um or pie in the face type games, it's like you actually want some of those topics that people are going to know.

Nick Clason (15:28.417)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (15:36.302)
100%, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (15:49.353)
you know, car brands, type of thing, know, shoe brands, you know, like some of those things. And it just creates a higher engagement, which ends up being a better experience for the entire audience.

Nick Clason (15:51.586)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:59.982)
Yeah, okay, so one like just last little point of clarification I have is when you get two contestants, do you have them bounce back and forth like you say a carb brand, I say a carb brand until the one person can't remember or do you give them each 45 seconds and they have to list as many as they can and then the other person goes.

Jay Reynolds (16:18.355)
Yeah, no, great question. in using the slides, you know, and for us, we had a screen right behind us. So it's easy for them to see, easy for the whole crowd to see that type of thing. And it was basically like a, you know, person A is person B. So A, know, it's just like, that's let's say it's animals like, that's a panda, you know, next person, person B. that's a, that's an eagle person A. that's a dolphin. You know, that's a shark, you know.

Nick Clason (16:30.843)
yeah, that's right.

Nick Clason (16:41.366)
Okay. Gotcha. So it's not like a speed thing against him. It's like, person A, this slide is yours and you either get it or you don't. Got it. Okay. Cool, cool,

Jay Reynolds (16:50.517)
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, if it takes you a second, know, like animals is pretty easy, you know, but, know, when you get into like, and I think like for, was it like cereals? I may have had a picture of the cereal. I may have had the box and kind of canvad out the name of it or something like that, but make it so it's recognizable. But you're like, it takes you a minute or not a minute, but it takes you a few moments to think about it. You know, the overall timer was 45 seconds.

Nick Clason (17:06.71)
Right, right.

Jay Reynolds (17:17.053)
and was just whoever got the most correct, but it was just back and forth, back and forth, that type of thing. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:19.286)
Yeah.

That's awesome. I love it. Okay. Now you told me when we were texting back and forth, like, do you still have the purpose under file? Like, is that something that, that, you could get and we could give to people who are listening? Yeah, that'd be amazing.

Jay Reynolds (17:34.581)
Dude, I'd love to, you know? And so, yeah, and I use ProPresenter and so, you know, it's all built in ProPresenter, but I, man, I think it's all built in folders. So if you don't use, you know, if somebody's listening and they wanna try it out, I think I have folders that are all like the images. And I built, I built the floor off 16, but I built like two other categories. So if like something happened, like they, or something glitches, you know, things like that. So I think I technically built like.

Nick Clason (17:51.714)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:01.27)
Right, you gotta fall back, yeah. Okay.

Jay Reynolds (18:03.317)
18 categories. But man, I would gladly share it, you know.

Nick Clason (18:07.818)
Yeah, that'd be super cool. Yeah, so we'll get that from you and we'll link it down below. I think the thing I like the most about this is that you can make this the game for your D now, your winter retreat, your fall retreat, whatever, and you can just go back to it. And as opposed to every session, let's say you got four sessions over the course of a weekend, you don't have to come up with four things. This thing carries you all weekend long.

the more they know it or get to understand the rules of it, by the end of it, the hype level is probably gonna be raising every single time they do it. So maybe Friday night, it's basic understanding and basic learning, but by the end of it, people get the rules, they're locked into it, and they're trying to carry home the ultimate floor champion moniker, if they get to take home that final prize or whatever.

I think those are some of my favorite styles of games, things that can just, that well that you can kind of keep going back to. And so that's what I love about it. And I did not understand it at all when we were texting. So as you've described it more, I'm more more into it. And even my wheels now are turning. I'm like, all right, we got a winter retreat coming up. Do we incorporate this? Or do we bring this with us to summer camp or something like that? Because this sounds super fun, super amazing. And just a great way to like,

build the competition and build the camaraderie.

Jay Reynolds (19:37.181)
Yeah. And I think, you know, that's exactly it, man. You know, and if you think through like and how we set it up, like I think we just set up like two or three, you know, or maybe it's like two blocks and just like right as a center aisle. But let's just talk a little bit about that. Like I use painter's tape so that way it's not messing with the floor at all. Super cheap. But then what I did to make it easier is like think through if you were playing like that, that kids like dock game, you have to build boxes.

Nick Clason (19:49.485)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (19:55.319)
Right, and cheap.

Nick Clason (20:05.709)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (20:06.451)
Yeah. So think of it in that a whole frame on the outside was just solid lines to be able to build it. But on the inside, it was all like, you know, just think through each box by itself, because then when you have some volunteers like, box eight takes over seven, you know, and now you pull that one strip between the two. Now, you know, it's all box eight, right? You know? And so that just makes it easier logistically, because if you run long strips,

Nick Clason (20:11.607)
Right.

Nick Clason (20:16.91)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (20:26.163)
Mmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (20:32.558)
Totally.

Jay Reynolds (20:34.451)
like across multiple boxes on the interior, then like, now I have to like weirdly pick up like. Yeah, and that will be logistically, you know, that's like something like, I didn't think of it until I was in the in the in the situation. Now it's an issue is that think through like small like so the boxes say, you know, two or three feet wide, you know, just the interior pieces are all single pieces.

Nick Clason (20:40.788)
Yeah, cut it and yeah.

Nick Clason (20:50.124)
Right, yeah.

Nick Clason (20:59.852)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (21:00.393)
So it's a little bit longer to set up, not much, but a little bit longer to set up, but much easier for flow by game flow.

Nick Clason (21:08.046)
Yeah, I got you. Okay, so then, you know, seven overtakes eight. On Saturday morning, do you redraw, like, the seven box, or has seven still overtaken eight on Saturday morning for that morning's board? Does that make sense?

Jay Reynolds (21:24.713)
Yeah. Say seven takes over eight. And so now, yeah. And so basically your goal is to win the whole floor, you know? And so, ultimately, you know, and so now you get down to it is like, let's just say you winner keeps winning and they keep staying, they keep playing all this kind of stuff. And now you get down to it. They have 15 boxes, you know? And so let's just say it's one against number now, like let's say nine that won everything. One didn't.

Nick Clason (21:31.458)
The whole thing, yeah.

Nick Clason (21:40.097)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (21:51.063)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (21:52.319)
play at all. And it's just the kid who just got in that day and they just sat and watched nine keep winning, keep winning. And they get up there and then one who's had no action the entire time. They beat this person who's won everything. It's like a David and glide style matchup. And then they win that round. They win it all, you know? And so that's the other thing. What's intriguing about it. It's like, you know, some games it's like, if you're, could have the sheer advantage.

Nick Clason (21:56.278)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (22:09.918)
moment yeah yeah that's cool that's cool

Jay Reynolds (22:21.885)
or you keep winning and then now it like builds all this momentum. It's nice because it's almost, it's like there's neutralizers built into this game all the way throughout, you know? And it could just be like, just luck of the draw. Like, I don't know, I don't eat cereal. I only eat toast. Like I don't even know. And then that kid who's like, man, just sat, I randomly got chosen. You know, the kid who's like, man, I don't know it. I just eat cereal every day. I don't even know why I'm here, but I know this. And then I ended up winning everything, you know?

Nick Clason (22:29.238)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (22:37.857)
you

Nick Clason (22:47.351)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's cool.

Jay Reynolds (22:50.813)
And so that's the cool thing that makes it so easy and fun and all that kind of stuff.

Nick Clason (22:57.43)
Yeah, that's amazing. Nice. All right, bro. That really does sound super fun, super cool. So any last final parting words about retreats or games or this game in particular before we hit stop and close out the recording?

Jay Reynolds (23:15.219)
Yeah, dude, I think the last thing I'd say as far as for playing this game, because it builds on itself, you know, think through, I think how I played it was Friday night. I think I only did three questions, you know, because of Friday night, you have the rules, you have all this kind of stuff and not just the rules for this game, but, know, just think through your retreat overall. What is all of it, you know, entail? And so, you know, we did maybe three questions and then that allowed us to choose which other session do we want to do five, you know?

Nick Clason (23:25.954)
Okay.

Nick Clason (23:33.197)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (23:43.517)
And so just think through some of that from a momentum standpoint on how you want to play it. The other thing from a momentum is let your, you know, your session prizes build. So Friday night, maybe it is like a, you know, hat in like two bags of candy, you know, but then Saturday morning, you know, I think we did prizes that like relate. We were going to do like some, some, I don't know, pool games and things like that. So we gave away like beach towels, you know,

Nick Clason (23:43.725)
Mm.

Nick Clason (23:47.447)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (23:54.669)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (24:12.436)
Okay. Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (24:12.871)
and candy, right? And so it just kind of built and it just seemed that, you know, as the game builds, because it's over multiple sessions, that if you have budget and that's how you kind of ministry works, I would encourage you to think through, let your prizes build also, you know, and because that is just going to intuitively kind of go in with the whole game, you know, that type of thing. And so for me, my style is I always get other leaders involved, you know, small group leaders, things like that. I'm like, Hey, pick two kids to play, pick two kids to play.

Nick Clason (24:26.935)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (24:32.673)
yeah that makes sense

Nick Clason (24:40.8)
huh.

Jay Reynolds (24:42.687)
You know, and so, you know, that's how I help in the randomization, you know, but I'm getting other leaders involved in that process. That also helps like in a ministry. it's not like, Jay just picked his favorite kids to play to try to win, you know, well, no, I picked this leader and that lead, you know, and so it's like, I try to, so depending on how the structure is set up, getting other voices involved, help to take away like what could be speculation. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:04.513)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (25:09.408)
Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. Yeah, I love it, man. Well, I, again, I appreciate your time. I thought this was a great conversation, great game. Like, and that one of the things I think is so, like interesting in the world of youth pastors, cause I did this too once where I was like watching a game show, you know, just at home with my wife and I was like,

I can make that into a game. You know what mean? And that's just the way our brain, we never turn off, we never stop thinking, we never stop ideating. And so I've never heard of this concept before, I've never even heard of this game show, but you're so right. It's a perfect youth ministry game and I love the fact that it can span the whole thing. And that's exactly what I was looking for, for all these different conversations, all these different ideas. And so again, really appreciate you hopping on and we'll throw the link to your.

Jay Reynolds (25:33.036)
yeah.

Never. Never.

Jay Reynolds (25:48.627)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:57.634)
your files and stuff like that down below. really appreciate you giving that away and that'll be super helpful for anyone who wants to take it and run with it.

Jay Reynolds (26:05.683)
Yeah, feel free. And hey, if one of your listeners wants to try it out and they get a little confused or want to kind of process through a little bit more, dude, feel free. You know, they can reach out and connect me with them. I'd love to kind of just help walk alongside someone who's trying to, you know, trying something new in their context, trying something to see what it would work. And I hope for folks who try it.

Nick Clason (26:14.851)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (26:25.683)
Man, hope you end of the day, if you're gonna play game like this, it's just as much as you having fun with your kids, with your students having fun, because that's kind of the momentum that really builds and getting them all into it.

Nick Clason (26:36.364)
Yeah, perfect. All right, Jay. Well, I appreciate it, And everyone else, thanks for listening. And we'll talk again soon. See you.

Jay Reynolds (26:43.455)
Cool, great chat man, take care.

]]> In this special, interview style episode, Nick Clason sits down with Jay Reynolds to discuss a game concept that Jay used for every session during a recent Winter Retreat. This video is just in time for DNow season where you can program games that build over multiple days and can last the duration of your entire winter retreat, summer camp or disciple now event!
Jay shares next level expert tips to make sure you win!

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Retreat Games that Extend the whole Weekend
02:21 Exploring the Game Show 'The Floor'
05:17 Adapting 'The Floor' for Retreats
08:07 Randomization and Contestant Selection
10:40 Categories and Audience Participation
12:13 Prizes and Momentum Building
14:17 Logistics and Setup Tips
17:01 Category Hacks
19:43 Did Jay really just do that?!
21:50 Next-Level Set-up Hacks
25:15 Final Thoughts and Encouragement

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:01.075)
Alright, what's up everyone? I'm here with my friend Jay. Jay, how we doing this morning, bro?

Jay Reynolds (00:07.379)
Man, I'm good, I'm good. It's almost, it's looking like it might want to snow outside. So I might figure out some, hanging in some snow later.

Nick Clason (00:15.672)
Doesn't snow a lot in Raleigh? Like is that a thing that you deal with very often?

Jay Reynolds (00:20.085)
No, really never. it basically I'm from the north and I've lived down here if you spill a cup of ice They shut the schools down. It's so it's yeah. It's a big deal around here

Nick Clason (00:22.424)
Ha

Nick Clason (00:28.62)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah, yeah. That's, mean, certainly that's how it goes in Texas as well. But I'm with you. I'm also from the North. So I know what it was like, but the more years I'm here, like the more I'm forgetting, you know what I mean? Like, I'm like, man, it's cold, you know? And I was back home Thanksgiving, during, you know, in Minnesota in November. It was cold. It was a cold experience. And they're like, you're from here. And I'm like, not anymore. So.

Jay Reynolds (00:56.969)
Yeah, yeah. My in-laws live in Buffalo, and so I just recently spent Thanksgiving in Buffalo. yeah, 20, know, 24 degrees and a wind blowing feels like, you know, seven, you know? And yeah, so.

Nick Clason (00:58.149)
Ha ha!

Nick Clason (01:02.652)
yeah.

Nick Clason (01:07.808)
Yeah, dude. Well, I appreciate you hopping on. I posted a thing in the DIY and Facebook group asking for like retreat games and things that kind of like you could go back to. And you responded with a comment about like you tried to emulate a game show called The Floor. that what it's called? All right. So for people like me who who don't know what you're talking about, like explain this game show to me like I'm a five year old.

Jay Reynolds (01:29.119)
yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (01:36.501)
Yeah. Okay. Wonderful. So, um, it's a game show. I watch it on Hulu. I don't know which network technically has it. Um, but on Hulu it's, uh, Rob Lowe is the host and it's called the floor. And it's basically, I mean, it's, it's a nice floor setup. It's like all led, whatever. And basically the floors is made up of a hundred boxes. And for the game show, every box, so a hundred people have like their specialty category. Maybe it's like,

Star Wars characters, you know, or maybe it's like cereal brands or maybe it's like college football teams in the SEC. I don't know. Like it's just everybody comes with their specialty and what you need to do is you basically challenge somebody, you know, it's like it's randomized, you know, it's one to a hundred and it's like, say it lands on, you know, 49 and say their category is cats, you know, and they get to choose who do they want to challenge.

and their box 49 is connected to a bunch of other boxes. And so they basically challenge somebody and let's say they challenge somebody it's bridges. I don't know. I'm just making stuff up here, right? But it's just all random categories and then they go up to the front and they challenge. And what the challenge looks like is there's basically a picture on the screen and they just have to guess what it is. So it's pretty simple kind of trivia.

Nick Clason (02:46.264)
K-E-A-A.

Nick Clason (02:58.071)
Hmm.

Jay Reynolds (03:00.885)
And now in the game show they have like each contestant, know when they're battling they have 45 seconds And so if they're like thinking a lot of time like, you know, what is that? Like their own 45 seconds is kind of like going down on the clock think of like when you play chess There's like that like your own time clock So that's how it's played in the game You know on the game show And when I saw that I was like, man, I think I could play that

Nick Clason (03:19.51)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (03:24.791)
Okay.

Jay Reynolds (03:28.985)
in like a retreat weekend, you know? And so now I have asked multiple times, Nick, with my leadership, can I get an LED floor so that I could really play this game? And of course, what do you think my answer I got is?

Nick Clason (03:31.105)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:41.623)
Yeah.

They probably were like if we had the budget yes, but right now You know the Lord hasn't blessed our our church with the funds to do an LED floor. That'd be my guess

Jay Reynolds (03:52.234)
Yeah.

That's you are 100 % correct. You're 100 % correct. So, so thinking so since I was not, you know, recipient of a blessing of an LED floor, but I still had this, this gumption to want to play this game. So I figured it out. I was like, okay, I can't do a hundred. Like, you know, in programming, you know, there's programming, you're like, man, that game would be a banger, but it might be like three hours long. And it's just like, do I have that amount of time? No, but

Nick Clason (04:04.811)
Right.

Nick Clason (04:20.247)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (04:24.181)
What I decided to do is how can I make it manageable and reproducible in my context? And so when we go off to retreat with middle schoolers, we take over a whole campground and we basically use a gym. We convert the gym to like our main auditorium. And so what I did is just use some painter's tape and I created boxes on the ground, basically built a frame and then did 16 boxes.

Nick Clason (04:29.645)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (04:37.006)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (04:46.445)
Okay.

Jay Reynolds (04:51.393)
And so basically I narrowed down 16 categories. And in that, what I did was I just chose simple categories, just like I mentioned before, simple ones that middle schoolers would want to get into, know, thinking through food, snacks, know, common pop culture type stuff, things that the whole crowd will get into. And so basically what I did was like, okay, 16 boxes, I can do about four, five questions per round and kind of see how it goes.

Nick Clason (04:54.604)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:04.758)
Right, right, right.

Nick Clason (05:19.085)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (05:20.987)
Originally when I played it, I was like, okay, I'm just going to pick 16 kids. It's going to be the same 16 kids. You know, when I start the game, what I mentioned is once you win against somebody else, then you take over their box. Right. So in 16 boxes, if you're number 16 and you play against someone who's 15, now you take over their category, right? And, and there's one less person they get kicked out. and then your goal is to take over the whole floor.

Nick Clason (05:34.673)
gotcha, okay.

Nick Clason (05:44.877)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:50.922)
Right, gotcha, okay, interesting, that's fun. Totally, yeah. So, you take over the cat, I've been looking it up here while you've been talking, like the setup on the game show looks amazing. So, I can imagine how you can set up 16, how do you, in a retreat type setting, how do you determine your 16 contestants?

Jay Reynolds (05:53.097)
Yeah. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (06:13.577)
Yeah, so completely random, you know? And what I really did was I just randomized and just picked 16 kids. I mean, some ways that you could do that. And so I would suggest 16 because it's an easy multiple, right? You can do four questions each time and you can carry it through, say, a typical retreat. Maybe there's four main sessions. You know, you could play around with that. If you only have three sessions that maybe you do nine or do some type of multiple of that.

Nick Clason (06:16.824)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (06:26.732)
Right.

Nick Clason (06:41.346)
Right, right, right.

Jay Reynolds (06:42.005)
But I would say in a typical four sessions, four questions is pretty good and you get the crowd all into it. But how to pick kids. Here's what I originally thought. I would just pick 16 kids and the same kids that were in their box on Friday night would be the same kids playing throughout. But as I thought about it, in my retreat, we had a couple hundred kids and I was like, how should I do this? So.

Nick Clason (06:58.862)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (07:04.503)
Right, right, right.

Jay Reynolds (07:07.475)
I just completely randomized it. It was kind of like a game day decision. And the only people that stayed was if they won out. So Friday night, whoever won, you know, now they had like the large and basically what does it mean to win on like the first session for question? There's 16 boxes. They didn't take over the whole floor, but whoever has the largest section, right? So it's four questions. So it's just like, if they have three, you know, they own like three other boxes, you know,

Nick Clason (07:10.935)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (07:15.63)
Mmm.

Jay Reynolds (07:37.481)
then they have the largest section, they win. And so I would give some type of prize for the night. And the way that the show works is they would do like eight or nine boxes, you know, and you win. And whoever has the most boxes like connected, you know, the largest area on the floor, they would win like a high dollar prize. Right. So I just mimic that. And I was like, here's like tons of candy to like go back in your cabin, that type of thing. And so there was intrigued to win for that night.

Nick Clason (07:41.558)
Ahem.

Nick Clason (07:55.98)
Right, right.

Jay Reynolds (08:06.557)
or that session, even if you don't win the overall. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Nick Clason (08:06.657)
Right.

Nick Clason (08:10.412)
Yeah, yeah. So, okay, so and then you're randomizing, you're calling up a couple contestants to go head to head and then are you just asking like trivia questions to them back and forth or like where are you sourcing your questions from?

Jay Reynolds (08:26.709)
Yeah, great question. So what I did is out of 16, I built like basically in Pro Presenter, I built 16 categories and it's all picture related. And so behind them, there's a big old screen, you know, and let's just say it was a serials, you know, like cereal, like, and so they just have to guess, oh, that's Reese Puffs, that's Honey Nut Cheerios. And what I did instead of like, playing like chess, how the game show is like each has your own 45 seconds. It's a whole lot to manage.

Nick Clason (08:38.829)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (08:43.095)
Right.

Nick Clason (08:56.385)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (08:56.629)
I just put one timer up and so I flipped a little bit of the game show and I made it whoever has the most correct in 45 seconds. And I encourage high crowd participation, right? And so like the kids up there and you know sometimes a kid would get a little bit of stage fright and they're like, oh, I know what that is. That is definitely, you know, Lucky Charms, but I can't, I just can't think of what the name is, but the whole crowd's yelling Lucky Charms, you know?

Nick Clason (09:01.912)
Gotcha.

Nick Clason (09:06.229)
Okay.

Nick Clason (09:10.37)
There you go.

Nick Clason (09:14.733)
Right?

Nick Clason (09:25.599)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (09:26.365)
And so it keeps the whole crowd engaged while at the same time, know, so, you know, a good game, I believe it's just like, it's not just for the contestants on stage, but it gets the whole crowd also into it.

Nick Clason (09:29.41)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (09:37.87)
Yeah, and I love that, that you encourage crowd participation rather than try to stifle it because then that makes, that means everyone in the room is able to join in and participate. And yeah, it's not just for the people up there. It's beautiful.

Jay Reynolds (09:42.441)
Yeah. Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (09:48.944)
Yeah. Yep. Yeah. And that's where a lot of the prizes, I tried to make them like, maybe there was like, actually, I think that's the year I gave away like some panda hats and like, so I may have like made like a panda shirt or something. That was kind of our little subtle branding. And so that just kind of went with it. It was like, oh, this was for you, but it's also paired with like five bags of candy to share with your cabin. You know what I mean? And so.

Nick Clason (09:59.468)
Okay.

Nick Clason (10:05.015)
Right.

Nick Clason (10:12.192)
Nice, yeah. So there's more incentive for the people in the crowd. Like if their buddy's up there, they might get to, yeah, that's awesome.

Jay Reynolds (10:16.915)
Yep. Exactly. Yeah. You know, and so that just cries a call a lot of crowd participation. Here's what I didn't expect, but something awesome that happened. So in 45 seconds, you know, you sometimes go into it thinking like, this game is going to be great. This kid's going to get like eight. This kid may get seven, like clear winner. That didn't always happen. Like this kid got eight. This other kid got eight. Time ended. Now I'm like in the moment, like, well, what do I do? Right.

Nick Clason (10:26.519)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:36.173)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:41.165)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (10:44.801)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (10:45.649)
And so, so here's what I did. Like I'll just give a little secret sauce so you don't have to think through it if you play this. And so I just like, okay, you guys tie. How do we end this? And so I basically just put my hand out and you know, and then for the contestants hand behind the back, you know, go to the next one, the first one, you know, high five and answer correctly. Then they got to choose and that was created in the whole, like the whole room, like this anticipation who's going to get it, you know?

Nick Clason (10:51.308)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:07.362)
Yeah they win.

Nick Clason (11:13.527)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (11:14.173)
And then it's like the one kid that happened to and they guessed they were so confident and they got it wrong, you know? But then the other kid got it, right? And it just creates like kind of like this little bit of storybook kind of ending whenever they tie. And so it just works, you know, pretty well.

Nick Clason (11:20.758)
Yeah, dude

Nick Clason (11:27.297)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (11:30.7)
Yeah dude, that's awesome. Okay so, a kid wins the majority of the board Friday night. So Saturday morning let's say, you come back to play it again. You're getting random contestants. Now if someone was on the board but they weren't selected or they weren't eliminated, did you swap them out with new contestants? So you just had the people who like, so like one carryover from Friday night and then everyone else was new?

Jay Reynolds (11:37.78)
Yes.

Jay Reynolds (11:52.467)
Yep.

Nick Clason (12:00.672)
on the board on Saturday? Is that how you handled it? Okay, great.

Jay Reynolds (12:03.285)
That's how I handled it, right? And so some of that, you know, sometimes when you play a game, it's like, oh yeah, that kid, you know, gets participated, but somebody wins before they get there, right? And it's just like, it's kind of that concept. And you know, what, what I had a little bit of the workflow is that every kid who had a box, I gave them basically like piece of paper. I'm number one, two, you know, whatever their number was that went with the box. And so that also helped for, you know, like in the moment there's all these kids around. It's like, oh, it,

Nick Clason (12:23.18)
Right, right, right, yeah. Right.

Jay Reynolds (12:32.445)
chose number 12, you know, to be able to cue the folks in the back and be able to set up Prober Center, everything correctly. It was like, we got number 12, you know, coming on up, you know? And, and so it's like while they're traveling, it's able to kind of like cue some of the tech team. So they're able to get the next things all set up. But with that, it was all new kids. Like if you want now when it come to Saturday night and Sunday morning,

Nick Clason (12:44.834)
Yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (12:49.656)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (12:58.471)
If you won Friday night, you were still on the board, you know, unless you lost, you know? And so, so it is basically kind of like you win, you get to stay in the game and earn the right to keep going.

Nick Clason (13:01.186)
Right. Right, right, right.

Nick Clason (13:08.04)
Yeah. Yeah, I think that part's really cool. So did you have a kid make it all the way through or did like a winner from Friday end up getting eliminated on Saturday and you kind of kept daisy chaining it all the way to the end?

Jay Reynolds (13:20.529)
I think it was... We may have had, at least a Saturday night, we have Friday winter and Saturday morning winter into it. I can't remember Sunday morning. May have had a couple. Because we didn't play it this year, we played it last year. And so I'm a little bit of a year plus removed from like into it. But it just created a cool environment. But also like some of the dynamics, let's say like it was number 15, they beat 16, they beat, you know...

Nick Clason (13:29.966)
Okay, that's cool. That's cool.

Nick Clason (13:35.134)
Yeah, yeah. Right.

Jay Reynolds (13:49.253)
14, you know, and they had like their pocket, like all the way on the end. Well, the next day we showed up, it was, um, Hey, do you want to like play or do you want to kind of go back and just like sit in your leg little area? And so that's kind of where like, we'll just sit in our area. Okay. Let's throw up a randomizer. What do we get next? Number two, right? They're almost the other side of the floor. And so, you know, it may have been like, Oh, you didn't win, you know, or you didn't play that day or that, that session.

Nick Clason (13:52.631)
Right.

Nick Clason (14:01.506)
Right.

Nick Clason (14:11.555)
Right?

Nick Clason (14:18.454)
Yeah, to win, but you survived because you weren't on that part of the floor. I get it.

Jay Reynolds (14:20.989)
Exactly. So some of that, and if you watch the game show, that's how like people will play. Like, I won like three rounds. I have a small little section, but I'm like in an aisle. I'm like all the way in the corner. Maybe it's better. go back and then, know, but it's also like, I'm playing for the category, right? Now let me talk a little bit about categories, you know, cause I, I chose all that myself, the game show, like you, you go in saying, this is my category. And it's like, you're almost like,

Nick Clason (14:33.986)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (14:41.399)
Okay, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (14:49.393)
You're bringing category to the game show.

Nick Clason (14:52.01)
Yeah, like that's you're an expert in that category is how it works on the game show you're saying

Jay Reynolds (14:54.835)
Yeah. Yes. But in my context, I don't know. And I'm like, to keep things to be able to be randomized, I was basically like, here's your category. You are now an expert. You know, like you are now an expert on dogs, you know, or you are now an expert on fruit, you know, you are now in and it was all common stuff that's in their world. And so so instead of it being as eclectic as what you might experience, like watching the game show, as I just made it more actually slide on the side of common.

Nick Clason (15:01.859)
Mm-hmm.

Gotcha, okay, cool, cool, cool.

Right.

Nick Clason (15:14.296)
Right.

Nick Clason (15:20.429)
Sure.

Jay Reynolds (15:23.477)
and that most people are going to know what it is, right? Because when you think through audience engagement, actually, the more eclectic it gets, the more you minimize participation, right? And so in this context, it's like playing other games, like if you play um or pie in the face type games, it's like you actually want some of those topics that people are going to know.

Nick Clason (15:28.417)
Right.

Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (15:36.302)
100%, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (15:49.353)
you know, car brands, type of thing, know, shoe brands, you know, like some of those things. And it just creates a higher engagement, which ends up being a better experience for the entire audience.

Nick Clason (15:51.586)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:59.982)
Yeah, okay, so one like just last little point of clarification I have is when you get two contestants, do you have them bounce back and forth like you say a carb brand, I say a carb brand until the one person can't remember or do you give them each 45 seconds and they have to list as many as they can and then the other person goes.

Jay Reynolds (16:18.355)
Yeah, no, great question. in using the slides, you know, and for us, we had a screen right behind us. So it's easy for them to see, easy for the whole crowd to see that type of thing. And it was basically like a, you know, person A is person B. So A, know, it's just like, that's let's say it's animals like, that's a panda, you know, next person, person B. that's a, that's an eagle person A. that's a dolphin. You know, that's a shark, you know.

Nick Clason (16:30.843)
yeah, that's right.

Nick Clason (16:41.366)
Okay. Gotcha. So it's not like a speed thing against him. It's like, person A, this slide is yours and you either get it or you don't. Got it. Okay. Cool, cool,

Jay Reynolds (16:50.517)
Yes. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And it's like, if it takes you a second, know, like animals is pretty easy, you know, but, know, when you get into like, and I think like for, was it like cereals? I may have had a picture of the cereal. I may have had the box and kind of canvad out the name of it or something like that, but make it so it's recognizable. But you're like, it takes you a minute or not a minute, but it takes you a few moments to think about it. You know, the overall timer was 45 seconds.

Nick Clason (17:06.71)
Right, right.

Jay Reynolds (17:17.053)
and was just whoever got the most correct, but it was just back and forth, back and forth, that type of thing. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:19.286)
Yeah.

That's awesome. I love it. Okay. Now you told me when we were texting back and forth, like, do you still have the purpose under file? Like, is that something that, that, you could get and we could give to people who are listening? Yeah, that'd be amazing.

Jay Reynolds (17:34.581)
Dude, I'd love to, you know? And so, yeah, and I use ProPresenter and so, you know, it's all built in ProPresenter, but I, man, I think it's all built in folders. So if you don't use, you know, if somebody's listening and they wanna try it out, I think I have folders that are all like the images. And I built, I built the floor off 16, but I built like two other categories. So if like something happened, like they, or something glitches, you know, things like that. So I think I technically built like.

Nick Clason (17:51.714)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (18:01.27)
Right, you gotta fall back, yeah. Okay.

Jay Reynolds (18:03.317)
18 categories. But man, I would gladly share it, you know.

Nick Clason (18:07.818)
Yeah, that'd be super cool. Yeah, so we'll get that from you and we'll link it down below. I think the thing I like the most about this is that you can make this the game for your D now, your winter retreat, your fall retreat, whatever, and you can just go back to it. And as opposed to every session, let's say you got four sessions over the course of a weekend, you don't have to come up with four things. This thing carries you all weekend long.

the more they know it or get to understand the rules of it, by the end of it, the hype level is probably gonna be raising every single time they do it. So maybe Friday night, it's basic understanding and basic learning, but by the end of it, people get the rules, they're locked into it, and they're trying to carry home the ultimate floor champion moniker, if they get to take home that final prize or whatever.

I think those are some of my favorite styles of games, things that can just, that well that you can kind of keep going back to. And so that's what I love about it. And I did not understand it at all when we were texting. So as you've described it more, I'm more more into it. And even my wheels now are turning. I'm like, all right, we got a winter retreat coming up. Do we incorporate this? Or do we bring this with us to summer camp or something like that? Because this sounds super fun, super amazing. And just a great way to like,

build the competition and build the camaraderie.

Jay Reynolds (19:37.181)
Yeah. And I think, you know, that's exactly it, man. You know, and if you think through like and how we set it up, like I think we just set up like two or three, you know, or maybe it's like two blocks and just like right as a center aisle. But let's just talk a little bit about that. Like I use painter's tape so that way it's not messing with the floor at all. Super cheap. But then what I did to make it easier is like think through if you were playing like that, that kids like dock game, you have to build boxes.

Nick Clason (19:49.485)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (19:55.319)
Right, and cheap.

Nick Clason (20:05.709)
Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Jay Reynolds (20:06.451)
Yeah. So think of it in that a whole frame on the outside was just solid lines to be able to build it. But on the inside, it was all like, you know, just think through each box by itself, because then when you have some volunteers like, box eight takes over seven, you know, and now you pull that one strip between the two. Now, you know, it's all box eight, right? You know? And so that just makes it easier logistically, because if you run long strips,

Nick Clason (20:11.607)
Right.

Nick Clason (20:16.91)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (20:26.163)
Mmm. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (20:32.558)
Totally.

Jay Reynolds (20:34.451)
like across multiple boxes on the interior, then like, now I have to like weirdly pick up like. Yeah, and that will be logistically, you know, that's like something like, I didn't think of it until I was in the in the in the situation. Now it's an issue is that think through like small like so the boxes say, you know, two or three feet wide, you know, just the interior pieces are all single pieces.

Nick Clason (20:40.788)
Yeah, cut it and yeah.

Nick Clason (20:50.124)
Right, yeah.

Nick Clason (20:59.852)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (21:00.393)
So it's a little bit longer to set up, not much, but a little bit longer to set up, but much easier for flow by game flow.

Nick Clason (21:08.046)
Yeah, I got you. Okay, so then, you know, seven overtakes eight. On Saturday morning, do you redraw, like, the seven box, or has seven still overtaken eight on Saturday morning for that morning's board? Does that make sense?

Jay Reynolds (21:24.713)
Yeah. Say seven takes over eight. And so now, yeah. And so basically your goal is to win the whole floor, you know? And so, ultimately, you know, and so now you get down to it is like, let's just say you winner keeps winning and they keep staying, they keep playing all this kind of stuff. And now you get down to it. They have 15 boxes, you know? And so let's just say it's one against number now, like let's say nine that won everything. One didn't.

Nick Clason (21:31.458)
The whole thing, yeah.

Nick Clason (21:40.097)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (21:51.063)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (21:52.319)
play at all. And it's just the kid who just got in that day and they just sat and watched nine keep winning, keep winning. And they get up there and then one who's had no action the entire time. They beat this person who's won everything. It's like a David and glide style matchup. And then they win that round. They win it all, you know? And so that's the other thing. What's intriguing about it. It's like, you know, some games it's like, if you're, could have the sheer advantage.

Nick Clason (21:56.278)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (22:09.918)
moment yeah yeah that's cool that's cool

Jay Reynolds (22:21.885)
or you keep winning and then now it like builds all this momentum. It's nice because it's almost, it's like there's neutralizers built into this game all the way throughout, you know? And it could just be like, just luck of the draw. Like, I don't know, I don't eat cereal. I only eat toast. Like I don't even know. And then that kid who's like, man, just sat, I randomly got chosen. You know, the kid who's like, man, I don't know it. I just eat cereal every day. I don't even know why I'm here, but I know this. And then I ended up winning everything, you know?

Nick Clason (22:29.238)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (22:37.857)
you

Nick Clason (22:47.351)
Yeah.

Yeah, that's cool.

Jay Reynolds (22:50.813)
And so that's the cool thing that makes it so easy and fun and all that kind of stuff.

Nick Clason (22:57.43)
Yeah, that's amazing. Nice. All right, bro. That really does sound super fun, super cool. So any last final parting words about retreats or games or this game in particular before we hit stop and close out the recording?

Jay Reynolds (23:15.219)
Yeah, dude, I think the last thing I'd say as far as for playing this game, because it builds on itself, you know, think through, I think how I played it was Friday night. I think I only did three questions, you know, because of Friday night, you have the rules, you have all this kind of stuff and not just the rules for this game, but, know, just think through your retreat overall. What is all of it, you know, entail? And so, you know, we did maybe three questions and then that allowed us to choose which other session do we want to do five, you know?

Nick Clason (23:25.954)
Okay.

Nick Clason (23:33.197)
Right.

Jay Reynolds (23:43.517)
And so just think through some of that from a momentum standpoint on how you want to play it. The other thing from a momentum is let your, you know, your session prizes build. So Friday night, maybe it is like a, you know, hat in like two bags of candy, you know, but then Saturday morning, you know, I think we did prizes that like relate. We were going to do like some, some, I don't know, pool games and things like that. So we gave away like beach towels, you know,

Nick Clason (23:43.725)
Mm.

Nick Clason (23:47.447)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (23:54.669)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (24:12.436)
Okay. Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (24:12.871)
and candy, right? And so it just kind of built and it just seemed that, you know, as the game builds, because it's over multiple sessions, that if you have budget and that's how you kind of ministry works, I would encourage you to think through, let your prizes build also, you know, and because that is just going to intuitively kind of go in with the whole game, you know, that type of thing. And so for me, my style is I always get other leaders involved, you know, small group leaders, things like that. I'm like, Hey, pick two kids to play, pick two kids to play.

Nick Clason (24:26.935)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (24:32.673)
yeah that makes sense

Nick Clason (24:40.8)
huh.

Jay Reynolds (24:42.687)
You know, and so, you know, that's how I help in the randomization, you know, but I'm getting other leaders involved in that process. That also helps like in a ministry. it's not like, Jay just picked his favorite kids to play to try to win, you know, well, no, I picked this leader and that lead, you know, and so it's like, I try to, so depending on how the structure is set up, getting other voices involved, help to take away like what could be speculation. Does that make sense? Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:04.513)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (25:09.408)
Yeah, yeah, totally, totally. Yeah, I love it, man. Well, I, again, I appreciate your time. I thought this was a great conversation, great game. Like, and that one of the things I think is so, like interesting in the world of youth pastors, cause I did this too once where I was like watching a game show, you know, just at home with my wife and I was like,

I can make that into a game. You know what mean? And that's just the way our brain, we never turn off, we never stop thinking, we never stop ideating. And so I've never heard of this concept before, I've never even heard of this game show, but you're so right. It's a perfect youth ministry game and I love the fact that it can span the whole thing. And that's exactly what I was looking for, for all these different conversations, all these different ideas. And so again, really appreciate you hopping on and we'll throw the link to your.

Jay Reynolds (25:33.036)
yeah.

Never. Never.

Jay Reynolds (25:48.627)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (25:57.634)
your files and stuff like that down below. really appreciate you giving that away and that'll be super helpful for anyone who wants to take it and run with it.

Jay Reynolds (26:05.683)
Yeah, feel free. And hey, if one of your listeners wants to try it out and they get a little confused or want to kind of process through a little bit more, dude, feel free. You know, they can reach out and connect me with them. I'd love to kind of just help walk alongside someone who's trying to, you know, trying something new in their context, trying something to see what it would work. And I hope for folks who try it.

Nick Clason (26:14.851)
Yeah.

Jay Reynolds (26:25.683)
Man, hope you end of the day, if you're gonna play game like this, it's just as much as you having fun with your kids, with your students having fun, because that's kind of the momentum that really builds and getting them all into it.

Nick Clason (26:36.364)
Yeah, perfect. All right, Jay. Well, I appreciate it, And everyone else, thanks for listening. And we'll talk again soon. See you.

Jay Reynolds (26:43.455)
Cool, great chat man, take care.

]]> Episode 172: The Cellphone Problem in Youth Groups https://www.hybridministry.xyz/172 638ad9c0-ba4b-4a3f-99e7-f1127a82e225 Thu, 23 Oct 2025 05:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 172 The Cellphone Problem in Youth Groups full Nick Clason In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we tackle the cellphone problem in youth groups and reveal a 3-step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry that actually works. Instead of fighting students for their phones, you’ll learn how youth pastors can use a variety of tools to their benefit, including how to turn phones from a distraction to an actual asset. If you’re looking for practical youth ministry tips, phone management strategies, and digital discipleship tools to keep students engaged, this episode is for you. 11:51 no In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we tackle the cellphone problem in youth groups and reveal a 3-step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry that actually works. Instead of fighting students for their phones, you’ll learn how youth pastors can use a variety of tools to their benefit, including how to turn phones from a distraction to an actual asset. If you’re looking for practical youth ministry tips, phone management strategies, and digital discipleship tools to keep students engaged, this episode is for you. 🍂 FALL SOCIAL MEDIA PACK https://www.patreon.com/posts/fall-seasonal-137477671?utmmedium=clipboardcopy&utmsource=copyLink&utmcampaign=postsharecreator&utmcontent=join_link 🦸 HYBRID HEROES GET THE PACK FOR FREE! https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry SHOW NOTES Shownotes & Transcripts https://www.hybridministry.xyz/172 LINKS https://www.Coleader.co CODE: HybridMinistry10 Sidekick + Pro Presenter Setup https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym //OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Phones in Youth Group 00:23 How Do you Keep Kids off Phones? 00:38 Step #1 01:24 Step #2 02:15 Step #3 04:09 Idea #1 06:09 Fall Social Media Plan 07:22 Idea #2 -------------- TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:08:05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry In this episode, we're going to talk about my three step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry. 00:00:08:05 - 00:00:17:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But what I also want to show you is how I've turned phones from a distraction to an asset in our youth ministry. And frankly, it's 00:00:17:01 - 00:00:24:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry a lot easier than fighting kids to get rid of their phones. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show. 00:00:24:10 - 00:00:29:05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Well, hey, everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. In this episode, we are answering this question. 00:00:29:05 - 00:00:34:17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry What are the ways that you have been able to keep students from being on phones during lessons and smog? 00:00:34:17 - 00:00:34:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Glad you 00:00:34:26 - 00:00:51:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry asked. Here's my three step strategy. Step number one is a central parking location. Like you read the comments of this post and just about everyone has either like some charging stations solution a little like hanging basket, 00:00:51:02 - 00:00:54:20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry place for them to just like, leave their phones in the middle. 00:00:54:23 - 00:01:11:12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Some different pictures, some different links to different things. We even had at our church at one point in time, we had like cell phone lockers. So this is like lockers with temporary codes where you go, you put your phone in, you create your own code, and then you come back and you get it. At the end of the night, we no longer have them. 00:01:11:12 - 00:01:30:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I tell you why in a minute, but, that's an option that was like the most, like next level solution. But basically everybody does it. Like, you just make that the thing. Hey, everyone, put your phones here before we go on into the room for youth group. The other option, let's be honest, like one of the good things that they could be using on their phone is like the Bible app. 00:01:30:26 - 00:01:49:19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so if you're teaching from the Bible, you're going to give them some sort of like scripture lesson, and they're going to pull their Bibles out on their phone to read it. But then you know how phones work. That's because distraction there, over there, then playing clash clans in a minute, and they're no longer reading the Bible because you stopped reading the Bible in your lesson. 00:01:49:19 - 00:02:15:20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so, the solution set in two is just very simply like, provide paper Bibles, like if you want kids not on their phones and you want kids in the Bible, provide paper Bibles everywhere, all throughout your space so that there's no excuse for it and or also encourage, and even like potentially bribe and reward students who do bring their paper, Bibles to youth group to engage with Scripture in that way. 00:02:15:23 - 00:02:16:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry The third 00:02:16:13 - 00:02:20:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry and most effective way, in my opinion, this is more of like in a small group setting. 00:02:20:04 - 00:02:25:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So if you're in like a large group, room, this doesn't quite work. But in a small group setting, 00:02:25:04 - 00:02:35:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I'm a huge fan of the idea of a thing called a group covenant. Okay. And a group covenant is essentially something that you do at the beginning of a small group term or cycle. 00:02:36:09 - 00:02:55:12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So you got to think about this. If you have like groups that never break for any sort of rhythm or any sort of reason, then you got to create natural kind of like start points. So, you know, beginning of the school year, maybe like beginning of the calendar year, something like that. Or in certain contexts I've worked in, we've, we had three distinct small groups cycles. 00:02:55:12 - 00:03:15:21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So we had the fall, the winter and then the summer. And so and then each of those ran for 12 weeks at a time or whatever. And so, during the beginning section of those, you, you have a small group covenant. So you talk about rules and expectations. What's the expectation in this group for treating one another and all those types of things? 00:03:15:21 - 00:03:20:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry However, in that the other thing that I recommend, 00:03:20:13 - 00:03:41:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry is you ask, what are we going to do about phones? And you let the students decide, and that's more powerful than you having temporary cell phone lockers. That's more powerful than you having paper Bibles. When you let the student say, decide and dictate what's going to happen with phones, that's where the wind is found. 00:03:41:10 - 00:04:07:11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so you just simply ask, what are we going to do about phones? They come up with it. And I've always found that students in a group covenant setting actually make stricter rules than rules that you would probably want to make for them. And so let them decide through the avenue of a group covenant, which, by the way, is one of the things I did not see in the comments of the description, however, of that of that question. 00:04:07:11 - 00:04:24:00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry However, this is the hybrid ministry show, and so I would be remiss to not talk about the ways in which I have actually tried to use phones as an asset. And so in our student ministry, when I started here and this episode links right 00:04:24:00 - 00:04:31:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry here, I detailed and discussed how our hybrid ministry strategy has to our growth over the last three years. 00:04:31:29 - 00:04:55:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so when I got here, one of the moves we made was we went from rows to tables. That was a major decision and quite frankly, a thing that people had. Some issue with that at first. But now we do tables pretty much consistently. And whenever we take them away, people like you don't like rows anymore. So it's just funny to watch how people kind of change and transform over time. 00:04:55:18 - 00:05:21:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But one of the things that we're leaning into is sidekick. And so we have a poll, a QR based poll, which is one of the features of the new beta sidekick, which, by the way, if you didn't know, you can jump into co-leader or co-leader Premium plus, with code Hybrid Ministry 1001 word. They'll give you 10% off co-leader, which also gives you access to all of the sidekick stuff. 00:05:21:08 - 00:05:41:20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so one of the benefits and they're still kind of working out some of the kinks, about sidekick and its relationship with the legacy version. But one of the kinks or but one of the best parts about the new version, the beta version of sidekick is, the, the poll voting. And so we use that all the time. 00:05:41:20 - 00:05:59:10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so poll voting kids get their phone out their skin and they can vote. They can use it for games. They can use it for messages. We even use it sometimes in the pre-roll. I tell you what, I'm going to do that I'm going to link down below our sidekick set up because, it's still not all the way full proof yet. 00:05:59:12 - 00:06:09:06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so sometimes pro presenter is a better option. And so we actually run both on two different machines, and show you how we set that up. Link down below. 00:06:09:06 - 00:06:16:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Hey, quick break. Let me ask you a question. Are you still waking up every day? Is youth pastor scrambling to figure out what you need to post on your social media? 00:06:16:11 - 00:06:45:24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Blurry dodgeball. Pick a video that your leader sent you that's a little bit pixelated, because iPhone still hasn't updated fully to RCS yet. You see, you don't need that kind of stress this fall. That's why I created this the fall seasonal social media pack for youth pastors. It is three months worth of done for you content done for you, paired with some customization so that you and your leaders and your students are the faces and the personalities on your student ministry Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts feed. 00:06:45:27 - 00:07:05:24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So here's the thing. You can grab my pack right now over on Patreon. And did you know that monthly hybrid. Here are Patreon members who only pay $4 per month and get a bonus podcast. They get this pack completely for free, so if you do the math for three months worth of social media content, it's only $12 where the pack is 1799. 00:07:05:24 - 00:07:22:24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Either way, it is a steal for you and it will take away the stress of posting. And you can grab that pack right now and start becoming a master at social media and hybrid ministry. In your youth ministry context, rooting for you as you are crushing it this fall in your student ministry. 00:07:22:24 - 00:07:37:06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry The other thing that we use is a feature called Digital Notes, which is just a US leaning into the resource and the platform of the YouVersion Bible app, live event section that, YouVersion includes. 00:07:37:06 - 00:07:59:21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so we set up a YouVersion live events, reading plan. Or it's not even a reading plan necessarily, but a YouVersion live events to follow along with the notes every single week. And like I said, we sit at tables and so we have like a little placard, plastic about this big. It sits in the middle of the table and it says, follow along with this week's digital notes, and it's got a QR code. 00:07:59:28 - 00:08:27:10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so the QR code stays the same. But then on our QR code service generator, we turn around and we change the link to that every single week. So we change the link to the newest, iteration of the digital notes of the YouVersion, events plan. And so, they can also, you know, navigate into it and find it on the YouVersion live, section of the YouVersion events, and they can follow along. 00:08:27:10 - 00:08:49:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry As you know, we're very like, video centric and hybrid ministry centric youth ministry. So we create thumbnails for all of our talks. And so all of our in-room talks also have the thumbnails that go at the top of the YouVersion live events plan. But the, other beautiful thing, frankly, about the YouVersion live events plan is you can link to things external. 00:08:49:16 - 00:09:10:12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So once they're on there, you got them hooked in and you can help them follow along. You can ask them questions and they're things that they can interact with. They can highlight scripture, they can take notes. But then you can also include external links. So we have a next step like form on our website that we use. And so at the end of every single lesson we say are you ready to take a next step? 00:09:10:12 - 00:09:30:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Click here to let us know and it'll navigate them off to our website. And then the final piece in the YouVersion events is we include a Bible reading plan that relates to the topic of sorts. And so any single given week a student on the YouVersion live event plan, they are encouraged or asked at least if they want to take some sort of spiritual next step. 00:09:30:13 - 00:09:37:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And they're also fed some sort of Bible reading plan. And so I want to point that out as a way to say we have 00:09:37:13 - 00:09:55:15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry use phones and sidekick gives us a sliver of that. But our digital notes really opens up a wide avenue of ways that we can help students take next steps and be more intentional and meaningful during the lesson, so that they're using their phones to follow along with what's going on. 00:09:55:15 - 00:10:15:00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Now, I told you I made a calculated risk with tables. I also want to let you know that phones is another calculated risk. And in fact, like one of the one of the comments on this post of the question that I'm reading said, man, just let kids have their phones, stop making it a fight. And like I tend to actually agree with that guy, but I will let you know. 00:10:15:00 - 00:10:37:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Like phones are still a fight and they are still a distraction. Just last week, two nights ago in our youth group, one of our leaders, one of our table leaders. So we have students that are in, senior high that are leading groups in discussions. He was playing a game on his phone, and one of our staff one up, and they said, our table leaders are allowed to play games on their phones. 00:10:37:01 - 00:10:54:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And he knew the answer to that was like, no. And so he had to go to that kid and say, hey, put your phone down. So if that's coming from one of our leaders, it's there's that much even trickle down to the rest of students. So, well, hear me say, what we do is not foolproof, all right. But it's a calculated risk that I'm willing to take. 00:10:54:01 - 00:11:12:15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And one that when a student brings their friend for the first time and a mom and dad. Imagine this. Your parent, you send your kid to imagine you send your kid to a completely different denomination or different religion to go with one of their friends, and then they don't have their phones for an hour. How would you feel if you couldn't get in contact with them? 00:11:12:17 - 00:11:32:11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You know, we're the millennial generation of of parents. We want to have contact with our children, especially if we've paid for and given them a phone. And so we try not to make that an obstacle for people to be able to come into our ministry. But again, it's a calculated risk and one that we are, used to, fighting and using. 00:11:32:11 - 00:11:48:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So let us know down below in the comments what you do in your youth ministry as it pertains to cell phones. And go ahead and subscribe what you see right here on the screen and check out the next question. Video. There's also here on screen. But until next time. And as always my friends, don't forget stay happy. youth ministry, youth group, youth pastor, hybrid ministry, student ministry, youth group ideas, youth group games, discipleship, phones in youth group, cellphone problem, youth ministry tips, youth pastor training, how to keep kids off phones, youth ministry strategy, youth group teaching, paper bibles, group covenants, sidekick, pro presenter, digital notes, fall social media plan, youth leaders, church leadership, youth group discipleship, student engagement, church tech, youth ministry growth In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we tackle the cellphone problem in youth groups and reveal a 3-step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry that actually works. Instead of fighting students for their phones, you’ll learn how youth pastors can use a variety of tools to their benefit, including how to turn phones from a distraction to an actual asset. If you’re looking for practical youth ministry tips, phone management strategies, and digital discipleship tools to keep students engaged, this episode is for you.

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--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Phones in Youth Group
00:23 How Do you Keep Kids off Phones?
00:38 Step #1
01:24 Step #2
02:15 Step #3
04:09 Idea #1
06:09 Fall Social Media Plan
07:22 Idea #2

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:08:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In this episode, we're going to talk about my three step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry.

00:00:08:05 - 00:00:17:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But what I also want to show you is how I've turned phones from a distraction to an asset in our youth ministry. And frankly, it's

00:00:17:01 - 00:00:24:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
a lot easier than fighting kids to get rid of their phones. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:00:24:10 - 00:00:29:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well, hey, everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. In this episode, we are answering this question.

00:00:29:05 - 00:00:34:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What are the ways that you have been able to keep students from being on phones during lessons and smog?

00:00:34:17 - 00:00:34:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Glad you

00:00:34:26 - 00:00:51:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
asked. Here's my three step strategy. Step number one is a central parking location. Like you read the comments of this post and just about everyone has either like some charging stations solution a little like hanging basket,

00:00:51:02 - 00:00:54:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
place for them to just like, leave their phones in the middle.

00:00:54:23 - 00:01:11:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Some different pictures, some different links to different things. We even had at our church at one point in time, we had like cell phone lockers. So this is like lockers with temporary codes where you go, you put your phone in, you create your own code, and then you come back and you get it. At the end of the night, we no longer have them.

00:01:11:12 - 00:01:30:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I tell you why in a minute, but, that's an option that was like the most, like next level solution. But basically everybody does it. Like, you just make that the thing. Hey, everyone, put your phones here before we go on into the room for youth group. The other option, let's be honest, like one of the good things that they could be using on their phone is like the Bible app.

00:01:30:26 - 00:01:49:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so if you're teaching from the Bible, you're going to give them some sort of like scripture lesson, and they're going to pull their Bibles out on their phone to read it. But then you know how phones work. That's because distraction there, over there, then playing clash clans in a minute, and they're no longer reading the Bible because you stopped reading the Bible in your lesson.

00:01:49:19 - 00:02:15:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, the solution set in two is just very simply like, provide paper Bibles, like if you want kids not on their phones and you want kids in the Bible, provide paper Bibles everywhere, all throughout your space so that there's no excuse for it and or also encourage, and even like potentially bribe and reward students who do bring their paper, Bibles to youth group to engage with Scripture in that way.

00:02:15:23 - 00:02:16:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The third

00:02:16:13 - 00:02:20:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
and most effective way, in my opinion, this is more of like in a small group setting.

00:02:20:04 - 00:02:25:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you're in like a large group, room, this doesn't quite work. But in a small group setting,

00:02:25:04 - 00:02:35:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm a huge fan of the idea of a thing called a group covenant. Okay. And a group covenant is essentially something that you do at the beginning of a small group term or cycle.

00:02:36:09 - 00:02:55:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So you got to think about this. If you have like groups that never break for any sort of rhythm or any sort of reason, then you got to create natural kind of like start points. So, you know, beginning of the school year, maybe like beginning of the calendar year, something like that. Or in certain contexts I've worked in, we've, we had three distinct small groups cycles.

00:02:55:12 - 00:03:15:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So we had the fall, the winter and then the summer. And so and then each of those ran for 12 weeks at a time or whatever. And so, during the beginning section of those, you, you have a small group covenant. So you talk about rules and expectations. What's the expectation in this group for treating one another and all those types of things?

00:03:15:21 - 00:03:20:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, in that the other thing that I recommend,

00:03:20:13 - 00:03:41:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
is you ask, what are we going to do about phones? And you let the students decide, and that's more powerful than you having temporary cell phone lockers. That's more powerful than you having paper Bibles. When you let the student say, decide and dictate what's going to happen with phones, that's where the wind is found.

00:03:41:10 - 00:04:07:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so you just simply ask, what are we going to do about phones? They come up with it. And I've always found that students in a group covenant setting actually make stricter rules than rules that you would probably want to make for them. And so let them decide through the avenue of a group covenant, which, by the way, is one of the things I did not see in the comments of the description, however, of that of that question.

00:04:07:11 - 00:04:24:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, this is the hybrid ministry show, and so I would be remiss to not talk about the ways in which I have actually tried to use phones as an asset. And so in our student ministry, when I started here and this episode links right

00:04:24:00 - 00:04:31:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
here, I detailed and discussed how our hybrid ministry strategy has to our growth over the last three years.

00:04:31:29 - 00:04:55:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so when I got here, one of the moves we made was we went from rows to tables. That was a major decision and quite frankly, a thing that people had. Some issue with that at first. But now we do tables pretty much consistently. And whenever we take them away, people like you don't like rows anymore. So it's just funny to watch how people kind of change and transform over time.

00:04:55:18 - 00:05:21:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But one of the things that we're leaning into is sidekick. And so we have a poll, a QR based poll, which is one of the features of the new beta sidekick, which, by the way, if you didn't know, you can jump into co-leader or co-leader Premium plus, with code Hybrid Ministry 1001 word. They'll give you 10% off co-leader, which also gives you access to all of the sidekick stuff.

00:05:21:08 - 00:05:41:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so one of the benefits and they're still kind of working out some of the kinks, about sidekick and its relationship with the legacy version. But one of the kinks or but one of the best parts about the new version, the beta version of sidekick is, the, the poll voting. And so we use that all the time.

00:05:41:20 - 00:05:59:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so poll voting kids get their phone out their skin and they can vote. They can use it for games. They can use it for messages. We even use it sometimes in the pre-roll. I tell you what, I'm going to do that I'm going to link down below our sidekick set up because, it's still not all the way full proof yet.

00:05:59:12 - 00:06:09:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so sometimes pro presenter is a better option. And so we actually run both on two different machines, and show you how we set that up. Link down below.

00:06:09:06 - 00:06:16:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Hey, quick break. Let me ask you a question. Are you still waking up every day? Is youth pastor scrambling to figure out what you need to post on your social media?

00:06:16:11 - 00:06:45:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Blurry dodgeball. Pick a video that your leader sent you that's a little bit pixelated, because iPhone still hasn't updated fully to RCS yet. You see, you don't need that kind of stress this fall. That's why I created this the fall seasonal social media pack for youth pastors. It is three months worth of done for you content done for you, paired with some customization so that you and your leaders and your students are the faces and the personalities on your student ministry Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts feed.

00:06:45:27 - 00:07:05:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So here's the thing. You can grab my pack right now over on Patreon. And did you know that monthly hybrid. Here are Patreon members who only pay $4 per month and get a bonus podcast. They get this pack completely for free, so if you do the math for three months worth of social media content, it's only $12 where the pack is 1799.

00:07:05:24 - 00:07:22:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Either way, it is a steal for you and it will take away the stress of posting. And you can grab that pack right now and start becoming a master at social media and hybrid ministry. In your youth ministry context, rooting for you as you are crushing it this fall in your student ministry.

00:07:22:24 - 00:07:37:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The other thing that we use is a feature called Digital Notes, which is just a US leaning into the resource and the platform of the YouVersion Bible app, live event section that, YouVersion includes.

00:07:37:06 - 00:07:59:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so we set up a YouVersion live events, reading plan. Or it's not even a reading plan necessarily, but a YouVersion live events to follow along with the notes every single week. And like I said, we sit at tables and so we have like a little placard, plastic about this big. It sits in the middle of the table and it says, follow along with this week's digital notes, and it's got a QR code.

00:07:59:28 - 00:08:27:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the QR code stays the same. But then on our QR code service generator, we turn around and we change the link to that every single week. So we change the link to the newest, iteration of the digital notes of the YouVersion, events plan. And so, they can also, you know, navigate into it and find it on the YouVersion live, section of the YouVersion events, and they can follow along.

00:08:27:10 - 00:08:49:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
As you know, we're very like, video centric and hybrid ministry centric youth ministry. So we create thumbnails for all of our talks. And so all of our in-room talks also have the thumbnails that go at the top of the YouVersion live events plan. But the, other beautiful thing, frankly, about the YouVersion live events plan is you can link to things external.

00:08:49:16 - 00:09:10:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So once they're on there, you got them hooked in and you can help them follow along. You can ask them questions and they're things that they can interact with. They can highlight scripture, they can take notes. But then you can also include external links. So we have a next step like form on our website that we use. And so at the end of every single lesson we say are you ready to take a next step?

00:09:10:12 - 00:09:30:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Click here to let us know and it'll navigate them off to our website. And then the final piece in the YouVersion events is we include a Bible reading plan that relates to the topic of sorts. And so any single given week a student on the YouVersion live event plan, they are encouraged or asked at least if they want to take some sort of spiritual next step.

00:09:30:13 - 00:09:37:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And they're also fed some sort of Bible reading plan. And so I want to point that out as a way to say we have

00:09:37:13 - 00:09:55:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
use phones and sidekick gives us a sliver of that. But our digital notes really opens up a wide avenue of ways that we can help students take next steps and be more intentional and meaningful during the lesson, so that they're using their phones to follow along with what's going on.

00:09:55:15 - 00:10:15:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, I told you I made a calculated risk with tables. I also want to let you know that phones is another calculated risk. And in fact, like one of the one of the comments on this post of the question that I'm reading said, man, just let kids have their phones, stop making it a fight. And like I tend to actually agree with that guy, but I will let you know.

00:10:15:00 - 00:10:37:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like phones are still a fight and they are still a distraction. Just last week, two nights ago in our youth group, one of our leaders, one of our table leaders. So we have students that are in, senior high that are leading groups in discussions. He was playing a game on his phone, and one of our staff one up, and they said, our table leaders are allowed to play games on their phones.

00:10:37:01 - 00:10:54:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And he knew the answer to that was like, no. And so he had to go to that kid and say, hey, put your phone down. So if that's coming from one of our leaders, it's there's that much even trickle down to the rest of students. So, well, hear me say, what we do is not foolproof, all right. But it's a calculated risk that I'm willing to take.

00:10:54:01 - 00:11:12:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And one that when a student brings their friend for the first time and a mom and dad. Imagine this. Your parent, you send your kid to imagine you send your kid to a completely different denomination or different religion to go with one of their friends, and then they don't have their phones for an hour. How would you feel if you couldn't get in contact with them?

00:11:12:17 - 00:11:32:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, we're the millennial generation of of parents. We want to have contact with our children, especially if we've paid for and given them a phone. And so we try not to make that an obstacle for people to be able to come into our ministry. But again, it's a calculated risk and one that we are, used to, fighting and using.

00:11:32:11 - 00:11:48:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So let us know down below in the comments what you do in your youth ministry as it pertains to cell phones. And go ahead and subscribe what you see right here on the screen and check out the next question. Video. There's also here on screen. But until next time. And as always my friends, don't forget stay happy.

]]> In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we tackle the cellphone problem in youth groups and reveal a 3-step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry that actually works. Instead of fighting students for their phones, you’ll learn how youth pastors can use a variety of tools to their benefit, including how to turn phones from a distraction to an actual asset. If you’re looking for practical youth ministry tips, phone management strategies, and digital discipleship tools to keep students engaged, this episode is for you.

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Phones in Youth Group
00:23 How Do you Keep Kids off Phones?
00:38 Step #1
01:24 Step #2
02:15 Step #3
04:09 Idea #1
06:09 Fall Social Media Plan
07:22 Idea #2

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:08:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In this episode, we're going to talk about my three step phone prevention strategy for youth ministry.

00:00:08:05 - 00:00:17:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But what I also want to show you is how I've turned phones from a distraction to an asset in our youth ministry. And frankly, it's

00:00:17:01 - 00:00:24:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
a lot easier than fighting kids to get rid of their phones. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:00:24:10 - 00:00:29:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well, hey, everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. In this episode, we are answering this question.

00:00:29:05 - 00:00:34:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What are the ways that you have been able to keep students from being on phones during lessons and smog?

00:00:34:17 - 00:00:34:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Glad you

00:00:34:26 - 00:00:51:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
asked. Here's my three step strategy. Step number one is a central parking location. Like you read the comments of this post and just about everyone has either like some charging stations solution a little like hanging basket,

00:00:51:02 - 00:00:54:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
place for them to just like, leave their phones in the middle.

00:00:54:23 - 00:01:11:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Some different pictures, some different links to different things. We even had at our church at one point in time, we had like cell phone lockers. So this is like lockers with temporary codes where you go, you put your phone in, you create your own code, and then you come back and you get it. At the end of the night, we no longer have them.

00:01:11:12 - 00:01:30:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I tell you why in a minute, but, that's an option that was like the most, like next level solution. But basically everybody does it. Like, you just make that the thing. Hey, everyone, put your phones here before we go on into the room for youth group. The other option, let's be honest, like one of the good things that they could be using on their phone is like the Bible app.

00:01:30:26 - 00:01:49:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so if you're teaching from the Bible, you're going to give them some sort of like scripture lesson, and they're going to pull their Bibles out on their phone to read it. But then you know how phones work. That's because distraction there, over there, then playing clash clans in a minute, and they're no longer reading the Bible because you stopped reading the Bible in your lesson.

00:01:49:19 - 00:02:15:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, the solution set in two is just very simply like, provide paper Bibles, like if you want kids not on their phones and you want kids in the Bible, provide paper Bibles everywhere, all throughout your space so that there's no excuse for it and or also encourage, and even like potentially bribe and reward students who do bring their paper, Bibles to youth group to engage with Scripture in that way.

00:02:15:23 - 00:02:16:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The third

00:02:16:13 - 00:02:20:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
and most effective way, in my opinion, this is more of like in a small group setting.

00:02:20:04 - 00:02:25:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you're in like a large group, room, this doesn't quite work. But in a small group setting,

00:02:25:04 - 00:02:35:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm a huge fan of the idea of a thing called a group covenant. Okay. And a group covenant is essentially something that you do at the beginning of a small group term or cycle.

00:02:36:09 - 00:02:55:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So you got to think about this. If you have like groups that never break for any sort of rhythm or any sort of reason, then you got to create natural kind of like start points. So, you know, beginning of the school year, maybe like beginning of the calendar year, something like that. Or in certain contexts I've worked in, we've, we had three distinct small groups cycles.

00:02:55:12 - 00:03:15:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So we had the fall, the winter and then the summer. And so and then each of those ran for 12 weeks at a time or whatever. And so, during the beginning section of those, you, you have a small group covenant. So you talk about rules and expectations. What's the expectation in this group for treating one another and all those types of things?

00:03:15:21 - 00:03:20:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, in that the other thing that I recommend,

00:03:20:13 - 00:03:41:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
is you ask, what are we going to do about phones? And you let the students decide, and that's more powerful than you having temporary cell phone lockers. That's more powerful than you having paper Bibles. When you let the student say, decide and dictate what's going to happen with phones, that's where the wind is found.

00:03:41:10 - 00:04:07:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so you just simply ask, what are we going to do about phones? They come up with it. And I've always found that students in a group covenant setting actually make stricter rules than rules that you would probably want to make for them. And so let them decide through the avenue of a group covenant, which, by the way, is one of the things I did not see in the comments of the description, however, of that of that question.

00:04:07:11 - 00:04:24:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, this is the hybrid ministry show, and so I would be remiss to not talk about the ways in which I have actually tried to use phones as an asset. And so in our student ministry, when I started here and this episode links right

00:04:24:00 - 00:04:31:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
here, I detailed and discussed how our hybrid ministry strategy has to our growth over the last three years.

00:04:31:29 - 00:04:55:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so when I got here, one of the moves we made was we went from rows to tables. That was a major decision and quite frankly, a thing that people had. Some issue with that at first. But now we do tables pretty much consistently. And whenever we take them away, people like you don't like rows anymore. So it's just funny to watch how people kind of change and transform over time.

00:04:55:18 - 00:05:21:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But one of the things that we're leaning into is sidekick. And so we have a poll, a QR based poll, which is one of the features of the new beta sidekick, which, by the way, if you didn't know, you can jump into co-leader or co-leader Premium plus, with code Hybrid Ministry 1001 word. They'll give you 10% off co-leader, which also gives you access to all of the sidekick stuff.

00:05:21:08 - 00:05:41:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so one of the benefits and they're still kind of working out some of the kinks, about sidekick and its relationship with the legacy version. But one of the kinks or but one of the best parts about the new version, the beta version of sidekick is, the, the poll voting. And so we use that all the time.

00:05:41:20 - 00:05:59:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so poll voting kids get their phone out their skin and they can vote. They can use it for games. They can use it for messages. We even use it sometimes in the pre-roll. I tell you what, I'm going to do that I'm going to link down below our sidekick set up because, it's still not all the way full proof yet.

00:05:59:12 - 00:06:09:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so sometimes pro presenter is a better option. And so we actually run both on two different machines, and show you how we set that up. Link down below.

00:06:09:06 - 00:06:16:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Hey, quick break. Let me ask you a question. Are you still waking up every day? Is youth pastor scrambling to figure out what you need to post on your social media?

00:06:16:11 - 00:06:45:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Blurry dodgeball. Pick a video that your leader sent you that's a little bit pixelated, because iPhone still hasn't updated fully to RCS yet. You see, you don't need that kind of stress this fall. That's why I created this the fall seasonal social media pack for youth pastors. It is three months worth of done for you content done for you, paired with some customization so that you and your leaders and your students are the faces and the personalities on your student ministry Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube shorts feed.

00:06:45:27 - 00:07:05:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So here's the thing. You can grab my pack right now over on Patreon. And did you know that monthly hybrid. Here are Patreon members who only pay $4 per month and get a bonus podcast. They get this pack completely for free, so if you do the math for three months worth of social media content, it's only $12 where the pack is 1799.

00:07:05:24 - 00:07:22:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Either way, it is a steal for you and it will take away the stress of posting. And you can grab that pack right now and start becoming a master at social media and hybrid ministry. In your youth ministry context, rooting for you as you are crushing it this fall in your student ministry.

00:07:22:24 - 00:07:37:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The other thing that we use is a feature called Digital Notes, which is just a US leaning into the resource and the platform of the YouVersion Bible app, live event section that, YouVersion includes.

00:07:37:06 - 00:07:59:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so we set up a YouVersion live events, reading plan. Or it's not even a reading plan necessarily, but a YouVersion live events to follow along with the notes every single week. And like I said, we sit at tables and so we have like a little placard, plastic about this big. It sits in the middle of the table and it says, follow along with this week's digital notes, and it's got a QR code.

00:07:59:28 - 00:08:27:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the QR code stays the same. But then on our QR code service generator, we turn around and we change the link to that every single week. So we change the link to the newest, iteration of the digital notes of the YouVersion, events plan. And so, they can also, you know, navigate into it and find it on the YouVersion live, section of the YouVersion events, and they can follow along.

00:08:27:10 - 00:08:49:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
As you know, we're very like, video centric and hybrid ministry centric youth ministry. So we create thumbnails for all of our talks. And so all of our in-room talks also have the thumbnails that go at the top of the YouVersion live events plan. But the, other beautiful thing, frankly, about the YouVersion live events plan is you can link to things external.

00:08:49:16 - 00:09:10:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So once they're on there, you got them hooked in and you can help them follow along. You can ask them questions and they're things that they can interact with. They can highlight scripture, they can take notes. But then you can also include external links. So we have a next step like form on our website that we use. And so at the end of every single lesson we say are you ready to take a next step?

00:09:10:12 - 00:09:30:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Click here to let us know and it'll navigate them off to our website. And then the final piece in the YouVersion events is we include a Bible reading plan that relates to the topic of sorts. And so any single given week a student on the YouVersion live event plan, they are encouraged or asked at least if they want to take some sort of spiritual next step.

00:09:30:13 - 00:09:37:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And they're also fed some sort of Bible reading plan. And so I want to point that out as a way to say we have

00:09:37:13 - 00:09:55:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
use phones and sidekick gives us a sliver of that. But our digital notes really opens up a wide avenue of ways that we can help students take next steps and be more intentional and meaningful during the lesson, so that they're using their phones to follow along with what's going on.

00:09:55:15 - 00:10:15:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, I told you I made a calculated risk with tables. I also want to let you know that phones is another calculated risk. And in fact, like one of the one of the comments on this post of the question that I'm reading said, man, just let kids have their phones, stop making it a fight. And like I tend to actually agree with that guy, but I will let you know.

00:10:15:00 - 00:10:37:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like phones are still a fight and they are still a distraction. Just last week, two nights ago in our youth group, one of our leaders, one of our table leaders. So we have students that are in, senior high that are leading groups in discussions. He was playing a game on his phone, and one of our staff one up, and they said, our table leaders are allowed to play games on their phones.

00:10:37:01 - 00:10:54:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And he knew the answer to that was like, no. And so he had to go to that kid and say, hey, put your phone down. So if that's coming from one of our leaders, it's there's that much even trickle down to the rest of students. So, well, hear me say, what we do is not foolproof, all right. But it's a calculated risk that I'm willing to take.

00:10:54:01 - 00:11:12:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And one that when a student brings their friend for the first time and a mom and dad. Imagine this. Your parent, you send your kid to imagine you send your kid to a completely different denomination or different religion to go with one of their friends, and then they don't have their phones for an hour. How would you feel if you couldn't get in contact with them?

00:11:12:17 - 00:11:32:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, we're the millennial generation of of parents. We want to have contact with our children, especially if we've paid for and given them a phone. And so we try not to make that an obstacle for people to be able to come into our ministry. But again, it's a calculated risk and one that we are, used to, fighting and using.

00:11:32:11 - 00:11:48:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So let us know down below in the comments what you do in your youth ministry as it pertains to cell phones. And go ahead and subscribe what you see right here on the screen and check out the next question. Video. There's also here on screen. But until next time. And as always my friends, don't forget stay happy.

]]> Episode 155: The Secret Sauce to Consistent Summer Engagement https://www.hybridministry.xyz/155 35b1d4fd-91ec-4113-acbc-2dc376af63e6 Thu, 26 Jun 2025 05:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 155 The Secret Sauce to Consistent Summer Engagement full Nick Clason Consistency is hard—unless you steal my system. In this episode, I break down my exact weekly summer content rhythm for youth ministry using the ☀️ Summer Seasonal Social Media Pack: 1 spiritual reel, 1 fun reel, 1 carousel, and some bonus hybrid magic. You’ll get the full template, schedule, and content—so you can stay consistent, connected, and (mostly) sane all summer long. 8:09 no <p>Consistency is hard—unless you steal my system. In this episode, I break down my exact weekly summer content rhythm for youth ministry using the ☀️ Summer Seasonal Social Media Pack: 1 spiritual reel, 1 fun reel, 1 carousel, and some bonus hybrid magic. You’ll get the full template, schedule, and content—so you can stay consistent, connected, and (mostly) sane all summer long.</p> <p><strong>☀️ SUMMER SOCIAL MEDIA PACK</strong><br> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/summer-seasonal-social-media-1540452?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&amp;utm_source=copyLink&amp;utm_campaign=productshare_creator&amp;utm_content=join_link" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/summer-seasonal-social-media-1540452?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&amp;amp;utm_source=copyLink&amp;amp;utm_campaign=productshare_creator&amp;amp;utm_content=join_link</a></p> <p>*<em>🦸 HYBRID HEROS GET IT FOR FREE! *</em><br> <a href="https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry</a></p> <p><strong>SHOW NOTES</strong><br> Shownotes &amp; Transcripts<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/155" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/155</a></p> <p>✅ CHURCH COMMS DONE FOR YOU<br> Hire me to run your church website, social media or communications!<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms</a></p> <p>📊 [FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE<br> <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p>📋 "PICK NICK'S BRAIN" Coaching Call<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching</a></p> <p>👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK<br> YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/</a><br> TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry</a><br> Website: <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz</a></p> <p><strong>--------------</strong><br> <strong>🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉</strong><br> We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!<br> The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!<br> <a href="https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick</a></p> <p><strong>--------------</strong><br> <strong>🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!</strong><br> <em><em>Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products</em></em><br> VIDIQ<br> <a href="https://vidiq.com/hybrid" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://vidiq.com/hybrid</a></p> <p>BEST DYM RESOURCES<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym</a></p> <p>OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS<br> <a href="https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361</a></p> <p>//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit</a></p> <p><strong>--------------</strong><br> 🕰️<strong>TIMECODES</strong><br> 00:00 Dodgeball in a Cornfield &amp; Summer Youth Ministry<br> 00:55 My Secret Sauce Strategy<br> 01:46 Monday’s Post<br> 03:17 Wednesday’s Post<br> 04:25 Friday’s Post<br> 05:08 Bonus Ideas<br> 06:11 Amazing Deal</p> <p><strong>--------------</strong><br> <strong>TRANSCRIPT</strong><br> 00:00:00:06 - 00:00:29:07<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Consistency is hard unless you have a system. So steal mine if I'm giving you permission. So can we just be honest? Like summer youth ministry is kind of like playing dodgeball in a cornfield. No walls, no rules. Just pure chaos. You're leaders gone. You're students at camp. You simply trying to keep your Instagram feed, not looking like a ghost town.</p> <p>00:00:29:08 - 00:00:56:22<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you my weekly social media strategy and how I grew a YouTube channel, along with several other social accounts to over 900 subscribers, completely organically. And best yet, it's actually all available to you. Link in the description. For less than a cost of a weekly cup of Starbucks. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Ministry show.</p> <p>00:00:56:24 - 00:01:18:22<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Well hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. If you and I haven't had a chance to meet you. My name is Nick Clayton and in the trenches youth pastor currently serving on assignment in the DFW Dallas Fort Worth area. And I've been passionate about this thing. Digital ministry. I'm trying to make it, possible, accessible and frankly, easy for all of us.</p> <p>00:01:18:22 - 00:01:45:12<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And I have a full proof system that I actually I want to share with you. And like I said in the open, steal it, man, it is yours. And so every single Monday, I post some sort of spiritual real. My goal, my goal is to post two pieces of content per day. However, what I recommend for most churches and most youth pastors who, maybe don't have as big of a team or as much experience with content is to post three reels per week.</p> <p>00:01:45:12 - 00:02:04:25<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> So if you are following my proposed and recommended secret sauce strategy, it would be posting some sort of spiritual reel per day. Now, if you prefilled your messages, or even if you like, capture your video live in the room somehow, then I recommend posting it into something like an opus clip. There's a link down below for you to check out.</p> <p>00:02:04:25 - 00:02:28:28<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Opus clip where I'll take your message and I'll just chop it up for you using I super easy, super great. The other good thing is, if you do have some sort of like long form message version of your, of your message, if you're teaching in some way, shape or form, when you upload that to like YouTube shorts, you can link a featured video to the short and it can link out to your long form of that.</p> <p>00:02:28:28 - 00:02:57:15<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And so that's what that's what we do. If you don't have either a, the capacity to sit down ahead of time film, that's what we do and that's what I recommend or B, capture it live in the room when you're teaching, then see if you download my social media pack. I actually have, but a bunch of different scripts to help you get through the summer of videos that you can just shoot on your phone selfie style and edit directly in something like a TikTok editor, an Instagram Reels editor, or even something like Cap Cut.</p> <p>00:02:57:15 - 00:03:16:25<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And so that's what I would recommend you doing on Monday. And listen, if you're going to steal this, you're just going to grab my strategy. The number one way that you could give back to this channel is a very simple like or a subscribe. It really it costs you nothing over on YouTube or on your podcast catcher. And it really does help us out a whole bunch.</p> <p>00:03:17:01 - 00:03:35:23<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Moving on. The second style of post I recommend that you do is do something fun. You know, I think a lot of times in youth ministry we feel like we have to be serious all the time, especially when it comes to what's going on on social media. But the fact of the matter is that think about your personal social media habits, whatever platform it is for you.</p> <p>00:03:35:23 - 00:03:56:29<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's TikTok, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's even something like Reddit or Facebook. You know, I feel a lot of youth pastors on Facebook. Why do you get on social media? Maybe you always get on to, like, do your devotions in a low key sort of sense of the way, hoping that your church that you follow is going to post scripture and, and some sort of reels like that.</p> <p>00:03:57:01 - 00:04:15:12<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Or if you're like me, you get on to laugh, to be entertained. Maybe I'm a huge basketball fan. I get on to, watch basketball content. And sometimes, sometimes I'm just going to be very honest with you. Sometimes I even I even get in arguments about my favorite team. So, that's a confession I'm willing to make, but post something fun.</p> <p>00:04:15:12 - 00:04:48:08<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And in this downloaded pack, I include some done for you fun content, emoji guesses, or transition hook style videos. Things to have fun with your students. And then Friday, go ahead and post some sort of carousel post. Post a Bible verse or post, something spiritual like what to do if you're facing anxiety. You know, I, I posted that, recently, actually, this link right up here at the top of the screen is, from a video what I posted using my weekly summer content pack and the carousel post performed incredibly well.</p> <p>00:04:48:08 - 00:05:02:24<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Go back and listen to that one. You'll see the ways that people were responding to it and says what to do when I'm facing anxiety, what to do when I'm struggling with anger, what to do when I'm struggling with lust, and we feel some of those in there completely done for you. Grab them, download them, post them to your feed and use them.</p> <p>00:05:02:24 - 00:05:38:26<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And they're there for you and they're there for the taking. But I also recommend, in addition to some of these things that I've given to you, I've included some of my bonus content. And every week we get together with some of our students and we do man on the street interview style videos, or we do, tier rankings, or we do a guessing game called seven questions like, and we'll get students together on camera, either me versus them, them versus a staff person or them versus each other with podcast microphones or just a little like Bluetooth connected to your phone's sort of microphone, and which interview them we like, have fun, chatting it</p> <p>00:05:38:26 - 00:05:57:20<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> up with students, hearing their opinion, and then also like kind of messing around with them on on the edit, which is another really kind of like fun way to create content not only for your students, but also with your students and all of that, all of that. The good news is included in my summer seasonal social media pack.</p> <p>00:05:57:20 - 00:06:20:13<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> That's it. That's my one week. You take that, you repeat, you rinse, you repeat. You do it again, copy it, steal it, and implement it in your ministry. But hold on a second. I got an amazing deal for you on the other side. Check it out. So there's a lot going on this summer, I get it. And you want to stay active even when you're doing slip and slide kickball.</p> <p>00:06:20:16 - 00:06:42:02<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> This isn't a metaphor. I really own this, and someone's probably definitely gotten hurt on it before. So here's the deal I don't spend six hours a day. I don't spend six hours a week on all of this. I've put all of this together. So all you need to do is hit the link in the description and go download the Summer Seasonal Social Media pack.</p> <p>00:06:42:02 - 00:07:01:04<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> It has my weekly proposed schedule for you for the summer. It also has some pre-made templates, things like man on the street, questions, graphics. All you got to do is overlay that in an editor and you can do it directly on your phone, or even in something a little bit more upgraded, like an Adobe Premiere Pro or a DaVinci resolve.</p> <p>00:07:01:09 - 00:07:21:00<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And then half of the post that you're going to get are completely done for you. Plug and play and you're off to the races. The other 50% is custom, because I don't think that a fully downloadable, where it removes your face and removes your voice and it removes your personality. I don't think that's a good strategy for social media in 2025.</p> <p>00:07:21:07 - 00:07:40:02<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> And so the good news about my pack is that I still allow you to be the voice, to be the face, to create content with and for your students. And you and your students are featured on your social platforms. But I've done all the heavy lifting on their scripts and graphics and templates and, telling you exactly what to do.</p> <p>00:07:40:02 - 00:08:04:10<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> All you gotta do is follow my instructions, put a cell phone camera and you are off to the races. The result? Consistency, engagement, and not fumbling the bag on your social media feeds this summer. Listen, I got you a link down in the description. Thank you guys so much for being here on the Hybrid Ministry Show as we attempt to make digital discipleship easy and possible and accessible.</p> <p>00:08:04:10 - 00:08:08:15<br> Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry<br> Until next time. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid. </p> youth ministry, youth pastor, student ministry, church social media, summer social media, consistent content, hybrid ministry, church growth, social media strategy, youth group, summer engagement, church reels, Instagram for churches, TikTok for ministry, Brady Shearer, Pro Church Tools, ministry marketing, social media pack, done for you content, seasonal content, youth group tips, digital discipleship, church communication, summer ministry Consistency is hard—unless you steal my system. In this episode, I break down my exact weekly summer content rhythm for youth ministry using the ☀️ Summer Seasonal Social Media Pack: 1 spiritual reel, 1 fun reel, 1 carousel, and some bonus hybrid magic. You’ll get the full template, schedule, and content—so you can stay consistent, connected, and (mostly) sane all summer long.

☀️ SUMMER SOCIAL MEDIA PACK
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry/shop/summer-seasonal-social-media-1540452?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=productshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

*🦸 HYBRID HEROS GET IT FOR FREE! *
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/155

✅ CHURCH COMMS DONE FOR YOU
Hire me to run your church website, social media or communications!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

📊 [FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

📋 "PICK NICK'S BRAIN" Coaching Call
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

--------------
🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick

--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Dodgeball in a Cornfield & Summer Youth Ministry
00:55 My Secret Sauce Strategy
01:46 Monday’s Post
03:17 Wednesday’s Post
04:25 Friday’s Post
05:08 Bonus Ideas
06:11 Amazing Deal

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:06 - 00:00:29:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Consistency is hard unless you have a system. So steal mine if I'm giving you permission. So can we just be honest? Like summer youth ministry is kind of like playing dodgeball in a cornfield. No walls, no rules. Just pure chaos. You're leaders gone. You're students at camp. You simply trying to keep your Instagram feed, not looking like a ghost town.

00:00:29:08 - 00:00:56:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you my weekly social media strategy and how I grew a YouTube channel, along with several other social accounts to over 900 subscribers, completely organically. And best yet, it's actually all available to you. Link in the description. For less than a cost of a weekly cup of Starbucks. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Ministry show.

00:00:56:24 - 00:01:18:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. If you and I haven't had a chance to meet you. My name is Nick Clayton and in the trenches youth pastor currently serving on assignment in the DFW Dallas Fort Worth area. And I've been passionate about this thing. Digital ministry. I'm trying to make it, possible, accessible and frankly, easy for all of us.

00:01:18:22 - 00:01:45:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I have a full proof system that I actually I want to share with you. And like I said in the open, steal it, man, it is yours. And so every single Monday, I post some sort of spiritual real. My goal, my goal is to post two pieces of content per day. However, what I recommend for most churches and most youth pastors who, maybe don't have as big of a team or as much experience with content is to post three reels per week.

00:01:45:12 - 00:02:04:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you are following my proposed and recommended secret sauce strategy, it would be posting some sort of spiritual reel per day. Now, if you prefilled your messages, or even if you like, capture your video live in the room somehow, then I recommend posting it into something like an opus clip. There's a link down below for you to check out.

00:02:04:25 - 00:02:28:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Opus clip where I'll take your message and I'll just chop it up for you using I super easy, super great. The other good thing is, if you do have some sort of like long form message version of your, of your message, if you're teaching in some way, shape or form, when you upload that to like YouTube shorts, you can link a featured video to the short and it can link out to your long form of that.

00:02:28:28 - 00:02:57:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's what that's what we do. If you don't have either a, the capacity to sit down ahead of time film, that's what we do and that's what I recommend or B, capture it live in the room when you're teaching, then see if you download my social media pack. I actually have, but a bunch of different scripts to help you get through the summer of videos that you can just shoot on your phone selfie style and edit directly in something like a TikTok editor, an Instagram Reels editor, or even something like Cap Cut.

00:02:57:15 - 00:03:16:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's what I would recommend you doing on Monday. And listen, if you're going to steal this, you're just going to grab my strategy. The number one way that you could give back to this channel is a very simple like or a subscribe. It really it costs you nothing over on YouTube or on your podcast catcher. And it really does help us out a whole bunch.

00:03:17:01 - 00:03:35:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Moving on. The second style of post I recommend that you do is do something fun. You know, I think a lot of times in youth ministry we feel like we have to be serious all the time, especially when it comes to what's going on on social media. But the fact of the matter is that think about your personal social media habits, whatever platform it is for you.

00:03:35:23 - 00:03:56:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's TikTok, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's even something like Reddit or Facebook. You know, I feel a lot of youth pastors on Facebook. Why do you get on social media? Maybe you always get on to, like, do your devotions in a low key sort of sense of the way, hoping that your church that you follow is going to post scripture and, and some sort of reels like that.

00:03:57:01 - 00:04:15:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or if you're like me, you get on to laugh, to be entertained. Maybe I'm a huge basketball fan. I get on to, watch basketball content. And sometimes, sometimes I'm just going to be very honest with you. Sometimes I even I even get in arguments about my favorite team. So, that's a confession I'm willing to make, but post something fun.

00:04:15:12 - 00:04:48:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And in this downloaded pack, I include some done for you fun content, emoji guesses, or transition hook style videos. Things to have fun with your students. And then Friday, go ahead and post some sort of carousel post. Post a Bible verse or post, something spiritual like what to do if you're facing anxiety. You know, I, I posted that, recently, actually, this link right up here at the top of the screen is, from a video what I posted using my weekly summer content pack and the carousel post performed incredibly well.

00:04:48:08 - 00:05:02:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Go back and listen to that one. You'll see the ways that people were responding to it and says what to do when I'm facing anxiety, what to do when I'm struggling with anger, what to do when I'm struggling with lust, and we feel some of those in there completely done for you. Grab them, download them, post them to your feed and use them.

00:05:02:24 - 00:05:38:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And they're there for you and they're there for the taking. But I also recommend, in addition to some of these things that I've given to you, I've included some of my bonus content. And every week we get together with some of our students and we do man on the street interview style videos, or we do, tier rankings, or we do a guessing game called seven questions like, and we'll get students together on camera, either me versus them, them versus a staff person or them versus each other with podcast microphones or just a little like Bluetooth connected to your phone's sort of microphone, and which interview them we like, have fun, chatting it

00:05:38:26 - 00:05:57:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
up with students, hearing their opinion, and then also like kind of messing around with them on on the edit, which is another really kind of like fun way to create content not only for your students, but also with your students and all of that, all of that. The good news is included in my summer seasonal social media pack.

00:05:57:20 - 00:06:20:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's it. That's my one week. You take that, you repeat, you rinse, you repeat. You do it again, copy it, steal it, and implement it in your ministry. But hold on a second. I got an amazing deal for you on the other side. Check it out. So there's a lot going on this summer, I get it. And you want to stay active even when you're doing slip and slide kickball.

00:06:20:16 - 00:06:42:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This isn't a metaphor. I really own this, and someone's probably definitely gotten hurt on it before. So here's the deal I don't spend six hours a day. I don't spend six hours a week on all of this. I've put all of this together. So all you need to do is hit the link in the description and go download the Summer Seasonal Social Media pack.

00:06:42:02 - 00:07:01:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It has my weekly proposed schedule for you for the summer. It also has some pre-made templates, things like man on the street, questions, graphics. All you got to do is overlay that in an editor and you can do it directly on your phone, or even in something a little bit more upgraded, like an Adobe Premiere Pro or a DaVinci resolve.

00:07:01:09 - 00:07:21:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then half of the post that you're going to get are completely done for you. Plug and play and you're off to the races. The other 50% is custom, because I don't think that a fully downloadable, where it removes your face and removes your voice and it removes your personality. I don't think that's a good strategy for social media in 2025.

00:07:21:07 - 00:07:40:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the good news about my pack is that I still allow you to be the voice, to be the face, to create content with and for your students. And you and your students are featured on your social platforms. But I've done all the heavy lifting on their scripts and graphics and templates and, telling you exactly what to do.

00:07:40:02 - 00:08:04:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All you gotta do is follow my instructions, put a cell phone camera and you are off to the races. The result? Consistency, engagement, and not fumbling the bag on your social media feeds this summer. Listen, I got you a link down in the description. Thank you guys so much for being here on the Hybrid Ministry Show as we attempt to make digital discipleship easy and possible and accessible.

00:08:04:10 - 00:08:08:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Until next time. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid.

]]> Consistency is hard—unless you steal my system. In this episode, I break down my exact weekly summer content rhythm for youth ministry using the ☀️ Summer Seasonal Social Media Pack: 1 spiritual reel, 1 fun reel, 1 carousel, and some bonus hybrid magic. You’ll get the full template, schedule, and content—so you can stay consistent, connected, and (mostly) sane all summer long.

☀️ SUMMER SOCIAL MEDIA PACK
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SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/155

✅ CHURCH COMMS DONE FOR YOU
Hire me to run your church website, social media or communications!
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📊 [FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE
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📋 "PICK NICK'S BRAIN" Coaching Call
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👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
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We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
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🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
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BEST DYM RESOURCES
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OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Dodgeball in a Cornfield & Summer Youth Ministry
00:55 My Secret Sauce Strategy
01:46 Monday’s Post
03:17 Wednesday’s Post
04:25 Friday’s Post
05:08 Bonus Ideas
06:11 Amazing Deal

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:06 - 00:00:29:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Consistency is hard unless you have a system. So steal mine if I'm giving you permission. So can we just be honest? Like summer youth ministry is kind of like playing dodgeball in a cornfield. No walls, no rules. Just pure chaos. You're leaders gone. You're students at camp. You simply trying to keep your Instagram feed, not looking like a ghost town.

00:00:29:08 - 00:00:56:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well, in this video, I'm going to share with you my weekly social media strategy and how I grew a YouTube channel, along with several other social accounts to over 900 subscribers, completely organically. And best yet, it's actually all available to you. Link in the description. For less than a cost of a weekly cup of Starbucks. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Ministry show.

00:00:56:24 - 00:01:18:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. If you and I haven't had a chance to meet you. My name is Nick Clayton and in the trenches youth pastor currently serving on assignment in the DFW Dallas Fort Worth area. And I've been passionate about this thing. Digital ministry. I'm trying to make it, possible, accessible and frankly, easy for all of us.

00:01:18:22 - 00:01:45:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I have a full proof system that I actually I want to share with you. And like I said in the open, steal it, man, it is yours. And so every single Monday, I post some sort of spiritual real. My goal, my goal is to post two pieces of content per day. However, what I recommend for most churches and most youth pastors who, maybe don't have as big of a team or as much experience with content is to post three reels per week.

00:01:45:12 - 00:02:04:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you are following my proposed and recommended secret sauce strategy, it would be posting some sort of spiritual reel per day. Now, if you prefilled your messages, or even if you like, capture your video live in the room somehow, then I recommend posting it into something like an opus clip. There's a link down below for you to check out.

00:02:04:25 - 00:02:28:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Opus clip where I'll take your message and I'll just chop it up for you using I super easy, super great. The other good thing is, if you do have some sort of like long form message version of your, of your message, if you're teaching in some way, shape or form, when you upload that to like YouTube shorts, you can link a featured video to the short and it can link out to your long form of that.

00:02:28:28 - 00:02:57:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's what that's what we do. If you don't have either a, the capacity to sit down ahead of time film, that's what we do and that's what I recommend or B, capture it live in the room when you're teaching, then see if you download my social media pack. I actually have, but a bunch of different scripts to help you get through the summer of videos that you can just shoot on your phone selfie style and edit directly in something like a TikTok editor, an Instagram Reels editor, or even something like Cap Cut.

00:02:57:15 - 00:03:16:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's what I would recommend you doing on Monday. And listen, if you're going to steal this, you're just going to grab my strategy. The number one way that you could give back to this channel is a very simple like or a subscribe. It really it costs you nothing over on YouTube or on your podcast catcher. And it really does help us out a whole bunch.

00:03:17:01 - 00:03:35:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Moving on. The second style of post I recommend that you do is do something fun. You know, I think a lot of times in youth ministry we feel like we have to be serious all the time, especially when it comes to what's going on on social media. But the fact of the matter is that think about your personal social media habits, whatever platform it is for you.

00:03:35:23 - 00:03:56:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maybe it's Instagram, maybe it's TikTok, maybe it's YouTube, maybe it's even something like Reddit or Facebook. You know, I feel a lot of youth pastors on Facebook. Why do you get on social media? Maybe you always get on to, like, do your devotions in a low key sort of sense of the way, hoping that your church that you follow is going to post scripture and, and some sort of reels like that.

00:03:57:01 - 00:04:15:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or if you're like me, you get on to laugh, to be entertained. Maybe I'm a huge basketball fan. I get on to, watch basketball content. And sometimes, sometimes I'm just going to be very honest with you. Sometimes I even I even get in arguments about my favorite team. So, that's a confession I'm willing to make, but post something fun.

00:04:15:12 - 00:04:48:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And in this downloaded pack, I include some done for you fun content, emoji guesses, or transition hook style videos. Things to have fun with your students. And then Friday, go ahead and post some sort of carousel post. Post a Bible verse or post, something spiritual like what to do if you're facing anxiety. You know, I, I posted that, recently, actually, this link right up here at the top of the screen is, from a video what I posted using my weekly summer content pack and the carousel post performed incredibly well.

00:04:48:08 - 00:05:02:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Go back and listen to that one. You'll see the ways that people were responding to it and says what to do when I'm facing anxiety, what to do when I'm struggling with anger, what to do when I'm struggling with lust, and we feel some of those in there completely done for you. Grab them, download them, post them to your feed and use them.

00:05:02:24 - 00:05:38:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And they're there for you and they're there for the taking. But I also recommend, in addition to some of these things that I've given to you, I've included some of my bonus content. And every week we get together with some of our students and we do man on the street interview style videos, or we do, tier rankings, or we do a guessing game called seven questions like, and we'll get students together on camera, either me versus them, them versus a staff person or them versus each other with podcast microphones or just a little like Bluetooth connected to your phone's sort of microphone, and which interview them we like, have fun, chatting it

00:05:38:26 - 00:05:57:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
up with students, hearing their opinion, and then also like kind of messing around with them on on the edit, which is another really kind of like fun way to create content not only for your students, but also with your students and all of that, all of that. The good news is included in my summer seasonal social media pack.

00:05:57:20 - 00:06:20:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's it. That's my one week. You take that, you repeat, you rinse, you repeat. You do it again, copy it, steal it, and implement it in your ministry. But hold on a second. I got an amazing deal for you on the other side. Check it out. So there's a lot going on this summer, I get it. And you want to stay active even when you're doing slip and slide kickball.

00:06:20:16 - 00:06:42:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This isn't a metaphor. I really own this, and someone's probably definitely gotten hurt on it before. So here's the deal I don't spend six hours a day. I don't spend six hours a week on all of this. I've put all of this together. So all you need to do is hit the link in the description and go download the Summer Seasonal Social Media pack.

00:06:42:02 - 00:07:01:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It has my weekly proposed schedule for you for the summer. It also has some pre-made templates, things like man on the street, questions, graphics. All you got to do is overlay that in an editor and you can do it directly on your phone, or even in something a little bit more upgraded, like an Adobe Premiere Pro or a DaVinci resolve.

00:07:01:09 - 00:07:21:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then half of the post that you're going to get are completely done for you. Plug and play and you're off to the races. The other 50% is custom, because I don't think that a fully downloadable, where it removes your face and removes your voice and it removes your personality. I don't think that's a good strategy for social media in 2025.

00:07:21:07 - 00:07:40:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the good news about my pack is that I still allow you to be the voice, to be the face, to create content with and for your students. And you and your students are featured on your social platforms. But I've done all the heavy lifting on their scripts and graphics and templates and, telling you exactly what to do.

00:07:40:02 - 00:08:04:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All you gotta do is follow my instructions, put a cell phone camera and you are off to the races. The result? Consistency, engagement, and not fumbling the bag on your social media feeds this summer. Listen, I got you a link down in the description. Thank you guys so much for being here on the Hybrid Ministry Show as we attempt to make digital discipleship easy and possible and accessible.

00:08:04:10 - 00:08:08:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Until next time. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 145: 10 Simple & Effective Partnering with Parent Tips that REALLY work! https://www.hybridministry.xyz/145 5a6d265a-c795-4d02-b412-a60b5bb749ca Thu, 17 Apr 2025 05:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 145 10 Simple & Effective Partnering with Parent Tips that REALLY work! full Nick Clason In this conversation, Nick Clason (Hybrid Ministry) and Josh Boldman (Download Youth Ministry) discuss the importance of partnering with parents in youth ministry. Josh gives 10 tips from the perspective of a parent NOT working at a church. Several tips are incredibly Hybrid, and best of all, it's not going to add anymore work to your plate! 18:32 no In this conversation, Nick Clason (Hybrid Ministry) and Josh Boldman (Download Youth Ministry) discuss the importance of partnering with parents in youth ministry. Josh gives 10 tips from the perspective of a parent NOT working at a church. Several tips are incredibly Hybrid, and best of all, it's not going to add anymore work to your plate! 📊 [FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book ✅ CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms SHOW NOTES Shownotes &amp; Transcripts https://www.hybridministry.xyz/145 //CONNECT WITH JOSH ON SOCIAL https://www.tiktok.com/@joshboldman https://www.instagram.com/joshboldman/ https://www.facebook.com/joshboldman https://x.com/joshboldman 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Why Partnering with Parents? 02:52 Tip #1 4:34 Tip #2 05:22 Tip #3 06:04 Tip #4 08:55 Tip #5 10:18 Tip #6 13:02 Why does starting on time honor parents? 14:26 Tip #7 15:03 Tip #8 15:47 Tip #9 17:33 Tip #10 -------------- TRANSCRIPT Nick Clason (00:00.93) Well, so here we are. And Josh, you might be the most frequented guest now on the Hybrid Ministry podcast, which with all I would, I think I sent you one actually. So, so yeah. But today I've been asking people like, what do you feel like you're kind of like an expert on? So we're in this kind of mini series called How I, and so you said, let's talk about partnering with parents. And so. Josh Boldman (00:06.494) Yes Do I get a jacket like do I get a like there's like a that's true actually, you know, that's fair Josh Boldman (00:29.991) Yeah. Nick Clason (00:31.124) over all your different years of experience, what do you feel like uniquely positions you from a mindset or experience-wise or whatever about this idea of partnering with parents? Josh Boldman (00:38.9) Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, so I mean, over the course of 20 years in youth ministry, I did the traditional route of before I had a kid, feeling like I knew everything more than any of the parents. Like I was way smarter than them. And then I had my own kid, and then I was able to actually have the blessing of having my own kid in my own ministry. And then recently have now, Nick Clason (00:55.712) yeah. Nick Clason (01:03.937) Mmm. Josh Boldman (01:08.465) like a life stage where my kid is a part of a ministry that I do not lead. And so it's like, there, that's what I should have. Okay, those are the questions that I now have that I should have been answering. Nick Clason (01:13.358) Hmm. Nick Clason (01:19.904) I do actually think that's a really, really fascinating perspective and one worth exploring. So what are a couple of principles or takeaways, especially in the lane of I'm a youth pastor veteran, I work for a youth ministry company, but as a parent, as a customer, so to speak, of this youth group, like what do you wish you were getting back from the youth ministry? Josh Boldman (01:23.826) Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (01:35.303) Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (01:42.291) Yeah. Yeah. I think that's something that every youth minister needs to remember is that you are ministering to a family and not just to a student. Hands down, because like a student is a product, I mean, not entirely, but like they're a product of their family, right? Their parents. when you talk, you talk to a kid, half the things they say are things that they have either heard their parents say or they've Nick Clason (01:53.965) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (02:02.028) Yeah. Josh Boldman (02:11.835) or are in like rebellion against something that their parents have said, right? So like, so like the better that you know the parents, the better you are going to know the student. And whether that that kid has a awesome relationship with their parents or a terrible relationship with their parents or no relationship with their parents, whoever it is at home that takes care of them, that makes them feel safe. You are on the same team with that person, whether you know them or not. Nick Clason (02:15.598) Yeah. Yeah, yeah. Nick Clason (02:22.446) Hmm. Nick Clason (02:30.702) Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (02:41.583) And it, it, it, I will be as blunt as I can be in saying if, you're on the same team as that, of those people and you don't know them, that is dumb. Like it just don't, don't put yourself in a position of being on a team with someone you don't even know. Nick Clason (02:50.563) Yeah. Nick Clason (02:56.28) So you've worked in some larger contexts, let's say. How would you recommend someone who has a youth group of 50 students with, let's say, 50 unique family units? so probably more than 50 because siblings, whatever. How do they get to know parents? Because I would imagine the pushback from a youth pastor is like, well, I try. have a well, and we have meetings and they never come to the meetings and all this stuff like what. So. Josh Boldman (03:00.646) Yep. Josh Boldman (03:08.23) Yeah, yeah, Uh-huh. Josh Boldman (03:17.757) Yep, I can't know them all yet. Josh Boldman (03:24.465) Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (03:24.812) We've all been there, we've all experienced it. what, as a parent now on the other side, give us some tips. Josh Boldman (03:30.418) Yeah, yeah, I would say one, especially if you're talking about a middle school ministry, do check in at the beginning of the night and be at the check-in station. And I know that seems so like antithetical to like, I should be hanging out with the kids. you know, yes, that's great. Go play nine square, go play gaga ball, whatever, but spend some time at check-in because especially if they're in sixth, seventh, eighth grade, their parents are going to probably walk in with them. Nick Clason (03:42.775) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (03:51.938) Yeah. Nick Clason (03:56.471) Right. Josh Boldman (04:00.274) Like, so that's a great opportunity. but even if it's not then like clock the times that, know, like, Hey, when are my best opportunities to meet this parent? And it's, it's almost always going to be a drop-off pickup. Um, we, know, sometimes we'll do like, uh, you know, depending on like the layout of your building and how close the room is to the actual parking lot. Like, um, we used to do a thing where we'd have somebody inside with a walkie talkie and somebody outside with a walkie talkie. So what a parent would pull up. they would say, hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. And so the person on the radio would be like, Johnny. And so then we'd call Johnny's name inside. I was like, why am I not the person outside with the walkie talkie? Like go be that person talking to the parent. you know, that, you know, and, plus one of the best things you can do in that situation is they're like, Hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. You can be like, dude, Johnny's awesome. Like, let me tell you about Johnny. Johnny is so stinking cool. Yup. Yeah. Nick Clason (04:30.774) Hmm. Nick Clason (04:40.906) Yeah, that's so smart. Nick Clason (04:50.902) Yeah, and what parent doesn't want to hear that about their kid? Josh Boldman (04:56.562) Oh yeah, cause think of every time a parent gets called by a teacher, it's to tell them that their kid's not doing great. know, so like if you can be like the one time that you like, or I mean, if you're open enough to literally calling parents, like go call a parent and be like, Hey, I need to tell you something about Johnny. And they're like, what do you do now? They're like, he was amazing. Like, you know, and I mean, don't lie about Johnny. Like if Johnny's a little turd, like, know, you can be honest about it, but like, don't, but don't drag Johnny through. Nick Clason (05:02.294) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (05:14.924) Yeah, yeah. That's cool, yeah. Yeah. Josh Boldman (05:26.62) You know, go out of your way to tell them how awesome it is. Nick Clason (05:26.872) Yeah. Nick Clason (05:30.284) Yeah, that's so good. It's like the whole idea of positive reinforcement versus negative, so much more powerful. And we can just be strategic and intentional to position ourselves to do that. Even if you're like, I'll give myself 20 minutes on the calendar a week and I'll try to call as many parents and just say something nice about their kids. And if they're quick conversations or even, bro, leave a voicemail. Maybe they don't answer, whatever. It'll still be awesome. can be like, okay, no need to Josh Boldman (05:33.859) Mm-hmm. Totally, totally. Josh Boldman (05:46.779) Yeah. yeah. Josh Boldman (05:56.422) Yeah! Nick Clason (05:59.67) No need to call back, just wanted to let you know whatever, that'd be really good. Josh Boldman (06:01.999) Yeah. Yeah. And especially if you know, you have a kid who is, you know, mean, gosh, I don't know what it has been about the, you know, the 20 years I spent in ministry, but it was like, it was just like every kid with an attention deficit of something, something, something like they all just showed up at our ministry. Right. It was grabbing it, which is a lot of fun. I'm just like, I'll be the first to say like, it is a party, but yes. man. Until the broken arms, but Nick Clason (06:16.854) Mm-hmm Nick Clason (06:26.348) You had fun during the games. haha Josh Boldman (06:30.781) you would, but the thing was, is you would see parents drop off their kids and those parents were exhausted, right? And they were just like exasperated. Like they are saying like, Hey, please help. And also please give me a break for a minute. And so like, if you can call and like, if they, you know that they're having trouble with their kid at school and you can then brag about something awesome about that kid, like I cannot tell you how that feels. you know, just to be able to know like, cause Nick Clason (06:36.013) Mmm. Nick Clason (06:44.053) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (06:49.464) Yeah. Nick Clason (06:56.216) Yeah. Josh Boldman (07:00.066) And you know, let's call it what it is. Parents need to hear that not everybody hates their kid. Like, I mean, I know that sounds harsh, but like... Nick Clason (07:05.15) Mm-hmm. Well, no, you're always questioning, like, are our kids weird? are they? You're always asking that thing. Josh Boldman (07:10.244) Right? Yes. It's like, it's like my own kid. Like I love my kid, but I don't know how other people feel about him unless they tell me, you know? So yeah. Nick Clason (07:17.634) That's it, yeah, no, you're so right. Yeah, so, so far, you know, it's interesting. Like nothing you've said had anything to do with like the youth pastor's sermon or cue cards or so like, what else, man? Josh Boldman (07:27.48) Not even a little. yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not, yeah, it's not the, every year we do a message series where we talk about be nice to your parents. Like, no, that's not, that doesn't help. mean, can't, please do that. yeah, but some things that I have noticed, you know, in times, especially when I started in a ministry where I followed someone who left poorly. Nick Clason (07:38.958) Yeah, yeah, it sure can help, Josh Boldman (07:54.064) what I almost across the board saw was that that person, especially when it came to parents, was disorganized and did not communicate well. So like, and this may sound so minor, but like send an email every week. Like even if it is literally the same email, like it's the same template, just change two things, whatever. But that way when parents are trying to figure out what's going on, they can always look at the last email and see what it was. Nick Clason (08:10.382) It's not that hard. Nick Clason (08:15.02) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (08:20.92) Yeah. Josh Boldman (08:21.668) Don't expect them to open it and read it right when you send it and be like, this email was great. Nick Clason (08:26.05) Well, and that's what I would say with our, even the little bit of hybrid strategies, make sure your website's up to date, because how annoying is it when you have a question about what time does that event start, and you go to the website, and it's not even there. And it's like, I send it in the email. It's like, do you know how many emails I've gotten? And so I recommend a do that, do both. Just keep both things, yeah, keep both things updated. Josh Boldman (08:30.669) Yeah! Mm-hmm. Yes. Yup. Josh Boldman (08:39.76) huh. Yeah. Yeah. Josh Boldman (08:47.184) All of them. Yeah, anything you can do. Yup, 100%. Nick Clason (08:55.308) because they may not be hanging, like you said, on your every word. like, give me your outline from your last 10 messages so that can go over them with my kid. But no, the parents, they do just want to be able to stay in the loop, and they got a lot going on, just like you do. so help them figure out where they can snag that info, for sure. Josh Boldman (08:59.021) Right. Josh Boldman (09:08.898) Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Mm-hmm, yeah, totally. Another good one that we do, and this is literally every place that I started, this was something I instituted within the first month. And I got most pushback from volunteers, which is interesting, was we start and end on time, every week, period. And my gosh, mean, to tell you that, so I was at a place once where when I came in, Nick Clason (09:25.441) Yeah. Interesting. Nick Clason (09:32.915) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Josh Boldman (09:40.751) We started youth group at seven, which really meant it was 7 15. And then youth or the small groups went and they started at like eight 30, which is too late. And that meant that they went until nine on a school night. And then the, the, the overall ministry philosophy was we don't start cleaning up until the last kid leaves because we don't want them to feel like we're like, we're pushing them out. And my thing Nick Clason (09:44.642) Right. Nick Clason (09:51.35) Yeah, on a school night. Yep. Nick Clason (10:03.618) Hmm. Nick Clason (10:07.19) Which like I get the sentiment. Josh Boldman (10:08.846) I totally get it. and it does, it makes so much sense. But at the end of the day, think, think this through. Like we would have students there till like 10 30 and 11 and then we would clean and I'm there with my own son. So I can't even go home with my own kid and get him to bed. And he's got to go to school the next morning. Right. And so, so now if I'm a parent and I notice a pattern that my kid keeps getting in trouble on Thursdays and Nick Clason (10:23.806) Mm-hmm. You're in prison. Yeah, you're locked up like. Josh Boldman (10:38.221) then I also piece it together that they're out late every Wednesday, I'm gonna start putting two and two together and I'm gonna start blaming somebody. And so like... Nick Clason (10:41.762) Yeah. Nick Clason (10:46.2) Bro, that's, I mean, we don't, we, so we homeschool our kids this year, first year. They couldn't go to like Wednesday night activities at the church, because it was too tough of a turnaround for their like first and second grade bodies. Like the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. after church on Wednesday night. was like, exactly, it was brutal. And so it's like now the nice thing is like, hey, we're homeschooled and you know what's cool? We can take our kids to church. Josh Boldman (10:50.126) Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (10:53.901) Yeah! Josh Boldman (10:57.645) Yeah, dude! so hard. Which is crazy. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. And what it let us do is we said 8 45. That's when we start cleaning up whether students are there or not. And any student who's still there gets to help. And, and so one that actually taught the students that, okay, I'm going to go ahead and leave it at 30. But yeah. But, then when parents would show up and they'd see their kid helping, like even that was like, my gosh, this Nick Clason (11:18.296) Mm-hmm. gets to help. Nick Clason (11:26.734) Or the good ones will, you know, how can it help? Nick Clason (11:34.999) Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (11:37.858) what are you doing here and how is this magic and how can I do this at home? And so suddenly that just creates so many more opportunities for conversations with parents and for us to say, we're doing this and we're keeping a tight schedule so that you know what to expect and what your kid knows what to expect at school the next day. Nick Clason (11:54.946) Yeah, so good. When you say start, how would you see it being helpful? Maybe I understand the ending, the beginning. How is it helpful starting on time as opposed to like a delayed 15 minutes? I feel like that's a staple in youth ministry. Josh Boldman (12:02.541) Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah, yeah. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So like same thing. Like I know it's a hard turnaround. Like if you your kid gets home from school, you get home from work, you're trying to get dinner, all that. You rush, rush, rush, rush, and you rush to get them there at seven. And then you just see everybody just sitting around and you're like, why did I rush so hard to get here? And yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Yeah. Nick Clason (12:27.906) So it's like an honoring of the effort that it took to, yeah. So like you actually, yeah, it's good, it's good, I like it. Josh Boldman (12:35.118) You know, mean, it's never perfect, right? know, mean, you stuff's always gonna go sideways, but like, if you, if you can give them what to expect, then when it does go a little long or, you know, things don't quite work out the way that then it's like, it's not their, their internal monologue is like, again, you know, it's just like, oh, okay, yeah, get it. happens, you know, yeah. Nick Clason (12:43.949) Mm-hmm. Nick Clason (12:54.678) Hmm It happened yeah, you have the kind of credibility of like we always end on time Sorry tonight went five minutes late and that's I mean I'm with you like if you're gonna go like late like five minutes is your Absolute max like that's my that's my absolute max. I'm like and I'm sweating bullets in the back like Band we don't need you to play that interlude again. Just pray. Let's go get him out of here. Yeah Josh Boldman (13:04.119) Yep. Yep. Josh Boldman (13:11.958) Totally. yeah. Josh Boldman (13:20.652) Right, please actually don't. Please don't. Yeah. Nick Clason (13:24.24) alright, anything else? Josh Boldman (13:26.413) I would say, so something we did was we started a text chain where we would send parents discussion questions during the lesson. So that if they were picking their kid up later, they'd be like, instead of saying, how was youth group? They could be like, hey, I heard you were talking about Joshua chapter two. would you have? Yeah. Nick Clason (13:35.456) I like it. Nick Clason (13:41.654) Yeah, it's good. And it goes right to them. Being on the phone, that, as opposed to a cue card, you know, we posted on a Facebook group and I still don't even think that's the most effective place for it. And even, yeah, exactly, that's really good. That's good. Josh Boldman (13:54.529) Right, mm-hmm, yeah. And it lets them opt in. Man, mm-hmm. Two other kind of small things that we used to do is we created an observation deck where it was like a row where parents could come and sit and watch. But it was where, and we always had a volunteer assigned to them, so it was like, you know, we always said, if you're gonna be around kids, you gotta be background checked, yada, yada, and all that. like, but, but. Nick Clason (14:11.186) that's cool. Nick Clason (14:20.63) Yeah, all the things, Josh Boldman (14:22.461) If you're a parent, you're just like genuinely curious about what happens here. You don't have to go through that whole process, but we're going to stick a volunteer with you that has, and they're going to be with you the entire time. and, that at least let, let parents know that, this is not a secret. What we do here. We're not, you know, trying to like turn your kids against you or anything like that. yeah. And then, last bit of advice I would give is just when you are talking to parents, Nick Clason (14:32.012) Yeah, come hang out. Nick Clason (14:36.622) Hmm. Nick Clason (14:41.836) Yeah, that's just like a full transparency moment. So that's cool. Josh Boldman (14:51.38) Remember that they are adults and not students. And it's hard to turn that, know, you'd switch that, you know, flip that switch or whatever. Cause you can be really quick going from talking to a bunch of kids to then talking to parents and that same, that same demeanor, that same way, you know, you're addressing, like there's a, the parent that brought the kid and the parent that wants to take that kid home needs, needs respect. And you know, that and it needs respect shown in a way that's different than the way you show respect to a student. So I say, just remember that, remember you're on the same team. It's not you versus them, it's you and them trying to help the kid. Nick Clason (15:24.995) Yeah. Nick Clason (15:30.732) Yeah. And I think the, as I listened to every single thing you said, right? I think the encouraging part is nothing really added anything to your workload. You're not creating some crazy parent seminar. You're not adding some big once a year conference. Like you are subtly shifting your positioning at the beginning and end of service. You're subtly shifting your mindset and your organization and Josh Boldman (15:45.833) Right, no. Nick Clason (16:00.214) you're adding maybe a text thread, right? Which like, it'll take you less than 10 minutes for your entire series to type out two questions per message. You know, like. Josh Boldman (16:02.9) Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah. Josh Boldman (16:10.503) yeah, well, and what we do, we use questions that were small group questions anyway. Yeah, sure. Nick Clason (16:15.596) Yeah, yeah, and you can copy and paste or reframe slightly and you're right there. So that's so good. Josh, anything else that the people need to know about partnering with parents or anything else they need to know in general? Josh Boldman (16:20.393) Yeah, uh-huh, Yep. Totally. It, I will say this, okay, and because this is the mistake I made and I think a mistake so many people make, if you don't have kids, do not assume that you know better than the parent. Assume that you are, you can help the parent, assume that you are, you are still a resource and you know, you know students. But just parenting is hard, dude. Like it's so hard. And by, you don't know what, what that parent, Nick Clason (16:40.194) Mm, that's good. Nick Clason (16:53.32) Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Josh Boldman (16:58.333) is walking in with or what they're walking out with. You might think that that kid is just the golden child, but that might not be what is happening at home. Just don't assume. So go into any conversation with parents, I think, with a posture of learning and a posture of, want to support you, I think is good. Yeah. Nick Clason (17:09.228) Mm. Yeah. Nick Clason (17:16.248) Yeah, that's good. Yeah, that's awesome. Hey, all Josh social media, all his stuff's linked down below. Go check him out. But for Josh, this is Nick. Thanks for being here, guys. We'll talk to you next time. Josh Boldman (17:29.042) Later. Bye. youth ministry, partnering with parents, family dynamics, communication strategies, youth pastor tips, parent engagement, youth group, family relationships, youth ministry advice, building trust, hybrid ministry, download youth ministry, nick clason, josh boldman In this conversation, Nick Clason (Hybrid Ministry) and Josh Boldman (Download Youth Ministry) discuss the importance of partnering with parents in youth ministry. Josh gives 10 tips from the perspective of a parent NOT working at a church. Several tips are incredibly Hybrid, and best of all, it's not going to add anymore work to your plate!

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Why Partnering with Parents?
02:52 Tip #1
4:34 Tip #2
05:22 Tip #3
06:04 Tip #4
08:55 Tip #5
10:18 Tip #6
13:02 Why does starting on time honor parents?
14:26 Tip #7
15:03 Tip #8
15:47 Tip #9
17:33 Tip #10

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TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:00.93)
Well, so here we are. And Josh, you might be the most frequented guest now on the Hybrid Ministry podcast, which with all I would, I think I sent you one actually. So, so yeah. But today I've been asking people like, what do you feel like you're kind of like an expert on? So we're in this kind of mini series called How I, and so you said, let's talk about partnering with parents. And so.

Josh Boldman (00:06.494)
Yes Do I get a jacket like do I get a like there's like a that's true actually, you know, that's fair

Josh Boldman (00:29.991)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (00:31.124)
over all your different years of experience, what do you feel like uniquely positions you from a mindset or experience-wise or whatever about this idea of partnering with parents?

Josh Boldman (00:38.9)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, so I mean, over the course of 20 years in youth ministry, I did the traditional route of before I had a kid, feeling like I knew everything more than any of the parents. Like I was way smarter than them. And then I had my own kid, and then I was able to actually have the blessing of having my own kid in my own ministry. And then recently have now,

Nick Clason (00:55.712)
yeah.

Nick Clason (01:03.937)
Mmm.

Josh Boldman (01:08.465)
like a life stage where my kid is a part of a ministry that I do not lead. And so it's like, there, that's what I should have. Okay, those are the questions that I now have that I should have been answering.

Nick Clason (01:13.358)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (01:19.904)
I do actually think that's a really, really fascinating perspective and one worth exploring. So what are a couple of principles or takeaways, especially in the lane of I'm a youth pastor veteran, I work for a youth ministry company, but as a parent, as a customer, so to speak, of this youth group, like what do you wish you were getting back from the youth ministry?

Josh Boldman (01:23.826)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (01:35.303)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (01:42.291)
Yeah. Yeah. I think that's something that every youth minister needs to remember is that you are ministering to a family and not just to a student. Hands down, because like a student is a product, I mean, not entirely, but like they're a product of their family, right? Their parents. when you talk, you talk to a kid, half the things they say are things that they have either heard their parents say or they've

Nick Clason (01:53.965)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (02:02.028)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (02:11.835)
or are in like rebellion against something that their parents have said, right? So like, so like the better that you know the parents, the better you are going to know the student. And whether that that kid has a awesome relationship with their parents or a terrible relationship with their parents or no relationship with their parents, whoever it is at home that takes care of them, that makes them feel safe. You are on the same team with that person, whether you know them or not.

Nick Clason (02:15.598)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (02:22.446)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (02:30.702)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (02:41.583)
And it, it, it, I will be as blunt as I can be in saying if, you're on the same team as that, of those people and you don't know them, that is dumb. Like it just don't, don't put yourself in a position of being on a team with someone you don't even know.

Nick Clason (02:50.563)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (02:56.28)
So you've worked in some larger contexts, let's say. How would you recommend someone who has a youth group of 50 students with, let's say, 50 unique family units? so probably more than 50 because siblings, whatever. How do they get to know parents? Because I would imagine the pushback from a youth pastor is like, well, I try. have a well, and we have meetings and they never come to the meetings and all this stuff like what. So.

Josh Boldman (03:00.646)
Yep.

Josh Boldman (03:08.23)
Yeah, yeah, Uh-huh.

Josh Boldman (03:17.757)
Yep, I can't know them all yet.

Josh Boldman (03:24.465)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:24.812)
We've all been there, we've all experienced it. what, as a parent now on the other side, give us some tips.

Josh Boldman (03:30.418)
Yeah, yeah, I would say one, especially if you're talking about a middle school ministry, do check in at the beginning of the night and be at the check-in station. And I know that seems so like antithetical to like, I should be hanging out with the kids. you know, yes, that's great. Go play nine square, go play gaga ball, whatever, but spend some time at check-in because especially if they're in sixth, seventh, eighth grade, their parents are going to probably walk in with them.

Nick Clason (03:42.775)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (03:51.938)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:56.471)
Right.

Josh Boldman (04:00.274)
Like, so that's a great opportunity. but even if it's not then like clock the times that, know, like, Hey, when are my best opportunities to meet this parent? And it's, it's almost always going to be a drop-off pickup. Um, we, know, sometimes we'll do like, uh, you know, depending on like the layout of your building and how close the room is to the actual parking lot. Like, um, we used to do a thing where we'd have somebody inside with a walkie talkie and somebody outside with a walkie talkie. So what a parent would pull up.

they would say, hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. And so the person on the radio would be like, Johnny. And so then we'd call Johnny's name inside. I was like, why am I not the person outside with the walkie talkie? Like go be that person talking to the parent. you know, that, you know, and, plus one of the best things you can do in that situation is they're like, Hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. You can be like, dude, Johnny's awesome. Like, let me tell you about Johnny. Johnny is so stinking cool. Yup. Yeah.

Nick Clason (04:30.774)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (04:40.906)
Yeah, that's so smart.

Nick Clason (04:50.902)
Yeah, and what parent doesn't want to hear that about their kid?

Josh Boldman (04:56.562)
Oh yeah, cause think of every time a parent gets called by a teacher, it's to tell them that their kid's not doing great. know, so like if you can be like the one time that you like, or I mean, if you're open enough to literally calling parents, like go call a parent and be like, Hey, I need to tell you something about Johnny. And they're like, what do you do now? They're like, he was amazing. Like, you know, and I mean, don't lie about Johnny. Like if Johnny's a little turd, like, know, you can be honest about it, but like, don't, but don't drag Johnny through.

Nick Clason (05:02.294)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (05:14.924)
Yeah, yeah. That's cool, yeah.

Yeah.

Josh Boldman (05:26.62)
You know, go out of your way to tell them how awesome it is.

Nick Clason (05:26.872)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:30.284)
Yeah, that's so good. It's like the whole idea of positive reinforcement versus negative, so much more powerful. And we can just be strategic and intentional to position ourselves to do that. Even if you're like, I'll give myself 20 minutes on the calendar a week and I'll try to call as many parents and just say something nice about their kids. And if they're quick conversations or even, bro, leave a voicemail. Maybe they don't answer, whatever. It'll still be awesome. can be like, okay, no need to

Josh Boldman (05:33.859)
Mm-hmm. Totally, totally.

Josh Boldman (05:46.779)
Yeah. yeah.

Josh Boldman (05:56.422)
Yeah!

Nick Clason (05:59.67)
No need to call back, just wanted to let you know whatever, that'd be really good.

Josh Boldman (06:01.999)
Yeah. Yeah. And especially if you know, you have a kid who is, you know, mean, gosh, I don't know what it has been about the, you know, the 20 years I spent in ministry, but it was like, it was just like every kid with an attention deficit of something, something, something like they all just showed up at our ministry. Right. It was grabbing it, which is a lot of fun. I'm just like, I'll be the first to say like, it is a party, but yes. man. Until the broken arms, but

Nick Clason (06:16.854)
Mm-hmm

Nick Clason (06:26.348)
You had fun during the games.

haha

Josh Boldman (06:30.781)
you would, but the thing was, is you would see parents drop off their kids and those parents were exhausted, right? And they were just like exasperated. Like they are saying like, Hey, please help. And also please give me a break for a minute. And so like, if you can call and like, if they, you know that they're having trouble with their kid at school and you can then brag about something awesome about that kid, like I cannot tell you how that feels. you know, just to be able to know like, cause

Nick Clason (06:36.013)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (06:44.053)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (06:49.464)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (06:56.216)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (07:00.066)
And you know, let's call it what it is. Parents need to hear that not everybody hates their kid. Like, I mean, I know that sounds harsh, but like...

Nick Clason (07:05.15)
Mm-hmm. Well, no, you're always questioning, like, are our kids weird? are they? You're always asking that thing.

Josh Boldman (07:10.244)
Right? Yes. It's like, it's like my own kid. Like I love my kid, but I don't know how other people feel about him unless they tell me, you know? So yeah.

Nick Clason (07:17.634)
That's it, yeah, no, you're so right. Yeah, so, so far, you know, it's interesting. Like nothing you've said had anything to do with like the youth pastor's sermon or cue cards or so like, what else, man?

Josh Boldman (07:27.48)
Not even a little. yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not, yeah, it's not the, every year we do a message series where we talk about be nice to your parents. Like, no, that's not, that doesn't help. mean, can't, please do that. yeah, but some things that I have noticed, you know, in times, especially when I started in a ministry where I followed someone who left poorly.

Nick Clason (07:38.958)
Yeah, yeah, it sure can help,

Josh Boldman (07:54.064)
what I almost across the board saw was that that person, especially when it came to parents, was disorganized and did not communicate well. So like, and this may sound so minor, but like send an email every week. Like even if it is literally the same email, like it's the same template, just change two things, whatever. But that way when parents are trying to figure out what's going on, they can always look at the last email and see what it was.

Nick Clason (08:10.382)
It's not that hard.

Nick Clason (08:15.02)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (08:20.92)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (08:21.668)
Don't expect them to open it and read it right when you send it and be like, this email was great.

Nick Clason (08:26.05)
Well, and that's what I would say with our, even the little bit of hybrid strategies, make sure your website's up to date, because how annoying is it when you have a question about what time does that event start, and you go to the website, and it's not even there. And it's like, I send it in the email. It's like, do you know how many emails I've gotten? And so I recommend a do that, do both. Just keep both things, yeah, keep both things updated.

Josh Boldman (08:30.669)
Yeah! Mm-hmm.

Yes. Yup.

Josh Boldman (08:39.76)
huh. Yeah. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (08:47.184)
All of them.

Yeah, anything you can do. Yup, 100%.

Nick Clason (08:55.308)
because they may not be hanging, like you said, on your every word. like, give me your outline from your last 10 messages so that can go over them with my kid. But no, the parents, they do just want to be able to stay in the loop, and they got a lot going on, just like you do. so help them figure out where they can snag that info, for sure.

Josh Boldman (08:59.021)
Right.

Josh Boldman (09:08.898)
Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm, yeah, totally. Another good one that we do, and this is literally every place that I started, this was something I instituted within the first month. And I got most pushback from volunteers, which is interesting, was we start and end on time, every week, period. And my gosh, mean, to tell you that, so I was at a place once where when I came in,

Nick Clason (09:25.441)
Yeah.

Interesting.

Nick Clason (09:32.915)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (09:40.751)
We started youth group at seven, which really meant it was 7 15. And then youth or the small groups went and they started at like eight 30, which is too late. And that meant that they went until nine on a school night. And then the, the, the overall ministry philosophy was we don't start cleaning up until the last kid leaves because we don't want them to feel like we're like, we're pushing them out. And my thing

Nick Clason (09:44.642)
Right.

Nick Clason (09:51.35)
Yeah, on a school night. Yep.

Nick Clason (10:03.618)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (10:07.19)
Which like I get the sentiment.

Josh Boldman (10:08.846)
I totally get it. and it does, it makes so much sense. But at the end of the day, think, think this through. Like we would have students there till like 10 30 and 11 and then we would clean and I'm there with my own son. So I can't even go home with my own kid and get him to bed. And he's got to go to school the next morning. Right. And so, so now if I'm a parent and I notice a pattern that my kid keeps getting in trouble on Thursdays and

Nick Clason (10:23.806)
Mm-hmm. You're in prison. Yeah, you're locked up like.

Josh Boldman (10:38.221)
then I also piece it together that they're out late every Wednesday, I'm gonna start putting two and two together and I'm gonna start blaming somebody. And so like...

Nick Clason (10:41.762)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:46.2)
Bro, that's, I mean, we don't, we, so we homeschool our kids this year, first year. They couldn't go to like Wednesday night activities at the church, because it was too tough of a turnaround for their like first and second grade bodies. Like the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. after church on Wednesday night. was like, exactly, it was brutal. And so it's like now the nice thing is like, hey, we're homeschooled and you know what's cool? We can take our kids to church.

Josh Boldman (10:50.126)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (10:53.901)
Yeah!

Josh Boldman (10:57.645)
Yeah, dude!

so hard.

Which is crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And what it let us do is we said 8 45. That's when we start cleaning up whether students are there or not. And any student who's still there gets to help. And, and so one that actually taught the students that, okay, I'm going to go ahead and leave it at 30. But yeah. But, then when parents would show up and they'd see their kid helping, like even that was like, my gosh, this

Nick Clason (11:18.296)
Mm-hmm.

gets to help.

Nick Clason (11:26.734)
Or the good ones will, you know, how can it help?

Nick Clason (11:34.999)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (11:37.858)
what are you doing here and how is this magic and how can I do this at home? And so suddenly that just creates so many more opportunities for conversations with parents and for us to say, we're doing this and we're keeping a tight schedule so that you know what to expect and what your kid knows what to expect at school the next day.

Nick Clason (11:54.946)
Yeah, so good. When you say start, how would you see it being helpful? Maybe I understand the ending, the beginning. How is it helpful starting on time as opposed to like a delayed 15 minutes? I feel like that's a staple in youth ministry.

Josh Boldman (12:02.541)
Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So like same thing. Like I know it's a hard turnaround. Like if you your kid gets home from school, you get home from work, you're trying to get dinner, all that. You rush, rush, rush, rush, and you rush to get them there at seven. And then you just see everybody just sitting around and you're like, why did I rush so hard to get here? And yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (12:27.906)
So it's like an honoring of the effort that it took to, yeah. So like you actually, yeah, it's good, it's good, I like it.

Josh Boldman (12:35.118)
You know, mean, it's never perfect, right? know, mean, you stuff's always gonna go sideways, but like, if you, if you can give them what to expect, then when it does go a little long or, you know, things don't quite work out the way that then it's like, it's not their, their internal monologue is like, again, you know, it's just like, oh, okay, yeah, get it. happens, you know, yeah.

Nick Clason (12:43.949)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (12:54.678)
Hmm It happened yeah, you have the kind of credibility of like we always end on time Sorry tonight went five minutes late and that's I mean I'm with you like if you're gonna go like late like five minutes is your Absolute max like that's my that's my absolute max. I'm like and I'm sweating bullets in the back like Band we don't need you to play that interlude again. Just pray. Let's go get him out of here. Yeah

Josh Boldman (13:04.119)
Yep. Yep.

Josh Boldman (13:11.958)
Totally. yeah.

Josh Boldman (13:20.652)
Right, please actually don't. Please don't. Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:24.24)
alright, anything else?

Josh Boldman (13:26.413)
I would say, so something we did was we started a text chain where we would send parents discussion questions during the lesson. So that if they were picking their kid up later, they'd be like, instead of saying, how was youth group? They could be like, hey, I heard you were talking about Joshua chapter two. would you have? Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:35.456)
I like it.

Nick Clason (13:41.654)
Yeah, it's good. And it goes right to them. Being on the phone, that, as opposed to a cue card, you know, we posted on a Facebook group and I still don't even think that's the most effective place for it. And even, yeah, exactly, that's really good. That's good.

Josh Boldman (13:54.529)
Right, mm-hmm, yeah. And it lets them opt in. Man, mm-hmm. Two other kind of small things that we used to do is we created an observation deck where it was like a row where parents could come and sit and watch. But it was where, and we always had a volunteer assigned to them, so it was like, you know, we always said, if you're gonna be around kids, you gotta be background checked, yada, yada, and all that. like, but, but.

Nick Clason (14:11.186)
that's cool.

Nick Clason (14:20.63)
Yeah, all the things,

Josh Boldman (14:22.461)
If you're a parent, you're just like genuinely curious about what happens here. You don't have to go through that whole process, but we're going to stick a volunteer with you that has, and they're going to be with you the entire time. and, that at least let, let parents know that, this is not a secret. What we do here. We're not, you know, trying to like turn your kids against you or anything like that. yeah. And then, last bit of advice I would give is just when you are talking to parents,

Nick Clason (14:32.012)
Yeah, come hang out.

Nick Clason (14:36.622)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (14:41.836)
Yeah, that's just like a full transparency moment. So that's cool.

Josh Boldman (14:51.38)
Remember that they are adults and not students. And it's hard to turn that, know, you'd switch that, you know, flip that switch or whatever. Cause you can be really quick going from talking to a bunch of kids to then talking to parents and that same, that same demeanor, that same way, you know, you're addressing, like there's a, the parent that brought the kid and the parent that wants to take that kid home needs, needs respect. And you know, that

and it needs respect shown in a way that's different than the way you show respect to a student. So I say, just remember that, remember you're on the same team. It's not you versus them, it's you and them trying to help the kid.

Nick Clason (15:24.995)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:30.732)
Yeah. And I think the, as I listened to every single thing you said, right? I think the encouraging part is nothing really added anything to your workload. You're not creating some crazy parent seminar. You're not adding some big once a year conference. Like you are subtly shifting your positioning at the beginning and end of service. You're subtly shifting your mindset and your organization and

Josh Boldman (15:45.833)
Right, no.

Nick Clason (16:00.214)
you're adding maybe a text thread, right? Which like, it'll take you less than 10 minutes for your entire series to type out two questions per message. You know, like.

Josh Boldman (16:02.9)
Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (16:10.503)
yeah, well, and what we do, we use questions that were small group questions anyway. Yeah, sure.

Nick Clason (16:15.596)
Yeah, yeah, and you can copy and paste or reframe slightly and you're right there. So that's so good. Josh, anything else that the people need to know about partnering with parents or anything else they need to know in general?

Josh Boldman (16:20.393)
Yeah, uh-huh, Yep. Totally.

It, I will say this, okay, and because this is the mistake I made and I think a mistake so many people make, if you don't have kids, do not assume that you know better than the parent. Assume that you are, you can help the parent, assume that you are, you are still a resource and you know, you know students. But just parenting is hard, dude. Like it's so hard. And by, you don't know what, what that parent,

Nick Clason (16:40.194)
Mm, that's good.

Nick Clason (16:53.32)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (16:58.333)
is walking in with or what they're walking out with. You might think that that kid is just the golden child, but that might not be what is happening at home. Just don't assume. So go into any conversation with parents, I think, with a posture of learning and a posture of, want to support you, I think is good. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:09.228)
Mm. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:16.248)
Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, that's awesome. Hey, all Josh social media, all his stuff's linked down below. Go check him out. But for Josh, this is Nick. Thanks for being here, guys. We'll talk to you next time.

Josh Boldman (17:29.042)
Later. Bye.

]]> In this conversation, Nick Clason (Hybrid Ministry) and Josh Boldman (Download Youth Ministry) discuss the importance of partnering with parents in youth ministry. Josh gives 10 tips from the perspective of a parent NOT working at a church. Several tips are incredibly Hybrid, and best of all, it's not going to add anymore work to your plate!

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Why Partnering with Parents?
02:52 Tip #1
4:34 Tip #2
05:22 Tip #3
06:04 Tip #4
08:55 Tip #5
10:18 Tip #6
13:02 Why does starting on time honor parents?
14:26 Tip #7
15:03 Tip #8
15:47 Tip #9
17:33 Tip #10

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
Nick Clason (00:00.93)
Well, so here we are. And Josh, you might be the most frequented guest now on the Hybrid Ministry podcast, which with all I would, I think I sent you one actually. So, so yeah. But today I've been asking people like, what do you feel like you're kind of like an expert on? So we're in this kind of mini series called How I, and so you said, let's talk about partnering with parents. And so.

Josh Boldman (00:06.494)
Yes Do I get a jacket like do I get a like there's like a that's true actually, you know, that's fair

Josh Boldman (00:29.991)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (00:31.124)
over all your different years of experience, what do you feel like uniquely positions you from a mindset or experience-wise or whatever about this idea of partnering with parents?

Josh Boldman (00:38.9)
Mm-hmm, mm-hmm, yeah. Yeah, so I mean, over the course of 20 years in youth ministry, I did the traditional route of before I had a kid, feeling like I knew everything more than any of the parents. Like I was way smarter than them. And then I had my own kid, and then I was able to actually have the blessing of having my own kid in my own ministry. And then recently have now,

Nick Clason (00:55.712)
yeah.

Nick Clason (01:03.937)
Mmm.

Josh Boldman (01:08.465)
like a life stage where my kid is a part of a ministry that I do not lead. And so it's like, there, that's what I should have. Okay, those are the questions that I now have that I should have been answering.

Nick Clason (01:13.358)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (01:19.904)
I do actually think that's a really, really fascinating perspective and one worth exploring. So what are a couple of principles or takeaways, especially in the lane of I'm a youth pastor veteran, I work for a youth ministry company, but as a parent, as a customer, so to speak, of this youth group, like what do you wish you were getting back from the youth ministry?

Josh Boldman (01:23.826)
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (01:35.303)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (01:42.291)
Yeah. Yeah. I think that's something that every youth minister needs to remember is that you are ministering to a family and not just to a student. Hands down, because like a student is a product, I mean, not entirely, but like they're a product of their family, right? Their parents. when you talk, you talk to a kid, half the things they say are things that they have either heard their parents say or they've

Nick Clason (01:53.965)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (02:02.028)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (02:11.835)
or are in like rebellion against something that their parents have said, right? So like, so like the better that you know the parents, the better you are going to know the student. And whether that that kid has a awesome relationship with their parents or a terrible relationship with their parents or no relationship with their parents, whoever it is at home that takes care of them, that makes them feel safe. You are on the same team with that person, whether you know them or not.

Nick Clason (02:15.598)
Yeah. Yeah, yeah.

Nick Clason (02:22.446)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (02:30.702)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (02:41.583)
And it, it, it, I will be as blunt as I can be in saying if, you're on the same team as that, of those people and you don't know them, that is dumb. Like it just don't, don't put yourself in a position of being on a team with someone you don't even know.

Nick Clason (02:50.563)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (02:56.28)
So you've worked in some larger contexts, let's say. How would you recommend someone who has a youth group of 50 students with, let's say, 50 unique family units? so probably more than 50 because siblings, whatever. How do they get to know parents? Because I would imagine the pushback from a youth pastor is like, well, I try. have a well, and we have meetings and they never come to the meetings and all this stuff like what. So.

Josh Boldman (03:00.646)
Yep.

Josh Boldman (03:08.23)
Yeah, yeah, Uh-huh.

Josh Boldman (03:17.757)
Yep, I can't know them all yet.

Josh Boldman (03:24.465)
Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:24.812)
We've all been there, we've all experienced it. what, as a parent now on the other side, give us some tips.

Josh Boldman (03:30.418)
Yeah, yeah, I would say one, especially if you're talking about a middle school ministry, do check in at the beginning of the night and be at the check-in station. And I know that seems so like antithetical to like, I should be hanging out with the kids. you know, yes, that's great. Go play nine square, go play gaga ball, whatever, but spend some time at check-in because especially if they're in sixth, seventh, eighth grade, their parents are going to probably walk in with them.

Nick Clason (03:42.775)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (03:51.938)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (03:56.471)
Right.

Josh Boldman (04:00.274)
Like, so that's a great opportunity. but even if it's not then like clock the times that, know, like, Hey, when are my best opportunities to meet this parent? And it's, it's almost always going to be a drop-off pickup. Um, we, know, sometimes we'll do like, uh, you know, depending on like the layout of your building and how close the room is to the actual parking lot. Like, um, we used to do a thing where we'd have somebody inside with a walkie talkie and somebody outside with a walkie talkie. So what a parent would pull up.

they would say, hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. And so the person on the radio would be like, Johnny. And so then we'd call Johnny's name inside. I was like, why am I not the person outside with the walkie talkie? Like go be that person talking to the parent. you know, that, you know, and, plus one of the best things you can do in that situation is they're like, Hey, I'm here to pick up Johnny. You can be like, dude, Johnny's awesome. Like, let me tell you about Johnny. Johnny is so stinking cool. Yup. Yeah.

Nick Clason (04:30.774)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (04:40.906)
Yeah, that's so smart.

Nick Clason (04:50.902)
Yeah, and what parent doesn't want to hear that about their kid?

Josh Boldman (04:56.562)
Oh yeah, cause think of every time a parent gets called by a teacher, it's to tell them that their kid's not doing great. know, so like if you can be like the one time that you like, or I mean, if you're open enough to literally calling parents, like go call a parent and be like, Hey, I need to tell you something about Johnny. And they're like, what do you do now? They're like, he was amazing. Like, you know, and I mean, don't lie about Johnny. Like if Johnny's a little turd, like, know, you can be honest about it, but like, don't, but don't drag Johnny through.

Nick Clason (05:02.294)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (05:14.924)
Yeah, yeah. That's cool, yeah.

Yeah.

Josh Boldman (05:26.62)
You know, go out of your way to tell them how awesome it is.

Nick Clason (05:26.872)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (05:30.284)
Yeah, that's so good. It's like the whole idea of positive reinforcement versus negative, so much more powerful. And we can just be strategic and intentional to position ourselves to do that. Even if you're like, I'll give myself 20 minutes on the calendar a week and I'll try to call as many parents and just say something nice about their kids. And if they're quick conversations or even, bro, leave a voicemail. Maybe they don't answer, whatever. It'll still be awesome. can be like, okay, no need to

Josh Boldman (05:33.859)
Mm-hmm. Totally, totally.

Josh Boldman (05:46.779)
Yeah. yeah.

Josh Boldman (05:56.422)
Yeah!

Nick Clason (05:59.67)
No need to call back, just wanted to let you know whatever, that'd be really good.

Josh Boldman (06:01.999)
Yeah. Yeah. And especially if you know, you have a kid who is, you know, mean, gosh, I don't know what it has been about the, you know, the 20 years I spent in ministry, but it was like, it was just like every kid with an attention deficit of something, something, something like they all just showed up at our ministry. Right. It was grabbing it, which is a lot of fun. I'm just like, I'll be the first to say like, it is a party, but yes. man. Until the broken arms, but

Nick Clason (06:16.854)
Mm-hmm

Nick Clason (06:26.348)
You had fun during the games.

haha

Josh Boldman (06:30.781)
you would, but the thing was, is you would see parents drop off their kids and those parents were exhausted, right? And they were just like exasperated. Like they are saying like, Hey, please help. And also please give me a break for a minute. And so like, if you can call and like, if they, you know that they're having trouble with their kid at school and you can then brag about something awesome about that kid, like I cannot tell you how that feels. you know, just to be able to know like, cause

Nick Clason (06:36.013)
Mmm.

Nick Clason (06:44.053)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (06:49.464)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (06:56.216)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (07:00.066)
And you know, let's call it what it is. Parents need to hear that not everybody hates their kid. Like, I mean, I know that sounds harsh, but like...

Nick Clason (07:05.15)
Mm-hmm. Well, no, you're always questioning, like, are our kids weird? are they? You're always asking that thing.

Josh Boldman (07:10.244)
Right? Yes. It's like, it's like my own kid. Like I love my kid, but I don't know how other people feel about him unless they tell me, you know? So yeah.

Nick Clason (07:17.634)
That's it, yeah, no, you're so right. Yeah, so, so far, you know, it's interesting. Like nothing you've said had anything to do with like the youth pastor's sermon or cue cards or so like, what else, man?

Josh Boldman (07:27.48)
Not even a little. yeah, yeah. It's not, it's not, yeah, it's not the, every year we do a message series where we talk about be nice to your parents. Like, no, that's not, that doesn't help. mean, can't, please do that. yeah, but some things that I have noticed, you know, in times, especially when I started in a ministry where I followed someone who left poorly.

Nick Clason (07:38.958)
Yeah, yeah, it sure can help,

Josh Boldman (07:54.064)
what I almost across the board saw was that that person, especially when it came to parents, was disorganized and did not communicate well. So like, and this may sound so minor, but like send an email every week. Like even if it is literally the same email, like it's the same template, just change two things, whatever. But that way when parents are trying to figure out what's going on, they can always look at the last email and see what it was.

Nick Clason (08:10.382)
It's not that hard.

Nick Clason (08:15.02)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (08:20.92)
Yeah.

Josh Boldman (08:21.668)
Don't expect them to open it and read it right when you send it and be like, this email was great.

Nick Clason (08:26.05)
Well, and that's what I would say with our, even the little bit of hybrid strategies, make sure your website's up to date, because how annoying is it when you have a question about what time does that event start, and you go to the website, and it's not even there. And it's like, I send it in the email. It's like, do you know how many emails I've gotten? And so I recommend a do that, do both. Just keep both things, yeah, keep both things updated.

Josh Boldman (08:30.669)
Yeah! Mm-hmm.

Yes. Yup.

Josh Boldman (08:39.76)
huh. Yeah. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (08:47.184)
All of them.

Yeah, anything you can do. Yup, 100%.

Nick Clason (08:55.308)
because they may not be hanging, like you said, on your every word. like, give me your outline from your last 10 messages so that can go over them with my kid. But no, the parents, they do just want to be able to stay in the loop, and they got a lot going on, just like you do. so help them figure out where they can snag that info, for sure.

Josh Boldman (08:59.021)
Right.

Josh Boldman (09:08.898)
Yep. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Mm-hmm, yeah, totally. Another good one that we do, and this is literally every place that I started, this was something I instituted within the first month. And I got most pushback from volunteers, which is interesting, was we start and end on time, every week, period. And my gosh, mean, to tell you that, so I was at a place once where when I came in,

Nick Clason (09:25.441)
Yeah.

Interesting.

Nick Clason (09:32.915)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (09:40.751)
We started youth group at seven, which really meant it was 7 15. And then youth or the small groups went and they started at like eight 30, which is too late. And that meant that they went until nine on a school night. And then the, the, the overall ministry philosophy was we don't start cleaning up until the last kid leaves because we don't want them to feel like we're like, we're pushing them out. And my thing

Nick Clason (09:44.642)
Right.

Nick Clason (09:51.35)
Yeah, on a school night. Yep.

Nick Clason (10:03.618)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (10:07.19)
Which like I get the sentiment.

Josh Boldman (10:08.846)
I totally get it. and it does, it makes so much sense. But at the end of the day, think, think this through. Like we would have students there till like 10 30 and 11 and then we would clean and I'm there with my own son. So I can't even go home with my own kid and get him to bed. And he's got to go to school the next morning. Right. And so, so now if I'm a parent and I notice a pattern that my kid keeps getting in trouble on Thursdays and

Nick Clason (10:23.806)
Mm-hmm. You're in prison. Yeah, you're locked up like.

Josh Boldman (10:38.221)
then I also piece it together that they're out late every Wednesday, I'm gonna start putting two and two together and I'm gonna start blaming somebody. And so like...

Nick Clason (10:41.762)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (10:46.2)
Bro, that's, I mean, we don't, we, so we homeschool our kids this year, first year. They couldn't go to like Wednesday night activities at the church, because it was too tough of a turnaround for their like first and second grade bodies. Like the alarm goes off at 6 a.m. after church on Wednesday night. was like, exactly, it was brutal. And so it's like now the nice thing is like, hey, we're homeschooled and you know what's cool? We can take our kids to church.

Josh Boldman (10:50.126)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (10:53.901)
Yeah!

Josh Boldman (10:57.645)
Yeah, dude!

so hard.

Which is crazy. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And what it let us do is we said 8 45. That's when we start cleaning up whether students are there or not. And any student who's still there gets to help. And, and so one that actually taught the students that, okay, I'm going to go ahead and leave it at 30. But yeah. But, then when parents would show up and they'd see their kid helping, like even that was like, my gosh, this

Nick Clason (11:18.296)
Mm-hmm.

gets to help.

Nick Clason (11:26.734)
Or the good ones will, you know, how can it help?

Nick Clason (11:34.999)
Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (11:37.858)
what are you doing here and how is this magic and how can I do this at home? And so suddenly that just creates so many more opportunities for conversations with parents and for us to say, we're doing this and we're keeping a tight schedule so that you know what to expect and what your kid knows what to expect at school the next day.

Nick Clason (11:54.946)
Yeah, so good. When you say start, how would you see it being helpful? Maybe I understand the ending, the beginning. How is it helpful starting on time as opposed to like a delayed 15 minutes? I feel like that's a staple in youth ministry.

Josh Boldman (12:02.541)
Mm-hmm, yeah, yeah, yeah.

Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah. So like same thing. Like I know it's a hard turnaround. Like if you your kid gets home from school, you get home from work, you're trying to get dinner, all that. You rush, rush, rush, rush, and you rush to get them there at seven. And then you just see everybody just sitting around and you're like, why did I rush so hard to get here? And yeah. Right. Mm-hmm. Yep. Yeah. Yeah.

Nick Clason (12:27.906)
So it's like an honoring of the effort that it took to, yeah. So like you actually, yeah, it's good, it's good, I like it.

Josh Boldman (12:35.118)
You know, mean, it's never perfect, right? know, mean, you stuff's always gonna go sideways, but like, if you, if you can give them what to expect, then when it does go a little long or, you know, things don't quite work out the way that then it's like, it's not their, their internal monologue is like, again, you know, it's just like, oh, okay, yeah, get it. happens, you know, yeah.

Nick Clason (12:43.949)
Mm-hmm.

Nick Clason (12:54.678)
Hmm It happened yeah, you have the kind of credibility of like we always end on time Sorry tonight went five minutes late and that's I mean I'm with you like if you're gonna go like late like five minutes is your Absolute max like that's my that's my absolute max. I'm like and I'm sweating bullets in the back like Band we don't need you to play that interlude again. Just pray. Let's go get him out of here. Yeah

Josh Boldman (13:04.119)
Yep. Yep.

Josh Boldman (13:11.958)
Totally. yeah.

Josh Boldman (13:20.652)
Right, please actually don't. Please don't. Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:24.24)
alright, anything else?

Josh Boldman (13:26.413)
I would say, so something we did was we started a text chain where we would send parents discussion questions during the lesson. So that if they were picking their kid up later, they'd be like, instead of saying, how was youth group? They could be like, hey, I heard you were talking about Joshua chapter two. would you have? Yeah.

Nick Clason (13:35.456)
I like it.

Nick Clason (13:41.654)
Yeah, it's good. And it goes right to them. Being on the phone, that, as opposed to a cue card, you know, we posted on a Facebook group and I still don't even think that's the most effective place for it. And even, yeah, exactly, that's really good. That's good.

Josh Boldman (13:54.529)
Right, mm-hmm, yeah. And it lets them opt in. Man, mm-hmm. Two other kind of small things that we used to do is we created an observation deck where it was like a row where parents could come and sit and watch. But it was where, and we always had a volunteer assigned to them, so it was like, you know, we always said, if you're gonna be around kids, you gotta be background checked, yada, yada, and all that. like, but, but.

Nick Clason (14:11.186)
that's cool.

Nick Clason (14:20.63)
Yeah, all the things,

Josh Boldman (14:22.461)
If you're a parent, you're just like genuinely curious about what happens here. You don't have to go through that whole process, but we're going to stick a volunteer with you that has, and they're going to be with you the entire time. and, that at least let, let parents know that, this is not a secret. What we do here. We're not, you know, trying to like turn your kids against you or anything like that. yeah. And then, last bit of advice I would give is just when you are talking to parents,

Nick Clason (14:32.012)
Yeah, come hang out.

Nick Clason (14:36.622)
Hmm.

Nick Clason (14:41.836)
Yeah, that's just like a full transparency moment. So that's cool.

Josh Boldman (14:51.38)
Remember that they are adults and not students. And it's hard to turn that, know, you'd switch that, you know, flip that switch or whatever. Cause you can be really quick going from talking to a bunch of kids to then talking to parents and that same, that same demeanor, that same way, you know, you're addressing, like there's a, the parent that brought the kid and the parent that wants to take that kid home needs, needs respect. And you know, that

and it needs respect shown in a way that's different than the way you show respect to a student. So I say, just remember that, remember you're on the same team. It's not you versus them, it's you and them trying to help the kid.

Nick Clason (15:24.995)
Yeah.

Nick Clason (15:30.732)
Yeah. And I think the, as I listened to every single thing you said, right? I think the encouraging part is nothing really added anything to your workload. You're not creating some crazy parent seminar. You're not adding some big once a year conference. Like you are subtly shifting your positioning at the beginning and end of service. You're subtly shifting your mindset and your organization and

Josh Boldman (15:45.833)
Right, no.

Nick Clason (16:00.214)
you're adding maybe a text thread, right? Which like, it'll take you less than 10 minutes for your entire series to type out two questions per message. You know, like.

Josh Boldman (16:02.9)
Right. Mm-hmm. Yeah.

Josh Boldman (16:10.503)
yeah, well, and what we do, we use questions that were small group questions anyway. Yeah, sure.

Nick Clason (16:15.596)
Yeah, yeah, and you can copy and paste or reframe slightly and you're right there. So that's so good. Josh, anything else that the people need to know about partnering with parents or anything else they need to know in general?

Josh Boldman (16:20.393)
Yeah, uh-huh, Yep. Totally.

It, I will say this, okay, and because this is the mistake I made and I think a mistake so many people make, if you don't have kids, do not assume that you know better than the parent. Assume that you are, you can help the parent, assume that you are, you are still a resource and you know, you know students. But just parenting is hard, dude. Like it's so hard. And by, you don't know what, what that parent,

Nick Clason (16:40.194)
Mm, that's good.

Nick Clason (16:53.32)
Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.

Josh Boldman (16:58.333)
is walking in with or what they're walking out with. You might think that that kid is just the golden child, but that might not be what is happening at home. Just don't assume. So go into any conversation with parents, I think, with a posture of learning and a posture of, want to support you, I think is good. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:09.228)
Mm. Yeah.

Nick Clason (17:16.248)
Yeah, that's good.

Yeah, that's awesome. Hey, all Josh social media, all his stuff's linked down below. Go check him out. But for Josh, this is Nick. Thanks for being here, guys. We'll talk to you next time.

Josh Boldman (17:29.042)
Later. Bye.

]]> Episode 130: 2024 - A Celebration of You: Hybrid Ministry Stats & Stories in Review https://www.hybridministry.xyz/130 b6148737-e982-4f12-bdb4-539d62ad5d80 Thu, 02 Jan 2025 05:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 130 2024 - A Celebration of You: Hybrid Ministry Stats & Stories in Review full Nick Clason We're celebrating YOU in the 2024 "Year in Review." We'll look back at stats, shout out some of the best comment and I've put together a "Best of 2024 Highlight Reel!" Join us! 11:24 no 🎧 Become a “Hybrid Hero” https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry ✅Let me Run Your Church Social Media https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms DESCRIPTION Join us as we celebrate YOU in the "Year in Review for 2024" of the Hybrid Ministry show. We'll celebrate some statistics, give some shout outs and share the "best of" clips from the 2024 Hybrid Ministry Show. 📓 SHOWNOTES http://www.hybridministry.xyz/130 //BONUS Pod! https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry //Custom Coaching https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching //GIFlashback Video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHcraeNlC8&amp;list=PLngXlSr64YaIui8LNpnlUI3yFAm9SGrLy&amp;index=5&amp;t=24s //9 Best DYM Games https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym //No Prep Games https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=melm8BS97es&amp;list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg&amp;index=6&amp;t=164s //Youth Ministry Planning https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI&amp;list=PLngXlSr64YaKjRX2ytO0tvzo8VnF6X03t&amp;index=2&amp;t=202s //YouTube for Youth Ministry https://youtu.be/ucvXfaVRJ6E?si=aNYGzB08DV6HHD3G //Interview Series https://youtu.be/D4vE7ZqBpE?si=Hdk5X2KRnSGr6HM //Hybrid Tools https://youtu.be/0np1d4Trcn0?si=7OkkCVCmY8Kvx6ha //Meet Gen Alpha https://youtu.be/DWYvsn2Kglk?si=FrnlS3C1xDHITyDb //Social Challenge Framework https://youtu.be/K_9Ch2KVNH0?si=THozXMi9NqzxJeUt //Sidekick https://youtu.be/lXI3ZKSvFY0?si=O-Em7X00hV9waXBE //Sidekick + ProPresenter Setup https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup //Interview with Nate Clason https://youtu.be/uplCz1S1nz4?si=sne7LvdGvAgrKU72 //DYM Blog Post https://blog.downloadyouthministry.com/introducing-hybrid-ministry-with-nick-clason/ ⌚TIMECODES 00:00 Welcome to 2025! 00:40 Some Stats &amp; Wins 08:47 Personal Reflections 11:21 Thank You to our Amazing Guests! 14:45 Year in Review -------------- TRANSCRIPT 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;36;11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry What a year it has been. From the incredible wins to the unforgettable moments, we have covered so much ground together. And in this special Year in Review episode, we on the Hybrid Ministry show, we are celebrating you, our amazing community with highlights and stats and the best of the hybrid minstrel show here in 2024. Make sure that you stick around because I've actually distilled a highlight reel of the 2024 Hybrid Mr. Podcast Best Moments. 00;00;36;14 - 00;01;08;04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry This just might be your favorite episode yet. Welcome back, everybody to the Hybrid Minister Show. I as always, I'm your host, Nick Claassen. And today we're going to be taking a little bit of a trip down memory lane to celebrate the amazing year and this incredible journey that you and I have been on together. As we always have on this podcast, we're going to be exploring the cutting edge ministry ideas and equip you with the tools to dominate the digital space in 2025. 00;01;08;04 - 00;01;35;14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It's been a ride in 2024, and 2025 is only going to get better. And it is all thank you to you. You know, in 2024, we released a total of 52 audio podcast episodes because we release one every single Thursday. If you haven't liked or subscribed yet, wherever you listen to your podcast, it's free and it will show up in your podcast. 00;01;35;14 - 00;02;13;17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Catcher. Every single Thursday. Why? Because youth ministry often happens for most youth ministries across the country on Wednesday, so who doesn't need a little jolt of energy to get the to get them through the rest of their week on Thursdays? But 52 episodes released because we have not missed a single Thursday in the two and a half or so plus years that we've been doing this podcast, I just want to share with you some some highlights of the top performing video over this last year was a video that I titled top five Last Minute Game Ideas. 00;02;13;17 - 00;02;36;22 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry If you're watching here on YouTube, you can see some of the clips being overlaid with B-roll. We also over this year we've had nine different playlists that we've worked through. And so in each of those playlists, there's a obviously a top performing video in each of those playlists. And so our very first playlist we had was the 2024 On Demand masterclass. 00;02;36;22 - 00;02;56;28 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And in that video, the five No Prep games was a part of the masterclass. And that video had to, 361 views. And so that was not only the number one video for the year, but obviously the number one in the masterclass playlist. We also dropped a bonus you might not notice we dropped a bonus playlist called the Friday Game Day Series. 00;02;56;28 - 00;03;28;06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It released every Friday on YouTube, and, we covered nine of my favorite DRM games that I use. And so actually, if you had any of those or linked down below in this episode nine of my all time favorite do swim games, I'm giving them away to you completely for free. They are games that are on the, they're on the, they're on the website, the download Youth Ministry website, but I'm giving them away to you in this episode, 100% completely for free. 00;03;28;06 - 00;03;49;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And the best performing video in that playlist was the GIF flashback episode. We also went through a playlist titled some of the Youth Pastor's Biggest Problems, and the number one episode in that was youth Ministry planning weekend services versus mid week programing. And actually in that episode we ranked youth ministry curriculum. Spoiler it's clear you should try it. 00;03;49;29 - 00;04;12;22 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry In fact, if you haven't yet, hit the link down below. Sidekick.tv/pricing if you've never signed up for anything with Diam or Calendar, use the code Hybrid Ministry ten. All one word for get 10% off your first order. We went through the YouTube for Youth Ministry Play lesson playlist in the best performing video, and that playlist was the flagship title episode YouTube for Youth Ministry. 00;04;12;22 - 00;04;33;07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I then took you through some of the hybrid ministry tools and gear that you needed and the the best episode, and that the highest performing episode was the best gear for Digital Ministry in 2024. Must have tech accessories. Then over the summer, we went through an interview series and that episode, the one that was best in that playlist, was the solution to distractions. 00;04;33;07 - 00;04;56;24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry At youth group, where I interviewed my good friend Josh Baldwin from Download Youth Ministry sidekick and co-leader. Then we went through Meat Generation Alpha, and in that playlist, the Ora and Bach versus Covenant Eyes. An honest youth pastor review was the highest performing video in that playlist. Finally, I went to my Social Challenge framework, which is the four things that I'm creating content with students and for students. 00;04;56;24 - 00;05;17;16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And I can't tell you, I think that might be my most popular playlist to date cumulatively, and just word of mouth and things I've heard from youth pastors on the street. So thank you so much for that feedback. But the best episode and that one was the third one, how churches can use social media ideas and examples. And finally, the sidekick more engaging youth ministry. 00;05;17;16 - 00;05;39;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Again, the best episode on that one was the live sidekick demo at the day of recording. And again, don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you're interested in sidekick or link down below for how we are using to computers to run Sidekick and Pro Presenter seamlessly. To switch between the two, grab that black magic video switcher, it will make your life so much easier. 00;05;39;10 - 00;06;05;21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Now listen on YouTube. In total, we had 84,569 views, including our shorts content with 522 hours of watch time and 151 new subscribers. And in the youth ministry space is a fantastic number and I'm so thrilled, with those stats and with those numbers, simply because here I am in my guest bedroom late at night, recording a podcast into the back of my cell phone. 00;06;05;23 - 00;06;26;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And, I have a real job, and I'm just doing this on the side with my own. Sort of like, equipment at home. And so thank you so much for your support. You might also not know this, but we have an audio only podcast. It drops anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify or Apple Music, not Apple Music, Apple Podcasts. 00;06;26;12 - 00;06;51;11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And we had almost 5000 downloads. Our biggest month was by far August, with almost nearly 1000 downloads in that month alone. And the number one downloaded audio podcast was my interview with my brother himself. The, YouTube video is linked down below in the show notes. But here's my interview with my brother, Nate Clayson. We talked about social media and how he's doing it in his context and in his youth ministry. 00;06;51;11 - 00;07;13;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So shout out to all of you again, thank you for an amazing year. Thank you for cruising through the stats with me. But what I wanted to do now is I wanted to share some of the best comments that we've gotten so far this year, and so far today. So from Jesse Johnson, first of all, he disagreed with my take on coffee and saying that Duncan was terrible, which I'll give him that it's not great. 00;07;13;00 - 00;07;30;01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It's a chain. But if I have to choose between that and Starbucks, that's what I'm stuck with. That's what I'm going to choose. But he said he said using polls in the welcome loop in sidekick is so easy, I can't believe I didn't think of it. Excited to try that one out. Claire said this in our best parenting app podcast. 00;07;30;01 - 00;07;49;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry We use bark and it has been so wonderful for our family. We have an 11 year old, and it has been a lifesaver. We can monitor everything that she does online, block her from seeing certain websites, track her locations, etc. recently, she disabled the app because her and my husband, we both get notifications, so we went to our daughter immediately. 00;07;49;05 - 00;08;06;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It turns out she had disabled it because she wanted to watch South Park and Family Guy, as well as some other PG 13 movies. She said nope. Luckily, my husband and I got there before she could see anything inappropriate. We're grateful for bark to bark, for protecting our little girl from online dangers, and protecting her from innocence and inappropriate content. 00;08;06;29 - 00;08;26;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry We love bark. Paul Turner said this about our, why youth ministry. Follow up isn't working. He said, this is great stuff. Lots of idea. I went and bought it. Talking about the box that I sold. I'll be sharing this with my newsletter. If you ever want to collab, let me know. Keep up the great work! And finally, a frequent guest here on this podcast. 00;08;26;05 - 00;08;59;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Over a year ago we did a Christmas episode together. He was also on one of my interview series over the summer, Eric with the K Williams. He said this is great. Anyone starting out needs to watch this and he's talking about my church social media from scratch episode in the hybrid ministry tools. Man, what an amazing year. But if I'm looking back and if I'm taking on some of my reflections and kind of key moments, I'd have to say it's two individuals, a guy by the name of Tim Kelly and Kendall Eaton, both, by the way, who happen to live in the state of Indiana. 00;08;59;05 - 00;09;21;14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I don't think that the collab done this, but both of them at two different times. Tim actually reached out to me for some custom coaching this year, and that was a super fun and super, just a honestly rewarding process to walk through. And it showed me the value of custom coaching, because what I would have recommended to you in my guest bedroom and to the back of my cell phone camera was a little bit different. 00;09;21;14 - 00;09;38;14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Once I started talking to Tim, which is why I believe custom coaching is valuable for anyone who's interested it. Link down below if you want to inquire about what that looks like. It is a very modest and a very cheap price for custom coaching. Or if you don't want like the one on one zoom type interaction and consider joining our Patreon page. 00;09;38;21 - 00;09;55;04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry That's a dollar per week for a bonus episode, $4 per month, and I'll just share, stream of consciousness ideas. And you might not need the actual, like, coaching to do this, to do this, but you'll get to glean ideas. And then I was at the I 100 conference, a month ago or so, and Kendall walked up to me. 00;09;55;04 - 00;10;20;02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry He said, man, thank you so much for your podcast is really helpful. It's really beneficial. I shared your playlist, your ideas with some of our social media people and is incredibly, incredibly helpful. And so it's just really rewarding for me to be able to do this and just put this content out into the world, out into the ether and get feedback from real, live human beings and real life people who've come to me, in different instances, in different cases. 00;10;20;02 - 00;10;39;21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Tim, all virtually Kendall in person to say, man, thank you for what you're doing. It really is helpful to me to hear that. And so if if you know you have feedback or anything like that, I would obviously and always welcome that. Lines and channels of communication are completely open. You know, here on this podcast we have a couple of really cool benchmarks. 00;10;40;12 - 00;10;56;27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Just in the month of December, we launched a Patreon page, are selling a couple of products over there, as well as that monthly podcast that I'm talking about. And so that's a pretty fun kind of benchmark kind of new thing for us. And new endeavor. Would love to have you, check that out if that's something you're interested in. 00;10;56;27 - 00;11;19;06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then also, back in August, I got the opportunity to start posting these podcasts to the Download a Youth Ministry blog. So if you're interested in that, you can go blog that download Youth ministry.com to check that out. And the link down below introduces my very first, post on there, actually, Josh Bowman, he introduced me and then I now am an author there on the doing blog. 00;11;19;06 - 00;11;48;07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So that's something that's really, really exciting. But speaking of Josh Bullman, as well as many of our other guests, I would like to thank my different guests that I had on this year. So Josh Boardman, of course, from down the youth ministry, we actually had him on twice. We talked once about sidekick and solutions to distractions and youth ministry and harnessing sidekick and utilizing and using cell phones, to not be a distraction, but instead to be something that you can use to help promote creativity and involvement engagement. 00;11;48;07 - 00;12;13;09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But then one episode, my all time, my favorite episode this entire year was there. Him and I sat down and he brought a service, a mock service order sheet that he put on, and then he said, hey, how can you hybridize this? How can you, make this, accessible to the people sitting online streaming at home? Man, both those episodes go to either one of them now, but that was one of my all time favorite episodes. 00;12;13;11 - 00;12;31;21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I had, Eric with a K on when we talked about better event for promotion, and that was actually a collaborative episode. So the first part of that interview was on his channel, Practical Youth Ministry Tips, and the second part was over here on my channel. And so if you only listen to on my channel, you only heard really half of that conversation. 00;12;31;24 - 00;12;53;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Of course, I mentioned earlier, my brother, we had David Carpenter, youth pastor from Kentucky, my former resident, Caleb Fly mule, fly wheel, Miata, and again, Zeus take on what we've been doing. And youth ministry and student ministry. He worked with and for me for an entire year in this sort of hybrid, infrastructure. So if you want to hear an honest take here from him. 00;12;53;00 - 00;13;18;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then we had a really special episode dropped this year, our 100th episode. And so for our 100th episode, I went all the way back to the beginning, even before this podcast started. And I talked about, when I started at church in Covid. And so I interviewed my current boss now and my boss then, Darren Sutton, his son, who is our video editor for much of what we did, for our digital online presence, for a show that we created on YouTube called unscripted. 00;13;18;10 - 00;13;44;03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So his son Isaac was on the show. And then I also interviewed Sam Voss, good friend of mine and host of the unscripted show and podcast Super Fun Time. But hey, listen, this year, like, I'm wondering if, as you know, I'm recapping and recounting 2024 if as you got your eyes set on 2025, what are you doing to have a more hybrid, more digital, more creative youth ministry? 00;13;44;03 - 00;14;14;16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Because as my friend and boss Darren says, digital is no longer a luxury. It is now a necessity. And so that's what we're trying to accomplish again over on our Patreon page. If that's something that you're interested in, where I will talk about what we're doing on a week to week basis in our youth ministry over on Patreon, I would love to have you just come check out, listen in on what we're doing, and hopefully maybe just that $4 a month is an investment, enough to help kickstart and spur on your own creativity. 00;14;14;16 - 00;14;38;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry We love to have you join us over there. It's super fun. Community. There's all sorts of perks as well. But hey, thank you so much for sticking around for this entire episode. And as promised, at the very top right here, we have an amazing, recap overlay. I went back through every single episode, and I pulled out some of my favorite snippets and clips from the last year. 00;14;38;16 - 00;15;00;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So enjoy this. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid. Okay, so there are like three kind of core tenets philosophical things that you guys need to understand when it comes to time management. These aren't tips. These aren't tactics. These are things that you have to understand first. And these have to inform the tips and the tactics. 00;15;00;10 - 00;15;24;16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Know my tips. No amount of tactics will be helpful to you if you don't understand these things. So core tenet number one is that you are 100% responsible for your time. The reason this matters is because this is the difference between is that kid and kid in ministry or is that kid and youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z. 00;15;24;19 - 00;15;47;01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have, is going to be freshmen and sophomores in high school. And now after that, they're waiting on up there in college already, and they are entering the workforce. What should you be? Gen one, number one, start posting longform to YouTube, get a DUI gym membership. 00;15;47;03 - 00;16;14;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And it looks very different in 2024 and frankly, beyond because of generation Z and now Generation Alpha saving up Z into the adult ministry, conversation Alpha into the youth ministry conversation, it makes me wonder if the future is already here. I think it might be Megan and all her friends, and she brought a lot of her friends to youth group, so this, like kind of mattered because, like, she could bring two, 3 or 4 different friends with her. 00;16;14;00 - 00;16;35;17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry The youth group, they had show choir and it met every single Wednesday night. And so that made Wednesday nights a really tricky night to do youth ministry. But Brandon, the only other boy in the youth ministry, had Tuesday night and Thursday night karate. And then of course, Friday nights are like the football game. Like for most towns USA. 00;16;35;23 - 00;16;58;18 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry That's when the high school team is playing his football game. So that really left us with Monday night as an option, which but the pro of, of Wednesday night to me is probably the your most traditional youth night. It's been what, a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas-Fort worth area, a lot of churches do. 00;16;58;18 - 00;17;22;13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Wednesday night, and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night. And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right. But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy. Well. Hey, everyone, welcome to Friday Game Day. In this episode, link down below 100% completely for free. I have for you back to school. 00;17;22;15 - 00;18;04;03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Bingo. And if you're like, I don't need back to school bingo, it's not back to school yet. Well, then head on over to download Youth ministry.com and you can grab my end of the school year. Bingo! Well, that idea of course, is go hybrid. And listen, I'm not saying to completely abandon your in-person meetings. In fact, that would go completely against the hybrid strategy because hybrid is melding together of your digital presence in your in-person presence and making it one in the same, but linked right here on screen and down in the description or wherever you're getting this or hybrid ministry X, y, Z/089 is my 100% completely free strategy guide, is my e-book on 00;18;04;03 - 00;18;32;07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry how I build out a full fledged digital strategy. It's mostly focusing on a done for you social media strategy, but it's anchored by the, long form teaching video, which takes place and is posted weekly every time we teach pre filmed messages on YouTube direct to Camera Pro. Number one, of course, is like develop mentally splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate. 00;18;32;09 - 00;19;07;16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry In my over a year journey on this podcast, I have grown to love YouTube. When I started with social media and what I started trying to reach students on the internet, YouTube was a distant kind of far strategy that was on my radar. Like it was like, I'll post some videos over there. But in my time since that, which was probably five, six, seven years ago, I have come to love YouTube and I am more and more convinced that YouTube, in addition to all other digital and social mediums that we can effectively reach students with. 00;19;07;19 - 00;19;30;04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But YouTube is one of the best resources out there. You can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my Student Ministries YouTube channel, we post two links. The first link is a Next Steps digital type Connect card, and I think about your own viewing habits on social media. 00;19;30;04 - 00;19;55;08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry When you're on there, you're not necessarily on there to just, be informed, right? Link down below is a complete log of every single piece of gear that I have built in the studio. Isaac Sutton All of the students in the room who are watching unscripted have bingo cards that coordinated to stuff that know yes, digital integration is not a luxury, it's a necessity. 00;19;55;10 - 00;20;19;09 Sam Vos It was probably I probably felt God's hand more in like my career, my life in that moment than a lot of other moments. Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Unscripted played a really major role in like the catalyst to especially my podcast and everything like that. I would say the reason for that is simply realizing and understand that students live online. Darren Sutton There's a lot I've messed up in my years of youth ministry, but that is one thing that I'm really proud of. 00;20;19;13 - 00;20;30;14 Darren Sutton Like in the middle of the pandemic, there was not a blank ministry kept going. We're going to try something different. 00;20;30;17 - 00;20;53;12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And you should use your cell phone to your advantage. Caleb "Flywheel" Maeda I think. I think the things that have been working the most has been getting students involved on the page, not even in terms of like on the page traction as much as like in-person traction. David Carpenter We speak to our students on Wednesday nights for about 18 to 22 minutes. Sunday morning there's a, you know, 28 to 32 minutes. 00;20;53;14 - 00;21;24;18 David Carpenter And we think they probably remember everything we said, right? Like they they wrote the notes, they've got it and they've already applied every one of these points. You know, it was alliterative. And remember my great illustration. And one, you know, when when we're including things that are reflecting on the teachings, I think that reinforces and reminds those who were in the room. Nate Clason and seeing you, like, super passionate about it and watching your podcast really, honestly like, and your different videos and clips on like TikTok and stuff to sign it Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry &amp; The Greatest programming specialist in America every single time you had to type in the password. 00;21;24;19 - 00;21;47;00 Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry &amp; The Greatest programming specialist in America It was a great and I, I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our I like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running and then it crashed and then they had to reopen it. And they're like, from the booth they yell out, what's the password? And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone. 00;21;47;00 - 00;22;09;14 Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry &amp; The Greatest programming specialist in America And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, we need to not be afraid of what our students want, and we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion. And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us. 00;22;09;14 - 00;22;36;20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Better event promotion as well as a holistic digital and social media approach for your church and your youth ministry. And this is actually part two. Part one is linked right here at the top of the screen over on another channel, because we're doing a massive mashup collab. And I am joined today by my friend Eric with the K petition, because in just a minute, we're gonna look at the Bark vs Aura 00;22;36;20 - 00;23;01;20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But Aura has parental controls and they are now in partnership with circle. You might remember Circle by Disney, the first video idea that we do it's called Drafts challenge idea number two that we do in our church and in our student ministry is a game called name of the game is seven Questions. A man on the street named transition stab video is where it starts with the video of something else. 00;23;01;20 - 00;23;22;24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And the most popular one I can think about is like a a bull, ramming a guy during the running of the bulls. And then all these people cutting right there to jumping into the back of some chairs and millennial churchgoers said this. They said hybrid church just as much as physical church will be a get this good fit for them. 00;23;22;26 - 00;23;44;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry One of the things about five minute countdowns that I actually hate, and I know that as talking to a guy who works for Download Youth Ministry, and that's where a lot of the money is made and a lot of five minute countdowns are sold. I actually prefer, which, by the way, talking to you right now, let this be an unofficial sidekick feature request. 00;23;44;24 - 00;24;11;13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Yeah. Because right now in sidekick, you can, you can loop your announcements, right? You can loop some, like, graphic slides. And I actually prefer that to be the five minute countdown with just the five minute countdown overlaid in the corner, so that all of the announcements that you're announcing and trying to let your students know about are happening, is being seen on the screen. 00;24;11;18 - 00;24;37;06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then the very last piece of it, my favorite piece of it, the piece that I think makes it hybrid, is right. When you open the box, you see this QR code here and it just says welcome video. Scan me. And so we'll have students who are new to the open this up theoretically on their porch, on their patio or wherever they will scan it, and then it will take them to a video right here will be launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd. 00;24;37;09 - 00;25;00;21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry A brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week. Going to be over on my Patreon page, but a student give them an opportunity to to be a part of this. Give them a seat at the table to let them know that that this church is about the next generation and that matters. Again, it's no longer the day where we can just hand this off to to an unpaid intern. 00;25;00;24 - 00;25;11;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Hope that they keep our social media on life support. Like get after it. My friends, 2025 is going to be your year. We are here in the Hybrid Ministry show to help. Hybrid Ministry, Youth Ministry, Online Church,Youth Group Games, Youth Group Games for Large Groups indoor, Youth Group games for large groups, Youth Group Games indoor, Youth Ministry Games, Youth Ministry Games for Large Groups, Youth Group Games for Church, Youth Group Games for Church indoor, Youth Ministry Games Indoor, Student Ministry Games, Student Ministry Games indoor, Youth Group, Student Ministry, Youth Pastor, Church Games for Youth, digital discipleship 🎧 Become a “Hybrid Hero”
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

✅Let me Run Your Church Social Media
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

DESCRIPTION
Join us as we celebrate YOU in the "Year in Review for 2024" of the Hybrid Ministry show.
We'll celebrate some statistics, give some shout outs and share the "best of" clips from the 2024 Hybrid Ministry Show.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/130

//BONUS Pod!
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

//Custom Coaching
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//GIFlashback Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHcraeNlC8&list=PLngXlSr64YaIui8LNpnlUI3yFAm9SGrLy&index=5&t=24s

//9 Best DYM Games
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

//No Prep Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=melm8BS97es&list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg&index=6&t=164s

//Youth Ministry Planning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI&list=PLngXlSr64YaKjRX2ytO0tvzo8VnF6X03t&index=2&t=202s

//YouTube for Youth Ministry
https://youtu.be/ucvXfaVRJ6E?si=aNYGzB08DV6HHD3G

//Interview Series
https://youtu.be/D4vE7_ZqBpE?si=Hdk5X2KRn_SGr6HM

//Hybrid Tools
https://youtu.be/0np1d4Trcn0?si=7OkkCVCmY8Kvx6ha

//Meet Gen Alpha
https://youtu.be/DWYvsn2Kglk?si=FrnlS3C1xDHITyDb

//Social Challenge Framework
https://youtu.be/K_9Ch2KVNH0?si=THozXMi9NqzxJeUt

//Sidekick
https://youtu.be/lXI3ZKSvFY0?si=O-Em7X00hV9waXBE

//Sidekick + ProPresenter Setup
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//Interview with Nate Clason
https://youtu.be/uplCz1S1nz4?si=sne7LvdGvAgrKU72

//DYM Blog Post
https://blog.downloadyouthministry.com/introducing-hybrid-ministry-with-nick-clason/

⌚TIMECODES
00:00 Welcome to 2025!
00:40 Some Stats & Wins
08:47 Personal Reflections
11:21 Thank You to our Amazing Guests!
14:45 Year in Review

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;36;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What a year it has been. From the incredible wins to the unforgettable moments, we have covered so much ground together. And in this special Year in Review episode, we on the Hybrid Ministry show, we are celebrating you, our amazing community with highlights and stats and the best of the hybrid minstrel show here in 2024. Make sure that you stick around because I've actually distilled a highlight reel of the 2024 Hybrid Mr. Podcast Best Moments.

00;00;36;14 - 00;01;08;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This just might be your favorite episode yet. Welcome back, everybody to the Hybrid Minister Show. I as always, I'm your host, Nick Claassen. And today we're going to be taking a little bit of a trip down memory lane to celebrate the amazing year and this incredible journey that you and I have been on together. As we always have on this podcast, we're going to be exploring the cutting edge ministry ideas and equip you with the tools to dominate the digital space in 2025.

00;01;08;04 - 00;01;35;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's been a ride in 2024, and 2025 is only going to get better. And it is all thank you to you. You know, in 2024, we released a total of 52 audio podcast episodes because we release one every single Thursday. If you haven't liked or subscribed yet, wherever you listen to your podcast, it's free and it will show up in your podcast.

00;01;35;14 - 00;02;13;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Catcher. Every single Thursday. Why? Because youth ministry often happens for most youth ministries across the country on Wednesday, so who doesn't need a little jolt of energy to get the to get them through the rest of their week on Thursdays? But 52 episodes released because we have not missed a single Thursday in the two and a half or so plus years that we've been doing this podcast, I just want to share with you some some highlights of the top performing video over this last year was a video that I titled top five Last Minute Game Ideas.

00;02;13;17 - 00;02;36;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you're watching here on YouTube, you can see some of the clips being overlaid with B-roll. We also over this year we've had nine different playlists that we've worked through. And so in each of those playlists, there's a obviously a top performing video in each of those playlists. And so our very first playlist we had was the 2024 On Demand masterclass.

00;02;36;22 - 00;02;56;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And in that video, the five No Prep games was a part of the masterclass. And that video had to, 361 views. And so that was not only the number one video for the year, but obviously the number one in the masterclass playlist. We also dropped a bonus you might not notice we dropped a bonus playlist called the Friday Game Day Series.

00;02;56;28 - 00;03;28;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It released every Friday on YouTube, and, we covered nine of my favorite DRM games that I use. And so actually, if you had any of those or linked down below in this episode nine of my all time favorite do swim games, I'm giving them away to you completely for free. They are games that are on the, they're on the, they're on the website, the download Youth Ministry website, but I'm giving them away to you in this episode, 100% completely for free.

00;03;28;06 - 00;03;49;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the best performing video in that playlist was the GIF flashback episode. We also went through a playlist titled some of the Youth Pastor's Biggest Problems, and the number one episode in that was youth Ministry planning weekend services versus mid week programing. And actually in that episode we ranked youth ministry curriculum. Spoiler it's clear you should try it.

00;03;49;29 - 00;04;12;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In fact, if you haven't yet, hit the link down below. Sidekick.tv/pricing if you've never signed up for anything with Diam or Calendar, use the code Hybrid Ministry ten. All one word for get 10% off your first order. We went through the YouTube for Youth Ministry Play lesson playlist in the best performing video, and that playlist was the flagship title episode YouTube for Youth Ministry.

00;04;12;22 - 00;04;33;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I then took you through some of the hybrid ministry tools and gear that you needed and the the best episode, and that the highest performing episode was the best gear for Digital Ministry in 2024. Must have tech accessories. Then over the summer, we went through an interview series and that episode, the one that was best in that playlist, was the solution to distractions.

00;04;33;07 - 00;04;56;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
At youth group, where I interviewed my good friend Josh Baldwin from Download Youth Ministry sidekick and co-leader. Then we went through Meat Generation Alpha, and in that playlist, the Ora and Bach versus Covenant Eyes. An honest youth pastor review was the highest performing video in that playlist. Finally, I went to my Social Challenge framework, which is the four things that I'm creating content with students and for students.

00;04;56;24 - 00;05;17;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I can't tell you, I think that might be my most popular playlist to date cumulatively, and just word of mouth and things I've heard from youth pastors on the street. So thank you so much for that feedback. But the best episode and that one was the third one, how churches can use social media ideas and examples. And finally, the sidekick more engaging youth ministry.

00;05;17;16 - 00;05;39;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Again, the best episode on that one was the live sidekick demo at the day of recording. And again, don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you're interested in sidekick or link down below for how we are using to computers to run Sidekick and Pro Presenter seamlessly. To switch between the two, grab that black magic video switcher, it will make your life so much easier.

00;05;39;10 - 00;06;05;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now listen on YouTube. In total, we had 84,569 views, including our shorts content with 522 hours of watch time and 151 new subscribers. And in the youth ministry space is a fantastic number and I'm so thrilled, with those stats and with those numbers, simply because here I am in my guest bedroom late at night, recording a podcast into the back of my cell phone.

00;06;05;23 - 00;06;26;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, I have a real job, and I'm just doing this on the side with my own. Sort of like, equipment at home. And so thank you so much for your support. You might also not know this, but we have an audio only podcast. It drops anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify or Apple Music, not Apple Music, Apple Podcasts.

00;06;26;12 - 00;06;51;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we had almost 5000 downloads. Our biggest month was by far August, with almost nearly 1000 downloads in that month alone. And the number one downloaded audio podcast was my interview with my brother himself. The, YouTube video is linked down below in the show notes. But here's my interview with my brother, Nate Clayson. We talked about social media and how he's doing it in his context and in his youth ministry.

00;06;51;11 - 00;07;13;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So shout out to all of you again, thank you for an amazing year. Thank you for cruising through the stats with me. But what I wanted to do now is I wanted to share some of the best comments that we've gotten so far this year, and so far today. So from Jesse Johnson, first of all, he disagreed with my take on coffee and saying that Duncan was terrible, which I'll give him that it's not great.

00;07;13;00 - 00;07;30;01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's a chain. But if I have to choose between that and Starbucks, that's what I'm stuck with. That's what I'm going to choose. But he said he said using polls in the welcome loop in sidekick is so easy, I can't believe I didn't think of it. Excited to try that one out. Claire said this in our best parenting app podcast.

00;07;30;01 - 00;07;49;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We use bark and it has been so wonderful for our family. We have an 11 year old, and it has been a lifesaver. We can monitor everything that she does online, block her from seeing certain websites, track her locations, etc. recently, she disabled the app because her and my husband, we both get notifications, so we went to our daughter immediately.

00;07;49;05 - 00;08;06;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It turns out she had disabled it because she wanted to watch South Park and Family Guy, as well as some other PG 13 movies. She said nope. Luckily, my husband and I got there before she could see anything inappropriate. We're grateful for bark to bark, for protecting our little girl from online dangers, and protecting her from innocence and inappropriate content.

00;08;06;29 - 00;08;26;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We love bark. Paul Turner said this about our, why youth ministry. Follow up isn't working. He said, this is great stuff. Lots of idea. I went and bought it. Talking about the box that I sold. I'll be sharing this with my newsletter. If you ever want to collab, let me know. Keep up the great work! And finally, a frequent guest here on this podcast.

00;08;26;05 - 00;08;59;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Over a year ago we did a Christmas episode together. He was also on one of my interview series over the summer, Eric with the K Williams. He said this is great. Anyone starting out needs to watch this and he's talking about my church social media from scratch episode in the hybrid ministry tools. Man, what an amazing year. But if I'm looking back and if I'm taking on some of my reflections and kind of key moments, I'd have to say it's two individuals, a guy by the name of Tim Kelly and Kendall Eaton, both, by the way, who happen to live in the state of Indiana.

00;08;59;05 - 00;09;21;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I don't think that the collab done this, but both of them at two different times. Tim actually reached out to me for some custom coaching this year, and that was a super fun and super, just a honestly rewarding process to walk through. And it showed me the value of custom coaching, because what I would have recommended to you in my guest bedroom and to the back of my cell phone camera was a little bit different.

00;09;21;14 - 00;09;38;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Once I started talking to Tim, which is why I believe custom coaching is valuable for anyone who's interested it. Link down below if you want to inquire about what that looks like. It is a very modest and a very cheap price for custom coaching. Or if you don't want like the one on one zoom type interaction and consider joining our Patreon page.

00;09;38;21 - 00;09;55;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's a dollar per week for a bonus episode, $4 per month, and I'll just share, stream of consciousness ideas. And you might not need the actual, like, coaching to do this, to do this, but you'll get to glean ideas. And then I was at the I 100 conference, a month ago or so, and Kendall walked up to me.

00;09;55;04 - 00;10;20;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
He said, man, thank you so much for your podcast is really helpful. It's really beneficial. I shared your playlist, your ideas with some of our social media people and is incredibly, incredibly helpful. And so it's just really rewarding for me to be able to do this and just put this content out into the world, out into the ether and get feedback from real, live human beings and real life people who've come to me, in different instances, in different cases.

00;10;20;02 - 00;10;39;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Tim, all virtually Kendall in person to say, man, thank you for what you're doing. It really is helpful to me to hear that. And so if if you know you have feedback or anything like that, I would obviously and always welcome that. Lines and channels of communication are completely open. You know, here on this podcast we have a couple of really cool benchmarks.

00;10;40;12 - 00;10;56;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Just in the month of December, we launched a Patreon page, are selling a couple of products over there, as well as that monthly podcast that I'm talking about. And so that's a pretty fun kind of benchmark kind of new thing for us. And new endeavor. Would love to have you, check that out if that's something you're interested in.

00;10;56;27 - 00;11;19;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then also, back in August, I got the opportunity to start posting these podcasts to the Download a Youth Ministry blog. So if you're interested in that, you can go blog that download Youth ministry.com to check that out. And the link down below introduces my very first, post on there, actually, Josh Bowman, he introduced me and then I now am an author there on the doing blog.

00;11;19;06 - 00;11;48;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So that's something that's really, really exciting. But speaking of Josh Bullman, as well as many of our other guests, I would like to thank my different guests that I had on this year. So Josh Boardman, of course, from down the youth ministry, we actually had him on twice. We talked once about sidekick and solutions to distractions and youth ministry and harnessing sidekick and utilizing and using cell phones, to not be a distraction, but instead to be something that you can use to help promote creativity and involvement engagement.

00;11;48;07 - 00;12;13;09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But then one episode, my all time, my favorite episode this entire year was there. Him and I sat down and he brought a service, a mock service order sheet that he put on, and then he said, hey, how can you hybridize this? How can you, make this, accessible to the people sitting online streaming at home? Man, both those episodes go to either one of them now, but that was one of my all time favorite episodes.

00;12;13;11 - 00;12;31;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I had, Eric with a K on when we talked about better event for promotion, and that was actually a collaborative episode. So the first part of that interview was on his channel, Practical Youth Ministry Tips, and the second part was over here on my channel. And so if you only listen to on my channel, you only heard really half of that conversation.

00;12;31;24 - 00;12;53;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Of course, I mentioned earlier, my brother, we had David Carpenter, youth pastor from Kentucky, my former resident, Caleb Fly mule, fly wheel, Miata, and again, Zeus take on what we've been doing. And youth ministry and student ministry. He worked with and for me for an entire year in this sort of hybrid, infrastructure. So if you want to hear an honest take here from him.

00;12;53;00 - 00;13;18;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then we had a really special episode dropped this year, our 100th episode. And so for our 100th episode, I went all the way back to the beginning, even before this podcast started. And I talked about, when I started at church in Covid. And so I interviewed my current boss now and my boss then, Darren Sutton, his son, who is our video editor for much of what we did, for our digital online presence, for a show that we created on YouTube called unscripted.

00;13;18;10 - 00;13;44;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So his son Isaac was on the show. And then I also interviewed Sam Voss, good friend of mine and host of the unscripted show and podcast Super Fun Time. But hey, listen, this year, like, I'm wondering if, as you know, I'm recapping and recounting 2024 if as you got your eyes set on 2025, what are you doing to have a more hybrid, more digital, more creative youth ministry?

00;13;44;03 - 00;14;14;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Because as my friend and boss Darren says, digital is no longer a luxury. It is now a necessity. And so that's what we're trying to accomplish again over on our Patreon page. If that's something that you're interested in, where I will talk about what we're doing on a week to week basis in our youth ministry over on Patreon, I would love to have you just come check out, listen in on what we're doing, and hopefully maybe just that $4 a month is an investment, enough to help kickstart and spur on your own creativity.

00;14;14;16 - 00;14;38;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We love to have you join us over there. It's super fun. Community. There's all sorts of perks as well. But hey, thank you so much for sticking around for this entire episode. And as promised, at the very top right here, we have an amazing, recap overlay. I went back through every single episode, and I pulled out some of my favorite snippets and clips from the last year.

00;14;38;16 - 00;15;00;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So enjoy this. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid. Okay, so there are like three kind of core tenets philosophical things that you guys need to understand when it comes to time management. These aren't tips. These aren't tactics. These are things that you have to understand first. And these have to inform the tips and the tactics.

00;15;00;10 - 00;15;24;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Know my tips. No amount of tactics will be helpful to you if you don't understand these things. So core tenet number one is that you are 100% responsible for your time. The reason this matters is because this is the difference between is that kid and kid in ministry or is that kid and youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z.

00;15;24;19 - 00;15;47;01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have, is going to be freshmen and sophomores in high school. And now after that, they're waiting on up there in college already, and they are entering the workforce. What should you be? Gen one, number one, start posting longform to YouTube, get a DUI gym membership.

00;15;47;03 - 00;16;14;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it looks very different in 2024 and frankly, beyond because of generation Z and now Generation Alpha saving up Z into the adult ministry, conversation Alpha into the youth ministry conversation, it makes me wonder if the future is already here. I think it might be Megan and all her friends, and she brought a lot of her friends to youth group, so this, like kind of mattered because, like, she could bring two, 3 or 4 different friends with her.

00;16;14;00 - 00;16;35;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The youth group, they had show choir and it met every single Wednesday night. And so that made Wednesday nights a really tricky night to do youth ministry. But Brandon, the only other boy in the youth ministry, had Tuesday night and Thursday night karate. And then of course, Friday nights are like the football game. Like for most towns USA.

00;16;35;23 - 00;16;58;18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's when the high school team is playing his football game. So that really left us with Monday night as an option, which but the pro of, of Wednesday night to me is probably the your most traditional youth night. It's been what, a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas-Fort worth area, a lot of churches do.

00;16;58;18 - 00;17;22;13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Wednesday night, and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night. And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right. But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy. Well. Hey, everyone, welcome to Friday Game Day. In this episode, link down below 100% completely for free. I have for you back to school.

00;17;22;15 - 00;18;04;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Bingo. And if you're like, I don't need back to school bingo, it's not back to school yet. Well, then head on over to download Youth ministry.com and you can grab my end of the school year. Bingo! Well, that idea of course, is go hybrid. And listen, I'm not saying to completely abandon your in-person meetings. In fact, that would go completely against the hybrid strategy because hybrid is melding together of your digital presence in your in-person presence and making it one in the same, but linked right here on screen and down in the description or wherever you're getting this or hybrid ministry X, y, Z/089 is my 100% completely free strategy guide, is my e-book on

00;18;04;03 - 00;18;32;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
how I build out a full fledged digital strategy. It's mostly focusing on a done for you social media strategy, but it's anchored by the, long form teaching video, which takes place and is posted weekly every time we teach pre filmed messages on YouTube direct to Camera Pro. Number one, of course, is like develop mentally splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate.

00;18;32;09 - 00;19;07;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In my over a year journey on this podcast, I have grown to love YouTube. When I started with social media and what I started trying to reach students on the internet, YouTube was a distant kind of far strategy that was on my radar. Like it was like, I'll post some videos over there. But in my time since that, which was probably five, six, seven years ago, I have come to love YouTube and I am more and more convinced that YouTube, in addition to all other digital and social mediums that we can effectively reach students with.

00;19;07;19 - 00;19;30;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But YouTube is one of the best resources out there. You can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my Student Ministries YouTube channel, we post two links. The first link is a Next Steps digital type Connect card, and I think about your own viewing habits on social media.

00;19;30;04 - 00;19;55;08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
When you're on there, you're not necessarily on there to just, be informed, right? Link down below is a complete log of every single piece of gear that I have built in the studio.

Isaac Sutton
All of the students in the room who are watching unscripted have bingo cards that coordinated to stuff that know yes, digital integration is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

00;19;55;10 - 00;20;19;09
Sam Vos
It was probably I probably felt God's hand more in like my career, my life in that moment than a lot of other moments.

Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Unscripted played a really major role in like the catalyst to especially my podcast and everything like that. I would say the reason for that is simply realizing and understand that students live online.

Darren Sutton
There's a lot I've messed up in my years of youth ministry, but that is one thing that I'm really proud of.

00;20;19;13 - 00;20;30;14
Darren Sutton
Like in the middle of the pandemic, there was not a blank ministry kept going. We're going to try something different.

00;20;30;17 - 00;20;53;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you should use your cell phone to your advantage.

Caleb "Flywheel" Maeda
I think. I think the things that have been working the most has been getting students involved on the page, not even in terms of like on the page traction as much as like in-person traction.

David Carpenter
We speak to our students on Wednesday nights for about 18 to 22 minutes. Sunday morning there's a, you know, 28 to 32 minutes.

00;20;53;14 - 00;21;24;18
David Carpenter
And we think they probably remember everything we said, right? Like they they wrote the notes, they've got it and they've already applied every one of these points. You know, it was alliterative. And remember my great illustration. And one, you know, when when we're including things that are reflecting on the teachings, I think that reinforces and reminds those who were in the room.

Nate Clason
and seeing you, like, super passionate about it and watching your podcast really, honestly like, and your different videos and clips on like TikTok and stuff to sign it

Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
every single time you had to type in the password.

00;21;24;19 - 00;21;47;00
Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
It was a great and I, I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our I like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running and then it crashed and then they had to reopen it. And they're like, from the booth they yell out, what's the password? And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone.

00;21;47;00 - 00;22;09;14
Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, we need to not be afraid of what our students want, and we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion. And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us.

00;22;09;14 - 00;22;36;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Better event promotion as well as a holistic digital and social media approach for your church and your youth ministry. And this is actually part two. Part one is linked right here at the top of the screen over on another channel, because we're doing a massive mashup collab. And I am joined today by my friend Eric with the K petition, because in just a minute, we're gonna look at the Bark vs Aura

00;22;36;20 - 00;23;01;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But Aura has parental controls and they are now in partnership with circle. You might remember Circle by Disney, the first video idea that we do it's called Drafts challenge idea number two that we do in our church and in our student ministry is a game called name of the game is seven Questions. A man on the street named transition stab video is where it starts with the video of something else.

00;23;01;20 - 00;23;22;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the most popular one I can think about is like a a bull, ramming a guy during the running of the bulls. And then all these people cutting right there to jumping into the back of some chairs and millennial churchgoers said this. They said hybrid church just as much as physical church will be a get this good fit for them.

00;23;22;26 - 00;23;44;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
One of the things about five minute countdowns that I actually hate, and I know that as talking to a guy who works for Download Youth Ministry, and that's where a lot of the money is made and a lot of five minute countdowns are sold. I actually prefer, which, by the way, talking to you right now, let this be an unofficial sidekick feature request.

00;23;44;24 - 00;24;11;13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Yeah. Because right now in sidekick, you can, you can loop your announcements, right? You can loop some, like, graphic slides. And I actually prefer that to be the five minute countdown with just the five minute countdown overlaid in the corner, so that all of the announcements that you're announcing and trying to let your students know about are happening, is being seen on the screen.

00;24;11;18 - 00;24;37;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then the very last piece of it, my favorite piece of it, the piece that I think makes it hybrid, is right. When you open the box, you see this QR code here and it just says welcome video. Scan me. And so we'll have students who are new to the open this up theoretically on their porch, on their patio or wherever they will scan it, and then it will take them to a video right here will be launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd.

00;24;37;09 - 00;25;00;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
A brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week. Going to be over on my Patreon page, but a student give them an opportunity to to be a part of this. Give them a seat at the table to let them know that that this church is about the next generation and that matters. Again, it's no longer the day where we can just hand this off to to an unpaid intern.

00;25;00;24 - 00;25;11;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Hope that they keep our social media on life support. Like get after it. My friends, 2025 is going to be your year. We are here in the Hybrid Ministry show to help.

]]> 🎧 Become a “Hybrid Hero”
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

✅Let me Run Your Church Social Media
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

DESCRIPTION
Join us as we celebrate YOU in the "Year in Review for 2024" of the Hybrid Ministry show.
We'll celebrate some statistics, give some shout outs and share the "best of" clips from the 2024 Hybrid Ministry Show.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/130

//BONUS Pod!
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

//Custom Coaching
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//GIFlashback Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EVHcraeNlC8&list=PLngXlSr64YaIui8LNpnlUI3yFAm9SGrLy&index=5&t=24s

//9 Best DYM Games
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

//No Prep Games
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=melm8BS97es&list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg&index=6&t=164s

//Youth Ministry Planning
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI&list=PLngXlSr64YaKjRX2ytO0tvzo8VnF6X03t&index=2&t=202s

//YouTube for Youth Ministry
https://youtu.be/ucvXfaVRJ6E?si=aNYGzB08DV6HHD3G

//Interview Series
https://youtu.be/D4vE7_ZqBpE?si=Hdk5X2KRn_SGr6HM

//Hybrid Tools
https://youtu.be/0np1d4Trcn0?si=7OkkCVCmY8Kvx6ha

//Meet Gen Alpha
https://youtu.be/DWYvsn2Kglk?si=FrnlS3C1xDHITyDb

//Social Challenge Framework
https://youtu.be/K_9Ch2KVNH0?si=THozXMi9NqzxJeUt

//Sidekick
https://youtu.be/lXI3ZKSvFY0?si=O-Em7X00hV9waXBE

//Sidekick + ProPresenter Setup
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//Interview with Nate Clason
https://youtu.be/uplCz1S1nz4?si=sne7LvdGvAgrKU72

//DYM Blog Post
https://blog.downloadyouthministry.com/introducing-hybrid-ministry-with-nick-clason/

⌚TIMECODES
00:00 Welcome to 2025!
00:40 Some Stats & Wins
08:47 Personal Reflections
11:21 Thank You to our Amazing Guests!
14:45 Year in Review

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;36;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What a year it has been. From the incredible wins to the unforgettable moments, we have covered so much ground together. And in this special Year in Review episode, we on the Hybrid Ministry show, we are celebrating you, our amazing community with highlights and stats and the best of the hybrid minstrel show here in 2024. Make sure that you stick around because I've actually distilled a highlight reel of the 2024 Hybrid Mr. Podcast Best Moments.

00;00;36;14 - 00;01;08;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This just might be your favorite episode yet. Welcome back, everybody to the Hybrid Minister Show. I as always, I'm your host, Nick Claassen. And today we're going to be taking a little bit of a trip down memory lane to celebrate the amazing year and this incredible journey that you and I have been on together. As we always have on this podcast, we're going to be exploring the cutting edge ministry ideas and equip you with the tools to dominate the digital space in 2025.

00;01;08;04 - 00;01;35;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's been a ride in 2024, and 2025 is only going to get better. And it is all thank you to you. You know, in 2024, we released a total of 52 audio podcast episodes because we release one every single Thursday. If you haven't liked or subscribed yet, wherever you listen to your podcast, it's free and it will show up in your podcast.

00;01;35;14 - 00;02;13;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Catcher. Every single Thursday. Why? Because youth ministry often happens for most youth ministries across the country on Wednesday, so who doesn't need a little jolt of energy to get the to get them through the rest of their week on Thursdays? But 52 episodes released because we have not missed a single Thursday in the two and a half or so plus years that we've been doing this podcast, I just want to share with you some some highlights of the top performing video over this last year was a video that I titled top five Last Minute Game Ideas.

00;02;13;17 - 00;02;36;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you're watching here on YouTube, you can see some of the clips being overlaid with B-roll. We also over this year we've had nine different playlists that we've worked through. And so in each of those playlists, there's a obviously a top performing video in each of those playlists. And so our very first playlist we had was the 2024 On Demand masterclass.

00;02;36;22 - 00;02;56;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And in that video, the five No Prep games was a part of the masterclass. And that video had to, 361 views. And so that was not only the number one video for the year, but obviously the number one in the masterclass playlist. We also dropped a bonus you might not notice we dropped a bonus playlist called the Friday Game Day Series.

00;02;56;28 - 00;03;28;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It released every Friday on YouTube, and, we covered nine of my favorite DRM games that I use. And so actually, if you had any of those or linked down below in this episode nine of my all time favorite do swim games, I'm giving them away to you completely for free. They are games that are on the, they're on the, they're on the website, the download Youth Ministry website, but I'm giving them away to you in this episode, 100% completely for free.

00;03;28;06 - 00;03;49;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the best performing video in that playlist was the GIF flashback episode. We also went through a playlist titled some of the Youth Pastor's Biggest Problems, and the number one episode in that was youth Ministry planning weekend services versus mid week programing. And actually in that episode we ranked youth ministry curriculum. Spoiler it's clear you should try it.

00;03;49;29 - 00;04;12;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In fact, if you haven't yet, hit the link down below. Sidekick.tv/pricing if you've never signed up for anything with Diam or Calendar, use the code Hybrid Ministry ten. All one word for get 10% off your first order. We went through the YouTube for Youth Ministry Play lesson playlist in the best performing video, and that playlist was the flagship title episode YouTube for Youth Ministry.

00;04;12;22 - 00;04;33;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I then took you through some of the hybrid ministry tools and gear that you needed and the the best episode, and that the highest performing episode was the best gear for Digital Ministry in 2024. Must have tech accessories. Then over the summer, we went through an interview series and that episode, the one that was best in that playlist, was the solution to distractions.

00;04;33;07 - 00;04;56;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
At youth group, where I interviewed my good friend Josh Baldwin from Download Youth Ministry sidekick and co-leader. Then we went through Meat Generation Alpha, and in that playlist, the Ora and Bach versus Covenant Eyes. An honest youth pastor review was the highest performing video in that playlist. Finally, I went to my Social Challenge framework, which is the four things that I'm creating content with students and for students.

00;04;56;24 - 00;05;17;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I can't tell you, I think that might be my most popular playlist to date cumulatively, and just word of mouth and things I've heard from youth pastors on the street. So thank you so much for that feedback. But the best episode and that one was the third one, how churches can use social media ideas and examples. And finally, the sidekick more engaging youth ministry.

00;05;17;16 - 00;05;39;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Again, the best episode on that one was the live sidekick demo at the day of recording. And again, don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you're interested in sidekick or link down below for how we are using to computers to run Sidekick and Pro Presenter seamlessly. To switch between the two, grab that black magic video switcher, it will make your life so much easier.

00;05;39;10 - 00;06;05;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now listen on YouTube. In total, we had 84,569 views, including our shorts content with 522 hours of watch time and 151 new subscribers. And in the youth ministry space is a fantastic number and I'm so thrilled, with those stats and with those numbers, simply because here I am in my guest bedroom late at night, recording a podcast into the back of my cell phone.

00;06;05;23 - 00;06;26;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, I have a real job, and I'm just doing this on the side with my own. Sort of like, equipment at home. And so thank you so much for your support. You might also not know this, but we have an audio only podcast. It drops anywhere you get your podcasts, including Spotify or Apple Music, not Apple Music, Apple Podcasts.

00;06;26;12 - 00;06;51;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we had almost 5000 downloads. Our biggest month was by far August, with almost nearly 1000 downloads in that month alone. And the number one downloaded audio podcast was my interview with my brother himself. The, YouTube video is linked down below in the show notes. But here's my interview with my brother, Nate Clayson. We talked about social media and how he's doing it in his context and in his youth ministry.

00;06;51;11 - 00;07;13;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So shout out to all of you again, thank you for an amazing year. Thank you for cruising through the stats with me. But what I wanted to do now is I wanted to share some of the best comments that we've gotten so far this year, and so far today. So from Jesse Johnson, first of all, he disagreed with my take on coffee and saying that Duncan was terrible, which I'll give him that it's not great.

00;07;13;00 - 00;07;30;01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's a chain. But if I have to choose between that and Starbucks, that's what I'm stuck with. That's what I'm going to choose. But he said he said using polls in the welcome loop in sidekick is so easy, I can't believe I didn't think of it. Excited to try that one out. Claire said this in our best parenting app podcast.

00;07;30;01 - 00;07;49;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We use bark and it has been so wonderful for our family. We have an 11 year old, and it has been a lifesaver. We can monitor everything that she does online, block her from seeing certain websites, track her locations, etc. recently, she disabled the app because her and my husband, we both get notifications, so we went to our daughter immediately.

00;07;49;05 - 00;08;06;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It turns out she had disabled it because she wanted to watch South Park and Family Guy, as well as some other PG 13 movies. She said nope. Luckily, my husband and I got there before she could see anything inappropriate. We're grateful for bark to bark, for protecting our little girl from online dangers, and protecting her from innocence and inappropriate content.

00;08;06;29 - 00;08;26;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We love bark. Paul Turner said this about our, why youth ministry. Follow up isn't working. He said, this is great stuff. Lots of idea. I went and bought it. Talking about the box that I sold. I'll be sharing this with my newsletter. If you ever want to collab, let me know. Keep up the great work! And finally, a frequent guest here on this podcast.

00;08;26;05 - 00;08;59;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Over a year ago we did a Christmas episode together. He was also on one of my interview series over the summer, Eric with the K Williams. He said this is great. Anyone starting out needs to watch this and he's talking about my church social media from scratch episode in the hybrid ministry tools. Man, what an amazing year. But if I'm looking back and if I'm taking on some of my reflections and kind of key moments, I'd have to say it's two individuals, a guy by the name of Tim Kelly and Kendall Eaton, both, by the way, who happen to live in the state of Indiana.

00;08;59;05 - 00;09;21;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I don't think that the collab done this, but both of them at two different times. Tim actually reached out to me for some custom coaching this year, and that was a super fun and super, just a honestly rewarding process to walk through. And it showed me the value of custom coaching, because what I would have recommended to you in my guest bedroom and to the back of my cell phone camera was a little bit different.

00;09;21;14 - 00;09;38;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Once I started talking to Tim, which is why I believe custom coaching is valuable for anyone who's interested it. Link down below if you want to inquire about what that looks like. It is a very modest and a very cheap price for custom coaching. Or if you don't want like the one on one zoom type interaction and consider joining our Patreon page.

00;09;38;21 - 00;09;55;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's a dollar per week for a bonus episode, $4 per month, and I'll just share, stream of consciousness ideas. And you might not need the actual, like, coaching to do this, to do this, but you'll get to glean ideas. And then I was at the I 100 conference, a month ago or so, and Kendall walked up to me.

00;09;55;04 - 00;10;20;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
He said, man, thank you so much for your podcast is really helpful. It's really beneficial. I shared your playlist, your ideas with some of our social media people and is incredibly, incredibly helpful. And so it's just really rewarding for me to be able to do this and just put this content out into the world, out into the ether and get feedback from real, live human beings and real life people who've come to me, in different instances, in different cases.

00;10;20;02 - 00;10;39;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Tim, all virtually Kendall in person to say, man, thank you for what you're doing. It really is helpful to me to hear that. And so if if you know you have feedback or anything like that, I would obviously and always welcome that. Lines and channels of communication are completely open. You know, here on this podcast we have a couple of really cool benchmarks.

00;10;40;12 - 00;10;56;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Just in the month of December, we launched a Patreon page, are selling a couple of products over there, as well as that monthly podcast that I'm talking about. And so that's a pretty fun kind of benchmark kind of new thing for us. And new endeavor. Would love to have you, check that out if that's something you're interested in.

00;10;56;27 - 00;11;19;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then also, back in August, I got the opportunity to start posting these podcasts to the Download a Youth Ministry blog. So if you're interested in that, you can go blog that download Youth ministry.com to check that out. And the link down below introduces my very first, post on there, actually, Josh Bowman, he introduced me and then I now am an author there on the doing blog.

00;11;19;06 - 00;11;48;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So that's something that's really, really exciting. But speaking of Josh Bullman, as well as many of our other guests, I would like to thank my different guests that I had on this year. So Josh Boardman, of course, from down the youth ministry, we actually had him on twice. We talked once about sidekick and solutions to distractions and youth ministry and harnessing sidekick and utilizing and using cell phones, to not be a distraction, but instead to be something that you can use to help promote creativity and involvement engagement.

00;11;48;07 - 00;12;13;09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But then one episode, my all time, my favorite episode this entire year was there. Him and I sat down and he brought a service, a mock service order sheet that he put on, and then he said, hey, how can you hybridize this? How can you, make this, accessible to the people sitting online streaming at home? Man, both those episodes go to either one of them now, but that was one of my all time favorite episodes.

00;12;13;11 - 00;12;31;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I had, Eric with a K on when we talked about better event for promotion, and that was actually a collaborative episode. So the first part of that interview was on his channel, Practical Youth Ministry Tips, and the second part was over here on my channel. And so if you only listen to on my channel, you only heard really half of that conversation.

00;12;31;24 - 00;12;53;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Of course, I mentioned earlier, my brother, we had David Carpenter, youth pastor from Kentucky, my former resident, Caleb Fly mule, fly wheel, Miata, and again, Zeus take on what we've been doing. And youth ministry and student ministry. He worked with and for me for an entire year in this sort of hybrid, infrastructure. So if you want to hear an honest take here from him.

00;12;53;00 - 00;13;18;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then we had a really special episode dropped this year, our 100th episode. And so for our 100th episode, I went all the way back to the beginning, even before this podcast started. And I talked about, when I started at church in Covid. And so I interviewed my current boss now and my boss then, Darren Sutton, his son, who is our video editor for much of what we did, for our digital online presence, for a show that we created on YouTube called unscripted.

00;13;18;10 - 00;13;44;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So his son Isaac was on the show. And then I also interviewed Sam Voss, good friend of mine and host of the unscripted show and podcast Super Fun Time. But hey, listen, this year, like, I'm wondering if, as you know, I'm recapping and recounting 2024 if as you got your eyes set on 2025, what are you doing to have a more hybrid, more digital, more creative youth ministry?

00;13;44;03 - 00;14;14;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Because as my friend and boss Darren says, digital is no longer a luxury. It is now a necessity. And so that's what we're trying to accomplish again over on our Patreon page. If that's something that you're interested in, where I will talk about what we're doing on a week to week basis in our youth ministry over on Patreon, I would love to have you just come check out, listen in on what we're doing, and hopefully maybe just that $4 a month is an investment, enough to help kickstart and spur on your own creativity.

00;14;14;16 - 00;14;38;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We love to have you join us over there. It's super fun. Community. There's all sorts of perks as well. But hey, thank you so much for sticking around for this entire episode. And as promised, at the very top right here, we have an amazing, recap overlay. I went back through every single episode, and I pulled out some of my favorite snippets and clips from the last year.

00;14;38;16 - 00;15;00;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So enjoy this. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid. Okay, so there are like three kind of core tenets philosophical things that you guys need to understand when it comes to time management. These aren't tips. These aren't tactics. These are things that you have to understand first. And these have to inform the tips and the tactics.

00;15;00;10 - 00;15;24;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Know my tips. No amount of tactics will be helpful to you if you don't understand these things. So core tenet number one is that you are 100% responsible for your time. The reason this matters is because this is the difference between is that kid and kid in ministry or is that kid and youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z.

00;15;24;19 - 00;15;47;01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have, is going to be freshmen and sophomores in high school. And now after that, they're waiting on up there in college already, and they are entering the workforce. What should you be? Gen one, number one, start posting longform to YouTube, get a DUI gym membership.

00;15;47;03 - 00;16;14;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it looks very different in 2024 and frankly, beyond because of generation Z and now Generation Alpha saving up Z into the adult ministry, conversation Alpha into the youth ministry conversation, it makes me wonder if the future is already here. I think it might be Megan and all her friends, and she brought a lot of her friends to youth group, so this, like kind of mattered because, like, she could bring two, 3 or 4 different friends with her.

00;16;14;00 - 00;16;35;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The youth group, they had show choir and it met every single Wednesday night. And so that made Wednesday nights a really tricky night to do youth ministry. But Brandon, the only other boy in the youth ministry, had Tuesday night and Thursday night karate. And then of course, Friday nights are like the football game. Like for most towns USA.

00;16;35;23 - 00;16;58;18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's when the high school team is playing his football game. So that really left us with Monday night as an option, which but the pro of, of Wednesday night to me is probably the your most traditional youth night. It's been what, a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas-Fort worth area, a lot of churches do.

00;16;58;18 - 00;17;22;13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Wednesday night, and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night. And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right. But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy. Well. Hey, everyone, welcome to Friday Game Day. In this episode, link down below 100% completely for free. I have for you back to school.

00;17;22;15 - 00;18;04;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Bingo. And if you're like, I don't need back to school bingo, it's not back to school yet. Well, then head on over to download Youth ministry.com and you can grab my end of the school year. Bingo! Well, that idea of course, is go hybrid. And listen, I'm not saying to completely abandon your in-person meetings. In fact, that would go completely against the hybrid strategy because hybrid is melding together of your digital presence in your in-person presence and making it one in the same, but linked right here on screen and down in the description or wherever you're getting this or hybrid ministry X, y, Z/089 is my 100% completely free strategy guide, is my e-book on

00;18;04;03 - 00;18;32;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
how I build out a full fledged digital strategy. It's mostly focusing on a done for you social media strategy, but it's anchored by the, long form teaching video, which takes place and is posted weekly every time we teach pre filmed messages on YouTube direct to Camera Pro. Number one, of course, is like develop mentally splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate.

00;18;32;09 - 00;19;07;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In my over a year journey on this podcast, I have grown to love YouTube. When I started with social media and what I started trying to reach students on the internet, YouTube was a distant kind of far strategy that was on my radar. Like it was like, I'll post some videos over there. But in my time since that, which was probably five, six, seven years ago, I have come to love YouTube and I am more and more convinced that YouTube, in addition to all other digital and social mediums that we can effectively reach students with.

00;19;07;19 - 00;19;30;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But YouTube is one of the best resources out there. You can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my Student Ministries YouTube channel, we post two links. The first link is a Next Steps digital type Connect card, and I think about your own viewing habits on social media.

00;19;30;04 - 00;19;55;08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
When you're on there, you're not necessarily on there to just, be informed, right? Link down below is a complete log of every single piece of gear that I have built in the studio.

Isaac Sutton
All of the students in the room who are watching unscripted have bingo cards that coordinated to stuff that know yes, digital integration is not a luxury, it's a necessity.

00;19;55;10 - 00;20;19;09
Sam Vos
It was probably I probably felt God's hand more in like my career, my life in that moment than a lot of other moments.

Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Unscripted played a really major role in like the catalyst to especially my podcast and everything like that. I would say the reason for that is simply realizing and understand that students live online.

Darren Sutton
There's a lot I've messed up in my years of youth ministry, but that is one thing that I'm really proud of.

00;20;19;13 - 00;20;30;14
Darren Sutton
Like in the middle of the pandemic, there was not a blank ministry kept going. We're going to try something different.

00;20;30;17 - 00;20;53;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you should use your cell phone to your advantage.

Caleb "Flywheel" Maeda
I think. I think the things that have been working the most has been getting students involved on the page, not even in terms of like on the page traction as much as like in-person traction.

David Carpenter
We speak to our students on Wednesday nights for about 18 to 22 minutes. Sunday morning there's a, you know, 28 to 32 minutes.

00;20;53;14 - 00;21;24;18
David Carpenter
And we think they probably remember everything we said, right? Like they they wrote the notes, they've got it and they've already applied every one of these points. You know, it was alliterative. And remember my great illustration. And one, you know, when when we're including things that are reflecting on the teachings, I think that reinforces and reminds those who were in the room.

Nate Clason
and seeing you, like, super passionate about it and watching your podcast really, honestly like, and your different videos and clips on like TikTok and stuff to sign it

Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
every single time you had to type in the password.

00;21;24;19 - 00;21;47;00
Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
It was a great and I, I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our I like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running and then it crashed and then they had to reopen it. And they're like, from the booth they yell out, what's the password? And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone.

00;21;47;00 - 00;22;09;14
Josh Boldman | Download Youth Ministry & The Greatest programming specialist in America
And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, we need to not be afraid of what our students want, and we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion. And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us.

00;22;09;14 - 00;22;36;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Better event promotion as well as a holistic digital and social media approach for your church and your youth ministry. And this is actually part two. Part one is linked right here at the top of the screen over on another channel, because we're doing a massive mashup collab. And I am joined today by my friend Eric with the K petition, because in just a minute, we're gonna look at the Bark vs Aura

00;22;36;20 - 00;23;01;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But Aura has parental controls and they are now in partnership with circle. You might remember Circle by Disney, the first video idea that we do it's called Drafts challenge idea number two that we do in our church and in our student ministry is a game called name of the game is seven Questions. A man on the street named transition stab video is where it starts with the video of something else.

00;23;01;20 - 00;23;22;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the most popular one I can think about is like a a bull, ramming a guy during the running of the bulls. And then all these people cutting right there to jumping into the back of some chairs and millennial churchgoers said this. They said hybrid church just as much as physical church will be a get this good fit for them.

00;23;22;26 - 00;23;44;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
One of the things about five minute countdowns that I actually hate, and I know that as talking to a guy who works for Download Youth Ministry, and that's where a lot of the money is made and a lot of five minute countdowns are sold. I actually prefer, which, by the way, talking to you right now, let this be an unofficial sidekick feature request.

00;23;44;24 - 00;24;11;13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Yeah. Because right now in sidekick, you can, you can loop your announcements, right? You can loop some, like, graphic slides. And I actually prefer that to be the five minute countdown with just the five minute countdown overlaid in the corner, so that all of the announcements that you're announcing and trying to let your students know about are happening, is being seen on the screen.

00;24;11;18 - 00;24;37;06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then the very last piece of it, my favorite piece of it, the piece that I think makes it hybrid, is right. When you open the box, you see this QR code here and it just says welcome video. Scan me. And so we'll have students who are new to the open this up theoretically on their porch, on their patio or wherever they will scan it, and then it will take them to a video right here will be launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd.

00;24;37;09 - 00;25;00;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
A brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week. Going to be over on my Patreon page, but a student give them an opportunity to to be a part of this. Give them a seat at the table to let them know that that this church is about the next generation and that matters. Again, it's no longer the day where we can just hand this off to to an unpaid intern.

00;25;00;24 - 00;25;11;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Hope that they keep our social media on life support. Like get after it. My friends, 2025 is going to be your year. We are here in the Hybrid Ministry show to help.

]]> Episode 127: More than a Random Name Generator https://www.hybridministry.xyz/127 d3cbd103-9219-46ef-bfee-603836a855ef Thu, 12 Dec 2024 04:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 127 More than a Random Name Generator full Nick Clason In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using the Random Name Generator from Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry programming! 13:30 no 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry 🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup DESCRIPTION In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using the Random Name Generator from Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry programming! 📓 SHOWNOTES http://www.hybridministry.xyz/127 //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup //COLEADER PRICING CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10 https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing //[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book //CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching //CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU! https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 The Most Personal Element of Sidekick to Date 01:34 #1 Creative Name Generator Idea 04:27 Operating "Pick Me" 06:04 #2 Creative Name Generator Idea 07:28 #3 Creative Name Generator Idea 08:19 Different Sound Effect Options 10:09 #4 Creative Name Generator Idea 11:26 #5 Creative Name Generator Idea -------------- 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:11:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry As we've been exploring more engaging sermons through your presentations and specifically your presentation software, we're talking about sidekick in the play, this link right 00:00:11:26 - 00:00:16:59 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry here. And this is the fourth and final video, but this feature is the feature that when I saw this 00:00:16:59 - 00:00:23:59 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry feature rolled out at the Orange Conference and I believe it was 2016 when they 00:00:23:59 - 00:00:28:47 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry showed it to me, I instantly said, and then sign me up. 00:00:28:51 - 00:00:50:23 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry What does it take? How much does it cost? Actually, I don't care. It doesn't matter. This is what I want. And this is the feature that sidekick still has rolled out to this day, in my personal opinion. It is my necklaces favorite feature, and it is one that I believe that you can and you should be using in your presentations. 00:00:50:28 - 00:01:07:23 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Whether you're a youth pastor, whether you're a college minister, whether you're an adult pastor, or whether, frankly, you're a senior pastor, it is the random name picker and random name generator. And in this video and in this episode, I want to share five of my favorite ways 00:01:07:23 - 00:01:11:46 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry to creatively use the name picker. I'm going to drill deep down 00:01:11:46 - 00:01:16:51 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry into all of the features of how you can use it and utilize it, and what it has to offer. 00:01:16:57 - 00:01:24:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So if you're watching here on YouTube, you're going to see a live demo and a live tutorial and a screen share of it. And don't forget, as always, there 00:01:24:01 - 00:01:35:31 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry are chapters down below at the bottom of this video so that you can skip around to the ones that make the most sense to you. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show. 00:01:35:36 - 00:01:47:54 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So way. Number one, that I love to use the random name generator because as you know, when you're at church, you don't know which of your youth group kids are going to show up on any given week. And 00:01:47:54 - 00:02:04:52 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry so one of my favorite ways to use it is in our retreats or in our camps or within things that, that have a registration component to it, because, you know, every kid you're taking to camp, you should and you should definitely know that number because you better return with that many kids. 00:02:04:53 - 00:02:20:39 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Give me a like if you've ever worried that you lost a kid, a youth camp, and, either way, one of the things I like to do is when we have a big event and listen, what I'm about to explain is one of the things I'm going to start doing on my Patreon show. By the way, if you didn't know, we're launching a Patreon show. 00:02:20:39 - 00:02:45:03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry If you're watching here on screen, you can see the slide. We are going to be offering bonus content, and that bonus content is going to drop once per week. And I'm very simply going to talk through all of the different ways that we are using and utilizing hybrid in our ministry, and I hope that as you sit in and as you listen, it helps you to get the creative juices going a little bit in your own brain and in your own ministry. 00:02:45:03 - 00:03:06:34 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And as you pursue hybrid, not because it's cool and not because digital and all that stuff is important, but really we're taking our in-person and our digital and we're putting it together, intersecting in most cases, at students cell phones, which gives us an opportunity to impact and influence them beyond the one hour of programing that we have scheduled per week. 00:03:06:34 - 00:03:26:52 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so that is what my Patreon is going to do, this bonus content. But when you have an event, if you have some sort of a check in system, which I know we do, I have our, church community builder, CBM, we have a, report that runs for anyone who's checked in within the last 24 hours. 00:03:26:57 - 00:03:29:54 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so what happens then is, basically 00:03:29:54 - 00:03:53:47 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry once an event has started, I can go into that report, I can download into an Excel sheet, so to speak, or like a dot CSV. I can know all the names of the students who are there. I don't have to guess about the kids who I think might be there, who I thought I saw, but I know for a fact they've checked in and then I can put their names into the random name generator, and then I can use that for raffle giveaways, prizes, and all sorts of things. 00:03:53:47 - 00:04:18:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so say that that spits out into an Excel sheet. You're looking here at an Excel sheet, and you can just highlight an entire cell. Copy. Copy that. Go over here to your name picker. Click edit. Click edit. Pick me. Go to your book editor Payson, and boom, just in case you also wanted their numbers as well. And so now we got all of the names in here. 00:04:18:32 - 00:04:42:00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And and then when I go ahead and I get ready to roll this thing, you'll notice. Let me get this full screen here. If you're watching, pretend this is your projector, you're going to drag that window over to your projector. And then you are going to click present and you're good to go. And so now here I am, I want to play and I want to run this pick me game. 00:04:42:00 - 00:05:07:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so, I'm going to turn it on to random. And we're going to get this thing rolling and I'm gonna see who's going to win. And it's Nikola to pitch the earbud. Believer himself. And so when you're running it right, you can do things like hide last item. So if I don't want to pitch to win, I can turn this on ahead of time so that it doesn't stop on him again, even though it did. 00:05:07:27 - 00:05:27:33 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But now he's gone and now I'm going to get a new winner. Jacob Jalen Williams himself. Right. Here's the beautiful thing. If you don't trust your tech person, you can do this from your phone. You can do this remotely from an iPad. Or you can do this remotely from even a whole different computer. And you don't even have to be on the same network as that computer. 00:05:27:37 - 00:05:28:42 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You're logged into sidekick 00:05:28:42 - 00:05:44:50 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry on your in your tech booth, and if you're logged in to sidekick from your phone or whatever device, you can run it from both. We are all in on sidekick in fact. Link down below if you want to see our setup of how we do it. To jump back and forth between pro presenter and sidekick, we haven't made the shift to be 00:05:44:50 - 00:05:47:41 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry all in with worship because that's a whole different department. 00:05:47:46 - 00:06:02:42 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I don't call the shots. If I did, we would be all in on sidekick, but since we're not, we have a video switcher. And if you want to be able to bounce back and forth between the two so that you can have the elements of purpose that you like, but all the interactive features of sidekick that you like, check that out down below. 00:06:02:42 - 00:06:29:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Now, idea number two, one that I really like is rather than names. We've actually done this before in this presentation, and I'm going to show you how to set it up. I did like a series or a message on labels. And so I actually, what I did was, I think I have it in here. I brought in, like, a label, like a hello, my name is type of label, and I just got it loaded. 00:06:29:40 - 00:06:56:34 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And very simply, when it was sitting there on screen and I was teaching, I used that teaching moment sort of as an opportunity to, to to cycle through and filter through some of the different types of labels that we face or that we think we face or that we see or that we feel or that we might even struggle with sometimes, as, you know, people, as teenagers, as followers of Jesus. 00:06:56:39 - 00:07:22:56 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so you don't have to just let this be like a random name picker thing. Like you can also use and utilize this as an opportunity, within your teaching, within your teaching components. And so as you see here on screen, I have the hello, my name is name Tag right here. And then they are just simply filtering through, different types of labels that you or that students might struggle with. 00:07:22:56 - 00:07:37:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And that's an opportunity then to go ahead and and use that as a part of your teaching point. Now my third favorite way to go ahead and use the random name generator is, to use a thing called a Volun told 00:07:37:08 - 00:07:50:43 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry generator. And we talked about this a little bit in the, we'll, video in the last video about how you can make a definitive or declarative statement, like the person with the tallest socks, that's only one person. 00:07:50:45 - 00:08:10:03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So the person with the tallest socks in your room, they come up in place. So if you don't have a set up or if you don't have check in, but you still want to use this kind of Volun told generator sort of thing, you can put generic statements about students, and then you can use that to get people to come on up as contestants for games and stuff like that. 00:08:10:08 - 00:08:29:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And again, it's just a great way to not have to do the who wants to play? And you're like, how did I pick that kid or not? Like the the random name generator is king and the random name generator decides. And what's cool, even in its customization, right, is that you can create different sound effects, right? So like, there is like a thumbs up sound effect. 00:08:29:16 - 00:08:48:58 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry There is a, kind of shrugging like middle of the road sound effect. And then there's like a party horn sound effect. So if you were playing this and you had the sort of like, like maybe a bad prize or something, you weren't so sure about that you didn't want, this is what the thumbs down sound effect sounds like. 00:08:49:02 - 00:09:06:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry That. But, yeah, it's a bummer. No, no one wants is smudging. Like, that's how Thunder fans kind of feel right now anyway. But then you go ahead and you're like that. This guy's kind of mid tier. We're not not really sure if we have an, opinion yet of him or not. Really sure if winning this thing in our youth ministry, we really have an opinion of it. 00:09:06:04 - 00:09:27:42 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Yet Dugas. Yeah, okay. Whatever. You know, but then, like, you win something great or like it's a grand prize or something that people really actually want. I mean, he's a front runner for MVP. Let's just be honest. He's outpacing Luke does is the Thunder are the number one seed in the West. And they are the juggernaut that everyone should be afraid of. 00:09:27:42 - 00:09:45:45 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And it's led by this guy. And so you should you should have that sound. Hey give me a like if you're a, Thunder fan and please don't unsubscribe if you, do you happen to be a mavericks fan? Because we are here trying to make this hybrid ministry thing. We're trying to make it helpful to you. In fact, right here on screen. 00:09:45:45 - 00:10:04:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you've never used you. I am. Or if you've never signed up for anything with do I am before for 10% off for a year of premium, Premium or Premium Plus? You can check out the pricing link down below. We also offer custom coaching. It's my free strategy guide. Go ahead and scan that QR code, check out our Patreon. 00:10:04:02 - 00:10:25:49 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And hey, while you're here, go ahead and vote on which coffee shop is the best. My fourth idiom that I really like to do is kind of like the kind of like the the name tag one that I showed you a minute ago. So instead of it, I mean, like a teaching point, a lot of times I will create a welcome slide, right? 00:10:25:49 - 00:10:41:58 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And these slides, just like all the other ones, they're, they're highly adaptable. So you can put any slides you want. You can, add an image, you can make a color, you can add a video background from something from YouTube. Even so like we've used this video before in 00:10:41:58 - 00:10:48:42 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry previous videos here, even on this playlist. And so if you wanted it to be a video one, you could embed this YouTube video right here. 00:10:48:47 - 00:11:09:10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Or you could add one of these videos from a bank of other videos that you have used before using the past. But whatever the case might be, I'll do this where like, we have like, a leader lunch. And so people have volun, or have RSVP ahead of time. And so I will, put all of their names into the generator and I will say, leader, lunch welcome. 00:11:09:10 - 00:11:27:14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry With an arrow pointing to where their name is going to be here on People Picker and all the names are just filtering through. And then we may use that as a giveaway sort of feature in the, in the, you know, in the background or whatever, or not. We'll see. But those are sort of all just kind of different ways and different ideas that I like to use the name picker. 00:11:27:14 - 00:11:47:40 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then of course, number five, I'm going to share on my Patreon page. And don't forget, this is the last time that I'm going to do this. To those of you listening to the regular podcast or on YouTube, but I just, I, I'm so, so stoked and I'm so pumped about our Patreon because it is a dollar a week, $4 a month. 00:11:47:44 - 00:12:05:54 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I think it's less than the cost of a cup of coffee. But I want to get coffee with you. I want to sit down. I want to chat. Youth ministry. I want to chat. Creativity. I want to chat. How to make your programing more engaging? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha, they want a more custom and personalized approach. 00:12:05:54 - 00:12:33:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And I believe that sidekick not only in this beta version, but also in the future. Rolling out has the tools that it takes to do that. I'm challenging myself to use sidekick every single time we're in the room with our students, and I want to encourage you to try and lean into your creativity and do the same. And so I know when I hear a brainstorm that's helpful for me to just listen to someone else and then beg and borrow and steal and tweak and adapt and use different ideas. 00:12:33:14 - 00:12:56:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so that's why I want my Patreon to be is just a place for you guys to get that weekly sort of bonus content, along with, as you see here, on screen, exclusive merch and exclusive sticker for everyone who signs up before the month of December. December 2nd, they'll be yours. I'll mail it to you. You can help me choose some show and segment topics, and also some shout outs special for those over there on my Patreon page. 00:12:56:08 - 00:13:18:37 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But that number five idea that's over there going to be in this week's Patreon will drop on Monday of this week. So once again, my friends so excited that you here. Thank you for diving in deep with sidekick. The next episode we are going to be hopping into all things Christmas, Christmas parties, holiday planning, and everything that you need to know to round out the year. 00:13:18:37 - 00:13:29:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Amazingly, in your ministry. Finish strong. The Lord is equipped you for what he has you doing. But don't forget and as always my friends, to stay hybrid. download youth ministry, sidekick, youth ministry, hybrid ministry, youth pastor podcast, student ministry, youth ministry programming, name picker, wheel, Random Generator, Live voting, Youth ministry creativity, Creative Programming, ProPresenter, Youth Group, Youth Group Phones, How to handle phones in youth ministry, phones are so distracting in youth ministry, Nick Clason, Josh Boldman, Spinning Wheel 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
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DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using the Random Name Generator from Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry programming!

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/127

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//COLEADER PRICING
CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10
https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing

//[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
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We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
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🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
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//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 The Most Personal Element of Sidekick to Date
01:34 #1 Creative Name Generator Idea
04:27 Operating "Pick Me"
06:04 #2 Creative Name Generator Idea
07:28 #3 Creative Name Generator Idea
08:19 Different Sound Effect Options
10:09 #4 Creative Name Generator Idea
11:26 #5 Creative Name Generator Idea

--------------

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:11:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
As we've been exploring more engaging sermons through your presentations and specifically your presentation software, we're talking about sidekick in the play, this link right

00:00:11:26 - 00:00:16:59
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
here. And this is the fourth and final video, but this feature is the feature that when I saw this

00:00:16:59 - 00:00:23:59
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
feature rolled out at the Orange Conference and I believe it was 2016 when they

00:00:23:59 - 00:00:28:47
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
showed it to me, I instantly said, and then sign me up.

00:00:28:51 - 00:00:50:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What does it take? How much does it cost? Actually, I don't care. It doesn't matter. This is what I want. And this is the feature that sidekick still has rolled out to this day, in my personal opinion. It is my necklaces favorite feature, and it is one that I believe that you can and you should be using in your presentations.

00:00:50:28 - 00:01:07:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Whether you're a youth pastor, whether you're a college minister, whether you're an adult pastor, or whether, frankly, you're a senior pastor, it is the random name picker and random name generator. And in this video and in this episode, I want to share five of my favorite ways

00:01:07:23 - 00:01:11:46
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
to creatively use the name picker. I'm going to drill deep down

00:01:11:46 - 00:01:16:51
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
into all of the features of how you can use it and utilize it, and what it has to offer.

00:01:16:57 - 00:01:24:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you're watching here on YouTube, you're going to see a live demo and a live tutorial and a screen share of it. And don't forget, as always, there

00:01:24:01 - 00:01:35:31
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
are chapters down below at the bottom of this video so that you can skip around to the ones that make the most sense to you. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:01:35:36 - 00:01:47:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So way. Number one, that I love to use the random name generator because as you know, when you're at church, you don't know which of your youth group kids are going to show up on any given week. And

00:01:47:54 - 00:02:04:52
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
so one of my favorite ways to use it is in our retreats or in our camps or within things that, that have a registration component to it, because, you know, every kid you're taking to camp, you should and you should definitely know that number because you better return with that many kids.

00:02:04:53 - 00:02:20:39
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Give me a like if you've ever worried that you lost a kid, a youth camp, and, either way, one of the things I like to do is when we have a big event and listen, what I'm about to explain is one of the things I'm going to start doing on my Patreon show. By the way, if you didn't know, we're launching a Patreon show.

00:02:20:39 - 00:02:45:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you're watching here on screen, you can see the slide. We are going to be offering bonus content, and that bonus content is going to drop once per week. And I'm very simply going to talk through all of the different ways that we are using and utilizing hybrid in our ministry, and I hope that as you sit in and as you listen, it helps you to get the creative juices going a little bit in your own brain and in your own ministry.

00:02:45:03 - 00:03:06:34
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And as you pursue hybrid, not because it's cool and not because digital and all that stuff is important, but really we're taking our in-person and our digital and we're putting it together, intersecting in most cases, at students cell phones, which gives us an opportunity to impact and influence them beyond the one hour of programing that we have scheduled per week.

00:03:06:34 - 00:03:26:52
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that is what my Patreon is going to do, this bonus content. But when you have an event, if you have some sort of a check in system, which I know we do, I have our, church community builder, CBM, we have a, report that runs for anyone who's checked in within the last 24 hours.

00:03:26:57 - 00:03:29:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so what happens then is, basically

00:03:29:54 - 00:03:53:47
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
once an event has started, I can go into that report, I can download into an Excel sheet, so to speak, or like a dot CSV. I can know all the names of the students who are there. I don't have to guess about the kids who I think might be there, who I thought I saw, but I know for a fact they've checked in and then I can put their names into the random name generator, and then I can use that for raffle giveaways, prizes, and all sorts of things.

00:03:53:47 - 00:04:18:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so say that that spits out into an Excel sheet. You're looking here at an Excel sheet, and you can just highlight an entire cell. Copy. Copy that. Go over here to your name picker. Click edit. Click edit. Pick me. Go to your book editor Payson, and boom, just in case you also wanted their numbers as well. And so now we got all of the names in here.

00:04:18:32 - 00:04:42:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And and then when I go ahead and I get ready to roll this thing, you'll notice. Let me get this full screen here. If you're watching, pretend this is your projector, you're going to drag that window over to your projector. And then you are going to click present and you're good to go. And so now here I am, I want to play and I want to run this pick me game.

00:04:42:00 - 00:05:07:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, I'm going to turn it on to random. And we're going to get this thing rolling and I'm gonna see who's going to win. And it's Nikola to pitch the earbud. Believer himself. And so when you're running it right, you can do things like hide last item. So if I don't want to pitch to win, I can turn this on ahead of time so that it doesn't stop on him again, even though it did.

00:05:07:27 - 00:05:27:33
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But now he's gone and now I'm going to get a new winner. Jacob Jalen Williams himself. Right. Here's the beautiful thing. If you don't trust your tech person, you can do this from your phone. You can do this remotely from an iPad. Or you can do this remotely from even a whole different computer. And you don't even have to be on the same network as that computer.

00:05:27:37 - 00:05:28:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You're logged into sidekick

00:05:28:42 - 00:05:44:50
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
on your in your tech booth, and if you're logged in to sidekick from your phone or whatever device, you can run it from both. We are all in on sidekick in fact. Link down below if you want to see our setup of how we do it. To jump back and forth between pro presenter and sidekick, we haven't made the shift to be

00:05:44:50 - 00:05:47:41
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
all in with worship because that's a whole different department.

00:05:47:46 - 00:06:02:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I don't call the shots. If I did, we would be all in on sidekick, but since we're not, we have a video switcher. And if you want to be able to bounce back and forth between the two so that you can have the elements of purpose that you like, but all the interactive features of sidekick that you like, check that out down below.

00:06:02:42 - 00:06:29:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, idea number two, one that I really like is rather than names. We've actually done this before in this presentation, and I'm going to show you how to set it up. I did like a series or a message on labels. And so I actually, what I did was, I think I have it in here. I brought in, like, a label, like a hello, my name is type of label, and I just got it loaded.

00:06:29:40 - 00:06:56:34
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And very simply, when it was sitting there on screen and I was teaching, I used that teaching moment sort of as an opportunity to, to to cycle through and filter through some of the different types of labels that we face or that we think we face or that we see or that we feel or that we might even struggle with sometimes, as, you know, people, as teenagers, as followers of Jesus.

00:06:56:39 - 00:07:22:56
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so you don't have to just let this be like a random name picker thing. Like you can also use and utilize this as an opportunity, within your teaching, within your teaching components. And so as you see here on screen, I have the hello, my name is name Tag right here. And then they are just simply filtering through, different types of labels that you or that students might struggle with.

00:07:22:56 - 00:07:37:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's an opportunity then to go ahead and and use that as a part of your teaching point. Now my third favorite way to go ahead and use the random name generator is, to use a thing called a Volun told

00:07:37:08 - 00:07:50:43
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
generator. And we talked about this a little bit in the, we'll, video in the last video about how you can make a definitive or declarative statement, like the person with the tallest socks, that's only one person.

00:07:50:45 - 00:08:10:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So the person with the tallest socks in your room, they come up in place. So if you don't have a set up or if you don't have check in, but you still want to use this kind of Volun told generator sort of thing, you can put generic statements about students, and then you can use that to get people to come on up as contestants for games and stuff like that.

00:08:10:08 - 00:08:29:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And again, it's just a great way to not have to do the who wants to play? And you're like, how did I pick that kid or not? Like the the random name generator is king and the random name generator decides. And what's cool, even in its customization, right, is that you can create different sound effects, right? So like, there is like a thumbs up sound effect.

00:08:29:16 - 00:08:48:58
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There is a, kind of shrugging like middle of the road sound effect. And then there's like a party horn sound effect. So if you were playing this and you had the sort of like, like maybe a bad prize or something, you weren't so sure about that you didn't want, this is what the thumbs down sound effect sounds like.

00:08:49:02 - 00:09:06:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That. But, yeah, it's a bummer. No, no one wants is smudging. Like, that's how Thunder fans kind of feel right now anyway. But then you go ahead and you're like that. This guy's kind of mid tier. We're not not really sure if we have an, opinion yet of him or not. Really sure if winning this thing in our youth ministry, we really have an opinion of it.

00:09:06:04 - 00:09:27:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Yet Dugas. Yeah, okay. Whatever. You know, but then, like, you win something great or like it's a grand prize or something that people really actually want. I mean, he's a front runner for MVP. Let's just be honest. He's outpacing Luke does is the Thunder are the number one seed in the West. And they are the juggernaut that everyone should be afraid of.

00:09:27:42 - 00:09:45:45
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's led by this guy. And so you should you should have that sound. Hey give me a like if you're a, Thunder fan and please don't unsubscribe if you, do you happen to be a mavericks fan? Because we are here trying to make this hybrid ministry thing. We're trying to make it helpful to you. In fact, right here on screen.

00:09:45:45 - 00:10:04:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you've never used you. I am. Or if you've never signed up for anything with do I am before for 10% off for a year of premium, Premium or Premium Plus? You can check out the pricing link down below. We also offer custom coaching. It's my free strategy guide. Go ahead and scan that QR code, check out our Patreon.

00:10:04:02 - 00:10:25:49
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And hey, while you're here, go ahead and vote on which coffee shop is the best. My fourth idiom that I really like to do is kind of like the kind of like the the name tag one that I showed you a minute ago. So instead of it, I mean, like a teaching point, a lot of times I will create a welcome slide, right?

00:10:25:49 - 00:10:41:58
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And these slides, just like all the other ones, they're, they're highly adaptable. So you can put any slides you want. You can, add an image, you can make a color, you can add a video background from something from YouTube. Even so like we've used this video before in

00:10:41:58 - 00:10:48:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
previous videos here, even on this playlist. And so if you wanted it to be a video one, you could embed this YouTube video right here.

00:10:48:47 - 00:11:09:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or you could add one of these videos from a bank of other videos that you have used before using the past. But whatever the case might be, I'll do this where like, we have like, a leader lunch. And so people have volun, or have RSVP ahead of time. And so I will, put all of their names into the generator and I will say, leader, lunch welcome.

00:11:09:10 - 00:11:27:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
With an arrow pointing to where their name is going to be here on People Picker and all the names are just filtering through. And then we may use that as a giveaway sort of feature in the, in the, you know, in the background or whatever, or not. We'll see. But those are sort of all just kind of different ways and different ideas that I like to use the name picker.

00:11:27:14 - 00:11:47:40
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then of course, number five, I'm going to share on my Patreon page. And don't forget, this is the last time that I'm going to do this. To those of you listening to the regular podcast or on YouTube, but I just, I, I'm so, so stoked and I'm so pumped about our Patreon because it is a dollar a week, $4 a month.

00:11:47:44 - 00:12:05:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I think it's less than the cost of a cup of coffee. But I want to get coffee with you. I want to sit down. I want to chat. Youth ministry. I want to chat. Creativity. I want to chat. How to make your programing more engaging? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha, they want a more custom and personalized approach.

00:12:05:54 - 00:12:33:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I believe that sidekick not only in this beta version, but also in the future. Rolling out has the tools that it takes to do that. I'm challenging myself to use sidekick every single time we're in the room with our students, and I want to encourage you to try and lean into your creativity and do the same. And so I know when I hear a brainstorm that's helpful for me to just listen to someone else and then beg and borrow and steal and tweak and adapt and use different ideas.

00:12:33:14 - 00:12:56:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's why I want my Patreon to be is just a place for you guys to get that weekly sort of bonus content, along with, as you see here, on screen, exclusive merch and exclusive sticker for everyone who signs up before the month of December. December 2nd, they'll be yours. I'll mail it to you. You can help me choose some show and segment topics, and also some shout outs special for those over there on my Patreon page.

00:12:56:08 - 00:13:18:37
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But that number five idea that's over there going to be in this week's Patreon will drop on Monday of this week. So once again, my friends so excited that you here. Thank you for diving in deep with sidekick. The next episode we are going to be hopping into all things Christmas, Christmas parties, holiday planning, and everything that you need to know to round out the year.

00:13:18:37 - 00:13:29:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Amazingly, in your ministry. Finish strong. The Lord is equipped you for what he has you doing. But don't forget and as always my friends, to stay hybrid.

]]> 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
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DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using the Random Name Generator from Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry programming!

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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 The Most Personal Element of Sidekick to Date
01:34 #1 Creative Name Generator Idea
04:27 Operating "Pick Me"
06:04 #2 Creative Name Generator Idea
07:28 #3 Creative Name Generator Idea
08:19 Different Sound Effect Options
10:09 #4 Creative Name Generator Idea
11:26 #5 Creative Name Generator Idea

--------------

00:00:00:00 - 00:00:11:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
As we've been exploring more engaging sermons through your presentations and specifically your presentation software, we're talking about sidekick in the play, this link right

00:00:11:26 - 00:00:16:59
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
here. And this is the fourth and final video, but this feature is the feature that when I saw this

00:00:16:59 - 00:00:23:59
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
feature rolled out at the Orange Conference and I believe it was 2016 when they

00:00:23:59 - 00:00:28:47
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
showed it to me, I instantly said, and then sign me up.

00:00:28:51 - 00:00:50:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What does it take? How much does it cost? Actually, I don't care. It doesn't matter. This is what I want. And this is the feature that sidekick still has rolled out to this day, in my personal opinion. It is my necklaces favorite feature, and it is one that I believe that you can and you should be using in your presentations.

00:00:50:28 - 00:01:07:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Whether you're a youth pastor, whether you're a college minister, whether you're an adult pastor, or whether, frankly, you're a senior pastor, it is the random name picker and random name generator. And in this video and in this episode, I want to share five of my favorite ways

00:01:07:23 - 00:01:11:46
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
to creatively use the name picker. I'm going to drill deep down

00:01:11:46 - 00:01:16:51
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
into all of the features of how you can use it and utilize it, and what it has to offer.

00:01:16:57 - 00:01:24:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if you're watching here on YouTube, you're going to see a live demo and a live tutorial and a screen share of it. And don't forget, as always, there

00:01:24:01 - 00:01:35:31
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
are chapters down below at the bottom of this video so that you can skip around to the ones that make the most sense to you. Welcome everyone to the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:01:35:36 - 00:01:47:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So way. Number one, that I love to use the random name generator because as you know, when you're at church, you don't know which of your youth group kids are going to show up on any given week. And

00:01:47:54 - 00:02:04:52
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
so one of my favorite ways to use it is in our retreats or in our camps or within things that, that have a registration component to it, because, you know, every kid you're taking to camp, you should and you should definitely know that number because you better return with that many kids.

00:02:04:53 - 00:02:20:39
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Give me a like if you've ever worried that you lost a kid, a youth camp, and, either way, one of the things I like to do is when we have a big event and listen, what I'm about to explain is one of the things I'm going to start doing on my Patreon show. By the way, if you didn't know, we're launching a Patreon show.

00:02:20:39 - 00:02:45:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you're watching here on screen, you can see the slide. We are going to be offering bonus content, and that bonus content is going to drop once per week. And I'm very simply going to talk through all of the different ways that we are using and utilizing hybrid in our ministry, and I hope that as you sit in and as you listen, it helps you to get the creative juices going a little bit in your own brain and in your own ministry.

00:02:45:03 - 00:03:06:34
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And as you pursue hybrid, not because it's cool and not because digital and all that stuff is important, but really we're taking our in-person and our digital and we're putting it together, intersecting in most cases, at students cell phones, which gives us an opportunity to impact and influence them beyond the one hour of programing that we have scheduled per week.

00:03:06:34 - 00:03:26:52
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that is what my Patreon is going to do, this bonus content. But when you have an event, if you have some sort of a check in system, which I know we do, I have our, church community builder, CBM, we have a, report that runs for anyone who's checked in within the last 24 hours.

00:03:26:57 - 00:03:29:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so what happens then is, basically

00:03:29:54 - 00:03:53:47
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
once an event has started, I can go into that report, I can download into an Excel sheet, so to speak, or like a dot CSV. I can know all the names of the students who are there. I don't have to guess about the kids who I think might be there, who I thought I saw, but I know for a fact they've checked in and then I can put their names into the random name generator, and then I can use that for raffle giveaways, prizes, and all sorts of things.

00:03:53:47 - 00:04:18:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so say that that spits out into an Excel sheet. You're looking here at an Excel sheet, and you can just highlight an entire cell. Copy. Copy that. Go over here to your name picker. Click edit. Click edit. Pick me. Go to your book editor Payson, and boom, just in case you also wanted their numbers as well. And so now we got all of the names in here.

00:04:18:32 - 00:04:42:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And and then when I go ahead and I get ready to roll this thing, you'll notice. Let me get this full screen here. If you're watching, pretend this is your projector, you're going to drag that window over to your projector. And then you are going to click present and you're good to go. And so now here I am, I want to play and I want to run this pick me game.

00:04:42:00 - 00:05:07:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, I'm going to turn it on to random. And we're going to get this thing rolling and I'm gonna see who's going to win. And it's Nikola to pitch the earbud. Believer himself. And so when you're running it right, you can do things like hide last item. So if I don't want to pitch to win, I can turn this on ahead of time so that it doesn't stop on him again, even though it did.

00:05:07:27 - 00:05:27:33
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But now he's gone and now I'm going to get a new winner. Jacob Jalen Williams himself. Right. Here's the beautiful thing. If you don't trust your tech person, you can do this from your phone. You can do this remotely from an iPad. Or you can do this remotely from even a whole different computer. And you don't even have to be on the same network as that computer.

00:05:27:37 - 00:05:28:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You're logged into sidekick

00:05:28:42 - 00:05:44:50
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
on your in your tech booth, and if you're logged in to sidekick from your phone or whatever device, you can run it from both. We are all in on sidekick in fact. Link down below if you want to see our setup of how we do it. To jump back and forth between pro presenter and sidekick, we haven't made the shift to be

00:05:44:50 - 00:05:47:41
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
all in with worship because that's a whole different department.

00:05:47:46 - 00:06:02:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I don't call the shots. If I did, we would be all in on sidekick, but since we're not, we have a video switcher. And if you want to be able to bounce back and forth between the two so that you can have the elements of purpose that you like, but all the interactive features of sidekick that you like, check that out down below.

00:06:02:42 - 00:06:29:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, idea number two, one that I really like is rather than names. We've actually done this before in this presentation, and I'm going to show you how to set it up. I did like a series or a message on labels. And so I actually, what I did was, I think I have it in here. I brought in, like, a label, like a hello, my name is type of label, and I just got it loaded.

00:06:29:40 - 00:06:56:34
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And very simply, when it was sitting there on screen and I was teaching, I used that teaching moment sort of as an opportunity to, to to cycle through and filter through some of the different types of labels that we face or that we think we face or that we see or that we feel or that we might even struggle with sometimes, as, you know, people, as teenagers, as followers of Jesus.

00:06:56:39 - 00:07:22:56
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so you don't have to just let this be like a random name picker thing. Like you can also use and utilize this as an opportunity, within your teaching, within your teaching components. And so as you see here on screen, I have the hello, my name is name Tag right here. And then they are just simply filtering through, different types of labels that you or that students might struggle with.

00:07:22:56 - 00:07:37:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's an opportunity then to go ahead and and use that as a part of your teaching point. Now my third favorite way to go ahead and use the random name generator is, to use a thing called a Volun told

00:07:37:08 - 00:07:50:43
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
generator. And we talked about this a little bit in the, we'll, video in the last video about how you can make a definitive or declarative statement, like the person with the tallest socks, that's only one person.

00:07:50:45 - 00:08:10:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So the person with the tallest socks in your room, they come up in place. So if you don't have a set up or if you don't have check in, but you still want to use this kind of Volun told generator sort of thing, you can put generic statements about students, and then you can use that to get people to come on up as contestants for games and stuff like that.

00:08:10:08 - 00:08:29:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And again, it's just a great way to not have to do the who wants to play? And you're like, how did I pick that kid or not? Like the the random name generator is king and the random name generator decides. And what's cool, even in its customization, right, is that you can create different sound effects, right? So like, there is like a thumbs up sound effect.

00:08:29:16 - 00:08:48:58
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There is a, kind of shrugging like middle of the road sound effect. And then there's like a party horn sound effect. So if you were playing this and you had the sort of like, like maybe a bad prize or something, you weren't so sure about that you didn't want, this is what the thumbs down sound effect sounds like.

00:08:49:02 - 00:09:06:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That. But, yeah, it's a bummer. No, no one wants is smudging. Like, that's how Thunder fans kind of feel right now anyway. But then you go ahead and you're like that. This guy's kind of mid tier. We're not not really sure if we have an, opinion yet of him or not. Really sure if winning this thing in our youth ministry, we really have an opinion of it.

00:09:06:04 - 00:09:27:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Yet Dugas. Yeah, okay. Whatever. You know, but then, like, you win something great or like it's a grand prize or something that people really actually want. I mean, he's a front runner for MVP. Let's just be honest. He's outpacing Luke does is the Thunder are the number one seed in the West. And they are the juggernaut that everyone should be afraid of.

00:09:27:42 - 00:09:45:45
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's led by this guy. And so you should you should have that sound. Hey give me a like if you're a, Thunder fan and please don't unsubscribe if you, do you happen to be a mavericks fan? Because we are here trying to make this hybrid ministry thing. We're trying to make it helpful to you. In fact, right here on screen.

00:09:45:45 - 00:10:04:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Don't forget Code Hybrid Ministry ten. If you've never used you. I am. Or if you've never signed up for anything with do I am before for 10% off for a year of premium, Premium or Premium Plus? You can check out the pricing link down below. We also offer custom coaching. It's my free strategy guide. Go ahead and scan that QR code, check out our Patreon.

00:10:04:02 - 00:10:25:49
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And hey, while you're here, go ahead and vote on which coffee shop is the best. My fourth idiom that I really like to do is kind of like the kind of like the the name tag one that I showed you a minute ago. So instead of it, I mean, like a teaching point, a lot of times I will create a welcome slide, right?

00:10:25:49 - 00:10:41:58
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And these slides, just like all the other ones, they're, they're highly adaptable. So you can put any slides you want. You can, add an image, you can make a color, you can add a video background from something from YouTube. Even so like we've used this video before in

00:10:41:58 - 00:10:48:42
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
previous videos here, even on this playlist. And so if you wanted it to be a video one, you could embed this YouTube video right here.

00:10:48:47 - 00:11:09:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Or you could add one of these videos from a bank of other videos that you have used before using the past. But whatever the case might be, I'll do this where like, we have like, a leader lunch. And so people have volun, or have RSVP ahead of time. And so I will, put all of their names into the generator and I will say, leader, lunch welcome.

00:11:09:10 - 00:11:27:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
With an arrow pointing to where their name is going to be here on People Picker and all the names are just filtering through. And then we may use that as a giveaway sort of feature in the, in the, you know, in the background or whatever, or not. We'll see. But those are sort of all just kind of different ways and different ideas that I like to use the name picker.

00:11:27:14 - 00:11:47:40
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then of course, number five, I'm going to share on my Patreon page. And don't forget, this is the last time that I'm going to do this. To those of you listening to the regular podcast or on YouTube, but I just, I, I'm so, so stoked and I'm so pumped about our Patreon because it is a dollar a week, $4 a month.

00:11:47:44 - 00:12:05:54
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I think it's less than the cost of a cup of coffee. But I want to get coffee with you. I want to sit down. I want to chat. Youth ministry. I want to chat. Creativity. I want to chat. How to make your programing more engaging? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha, they want a more custom and personalized approach.

00:12:05:54 - 00:12:33:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I believe that sidekick not only in this beta version, but also in the future. Rolling out has the tools that it takes to do that. I'm challenging myself to use sidekick every single time we're in the room with our students, and I want to encourage you to try and lean into your creativity and do the same. And so I know when I hear a brainstorm that's helpful for me to just listen to someone else and then beg and borrow and steal and tweak and adapt and use different ideas.

00:12:33:14 - 00:12:56:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's why I want my Patreon to be is just a place for you guys to get that weekly sort of bonus content, along with, as you see here, on screen, exclusive merch and exclusive sticker for everyone who signs up before the month of December. December 2nd, they'll be yours. I'll mail it to you. You can help me choose some show and segment topics, and also some shout outs special for those over there on my Patreon page.

00:12:56:08 - 00:13:18:37
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But that number five idea that's over there going to be in this week's Patreon will drop on Monday of this week. So once again, my friends so excited that you here. Thank you for diving in deep with sidekick. The next episode we are going to be hopping into all things Christmas, Christmas parties, holiday planning, and everything that you need to know to round out the year.

00:13:18:37 - 00:13:29:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Amazingly, in your ministry. Finish strong. The Lord is equipped you for what he has you doing. But don't forget and as always my friends, to stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 125: Unlock the Customizable Wheel for your Programming https://www.hybridministry.xyz/125 89f02ea2-560d-45a1-8441-bedf2562dde3 Thu, 28 Nov 2024 04:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 125 Unlock the Customizable Wheel for your Programming full Nick Clason In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry. 16:06 no 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry 🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup DESCRIPTION In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry. 📓 SHOWNOTES http://www.hybridministry.xyz/125 //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup //COLEADER PRICING CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10 https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing //[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book //CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching //CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU! https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms //ERIK W/A 'K' https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Random Spinning Wheel 01:39 Co-Leader Discount Code! 03:05 The Power of Creativity 5:00 Wheel Idea #1 08:15 Wheel Idea #2 09:22 Wheel Tech Booth Point of View 11:38 Wheel Idea #3 12:14 Customize your slide background 15:10 Wheel Idea #4 -------------- 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;27;13 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry What if I told you that you could have access to a customizable spinning wheel that is actually woven in and built into the fabric of your presentation software? Not just like from free wheel spinner.com, because, you know, if you're presenting or preaching in church that you want that wheel to come in and you want it to be seamless, you don't want to drag an ugly browser window in across your screen. 00;00;27;16 - 00;00;48;16 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And so what if that presentation ability was available in your PowerPoint, in your profit center, on your church projector screens? Well, what if I told you that it was, you know, download and Youth Ministry has had the customizable spinning wheel available to youth pastors, but it is now available to all 00;00;48;16 - 00;00;53;01 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry people. It is woven into the new beta version of 00;00;53;01 - 00;00;54;03 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry sidekick. 00;00;54;03 - 00;01;10;25 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And in this episode, not only are we going to explore how it's a little bit different than the legacy version of the sidekick, but we're going to look at all of the features. And so if you are watching here on YouTube, first of all, go ahead and give me a like because if you don't know, that incredibly helps us out. 00;01;10;28 - 00;01;30;13 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But second, I would love it if you, are listening to Hop Over and you can watch a live demo as I not only build the wheel, but I show you all the different features and I want to talk through in this episode for of my most favorite ways to use and integrate the wheel into our programing, into 00;01;30;13 - 00;01;32;25 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry my lessons, into my messages. 00;01;33;02 - 00;01;42;09 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And so much more. Hey everyone! Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid 00;01;42;09 - 00;02;10;01 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Ministry show. My name is Nicholas and I am a 14 year Youth ministry veteran. And welcome to our playlist where we explore the best features of sidekick. And as you see here on screen, rotating through on my pre-roll announcements for the Hybrid Ministry show, which you can replicate this by simply clicking the link right here at the top of the video to go back and watch some of the more miscellaneous features available here in this playlist. 00;02;10;03 - 00;02;43;04 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But we are talking about sidekick, and in this particular episode, we're talking about the ways that you can use the wheel. But here's what you might not know is that if you've never jumped into anything dim or Co-Leader, which is our, curriculum software that does unlock access to sidekick, my listeners get an exclusive offer if you use the code hybrid Ministry ten, you'll get 10% off Premium or Premium plus of co-leader curriculum, which, like I said, is how you gain access to sidekick. 00;02;43;11 - 00;03;04;09 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry There is a way to get sidekick ala carte as well. But if you are in youth ministry and you're looking for curriculum, I'm just telling you, Collider is the way to go. You get so much I don't even know how to download. Youth ministry is making money. But again, in addition to that, you get 10% off, if you use my code hybrid ministry ten. 00;03;04;09 - 00;03;25;22 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So, we're going to get out of these looping announcements, and I want to show you what it looks like to have the customizable spinning wheel. Now here is the preview in the window over here. This little window down here, we're going to pretend, like I said, in the first, video in this playlist, this, sidekick is browser based. 00;03;25;24 - 00;03;42;25 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So it's going to create a new window. You're going to drag that ugly window onto your projector screen, but then from there you're going to click full screen. It's going to be seamless. Now, if you are still using both sidekick and also pro presenter, go ahead and check the link down below in the show notes for how we have set up. 00;03;42;25 - 00;03;47;04 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Because we are, we're all in on sidekick. And the reason that 00;03;47;04 - 00;04;10;02 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry I'm all in on sidekick is it forces me to be more creative in my programing, and I find that when I'm more creative, our students are more engaged and better engaged. And, I personally feel like that I'm doing a better job communicating and being a youth pastor and leaning in and showing up where students are, which that's one of the whole goals, is one viewer students are. 00;04;10;02 - 00;04;31;16 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And that's what hybrid really affords us. The opportunity to do is to be where our people are. And so, if you didn't know this, we're actually starting a brand new Patreon page here on the Hybrid Ministry show, where I'm going to just rattle off what we did in youth group this week. And as I do, I'll explain all the ways we're using sidekick along with all the other things that we're doing in our youth ministry. 00;04;31;16 - 00;04;50;06 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And so I want you to go ahead and check that out. If you haven't, you can click right here. The, the QR code that you see here on screen. I'll, I'll make that a little bit bigger for you. You can click that or you can simply head to a patreon.com/hybrid ministry and join for only $4 a month. 00;04;50;13 - 00;05;26;20 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry The bonus podcast I'm gonna release is a weekly podcast. So when you do $4 a month, that essentially nets out to $1 per week, which is crazy town. So I would love to invite you into that. But here's one of my favorite ways to use and utilize the wheel the random wheel. So in our student ministry not too long ago, we, used one of my friend Eric with a case games, and I'm not sure I don't think he got this game on to download youth ministry before the Halloween, but man, I loved the concept. 00;05;26;20 - 00;05;47;12 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry It was like a digital, like, sort of escape room sort of thing. And what Eric did, which was just like, so incredible, was like, it was like you work through rooms in your space and you had different contestants kind of do that, right now getting contestants, man, that is one of the most difficult things in youth ministry, right? 00;05;47;12 - 00;06;07;11 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Because you've been a real like, who wants to who wants to be a volunteer, who wants to be a volunteer? And so what we did was we created a wheel that would, basically volunteer certain people. So we had our, groups broken down by grade. And so we had like sixth grade, we had seventh and eighth grade, we had ninth and 10th grade, and then we had 11th and 12th grade. 00;06;07;11 - 00;06;33;02 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So for total, sixth year, I was the only one that was standalone. And the other, you know, six remaining grades are grouped together seventh and eighth, ninth and 10th, 11th, 12th. You get the idea. But then we said we need the whatever the wheel says person from each of these grades. So again, this is something I would go over on my Patreon page and hopefully it might help you out helping me more creative and thus ultimately more engaging. 00;06;33;06 - 00;06;53;23 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But what we did was we just added a wheel and we said, all right, I need the sixth grader who's the tallest, I need the seventh grader who's the shortest? I need the ninth 10th grader who has the tallest socks I need the 11th 12th grader has the lowest phone battery percentage. And so if you're watching here on screen, what you do is you simply click edit Slide and right at the top all you got to do is click wheel. 00;06;53;25 - 00;07;15;02 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry You want to add the wheel. And so in pops the wheel settings right here. And so this is where you can adjust the individual items in the wheel. So if you don't want cheese because it's not relevant to what you're doing you can say tallest. And if you want highest battery percentage you say highest battery percentage where's a percent. 00;07;15;02 - 00;07;37;26 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So there it is. If you want to add another one, you simply click Add Item. Or better yet, you can do bulk add and you can just type them all in. And so you go, tallest socks, reddest hair, biggest mustache, or whatever your criteria are. There they are. You click add three items and boom, they are off and rolling. 00;07;37;26 - 00;07;56;10 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Now once your wheel is on the screen, you notice it's kind of covering my face here if you don't want that. So you can go up to this little corner and just simply shrink it and put it right where you want it, maybe right underneath that finger where I'm pointing. Maybe you want it huge, right? So you can make it even bigger. 00;07;56;14 - 00;08;24;23 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry You can make it even smaller. And, there's all sorts of different ways that you can kind of mess around with and use the wheel, but that's way number one. We kind of like to use the wheel as a, contestant sort of generator. All right. The other thing that I love about the wheel is, or another way, way number two that we use the wheel is we will use it sometimes as a prize wheel. 00;08;24;23 - 00;08;43;29 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So we have a winner of a game, a standalone winner or a group of winners. And then we let that winner go ahead and, spin the wheel for an opportunity to win. So let's just say that they won pizza. And so here, I've already input my different types of pizza that I want to let them win. 00;08;44;03 - 00;09;07;00 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And so when you go ahead and, get this thing launched, you will see that you can you have a lot of different access, right? You have a lot of different access once you get this thing up and rolling. So we're going to pretend this is our projector screen and your person, oh, your person back in your booth is going to be the one that sees this. 00;09;07;00 - 00;09;30;04 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Or again, don't forget that. Now they have phone integration so you can run it like a remote phone, which is a pretty cool feature. So here we are. We are on our wheel right here. And this is what it looks like for the person in the booth. They'll have this start spin option. And they'll be able to see down here that the next winner is cheese. 00;09;30;11 - 00;09;51;01 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But if I don't want it to be cheese, it can reroll and it can reroll it randomly. Or you can choose a pre-selected option so you can see all of your options here. And you can say, I don't have Hawaiian pizza, I don't have deep dish, I only have sausage. And so we're going to make them think that they have the opportunity to get sausage. 00;09;51;02 - 00;10;13;06 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But really they don't. And so we're not doing random. We're going to do pre-selected. The pre-selected winner here is sausage. And now when we spin the wheel you're seeing it. You're hearing it. The winner is sausage right. Like I said I can now clear that. Now let's say I gave away sausage and so I don't want that anymore. 00;10;13;09 - 00;10;33;01 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry This is where I can turn on this hide. Last item. And so now sausage, which was what I give away. Now I don't have it because I gave it to this group. And I need a new prize to give away to the next group. I can't give away sausage twice. It only had it once. If I click hide last item, it will go away and it won't be an option on the wheel anymore. 00;10;33;01 - 00;10;57;16 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry So now let's just simulate that again. So I did in fact go ahead. Giveaway sausage I'm hiding the last item. Consider the last item hidden. And then we're going to clear that it's gone. And now we're like oh it needs to be pepperoni. So here we go. Give a pepperoni to the winning group. Group number two. Congratulations you one pepperoni. 00;10;57;16 - 00;11;17;12 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Now if you're listening here on screen or you it was able to be picked up through my microphone, you will notice that they have different sound effects. So when you do the little, cheery sound effect, that's the one that pepperoni just made you. Little shrug sound effect. That's just a little kind of simple, like click sound, like, and so you can change that. 00;11;17;12 - 00;11;45;19 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Or if it's a negative consequence, you can also do the lose sound. And so cheese now has the lose sound. And so that sounds something like this. Now that no one wants cheese. All right. This is this is the bottom line. Okay. Here is another idea that I have is, we might, in our space, do something where, we have, like, rows. 00;11;45;23 - 00;12;03;14 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry We have 16 tables. So there's four, 4x4, four tables across, four tables down 16 total. So we might do something when we have a passage of Scripture, you know, that we want people to look up. And so then we might use the wheel and say, all right, row one. You're going to look up this. Row two, you're going to look up that. 00;12;03;16 - 00;12;22;06 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And here's what's cool is you saw my picture here. So you can also make your background custom. So right here let's say I want this slide right here to be where I put my wheel. First I got to give it a background right. So I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to make it an image background. 00;12;22;09 - 00;12;48;13 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry I'm going to upload a file. And I'm going to go navigate to these different verses of this slide that I have already made. And so boom, there's my verse slides. And so now I don't want that. I want the wheel now. And so I can say row one, row two, row three and row four. We're going to add those. 00;12;48;16 - 00;13;13;19 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry We're going to remove these. And now I can put this right here. Again don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten gets you 10% off of Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. But now I can put that right here. And I can say all right row one. You're going to go first. And then very simply right. Like as I am presenting this sucker, got to get down to it so I can show it to you. 00;13;13;19 - 00;13;42;15 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry But as I'm presenting it, I'll say, all right, row one. Here you go. Or not? Row one. Luke one goes to row one, in fact. Right. And once again, I should have selected hide winner because I can't actually have row one. That's a bummer, I missed out. What am I supposed to do? Well, your purpose in in person can actually hop back over here to edit and just very simply, either hide them and now they're going to be off my wheel or delete them and they're off my wheel either way. 00;13;42;18 - 00;14;01;14 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Now if I hide them right, I can add them back on very simply. If, I delete them, I do have to go back in here and I have to type it all back out and do all that stuff, which as you see, is not that difficult. But it it does take a little bit more of an additional step. 00;14;01;14 - 00;14;21;22 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Now here's the other cool thing. You might be thinking like, I don't I don't want like that background. I want like I want a video background. Great. Check this out. I don't want this background anymore. I go back in here to edit slide. I don't want it going to go over here to my slide settings. And instead of it being an image background, I can do a color background. 00;14;21;22 - 00;14;43;08 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry He's my color options right? Those are all the preloaded ones. Or I can say I want a video background. So I'm going to select video and I want it to be a YouTube embedded video, and I want it to be my video. So we're going to copy and paste that link here, paste embed that YouTube video and boom. 00;14;43;10 - 00;15;00;25 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry And I can put the wheel anywhere that I want. Now keep in mind that when it's a background, you saw it right here. Background videos will loop automatically and they do not play sounds. And so you can pull these directly off of the internet. And this is why I believe every single youth ministry should have a strong digital presence also. 00;15;00;25 - 00;15;21;25 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Hey, why you're here, why don't you go ahead and grab my hybrid strategy guide with a little bit of a different name from this episode that I dropped a little bit over a year ago. So that was idea number three. You can give out passages for the we'll idea number four, I'm actually going to share with those of you that are on my Patreon page. 00;15;21;25 - 00;15;44;13 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Now listen, don't forget that it's only about a dollar a week. And anyone who signs up before December 2nd, 2024 will get an exclusive free piece of merch. So you're going to get a piece of merch that's probably worth like $20. That's gonna like, pay for itself in the first five months. And I'm going to share my fourth favorite way that I 00;15;44;13 - 00;15;49;02 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry customize and use the wheel in my different teachings and in my different presentations. 00;15;49;09 - 00;16;06;08 Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry Hey, my friends, as always, don't forget if you want to know how to use the name picker that is going to be here in the next episode, if you're watching on YouTube, that'll be right here on screen. Go hop over to Patreon page. But until next time, and as always, my friends stay hybrid. download youth ministry, sidekick, youth ministry, hybrid ministry, youth pastor podcast, student ministry, youth ministry programming, name picker, wheel, Random Generator, Live voting, Youth ministry creativity, Creative Programming, ProPresenter, Youth Group, Youth Group Phones, How to handle phones in youth ministry, phones are so distracting in youth ministry, Nick Clason, Josh Boldman, Spinning Wheel 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/125

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//COLEADER PRICING
CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10
https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing

//[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

//ERIK W/A 'K'
https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

--------------
🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick

--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Random Spinning Wheel
01:39 Co-Leader Discount Code!
03:05 The Power of Creativity
5:00 Wheel Idea #1
08:15 Wheel Idea #2
09:22 Wheel Tech Booth Point of View
11:38 Wheel Idea #3
12:14 Customize your slide background
15:10 Wheel Idea #4

--------------

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;27;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
What if I told you that you could have access to a customizable spinning wheel that is actually woven in and built into the fabric of your presentation software? Not just like from free wheel spinner.com, because, you know, if you're presenting or preaching in church that you want that wheel to come in and you want it to be seamless, you don't want to drag an ugly browser window in across your screen.

00;00;27;16 - 00;00;48;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so what if that presentation ability was available in your PowerPoint, in your profit center, on your church projector screens? Well, what if I told you that it was, you know, download and Youth Ministry has had the customizable spinning wheel available to youth pastors, but it is now available to all

00;00;48;16 - 00;00;53;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
people. It is woven into the new beta version of

00;00;53;01 - 00;00;54;03
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
sidekick.

00;00;54;03 - 00;01;10;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And in this episode, not only are we going to explore how it's a little bit different than the legacy version of the sidekick, but we're going to look at all of the features. And so if you are watching here on YouTube, first of all, go ahead and give me a like because if you don't know, that incredibly helps us out.

00;01;10;28 - 00;01;30;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But second, I would love it if you, are listening to Hop Over and you can watch a live demo as I not only build the wheel, but I show you all the different features and I want to talk through in this episode for of my most favorite ways to use and integrate the wheel into our programing, into

00;01;30;13 - 00;01;32;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
my lessons, into my messages.

00;01;33;02 - 00;01;42;09
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so much more. Hey everyone! Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid

00;01;42;09 - 00;02;10;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Ministry show. My name is Nicholas and I am a 14 year Youth ministry veteran. And welcome to our playlist where we explore the best features of sidekick. And as you see here on screen, rotating through on my pre-roll announcements for the Hybrid Ministry show, which you can replicate this by simply clicking the link right here at the top of the video to go back and watch some of the more miscellaneous features available here in this playlist.

00;02;10;03 - 00;02;43;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But we are talking about sidekick, and in this particular episode, we're talking about the ways that you can use the wheel. But here's what you might not know is that if you've never jumped into anything dim or Co-Leader, which is our, curriculum software that does unlock access to sidekick, my listeners get an exclusive offer if you use the code hybrid Ministry ten, you'll get 10% off Premium or Premium plus of co-leader curriculum, which, like I said, is how you gain access to sidekick.

00;02;43;11 - 00;03;04;09
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
There is a way to get sidekick ala carte as well. But if you are in youth ministry and you're looking for curriculum, I'm just telling you, Collider is the way to go. You get so much I don't even know how to download. Youth ministry is making money. But again, in addition to that, you get 10% off, if you use my code hybrid ministry ten.

00;03;04;09 - 00;03;25;22
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So, we're going to get out of these looping announcements, and I want to show you what it looks like to have the customizable spinning wheel. Now here is the preview in the window over here. This little window down here, we're going to pretend, like I said, in the first, video in this playlist, this, sidekick is browser based.

00;03;25;24 - 00;03;42;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So it's going to create a new window. You're going to drag that ugly window onto your projector screen, but then from there you're going to click full screen. It's going to be seamless. Now, if you are still using both sidekick and also pro presenter, go ahead and check the link down below in the show notes for how we have set up.

00;03;42;25 - 00;03;47;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Because we are, we're all in on sidekick. And the reason that

00;03;47;04 - 00;04;10;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
I'm all in on sidekick is it forces me to be more creative in my programing, and I find that when I'm more creative, our students are more engaged and better engaged. And, I personally feel like that I'm doing a better job communicating and being a youth pastor and leaning in and showing up where students are, which that's one of the whole goals, is one viewer students are.

00;04;10;02 - 00;04;31;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And that's what hybrid really affords us. The opportunity to do is to be where our people are. And so, if you didn't know this, we're actually starting a brand new Patreon page here on the Hybrid Ministry show, where I'm going to just rattle off what we did in youth group this week. And as I do, I'll explain all the ways we're using sidekick along with all the other things that we're doing in our youth ministry.

00;04;31;16 - 00;04;50;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so I want you to go ahead and check that out. If you haven't, you can click right here. The, the QR code that you see here on screen. I'll, I'll make that a little bit bigger for you. You can click that or you can simply head to a patreon.com/hybrid ministry and join for only $4 a month.

00;04;50;13 - 00;05;26;20
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
The bonus podcast I'm gonna release is a weekly podcast. So when you do $4 a month, that essentially nets out to $1 per week, which is crazy town. So I would love to invite you into that. But here's one of my favorite ways to use and utilize the wheel the random wheel. So in our student ministry not too long ago, we, used one of my friend Eric with a case games, and I'm not sure I don't think he got this game on to download youth ministry before the Halloween, but man, I loved the concept.

00;05;26;20 - 00;05;47;12
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
It was like a digital, like, sort of escape room sort of thing. And what Eric did, which was just like, so incredible, was like, it was like you work through rooms in your space and you had different contestants kind of do that, right now getting contestants, man, that is one of the most difficult things in youth ministry, right?

00;05;47;12 - 00;06;07;11
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Because you've been a real like, who wants to who wants to be a volunteer, who wants to be a volunteer? And so what we did was we created a wheel that would, basically volunteer certain people. So we had our, groups broken down by grade. And so we had like sixth grade, we had seventh and eighth grade, we had ninth and 10th grade, and then we had 11th and 12th grade.

00;06;07;11 - 00;06;33;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So for total, sixth year, I was the only one that was standalone. And the other, you know, six remaining grades are grouped together seventh and eighth, ninth and 10th, 11th, 12th. You get the idea. But then we said we need the whatever the wheel says person from each of these grades. So again, this is something I would go over on my Patreon page and hopefully it might help you out helping me more creative and thus ultimately more engaging.

00;06;33;06 - 00;06;53;23
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But what we did was we just added a wheel and we said, all right, I need the sixth grader who's the tallest, I need the seventh grader who's the shortest? I need the ninth 10th grader who has the tallest socks I need the 11th 12th grader has the lowest phone battery percentage. And so if you're watching here on screen, what you do is you simply click edit Slide and right at the top all you got to do is click wheel.

00;06;53;25 - 00;07;15;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
You want to add the wheel. And so in pops the wheel settings right here. And so this is where you can adjust the individual items in the wheel. So if you don't want cheese because it's not relevant to what you're doing you can say tallest. And if you want highest battery percentage you say highest battery percentage where's a percent.

00;07;15;02 - 00;07;37;26
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So there it is. If you want to add another one, you simply click Add Item. Or better yet, you can do bulk add and you can just type them all in. And so you go, tallest socks, reddest hair, biggest mustache, or whatever your criteria are. There they are. You click add three items and boom, they are off and rolling.

00;07;37;26 - 00;07;56;10
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now once your wheel is on the screen, you notice it's kind of covering my face here if you don't want that. So you can go up to this little corner and just simply shrink it and put it right where you want it, maybe right underneath that finger where I'm pointing. Maybe you want it huge, right? So you can make it even bigger.

00;07;56;14 - 00;08;24;23
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
You can make it even smaller. And, there's all sorts of different ways that you can kind of mess around with and use the wheel, but that's way number one. We kind of like to use the wheel as a, contestant sort of generator. All right. The other thing that I love about the wheel is, or another way, way number two that we use the wheel is we will use it sometimes as a prize wheel.

00;08;24;23 - 00;08;43;29
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So we have a winner of a game, a standalone winner or a group of winners. And then we let that winner go ahead and, spin the wheel for an opportunity to win. So let's just say that they won pizza. And so here, I've already input my different types of pizza that I want to let them win.

00;08;44;03 - 00;09;07;00
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so when you go ahead and, get this thing launched, you will see that you can you have a lot of different access, right? You have a lot of different access once you get this thing up and rolling. So we're going to pretend this is our projector screen and your person, oh, your person back in your booth is going to be the one that sees this.

00;09;07;00 - 00;09;30;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Or again, don't forget that. Now they have phone integration so you can run it like a remote phone, which is a pretty cool feature. So here we are. We are on our wheel right here. And this is what it looks like for the person in the booth. They'll have this start spin option. And they'll be able to see down here that the next winner is cheese.

00;09;30;11 - 00;09;51;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But if I don't want it to be cheese, it can reroll and it can reroll it randomly. Or you can choose a pre-selected option so you can see all of your options here. And you can say, I don't have Hawaiian pizza, I don't have deep dish, I only have sausage. And so we're going to make them think that they have the opportunity to get sausage.

00;09;51;02 - 00;10;13;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But really they don't. And so we're not doing random. We're going to do pre-selected. The pre-selected winner here is sausage. And now when we spin the wheel you're seeing it. You're hearing it. The winner is sausage right. Like I said I can now clear that. Now let's say I gave away sausage and so I don't want that anymore.

00;10;13;09 - 00;10;33;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
This is where I can turn on this hide. Last item. And so now sausage, which was what I give away. Now I don't have it because I gave it to this group. And I need a new prize to give away to the next group. I can't give away sausage twice. It only had it once. If I click hide last item, it will go away and it won't be an option on the wheel anymore.

00;10;33;01 - 00;10;57;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So now let's just simulate that again. So I did in fact go ahead. Giveaway sausage I'm hiding the last item. Consider the last item hidden. And then we're going to clear that it's gone. And now we're like oh it needs to be pepperoni. So here we go. Give a pepperoni to the winning group. Group number two. Congratulations you one pepperoni.

00;10;57;16 - 00;11;17;12
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now if you're listening here on screen or you it was able to be picked up through my microphone, you will notice that they have different sound effects. So when you do the little, cheery sound effect, that's the one that pepperoni just made you. Little shrug sound effect. That's just a little kind of simple, like click sound, like, and so you can change that.

00;11;17;12 - 00;11;45;19
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Or if it's a negative consequence, you can also do the lose sound. And so cheese now has the lose sound. And so that sounds something like this. Now that no one wants cheese. All right. This is this is the bottom line. Okay. Here is another idea that I have is, we might, in our space, do something where, we have, like, rows.

00;11;45;23 - 00;12;03;14
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
We have 16 tables. So there's four, 4x4, four tables across, four tables down 16 total. So we might do something when we have a passage of Scripture, you know, that we want people to look up. And so then we might use the wheel and say, all right, row one. You're going to look up this. Row two, you're going to look up that.

00;12;03;16 - 00;12;22;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And here's what's cool is you saw my picture here. So you can also make your background custom. So right here let's say I want this slide right here to be where I put my wheel. First I got to give it a background right. So I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to make it an image background.

00;12;22;09 - 00;12;48;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
I'm going to upload a file. And I'm going to go navigate to these different verses of this slide that I have already made. And so boom, there's my verse slides. And so now I don't want that. I want the wheel now. And so I can say row one, row two, row three and row four. We're going to add those.

00;12;48;16 - 00;13;13;19
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
We're going to remove these. And now I can put this right here. Again don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten gets you 10% off of Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. But now I can put that right here. And I can say all right row one. You're going to go first. And then very simply right. Like as I am presenting this sucker, got to get down to it so I can show it to you.

00;13;13;19 - 00;13;42;15
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But as I'm presenting it, I'll say, all right, row one. Here you go. Or not? Row one. Luke one goes to row one, in fact. Right. And once again, I should have selected hide winner because I can't actually have row one. That's a bummer, I missed out. What am I supposed to do? Well, your purpose in in person can actually hop back over here to edit and just very simply, either hide them and now they're going to be off my wheel or delete them and they're off my wheel either way.

00;13;42;18 - 00;14;01;14
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now if I hide them right, I can add them back on very simply. If, I delete them, I do have to go back in here and I have to type it all back out and do all that stuff, which as you see, is not that difficult. But it it does take a little bit more of an additional step.

00;14;01;14 - 00;14;21;22
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now here's the other cool thing. You might be thinking like, I don't I don't want like that background. I want like I want a video background. Great. Check this out. I don't want this background anymore. I go back in here to edit slide. I don't want it going to go over here to my slide settings. And instead of it being an image background, I can do a color background.

00;14;21;22 - 00;14;43;08
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
He's my color options right? Those are all the preloaded ones. Or I can say I want a video background. So I'm going to select video and I want it to be a YouTube embedded video, and I want it to be my video. So we're going to copy and paste that link here, paste embed that YouTube video and boom.

00;14;43;10 - 00;15;00;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And I can put the wheel anywhere that I want. Now keep in mind that when it's a background, you saw it right here. Background videos will loop automatically and they do not play sounds. And so you can pull these directly off of the internet. And this is why I believe every single youth ministry should have a strong digital presence also.

00;15;00;25 - 00;15;21;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Hey, why you're here, why don't you go ahead and grab my hybrid strategy guide with a little bit of a different name from this episode that I dropped a little bit over a year ago. So that was idea number three. You can give out passages for the we'll idea number four, I'm actually going to share with those of you that are on my Patreon page.

00;15;21;25 - 00;15;44;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now listen, don't forget that it's only about a dollar a week. And anyone who signs up before December 2nd, 2024 will get an exclusive free piece of merch. So you're going to get a piece of merch that's probably worth like $20. That's gonna like, pay for itself in the first five months. And I'm going to share my fourth favorite way that I

00;15;44;13 - 00;15;49;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
customize and use the wheel in my different teachings and in my different presentations.

00;15;49;09 - 00;16;06;08
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Hey, my friends, as always, don't forget if you want to know how to use the name picker that is going to be here in the next episode, if you're watching on YouTube, that'll be right here on screen. Go hop over to Patreon page. But until next time, and as always, my friends stay hybrid.

]]> 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
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🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
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DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons and programming using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/125

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
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//COLEADER PRICING
CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10
https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing

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https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

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https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

//ERIK W/A 'K'
https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Random Spinning Wheel
01:39 Co-Leader Discount Code!
03:05 The Power of Creativity
5:00 Wheel Idea #1
08:15 Wheel Idea #2
09:22 Wheel Tech Booth Point of View
11:38 Wheel Idea #3
12:14 Customize your slide background
15:10 Wheel Idea #4

--------------

00;00;00;00 - 00;00;27;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
What if I told you that you could have access to a customizable spinning wheel that is actually woven in and built into the fabric of your presentation software? Not just like from free wheel spinner.com, because, you know, if you're presenting or preaching in church that you want that wheel to come in and you want it to be seamless, you don't want to drag an ugly browser window in across your screen.

00;00;27;16 - 00;00;48;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so what if that presentation ability was available in your PowerPoint, in your profit center, on your church projector screens? Well, what if I told you that it was, you know, download and Youth Ministry has had the customizable spinning wheel available to youth pastors, but it is now available to all

00;00;48;16 - 00;00;53;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
people. It is woven into the new beta version of

00;00;53;01 - 00;00;54;03
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
sidekick.

00;00;54;03 - 00;01;10;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And in this episode, not only are we going to explore how it's a little bit different than the legacy version of the sidekick, but we're going to look at all of the features. And so if you are watching here on YouTube, first of all, go ahead and give me a like because if you don't know, that incredibly helps us out.

00;01;10;28 - 00;01;30;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But second, I would love it if you, are listening to Hop Over and you can watch a live demo as I not only build the wheel, but I show you all the different features and I want to talk through in this episode for of my most favorite ways to use and integrate the wheel into our programing, into

00;01;30;13 - 00;01;32;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
my lessons, into my messages.

00;01;33;02 - 00;01;42;09
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so much more. Hey everyone! Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone, welcome to the Hybrid

00;01;42;09 - 00;02;10;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Ministry show. My name is Nicholas and I am a 14 year Youth ministry veteran. And welcome to our playlist where we explore the best features of sidekick. And as you see here on screen, rotating through on my pre-roll announcements for the Hybrid Ministry show, which you can replicate this by simply clicking the link right here at the top of the video to go back and watch some of the more miscellaneous features available here in this playlist.

00;02;10;03 - 00;02;43;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But we are talking about sidekick, and in this particular episode, we're talking about the ways that you can use the wheel. But here's what you might not know is that if you've never jumped into anything dim or Co-Leader, which is our, curriculum software that does unlock access to sidekick, my listeners get an exclusive offer if you use the code hybrid Ministry ten, you'll get 10% off Premium or Premium plus of co-leader curriculum, which, like I said, is how you gain access to sidekick.

00;02;43;11 - 00;03;04;09
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
There is a way to get sidekick ala carte as well. But if you are in youth ministry and you're looking for curriculum, I'm just telling you, Collider is the way to go. You get so much I don't even know how to download. Youth ministry is making money. But again, in addition to that, you get 10% off, if you use my code hybrid ministry ten.

00;03;04;09 - 00;03;25;22
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So, we're going to get out of these looping announcements, and I want to show you what it looks like to have the customizable spinning wheel. Now here is the preview in the window over here. This little window down here, we're going to pretend, like I said, in the first, video in this playlist, this, sidekick is browser based.

00;03;25;24 - 00;03;42;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So it's going to create a new window. You're going to drag that ugly window onto your projector screen, but then from there you're going to click full screen. It's going to be seamless. Now, if you are still using both sidekick and also pro presenter, go ahead and check the link down below in the show notes for how we have set up.

00;03;42;25 - 00;03;47;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Because we are, we're all in on sidekick. And the reason that

00;03;47;04 - 00;04;10;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
I'm all in on sidekick is it forces me to be more creative in my programing, and I find that when I'm more creative, our students are more engaged and better engaged. And, I personally feel like that I'm doing a better job communicating and being a youth pastor and leaning in and showing up where students are, which that's one of the whole goals, is one viewer students are.

00;04;10;02 - 00;04;31;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And that's what hybrid really affords us. The opportunity to do is to be where our people are. And so, if you didn't know this, we're actually starting a brand new Patreon page here on the Hybrid Ministry show, where I'm going to just rattle off what we did in youth group this week. And as I do, I'll explain all the ways we're using sidekick along with all the other things that we're doing in our youth ministry.

00;04;31;16 - 00;04;50;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so I want you to go ahead and check that out. If you haven't, you can click right here. The, the QR code that you see here on screen. I'll, I'll make that a little bit bigger for you. You can click that or you can simply head to a patreon.com/hybrid ministry and join for only $4 a month.

00;04;50;13 - 00;05;26;20
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
The bonus podcast I'm gonna release is a weekly podcast. So when you do $4 a month, that essentially nets out to $1 per week, which is crazy town. So I would love to invite you into that. But here's one of my favorite ways to use and utilize the wheel the random wheel. So in our student ministry not too long ago, we, used one of my friend Eric with a case games, and I'm not sure I don't think he got this game on to download youth ministry before the Halloween, but man, I loved the concept.

00;05;26;20 - 00;05;47;12
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
It was like a digital, like, sort of escape room sort of thing. And what Eric did, which was just like, so incredible, was like, it was like you work through rooms in your space and you had different contestants kind of do that, right now getting contestants, man, that is one of the most difficult things in youth ministry, right?

00;05;47;12 - 00;06;07;11
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Because you've been a real like, who wants to who wants to be a volunteer, who wants to be a volunteer? And so what we did was we created a wheel that would, basically volunteer certain people. So we had our, groups broken down by grade. And so we had like sixth grade, we had seventh and eighth grade, we had ninth and 10th grade, and then we had 11th and 12th grade.

00;06;07;11 - 00;06;33;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So for total, sixth year, I was the only one that was standalone. And the other, you know, six remaining grades are grouped together seventh and eighth, ninth and 10th, 11th, 12th. You get the idea. But then we said we need the whatever the wheel says person from each of these grades. So again, this is something I would go over on my Patreon page and hopefully it might help you out helping me more creative and thus ultimately more engaging.

00;06;33;06 - 00;06;53;23
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But what we did was we just added a wheel and we said, all right, I need the sixth grader who's the tallest, I need the seventh grader who's the shortest? I need the ninth 10th grader who has the tallest socks I need the 11th 12th grader has the lowest phone battery percentage. And so if you're watching here on screen, what you do is you simply click edit Slide and right at the top all you got to do is click wheel.

00;06;53;25 - 00;07;15;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
You want to add the wheel. And so in pops the wheel settings right here. And so this is where you can adjust the individual items in the wheel. So if you don't want cheese because it's not relevant to what you're doing you can say tallest. And if you want highest battery percentage you say highest battery percentage where's a percent.

00;07;15;02 - 00;07;37;26
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So there it is. If you want to add another one, you simply click Add Item. Or better yet, you can do bulk add and you can just type them all in. And so you go, tallest socks, reddest hair, biggest mustache, or whatever your criteria are. There they are. You click add three items and boom, they are off and rolling.

00;07;37;26 - 00;07;56;10
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now once your wheel is on the screen, you notice it's kind of covering my face here if you don't want that. So you can go up to this little corner and just simply shrink it and put it right where you want it, maybe right underneath that finger where I'm pointing. Maybe you want it huge, right? So you can make it even bigger.

00;07;56;14 - 00;08;24;23
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
You can make it even smaller. And, there's all sorts of different ways that you can kind of mess around with and use the wheel, but that's way number one. We kind of like to use the wheel as a, contestant sort of generator. All right. The other thing that I love about the wheel is, or another way, way number two that we use the wheel is we will use it sometimes as a prize wheel.

00;08;24;23 - 00;08;43;29
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So we have a winner of a game, a standalone winner or a group of winners. And then we let that winner go ahead and, spin the wheel for an opportunity to win. So let's just say that they won pizza. And so here, I've already input my different types of pizza that I want to let them win.

00;08;44;03 - 00;09;07;00
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And so when you go ahead and, get this thing launched, you will see that you can you have a lot of different access, right? You have a lot of different access once you get this thing up and rolling. So we're going to pretend this is our projector screen and your person, oh, your person back in your booth is going to be the one that sees this.

00;09;07;00 - 00;09;30;04
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Or again, don't forget that. Now they have phone integration so you can run it like a remote phone, which is a pretty cool feature. So here we are. We are on our wheel right here. And this is what it looks like for the person in the booth. They'll have this start spin option. And they'll be able to see down here that the next winner is cheese.

00;09;30;11 - 00;09;51;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But if I don't want it to be cheese, it can reroll and it can reroll it randomly. Or you can choose a pre-selected option so you can see all of your options here. And you can say, I don't have Hawaiian pizza, I don't have deep dish, I only have sausage. And so we're going to make them think that they have the opportunity to get sausage.

00;09;51;02 - 00;10;13;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But really they don't. And so we're not doing random. We're going to do pre-selected. The pre-selected winner here is sausage. And now when we spin the wheel you're seeing it. You're hearing it. The winner is sausage right. Like I said I can now clear that. Now let's say I gave away sausage and so I don't want that anymore.

00;10;13;09 - 00;10;33;01
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
This is where I can turn on this hide. Last item. And so now sausage, which was what I give away. Now I don't have it because I gave it to this group. And I need a new prize to give away to the next group. I can't give away sausage twice. It only had it once. If I click hide last item, it will go away and it won't be an option on the wheel anymore.

00;10;33;01 - 00;10;57;16
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
So now let's just simulate that again. So I did in fact go ahead. Giveaway sausage I'm hiding the last item. Consider the last item hidden. And then we're going to clear that it's gone. And now we're like oh it needs to be pepperoni. So here we go. Give a pepperoni to the winning group. Group number two. Congratulations you one pepperoni.

00;10;57;16 - 00;11;17;12
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now if you're listening here on screen or you it was able to be picked up through my microphone, you will notice that they have different sound effects. So when you do the little, cheery sound effect, that's the one that pepperoni just made you. Little shrug sound effect. That's just a little kind of simple, like click sound, like, and so you can change that.

00;11;17;12 - 00;11;45;19
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Or if it's a negative consequence, you can also do the lose sound. And so cheese now has the lose sound. And so that sounds something like this. Now that no one wants cheese. All right. This is this is the bottom line. Okay. Here is another idea that I have is, we might, in our space, do something where, we have, like, rows.

00;11;45;23 - 00;12;03;14
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
We have 16 tables. So there's four, 4x4, four tables across, four tables down 16 total. So we might do something when we have a passage of Scripture, you know, that we want people to look up. And so then we might use the wheel and say, all right, row one. You're going to look up this. Row two, you're going to look up that.

00;12;03;16 - 00;12;22;06
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And here's what's cool is you saw my picture here. So you can also make your background custom. So right here let's say I want this slide right here to be where I put my wheel. First I got to give it a background right. So I'm going to go ahead and I'm going to make it an image background.

00;12;22;09 - 00;12;48;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
I'm going to upload a file. And I'm going to go navigate to these different verses of this slide that I have already made. And so boom, there's my verse slides. And so now I don't want that. I want the wheel now. And so I can say row one, row two, row three and row four. We're going to add those.

00;12;48;16 - 00;13;13;19
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
We're going to remove these. And now I can put this right here. Again don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten gets you 10% off of Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. But now I can put that right here. And I can say all right row one. You're going to go first. And then very simply right. Like as I am presenting this sucker, got to get down to it so I can show it to you.

00;13;13;19 - 00;13;42;15
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
But as I'm presenting it, I'll say, all right, row one. Here you go. Or not? Row one. Luke one goes to row one, in fact. Right. And once again, I should have selected hide winner because I can't actually have row one. That's a bummer, I missed out. What am I supposed to do? Well, your purpose in in person can actually hop back over here to edit and just very simply, either hide them and now they're going to be off my wheel or delete them and they're off my wheel either way.

00;13;42;18 - 00;14;01;14
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now if I hide them right, I can add them back on very simply. If, I delete them, I do have to go back in here and I have to type it all back out and do all that stuff, which as you see, is not that difficult. But it it does take a little bit more of an additional step.

00;14;01;14 - 00;14;21;22
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now here's the other cool thing. You might be thinking like, I don't I don't want like that background. I want like I want a video background. Great. Check this out. I don't want this background anymore. I go back in here to edit slide. I don't want it going to go over here to my slide settings. And instead of it being an image background, I can do a color background.

00;14;21;22 - 00;14;43;08
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
He's my color options right? Those are all the preloaded ones. Or I can say I want a video background. So I'm going to select video and I want it to be a YouTube embedded video, and I want it to be my video. So we're going to copy and paste that link here, paste embed that YouTube video and boom.

00;14;43;10 - 00;15;00;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
And I can put the wheel anywhere that I want. Now keep in mind that when it's a background, you saw it right here. Background videos will loop automatically and they do not play sounds. And so you can pull these directly off of the internet. And this is why I believe every single youth ministry should have a strong digital presence also.

00;15;00;25 - 00;15;21;25
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Hey, why you're here, why don't you go ahead and grab my hybrid strategy guide with a little bit of a different name from this episode that I dropped a little bit over a year ago. So that was idea number three. You can give out passages for the we'll idea number four, I'm actually going to share with those of you that are on my Patreon page.

00;15;21;25 - 00;15;44;13
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Now listen, don't forget that it's only about a dollar a week. And anyone who signs up before December 2nd, 2024 will get an exclusive free piece of merch. So you're going to get a piece of merch that's probably worth like $20. That's gonna like, pay for itself in the first five months. And I'm going to share my fourth favorite way that I

00;15;44;13 - 00;15;49;02
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
customize and use the wheel in my different teachings and in my different presentations.

00;15;49;09 - 00;16;06;08
Nick Clason| Hybrid Ministry
Hey, my friends, as always, don't forget if you want to know how to use the name picker that is going to be here in the next episode, if you're watching on YouTube, that'll be right here on screen. Go hop over to Patreon page. But until next time, and as always, my friends stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 124: Truly Interactive Sermons | How I use Sidekick https://www.hybridministry.xyz/124 09add7a8-1440-4524-8ccf-34388a19df60 Thu, 21 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 124 Truly Interactive Sermons | How I use Sidekick full Nick Clason In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry. 18:15 no 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry 🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup DESCRIPTION In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry. 📓 SHOWNOTES http://www.hybridministry.xyz/124 //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup //COLEADER PRICING CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10 https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing //[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book //CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching //CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU! https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms //FINISH THE DRAWING - HELP DERRY BUY PRESENTS! https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/finish-the-drawing/games/icebreakers-8666.html 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Phone Voting in Sidekick 01:53 The Creativity Challenge 02:36 BIG Announcement!! 04:06 Voting During Pre-Roll 07:13 #1 Game Style 09:39 #2 Game Style 12:10 #3 Game Style 15:56 Voting During Sermons 17:29 The Wheel -------------- TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:28:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Pastor. We all know the struggle that all of us in ministry face with online church and streaming and the tension between will people come and be a part of our church? Or will they just simply listen to us online? I mean, hey, listen, give me a like if anytime in the last week you have listened to another pastor sermon or any podcast of any sort, religion or otherwise, or if you've listened to a worship song on Spotify, Apple Music or on YouTube. 00:00:29:00 - 00:00:51:12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You see, the fact is we live now in a digital world where, content and sermons and music and worship music and all those things are available for our consumption at the touch and at the click of a finger. So how can we utilize technology in your ministry to make your programing in your service a little bit more hybrid? 00:00:51:19 - 00:01:11:08 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You know, hybrid I talked about this. It's the intersection of your in-person and your digital right. It's not forsaking one for the other, but it's simply finding a way to intersect them and to meld them together in the two. And we're going to look at my favorite feature in sidekick, which I believe makes you as hybrid as it can get in today's world. 00:01:11:13 - 00:01:31:15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry If you are new to this playlist, we have been simply talking in the playlist linked up right here about different features of sidekick, and in the last video I kind of introduced sidekick and I showed some of the miscellaneous features, but there are three kind of core pillars and core, feature principles about sidekick that are just simply fantastic. 00:01:31:15 - 00:01:51:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And the first one is the feature of vote. And you can pull your phone out and you can vote via QR codes. So that is what we're going to talk about today and in this video. But don't forget, if you're over here on YouTube that we do have chapters down at the bottom so that you can skip around, jump around to different sections and elements that pertain the most to you. 00:01:51:13 - 00:02:10:25 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But I was talking to a friend of mine at a conference of several years back, and who's leading a workshop, and it was so well done and it was so creative. And frankly, it was pre-COVID, but it was before, and I was thinking like, man, this is more than just him getting up and talking. This is him actually engaging and interacting with his audience and drawing them in. 00:02:10:25 - 00:02:31:05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And I asked him, like, how do you do it? And he said, honestly, I challenged myself to try and use at least once per message, a feature from sidekick that I couldn't use with something simple like a PowerPoint or Pro presenter presentation software. And in our student ministry we have gone all in on sidekick. And so I want to share that with you in this playlist. 00:02:31:05 - 00:02:52:25 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But I also want to let you know that launching on December 2nd, I am going to be launching a bonus weekly podcast simply called like what have I Done this week? And talking about all the ways that our youth ministry is trying to go hybrid, utilize digital, utilize YouTube, utilize sidekick. And so that is linked down below. Or you can scan the QR code that you see here on screen. 00:02:52:27 - 00:03:16:19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry That is going to give you that bonus weekly podcast. But there's also going to be other perks for Patreon members. And the cost, my friends, it's only a dollar per episode per week. And so jump in on that if you find that helpful. If you're looking to, turn the dial up on your creativity, on your hybrid, on your digital, I just want to simply walk you through what we are doing on a week by week basis. 00:03:16:19 - 00:03:39:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And as you hear what I'm doing, hopefully that just gives you other creative ideas and listen. I would love if you then would also shoot back what you're doing, because anytime I hear what someone else is doing, it causes my brain and my juices to get going and get creative. But anyone who signs up before December 2nd, which is the official launch of the Patreon show, will get an exclusive free piece of merch. 00:03:39:04 - 00:03:58:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I will mail it to you and so that will be just my token of appreciation. So literally, that piece of merch will pay for itself for like six months worth of you being signed up for the, hybrid, Patreon experience. And so jump on and honestly, take my money. Can't wait to get you guys going on that. 00:03:58:16 - 00:04:18:25 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But in this video, I want to talk about the different areas that you can use the voting in side. So you can include the voting slides in your pre-roll. So for example here on screen you'll see I'm going to click present. And we got a full screen window. And boom we're in our pre-roll slides. And these will rotate if you are not with us. 00:04:18:25 - 00:04:35:07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Last video is a rotate every few seconds. We set that up ahead of time. You can go check out how to do that there. Rotating here pretty quickly. You can slow those down, but if you wanted to add here, to that, first of all, you got to get out of your presentation window and you got to end your presentation to make your edit. 00:04:35:09 - 00:04:54:18 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But then right here, if I just wanted to be like, all right, let's include a voting thing here. All you got to do is just click this voting option. Boom. And it kind of overtakes the design of the screen. And while you're here, you could use this example. Which super power would you choose? Or you could say, which kind of coffee shop is best? 00:04:54:20 - 00:05:23:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And you can get people debating on the old Dunkin versus Starbucks versus, main, what else is out there? Whatever, whatever it is, like your local home town hipster coffee vibe. And then over here, it's, the checkmarks on the side. These are indicating correct answers. So if you don't want there to be a correct answer, even though Dunkin in this particular, case is probably the correct answer, there is no correct answer. 00:05:23:27 - 00:05:42:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then over here you can, you can offer this like, hey, do you want to show the QR code? So sometimes people can, scan it ahead of time and just have it on their phone, and their phone becomes like a game remote, or you can leave it being shown here on screen. You can indicate and show the live results. 00:05:42:04 - 00:05:59:18 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You can also reorder the, the votes like, the as the votes are coming in, whichever one's highest, we'll, we'll kind of jump to the top. You can either leave that or not. And then down here in the advanced settings, if you do have a correct answer, this this text here will be displayed on screen about whether it was correct or whether it wasn't. 00:05:59:18 - 00:06:18:18 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so now if we look back over here at our pre-roll slides, if we get this presentation up and going, we're going to make it a little smaller. So you just pretend that this little, window here is like your, it's your it's your your your screen. Right. It's your, projector screen. You drag this over or whatever. 00:06:18:21 - 00:06:38:11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So now it's rotating through. Rotating through. Boom. Here's a poll question. You can engage and hybridize and interact with your audience during your pre-roll session there. So that's one of my favorite ways to use it. I have a poll question of every single week during our pre-roll. The the hack to that is you do got to keep the slides. 00:06:38:11 - 00:06:44:07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry They can't be going this fast. I make mine a 14 second rotation that gives people enough 00:06:44:07 - 00:06:59:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry time to read the question, realize it, go scan it and vote and maybe get it in. Because once this q QR code is off the screen, voting is closed. And so once it goes to the next slide, they can't vote anymore. So they kind of got to wait for it to rotate back around. 00:06:59:15 - 00:07:22:29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Sometimes if I noticed people trying to do it though, what I will do is I will pull my phone up and I will just go back using the the phone remote kind of feature. Right. So that's one way that you can utilize and use it in your ministry. The pre-roll, voting option. You can also use it probably most commonly, probably the ways that we think about the most is with your games. 00:07:22:29 - 00:07:38:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Right. And so, I told you in the last video of our playlist linked right up here, if I haven't already done that. I have already done that. If you're watching here on YouTube, when you buy a game, you can, bring it in. And so we bought this game, finished the drawing in our youth ministry by my friend Derek. 00:07:38:26 - 00:07:55:24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Print it. I'll drop the link to that game down below in the show notes. Go buy it, hook his family up, give him some royalties. He needs Christmas presents. But, this is what it looks like when I import it in. And so in this particular game, what you would do is I'll go ahead and show it to you here on screen. 00:07:55:26 - 00:08:17:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry What you would do is you would, put one of these slides up. And a student would then have to finish the the drawing of this bus. Okay. So the way that we utilize this in our ministry was we actually probably use random name generator, which is going to be coming up here in one of these future videos. 00:08:17:11 - 00:08:38:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Put some students up on stage. We got four different students. And so then, we gave them this picture. We gave them a minute countdown timer on the screen, and then they drew they finished the drawing. Now, then we used a camera. We just plugged it in via our stage, portal. We use our video switcher and we switch to the camera view. 00:08:38:09 - 00:08:58:25 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So that up on the screen, everyone could see the finished drawing. So all four contestants were holding their drawing up. And then we said, scan this QR code. And so students would scan the QR code. Once they scanned it, once it was on their phone for good and they could vote. Whoo hoo! One person, one person, two person to person four. 00:08:58:27 - 00:09:28:12 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Based on that, that was a winner. You can utilize this for anything that has a subjective winner, right? Like, who do you think won this person? This person. You draw something, you build a sculpture you like, who was the loudest. You can vote it right. And once you get that QR code shown on screen and there's another thing you know, it's showing right here, or you click this little button down here in the sidekick window, show QR code and look, it makes it full and big and so everyone can gain access to it, no matter how big or how far away they are from the screen. 00:09:28:15 - 00:09:53:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Sometimes you kind of got to zoom in with your phone and stuff like that. So we use that to then kind of declare a winner. All right. Another game option. I want to show you this one that is, sitting in here if you already, a member or a subscriber of sidekick, which if you're not, let me remind you that for my podcast listeners only, you can try out co-leader, which will be what gives you access to sidekick is a presentation software. 00:09:53:29 - 00:10:19:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry If you have never signed up for anything on game before by using the code Hybrid Ministry ten, and you can get an access to Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. I will put the link down below at sidekick.tv/pricing for you to compare the differences, but they'll give you either 260 Collider credits versus 520 Collider credits, along with either 25 or 75 sidekick phone voting connections. 00:10:19:13 - 00:10:36:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So go check that out if that's something that you want to do, that's something that you want to learn. But if you sign up and you are a member, then in your completely free section here, I'm going to end this thing so that I can edit again. Right? So you'll notice controls change a little bit, but it's free thing. 00:10:36:18 - 00:10:56:21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry There's a game, that Josh Griffin did over at Mariner's called Zombie Apocalypse. So I hit that and, I imported it. And so here's what it is. So this is the instructions given to us by the sidekick team. It says, hey, watch Josh play this game and how he use it. Here's the instructions. Here's his supply list here to do all this thing. 00:10:56:26 - 00:11:16:25 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But so if we just ran this, this is another way to utilize the voting and play game. Make this small so that we can we can see everything. But. So here we are. We're playing this zombie apocalypse apocalypse game. And, you got the the plot and all these things, and this is like super next level, right? 00:11:16:25 - 00:11:37:14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So this question here is which weapon will you choose? You let the students decide if they want a hammer, a lightsaber, a rubber chicken or the impossible shot bow. Okay. And then here it is. Boom. Zombie approach is good news. Live separation and anxiety and will only go to one area at a time. And one big group of survivors should split up to have a better chance of survival. 00:11:37:14 - 00:11:59:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Each one has an either A, the baptismal, the tech booth, the playground, or the welcome booth. And then you let them vote, okay, crowd votes. And then, on one area, it kills the contestants who are there in that area. Then here's some more instructions. And they even incorporated the wheel. And so as you go through this is a a choose your own kind of adventure of a game. 00:11:59:02 - 00:12:17:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so that's another really fun, really creative way to use and utilize sidekick to your advantage. And then there's one last way that I want to show you. And I'll go ahead I'll get it presented once again. And this is with, another game that's free in the free section, if you sign up again, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten. 00:12:17:05 - 00:12:32:21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It's called Where's the ball. And so in this particular game, this is the example of what I was kind of saying earlier about you can use your phone as a remote. And so this game is it got a right and wrong answer to it. Right. So like the the other ones were like more subjective. What do you think. 00:12:32:21 - 00:12:52:18 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry What do you think this one is like? Here's a question. Here's the right answer. And so in this one your question that you must decide is is it a or is it be all right. And like I said in this particular case, you got to get that QR code live so that everyone can scan it on their phones, scans, skin scan, and then their phone becomes a remote. 00:12:52:18 - 00:13:12:16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so now the question on their phone, A or B, their phone as they're holding it, it says is it A or is it B they vote I in the booth or your booth person clicks right here, this end voting thing. And then when you click reveal correct answer, it shows the slide with the correct answer. And then it also reveals it on everyone's phones at the same time. 00:13:12:19 - 00:13:28:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry All right. It's pretty cool. Here we go to the next one. This is which of these pickleball, balls is the correct answer? They would vote A, B, C, or D, you'd end the voting, you'd reveal the correct answer. And of course, the answer is a the phone would say correct. If they got it wrong, it would say incorrect or whatever. 00:13:28:26 - 00:13:46:27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You said the advanced settings to be ahead of time. And I can show you how that works, because this one is a little bit more tricky to actually set up. You don't just simply click right like in this one right here. If I added a new slide and I wanted them to vote on who's the drawing, I simply click voting and then boom, I right I right to answer like who won? 00:13:46:27 - 00:14:02:19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then I go down here and I do, you know, one, two three, four I unchecked the winner and we're off to the races and where's the ball. Like I said it's a little bit more intricate. So let me show you how it works. So you click edit Slide and this is voting right. So I clicked on that, I clicked Edit voting. 00:14:02:19 - 00:14:24:05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But if it weren't there I would turn into voting. And right here at the top you got this little toggle switch that says, is this an image based question when it's not now it went away. When I turn it back on, it's this image based question. So like I said, question side answer slide. And so if I remove this you'll see that I can upload the question slide. 00:14:24:05 - 00:14:42:26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then I can upload the answer slide. Now if you're just getting this free where's the ball. It's already included in sidekick. Go get it. Go play it. It's super fun. But if you're creating it yourself, you'll have to upload this from somewhere just on your computer, right? And you also upload the answer and then you're going to correct or select which answer is truly correct. 00:14:43:03 - 00:14:58:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And then down here in the advanced settings you can either say correct or you can say sorry, or you can flame them like you're an idiot. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that if you want to keep your job, but hey, go for it. It's up to you, right? You can also add right? So here's where you would add or subtract answers. 00:14:58:01 - 00:15:13:23 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So if there's three multiple choice or four multiple choice, or if you need to take one away and make it three again, that's where you do that. And then you just simply click which of the answers is correct. This is one of my favorite ways. We did this one time and again. This is the type of stuff you get on the Patreon. 00:15:14:00 - 00:15:28:17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Like I'll share this idea and maybe you can use it. We did like a pet day. We were celebrating National Kitten Day, and we had people texting via our text groups to this picture of your pet, and then we put pictures of pets on screens. Then we said, who do you think? Whose pet do you think this is? 00:15:28:17 - 00:15:46:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Is it you know Jake's? Is it Brie's? Is it Adam's or is it, Gracie's? And then they would just vote, like, it was a fun way to use our students and to get them and let them be kind of the heroes and the superstars of our day and of our our game. And so that was a fun way. 00:15:46:09 - 00:16:15:20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And we used this image based question kind of voting option here on sidekick. The last way, of course, that you can use it is very obviously in your messages. And so once again, this is an example of what I'll be going on going on over in our Patreon. But in this particular week, actually tonight I'm preaching on, masks, and I got just a couple of different questions, on that, I'm talking about being judgmental. 00:16:15:22 - 00:16:33:04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And, in that I'm asking questions like, you know, are you ever judgmental? Yes or no? Scan it and let me know. Another one I'm using, like, hey, so, finish the phrase sticks and stones. What? And then I put a bunch of different ridiculous answers. And of course, the answer's six. And stones may break my bones. 00:16:33:04 - 00:16:48:02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But words will never hurt. Give me a like if you knew that. Because, that means you're old, like me, and you're, in your 30s as a youth pastor. Give me a sub. If not, because that means that you're younger and that means that you're actually on YouTube. And so give me subs so that you will see some of these future videos. 00:16:48:02 - 00:17:08:06 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But the point is, previously before sidekick, I would just say raise your hand if you know what this phrase means. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and that's an engagement. But now, in a way, to go hybrid, taking my in-person and my digital and putting at the intersection of my students phones, I say, hey, scan this QR code and finish this phrase. 00:17:08:09 - 00:17:30:13 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And again, like my friend Anthony said back at that conference, I challenged myself to try and use sidekick in my message as I create at least one time per week. And so voting is a fantastic way to to utilize that and to use that. Now the another really fun custom way that sidekick, has to offer this was just voting. 00:17:30:13 - 00:17:48:09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry The last video was just some of its miscellaneous features. The next video, which is going to be linked right here on screen. You can see it if you're watching on YouTube. Go ahead and tap that and go check that out. Is the random wheel and how you can customize it and generate it with customized, sounds and punishments and all sorts of different things. 00:17:48:09 - 00:18:06:17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So I want to chat through different creative ways. You can use that, perhaps in pre-roll and games, in messages and announcements, all sorts of different ways. I can't wait for you to see that. I hope that this helps you and your youth. Minutes to become more engaging, more interactive. Don't forget that's all at the Patreon is going to be about. 00:18:06:17 - 00:18:10:01 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But as always, don't forget my friends to stay hybrid. download youth ministry, sidekick, youth ministry, hybrid ministry, youth pastor podcast, student ministry, youth ministry programming, name picker, wheel, Random Generator, Live voting, Youth ministry creativity, Creative Programming, ProPresenter, Youth Group, Youth Group Phones, How to handle phones in youth ministry, phones are so distracting in youth ministry, Nick Clason, Josh Boldman 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/124

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//COLEADER PRICING
CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10
https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing

//[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

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🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
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OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Phone Voting in Sidekick
01:53 The Creativity Challenge
02:36 BIG Announcement!!
04:06 Voting During Pre-Roll
07:13 #1 Game Style
09:39 #2 Game Style
12:10 #3 Game Style
15:56 Voting During Sermons
17:29 The Wheel

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:28:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Pastor. We all know the struggle that all of us in ministry face with online church and streaming and the tension between will people come and be a part of our church? Or will they just simply listen to us online? I mean, hey, listen, give me a like if anytime in the last week you have listened to another pastor sermon or any podcast of any sort, religion or otherwise, or if you've listened to a worship song on Spotify, Apple Music or on YouTube.

00:00:29:00 - 00:00:51:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You see, the fact is we live now in a digital world where, content and sermons and music and worship music and all those things are available for our consumption at the touch and at the click of a finger. So how can we utilize technology in your ministry to make your programing in your service a little bit more hybrid?

00:00:51:19 - 00:01:11:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, hybrid I talked about this. It's the intersection of your in-person and your digital right. It's not forsaking one for the other, but it's simply finding a way to intersect them and to meld them together in the two. And we're going to look at my favorite feature in sidekick, which I believe makes you as hybrid as it can get in today's world.

00:01:11:13 - 00:01:31:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you are new to this playlist, we have been simply talking in the playlist linked up right here about different features of sidekick, and in the last video I kind of introduced sidekick and I showed some of the miscellaneous features, but there are three kind of core pillars and core, feature principles about sidekick that are just simply fantastic.

00:01:31:15 - 00:01:51:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the first one is the feature of vote. And you can pull your phone out and you can vote via QR codes. So that is what we're going to talk about today and in this video. But don't forget, if you're over here on YouTube that we do have chapters down at the bottom so that you can skip around, jump around to different sections and elements that pertain the most to you.

00:01:51:13 - 00:02:10:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But I was talking to a friend of mine at a conference of several years back, and who's leading a workshop, and it was so well done and it was so creative. And frankly, it was pre-COVID, but it was before, and I was thinking like, man, this is more than just him getting up and talking. This is him actually engaging and interacting with his audience and drawing them in.

00:02:10:25 - 00:02:31:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I asked him, like, how do you do it? And he said, honestly, I challenged myself to try and use at least once per message, a feature from sidekick that I couldn't use with something simple like a PowerPoint or Pro presenter presentation software. And in our student ministry we have gone all in on sidekick. And so I want to share that with you in this playlist.

00:02:31:05 - 00:02:52:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But I also want to let you know that launching on December 2nd, I am going to be launching a bonus weekly podcast simply called like what have I Done this week? And talking about all the ways that our youth ministry is trying to go hybrid, utilize digital, utilize YouTube, utilize sidekick. And so that is linked down below. Or you can scan the QR code that you see here on screen.

00:02:52:27 - 00:03:16:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That is going to give you that bonus weekly podcast. But there's also going to be other perks for Patreon members. And the cost, my friends, it's only a dollar per episode per week. And so jump in on that if you find that helpful. If you're looking to, turn the dial up on your creativity, on your hybrid, on your digital, I just want to simply walk you through what we are doing on a week by week basis.

00:03:16:19 - 00:03:39:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And as you hear what I'm doing, hopefully that just gives you other creative ideas and listen. I would love if you then would also shoot back what you're doing, because anytime I hear what someone else is doing, it causes my brain and my juices to get going and get creative. But anyone who signs up before December 2nd, which is the official launch of the Patreon show, will get an exclusive free piece of merch.

00:03:39:04 - 00:03:58:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I will mail it to you and so that will be just my token of appreciation. So literally, that piece of merch will pay for itself for like six months worth of you being signed up for the, hybrid, Patreon experience. And so jump on and honestly, take my money. Can't wait to get you guys going on that.

00:03:58:16 - 00:04:18:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But in this video, I want to talk about the different areas that you can use the voting in side. So you can include the voting slides in your pre-roll. So for example here on screen you'll see I'm going to click present. And we got a full screen window. And boom we're in our pre-roll slides. And these will rotate if you are not with us.

00:04:18:25 - 00:04:35:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Last video is a rotate every few seconds. We set that up ahead of time. You can go check out how to do that there. Rotating here pretty quickly. You can slow those down, but if you wanted to add here, to that, first of all, you got to get out of your presentation window and you got to end your presentation to make your edit.

00:04:35:09 - 00:04:54:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But then right here, if I just wanted to be like, all right, let's include a voting thing here. All you got to do is just click this voting option. Boom. And it kind of overtakes the design of the screen. And while you're here, you could use this example. Which super power would you choose? Or you could say, which kind of coffee shop is best?

00:04:54:20 - 00:05:23:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you can get people debating on the old Dunkin versus Starbucks versus, main, what else is out there? Whatever, whatever it is, like your local home town hipster coffee vibe. And then over here, it's, the checkmarks on the side. These are indicating correct answers. So if you don't want there to be a correct answer, even though Dunkin in this particular, case is probably the correct answer, there is no correct answer.

00:05:23:27 - 00:05:42:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then over here you can, you can offer this like, hey, do you want to show the QR code? So sometimes people can, scan it ahead of time and just have it on their phone, and their phone becomes like a game remote, or you can leave it being shown here on screen. You can indicate and show the live results.

00:05:42:04 - 00:05:59:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can also reorder the, the votes like, the as the votes are coming in, whichever one's highest, we'll, we'll kind of jump to the top. You can either leave that or not. And then down here in the advanced settings, if you do have a correct answer, this this text here will be displayed on screen about whether it was correct or whether it wasn't.

00:05:59:18 - 00:06:18:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so now if we look back over here at our pre-roll slides, if we get this presentation up and going, we're going to make it a little smaller. So you just pretend that this little, window here is like your, it's your it's your your your screen. Right. It's your, projector screen. You drag this over or whatever.

00:06:18:21 - 00:06:38:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So now it's rotating through. Rotating through. Boom. Here's a poll question. You can engage and hybridize and interact with your audience during your pre-roll session there. So that's one of my favorite ways to use it. I have a poll question of every single week during our pre-roll. The the hack to that is you do got to keep the slides.

00:06:38:11 - 00:06:44:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
They can't be going this fast. I make mine a 14 second rotation that gives people enough

00:06:44:07 - 00:06:59:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
time to read the question, realize it, go scan it and vote and maybe get it in. Because once this q QR code is off the screen, voting is closed. And so once it goes to the next slide, they can't vote anymore. So they kind of got to wait for it to rotate back around.

00:06:59:15 - 00:07:22:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sometimes if I noticed people trying to do it though, what I will do is I will pull my phone up and I will just go back using the the phone remote kind of feature. Right. So that's one way that you can utilize and use it in your ministry. The pre-roll, voting option. You can also use it probably most commonly, probably the ways that we think about the most is with your games.

00:07:22:29 - 00:07:38:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. And so, I told you in the last video of our playlist linked right up here, if I haven't already done that. I have already done that. If you're watching here on YouTube, when you buy a game, you can, bring it in. And so we bought this game, finished the drawing in our youth ministry by my friend Derek.

00:07:38:26 - 00:07:55:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Print it. I'll drop the link to that game down below in the show notes. Go buy it, hook his family up, give him some royalties. He needs Christmas presents. But, this is what it looks like when I import it in. And so in this particular game, what you would do is I'll go ahead and show it to you here on screen.

00:07:55:26 - 00:08:17:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What you would do is you would, put one of these slides up. And a student would then have to finish the the drawing of this bus. Okay. So the way that we utilize this in our ministry was we actually probably use random name generator, which is going to be coming up here in one of these future videos.

00:08:17:11 - 00:08:38:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Put some students up on stage. We got four different students. And so then, we gave them this picture. We gave them a minute countdown timer on the screen, and then they drew they finished the drawing. Now, then we used a camera. We just plugged it in via our stage, portal. We use our video switcher and we switch to the camera view.

00:08:38:09 - 00:08:58:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So that up on the screen, everyone could see the finished drawing. So all four contestants were holding their drawing up. And then we said, scan this QR code. And so students would scan the QR code. Once they scanned it, once it was on their phone for good and they could vote. Whoo hoo! One person, one person, two person to person four.

00:08:58:27 - 00:09:28:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Based on that, that was a winner. You can utilize this for anything that has a subjective winner, right? Like, who do you think won this person? This person. You draw something, you build a sculpture you like, who was the loudest. You can vote it right. And once you get that QR code shown on screen and there's another thing you know, it's showing right here, or you click this little button down here in the sidekick window, show QR code and look, it makes it full and big and so everyone can gain access to it, no matter how big or how far away they are from the screen.

00:09:28:15 - 00:09:53:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sometimes you kind of got to zoom in with your phone and stuff like that. So we use that to then kind of declare a winner. All right. Another game option. I want to show you this one that is, sitting in here if you already, a member or a subscriber of sidekick, which if you're not, let me remind you that for my podcast listeners only, you can try out co-leader, which will be what gives you access to sidekick is a presentation software.

00:09:53:29 - 00:10:19:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you have never signed up for anything on game before by using the code Hybrid Ministry ten, and you can get an access to Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. I will put the link down below at sidekick.tv/pricing for you to compare the differences, but they'll give you either 260 Collider credits versus 520 Collider credits, along with either 25 or 75 sidekick phone voting connections.

00:10:19:13 - 00:10:36:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So go check that out if that's something that you want to do, that's something that you want to learn. But if you sign up and you are a member, then in your completely free section here, I'm going to end this thing so that I can edit again. Right? So you'll notice controls change a little bit, but it's free thing.

00:10:36:18 - 00:10:56:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There's a game, that Josh Griffin did over at Mariner's called Zombie Apocalypse. So I hit that and, I imported it. And so here's what it is. So this is the instructions given to us by the sidekick team. It says, hey, watch Josh play this game and how he use it. Here's the instructions. Here's his supply list here to do all this thing.

00:10:56:26 - 00:11:16:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But so if we just ran this, this is another way to utilize the voting and play game. Make this small so that we can we can see everything. But. So here we are. We're playing this zombie apocalypse apocalypse game. And, you got the the plot and all these things, and this is like super next level, right?

00:11:16:25 - 00:11:37:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So this question here is which weapon will you choose? You let the students decide if they want a hammer, a lightsaber, a rubber chicken or the impossible shot bow. Okay. And then here it is. Boom. Zombie approach is good news. Live separation and anxiety and will only go to one area at a time. And one big group of survivors should split up to have a better chance of survival.

00:11:37:14 - 00:11:59:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Each one has an either A, the baptismal, the tech booth, the playground, or the welcome booth. And then you let them vote, okay, crowd votes. And then, on one area, it kills the contestants who are there in that area. Then here's some more instructions. And they even incorporated the wheel. And so as you go through this is a a choose your own kind of adventure of a game.

00:11:59:02 - 00:12:17:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's another really fun, really creative way to use and utilize sidekick to your advantage. And then there's one last way that I want to show you. And I'll go ahead I'll get it presented once again. And this is with, another game that's free in the free section, if you sign up again, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten.

00:12:17:05 - 00:12:32:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's called Where's the ball. And so in this particular game, this is the example of what I was kind of saying earlier about you can use your phone as a remote. And so this game is it got a right and wrong answer to it. Right. So like the the other ones were like more subjective. What do you think.

00:12:32:21 - 00:12:52:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What do you think this one is like? Here's a question. Here's the right answer. And so in this one your question that you must decide is is it a or is it be all right. And like I said in this particular case, you got to get that QR code live so that everyone can scan it on their phones, scans, skin scan, and then their phone becomes a remote.

00:12:52:18 - 00:13:12:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so now the question on their phone, A or B, their phone as they're holding it, it says is it A or is it B they vote I in the booth or your booth person clicks right here, this end voting thing. And then when you click reveal correct answer, it shows the slide with the correct answer. And then it also reveals it on everyone's phones at the same time.

00:13:12:19 - 00:13:28:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All right. It's pretty cool. Here we go to the next one. This is which of these pickleball, balls is the correct answer? They would vote A, B, C, or D, you'd end the voting, you'd reveal the correct answer. And of course, the answer is a the phone would say correct. If they got it wrong, it would say incorrect or whatever.

00:13:28:26 - 00:13:46:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You said the advanced settings to be ahead of time. And I can show you how that works, because this one is a little bit more tricky to actually set up. You don't just simply click right like in this one right here. If I added a new slide and I wanted them to vote on who's the drawing, I simply click voting and then boom, I right I right to answer like who won?

00:13:46:27 - 00:14:02:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then I go down here and I do, you know, one, two three, four I unchecked the winner and we're off to the races and where's the ball. Like I said it's a little bit more intricate. So let me show you how it works. So you click edit Slide and this is voting right. So I clicked on that, I clicked Edit voting.

00:14:02:19 - 00:14:24:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if it weren't there I would turn into voting. And right here at the top you got this little toggle switch that says, is this an image based question when it's not now it went away. When I turn it back on, it's this image based question. So like I said, question side answer slide. And so if I remove this you'll see that I can upload the question slide.

00:14:24:05 - 00:14:42:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then I can upload the answer slide. Now if you're just getting this free where's the ball. It's already included in sidekick. Go get it. Go play it. It's super fun. But if you're creating it yourself, you'll have to upload this from somewhere just on your computer, right? And you also upload the answer and then you're going to correct or select which answer is truly correct.

00:14:43:03 - 00:14:58:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then down here in the advanced settings you can either say correct or you can say sorry, or you can flame them like you're an idiot. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that if you want to keep your job, but hey, go for it. It's up to you, right? You can also add right? So here's where you would add or subtract answers.

00:14:58:01 - 00:15:13:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if there's three multiple choice or four multiple choice, or if you need to take one away and make it three again, that's where you do that. And then you just simply click which of the answers is correct. This is one of my favorite ways. We did this one time and again. This is the type of stuff you get on the Patreon.

00:15:14:00 - 00:15:28:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like I'll share this idea and maybe you can use it. We did like a pet day. We were celebrating National Kitten Day, and we had people texting via our text groups to this picture of your pet, and then we put pictures of pets on screens. Then we said, who do you think? Whose pet do you think this is?

00:15:28:17 - 00:15:46:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Is it you know Jake's? Is it Brie's? Is it Adam's or is it, Gracie's? And then they would just vote, like, it was a fun way to use our students and to get them and let them be kind of the heroes and the superstars of our day and of our our game. And so that was a fun way.

00:15:46:09 - 00:16:15:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we used this image based question kind of voting option here on sidekick. The last way, of course, that you can use it is very obviously in your messages. And so once again, this is an example of what I'll be going on going on over in our Patreon. But in this particular week, actually tonight I'm preaching on, masks, and I got just a couple of different questions, on that, I'm talking about being judgmental.

00:16:15:22 - 00:16:33:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, in that I'm asking questions like, you know, are you ever judgmental? Yes or no? Scan it and let me know. Another one I'm using, like, hey, so, finish the phrase sticks and stones. What? And then I put a bunch of different ridiculous answers. And of course, the answer's six. And stones may break my bones.

00:16:33:04 - 00:16:48:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But words will never hurt. Give me a like if you knew that. Because, that means you're old, like me, and you're, in your 30s as a youth pastor. Give me a sub. If not, because that means that you're younger and that means that you're actually on YouTube. And so give me subs so that you will see some of these future videos.

00:16:48:02 - 00:17:08:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But the point is, previously before sidekick, I would just say raise your hand if you know what this phrase means. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and that's an engagement. But now, in a way, to go hybrid, taking my in-person and my digital and putting at the intersection of my students phones, I say, hey, scan this QR code and finish this phrase.

00:17:08:09 - 00:17:30:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And again, like my friend Anthony said back at that conference, I challenged myself to try and use sidekick in my message as I create at least one time per week. And so voting is a fantastic way to to utilize that and to use that. Now the another really fun custom way that sidekick, has to offer this was just voting.

00:17:30:13 - 00:17:48:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The last video was just some of its miscellaneous features. The next video, which is going to be linked right here on screen. You can see it if you're watching on YouTube. Go ahead and tap that and go check that out. Is the random wheel and how you can customize it and generate it with customized, sounds and punishments and all sorts of different things.

00:17:48:09 - 00:18:06:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So I want to chat through different creative ways. You can use that, perhaps in pre-roll and games, in messages and announcements, all sorts of different ways. I can't wait for you to see that. I hope that this helps you and your youth. Minutes to become more engaging, more interactive. Don't forget that's all at the Patreon is going to be about.

00:18:06:17 - 00:18:10:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But as always, don't forget my friends to stay hybrid.

]]> 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, discover how to create truly interactive sermons using Sidekick made by Download Youth Ministry to engage students like never before! We’ll explore practical ways to blend creativity with technology, making your youth ministry sermons more dynamic and memorable. Ideal for leaders aiming to elevate their hybrid ministry approach in their student ministry, this episode offers key strategies to transform your youth ministry.

📓 SHOWNOTES
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/124

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

//COLEADER PRICING
CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10
https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing

//[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching

//CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU!
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms

//FINISH THE DRAWING - HELP DERRY BUY PRESENTS!
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/finish-the-drawing/games/icebreakers-8666.html

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

--------------
🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉
We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context!
The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe!
https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick

--------------
🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU!
Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

//SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Phone Voting in Sidekick
01:53 The Creativity Challenge
02:36 BIG Announcement!!
04:06 Voting During Pre-Roll
07:13 #1 Game Style
09:39 #2 Game Style
12:10 #3 Game Style
15:56 Voting During Sermons
17:29 The Wheel

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:28:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Pastor. We all know the struggle that all of us in ministry face with online church and streaming and the tension between will people come and be a part of our church? Or will they just simply listen to us online? I mean, hey, listen, give me a like if anytime in the last week you have listened to another pastor sermon or any podcast of any sort, religion or otherwise, or if you've listened to a worship song on Spotify, Apple Music or on YouTube.

00:00:29:00 - 00:00:51:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You see, the fact is we live now in a digital world where, content and sermons and music and worship music and all those things are available for our consumption at the touch and at the click of a finger. So how can we utilize technology in your ministry to make your programing in your service a little bit more hybrid?

00:00:51:19 - 00:01:11:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, hybrid I talked about this. It's the intersection of your in-person and your digital right. It's not forsaking one for the other, but it's simply finding a way to intersect them and to meld them together in the two. And we're going to look at my favorite feature in sidekick, which I believe makes you as hybrid as it can get in today's world.

00:01:11:13 - 00:01:31:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you are new to this playlist, we have been simply talking in the playlist linked up right here about different features of sidekick, and in the last video I kind of introduced sidekick and I showed some of the miscellaneous features, but there are three kind of core pillars and core, feature principles about sidekick that are just simply fantastic.

00:01:31:15 - 00:01:51:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the first one is the feature of vote. And you can pull your phone out and you can vote via QR codes. So that is what we're going to talk about today and in this video. But don't forget, if you're over here on YouTube that we do have chapters down at the bottom so that you can skip around, jump around to different sections and elements that pertain the most to you.

00:01:51:13 - 00:02:10:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But I was talking to a friend of mine at a conference of several years back, and who's leading a workshop, and it was so well done and it was so creative. And frankly, it was pre-COVID, but it was before, and I was thinking like, man, this is more than just him getting up and talking. This is him actually engaging and interacting with his audience and drawing them in.

00:02:10:25 - 00:02:31:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I asked him, like, how do you do it? And he said, honestly, I challenged myself to try and use at least once per message, a feature from sidekick that I couldn't use with something simple like a PowerPoint or Pro presenter presentation software. And in our student ministry we have gone all in on sidekick. And so I want to share that with you in this playlist.

00:02:31:05 - 00:02:52:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But I also want to let you know that launching on December 2nd, I am going to be launching a bonus weekly podcast simply called like what have I Done this week? And talking about all the ways that our youth ministry is trying to go hybrid, utilize digital, utilize YouTube, utilize sidekick. And so that is linked down below. Or you can scan the QR code that you see here on screen.

00:02:52:27 - 00:03:16:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That is going to give you that bonus weekly podcast. But there's also going to be other perks for Patreon members. And the cost, my friends, it's only a dollar per episode per week. And so jump in on that if you find that helpful. If you're looking to, turn the dial up on your creativity, on your hybrid, on your digital, I just want to simply walk you through what we are doing on a week by week basis.

00:03:16:19 - 00:03:39:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And as you hear what I'm doing, hopefully that just gives you other creative ideas and listen. I would love if you then would also shoot back what you're doing, because anytime I hear what someone else is doing, it causes my brain and my juices to get going and get creative. But anyone who signs up before December 2nd, which is the official launch of the Patreon show, will get an exclusive free piece of merch.

00:03:39:04 - 00:03:58:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I will mail it to you and so that will be just my token of appreciation. So literally, that piece of merch will pay for itself for like six months worth of you being signed up for the, hybrid, Patreon experience. And so jump on and honestly, take my money. Can't wait to get you guys going on that.

00:03:58:16 - 00:04:18:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But in this video, I want to talk about the different areas that you can use the voting in side. So you can include the voting slides in your pre-roll. So for example here on screen you'll see I'm going to click present. And we got a full screen window. And boom we're in our pre-roll slides. And these will rotate if you are not with us.

00:04:18:25 - 00:04:35:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Last video is a rotate every few seconds. We set that up ahead of time. You can go check out how to do that there. Rotating here pretty quickly. You can slow those down, but if you wanted to add here, to that, first of all, you got to get out of your presentation window and you got to end your presentation to make your edit.

00:04:35:09 - 00:04:54:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But then right here, if I just wanted to be like, all right, let's include a voting thing here. All you got to do is just click this voting option. Boom. And it kind of overtakes the design of the screen. And while you're here, you could use this example. Which super power would you choose? Or you could say, which kind of coffee shop is best?

00:04:54:20 - 00:05:23:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you can get people debating on the old Dunkin versus Starbucks versus, main, what else is out there? Whatever, whatever it is, like your local home town hipster coffee vibe. And then over here, it's, the checkmarks on the side. These are indicating correct answers. So if you don't want there to be a correct answer, even though Dunkin in this particular, case is probably the correct answer, there is no correct answer.

00:05:23:27 - 00:05:42:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then over here you can, you can offer this like, hey, do you want to show the QR code? So sometimes people can, scan it ahead of time and just have it on their phone, and their phone becomes like a game remote, or you can leave it being shown here on screen. You can indicate and show the live results.

00:05:42:04 - 00:05:59:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can also reorder the, the votes like, the as the votes are coming in, whichever one's highest, we'll, we'll kind of jump to the top. You can either leave that or not. And then down here in the advanced settings, if you do have a correct answer, this this text here will be displayed on screen about whether it was correct or whether it wasn't.

00:05:59:18 - 00:06:18:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so now if we look back over here at our pre-roll slides, if we get this presentation up and going, we're going to make it a little smaller. So you just pretend that this little, window here is like your, it's your it's your your your screen. Right. It's your, projector screen. You drag this over or whatever.

00:06:18:21 - 00:06:38:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So now it's rotating through. Rotating through. Boom. Here's a poll question. You can engage and hybridize and interact with your audience during your pre-roll session there. So that's one of my favorite ways to use it. I have a poll question of every single week during our pre-roll. The the hack to that is you do got to keep the slides.

00:06:38:11 - 00:06:44:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
They can't be going this fast. I make mine a 14 second rotation that gives people enough

00:06:44:07 - 00:06:59:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
time to read the question, realize it, go scan it and vote and maybe get it in. Because once this q QR code is off the screen, voting is closed. And so once it goes to the next slide, they can't vote anymore. So they kind of got to wait for it to rotate back around.

00:06:59:15 - 00:07:22:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sometimes if I noticed people trying to do it though, what I will do is I will pull my phone up and I will just go back using the the phone remote kind of feature. Right. So that's one way that you can utilize and use it in your ministry. The pre-roll, voting option. You can also use it probably most commonly, probably the ways that we think about the most is with your games.

00:07:22:29 - 00:07:38:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. And so, I told you in the last video of our playlist linked right up here, if I haven't already done that. I have already done that. If you're watching here on YouTube, when you buy a game, you can, bring it in. And so we bought this game, finished the drawing in our youth ministry by my friend Derek.

00:07:38:26 - 00:07:55:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Print it. I'll drop the link to that game down below in the show notes. Go buy it, hook his family up, give him some royalties. He needs Christmas presents. But, this is what it looks like when I import it in. And so in this particular game, what you would do is I'll go ahead and show it to you here on screen.

00:07:55:26 - 00:08:17:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What you would do is you would, put one of these slides up. And a student would then have to finish the the drawing of this bus. Okay. So the way that we utilize this in our ministry was we actually probably use random name generator, which is going to be coming up here in one of these future videos.

00:08:17:11 - 00:08:38:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Put some students up on stage. We got four different students. And so then, we gave them this picture. We gave them a minute countdown timer on the screen, and then they drew they finished the drawing. Now, then we used a camera. We just plugged it in via our stage, portal. We use our video switcher and we switch to the camera view.

00:08:38:09 - 00:08:58:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So that up on the screen, everyone could see the finished drawing. So all four contestants were holding their drawing up. And then we said, scan this QR code. And so students would scan the QR code. Once they scanned it, once it was on their phone for good and they could vote. Whoo hoo! One person, one person, two person to person four.

00:08:58:27 - 00:09:28:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Based on that, that was a winner. You can utilize this for anything that has a subjective winner, right? Like, who do you think won this person? This person. You draw something, you build a sculpture you like, who was the loudest. You can vote it right. And once you get that QR code shown on screen and there's another thing you know, it's showing right here, or you click this little button down here in the sidekick window, show QR code and look, it makes it full and big and so everyone can gain access to it, no matter how big or how far away they are from the screen.

00:09:28:15 - 00:09:53:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sometimes you kind of got to zoom in with your phone and stuff like that. So we use that to then kind of declare a winner. All right. Another game option. I want to show you this one that is, sitting in here if you already, a member or a subscriber of sidekick, which if you're not, let me remind you that for my podcast listeners only, you can try out co-leader, which will be what gives you access to sidekick is a presentation software.

00:09:53:29 - 00:10:19:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
If you have never signed up for anything on game before by using the code Hybrid Ministry ten, and you can get an access to Premium or Premium Plus of Collider. I will put the link down below at sidekick.tv/pricing for you to compare the differences, but they'll give you either 260 Collider credits versus 520 Collider credits, along with either 25 or 75 sidekick phone voting connections.

00:10:19:13 - 00:10:36:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So go check that out if that's something that you want to do, that's something that you want to learn. But if you sign up and you are a member, then in your completely free section here, I'm going to end this thing so that I can edit again. Right? So you'll notice controls change a little bit, but it's free thing.

00:10:36:18 - 00:10:56:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There's a game, that Josh Griffin did over at Mariner's called Zombie Apocalypse. So I hit that and, I imported it. And so here's what it is. So this is the instructions given to us by the sidekick team. It says, hey, watch Josh play this game and how he use it. Here's the instructions. Here's his supply list here to do all this thing.

00:10:56:26 - 00:11:16:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But so if we just ran this, this is another way to utilize the voting and play game. Make this small so that we can we can see everything. But. So here we are. We're playing this zombie apocalypse apocalypse game. And, you got the the plot and all these things, and this is like super next level, right?

00:11:16:25 - 00:11:37:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So this question here is which weapon will you choose? You let the students decide if they want a hammer, a lightsaber, a rubber chicken or the impossible shot bow. Okay. And then here it is. Boom. Zombie approach is good news. Live separation and anxiety and will only go to one area at a time. And one big group of survivors should split up to have a better chance of survival.

00:11:37:14 - 00:11:59:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Each one has an either A, the baptismal, the tech booth, the playground, or the welcome booth. And then you let them vote, okay, crowd votes. And then, on one area, it kills the contestants who are there in that area. Then here's some more instructions. And they even incorporated the wheel. And so as you go through this is a a choose your own kind of adventure of a game.

00:11:59:02 - 00:12:17:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's another really fun, really creative way to use and utilize sidekick to your advantage. And then there's one last way that I want to show you. And I'll go ahead I'll get it presented once again. And this is with, another game that's free in the free section, if you sign up again, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten.

00:12:17:05 - 00:12:32:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's called Where's the ball. And so in this particular game, this is the example of what I was kind of saying earlier about you can use your phone as a remote. And so this game is it got a right and wrong answer to it. Right. So like the the other ones were like more subjective. What do you think.

00:12:32:21 - 00:12:52:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What do you think this one is like? Here's a question. Here's the right answer. And so in this one your question that you must decide is is it a or is it be all right. And like I said in this particular case, you got to get that QR code live so that everyone can scan it on their phones, scans, skin scan, and then their phone becomes a remote.

00:12:52:18 - 00:13:12:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so now the question on their phone, A or B, their phone as they're holding it, it says is it A or is it B they vote I in the booth or your booth person clicks right here, this end voting thing. And then when you click reveal correct answer, it shows the slide with the correct answer. And then it also reveals it on everyone's phones at the same time.

00:13:12:19 - 00:13:28:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All right. It's pretty cool. Here we go to the next one. This is which of these pickleball, balls is the correct answer? They would vote A, B, C, or D, you'd end the voting, you'd reveal the correct answer. And of course, the answer is a the phone would say correct. If they got it wrong, it would say incorrect or whatever.

00:13:28:26 - 00:13:46:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You said the advanced settings to be ahead of time. And I can show you how that works, because this one is a little bit more tricky to actually set up. You don't just simply click right like in this one right here. If I added a new slide and I wanted them to vote on who's the drawing, I simply click voting and then boom, I right I right to answer like who won?

00:13:46:27 - 00:14:02:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then I go down here and I do, you know, one, two three, four I unchecked the winner and we're off to the races and where's the ball. Like I said it's a little bit more intricate. So let me show you how it works. So you click edit Slide and this is voting right. So I clicked on that, I clicked Edit voting.

00:14:02:19 - 00:14:24:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But if it weren't there I would turn into voting. And right here at the top you got this little toggle switch that says, is this an image based question when it's not now it went away. When I turn it back on, it's this image based question. So like I said, question side answer slide. And so if I remove this you'll see that I can upload the question slide.

00:14:24:05 - 00:14:42:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then I can upload the answer slide. Now if you're just getting this free where's the ball. It's already included in sidekick. Go get it. Go play it. It's super fun. But if you're creating it yourself, you'll have to upload this from somewhere just on your computer, right? And you also upload the answer and then you're going to correct or select which answer is truly correct.

00:14:43:03 - 00:14:58:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then down here in the advanced settings you can either say correct or you can say sorry, or you can flame them like you're an idiot. I wouldn't necessarily recommend that if you want to keep your job, but hey, go for it. It's up to you, right? You can also add right? So here's where you would add or subtract answers.

00:14:58:01 - 00:15:13:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So if there's three multiple choice or four multiple choice, or if you need to take one away and make it three again, that's where you do that. And then you just simply click which of the answers is correct. This is one of my favorite ways. We did this one time and again. This is the type of stuff you get on the Patreon.

00:15:14:00 - 00:15:28:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like I'll share this idea and maybe you can use it. We did like a pet day. We were celebrating National Kitten Day, and we had people texting via our text groups to this picture of your pet, and then we put pictures of pets on screens. Then we said, who do you think? Whose pet do you think this is?

00:15:28:17 - 00:15:46:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Is it you know Jake's? Is it Brie's? Is it Adam's or is it, Gracie's? And then they would just vote, like, it was a fun way to use our students and to get them and let them be kind of the heroes and the superstars of our day and of our our game. And so that was a fun way.

00:15:46:09 - 00:16:15:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we used this image based question kind of voting option here on sidekick. The last way, of course, that you can use it is very obviously in your messages. And so once again, this is an example of what I'll be going on going on over in our Patreon. But in this particular week, actually tonight I'm preaching on, masks, and I got just a couple of different questions, on that, I'm talking about being judgmental.

00:16:15:22 - 00:16:33:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, in that I'm asking questions like, you know, are you ever judgmental? Yes or no? Scan it and let me know. Another one I'm using, like, hey, so, finish the phrase sticks and stones. What? And then I put a bunch of different ridiculous answers. And of course, the answer's six. And stones may break my bones.

00:16:33:04 - 00:16:48:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But words will never hurt. Give me a like if you knew that. Because, that means you're old, like me, and you're, in your 30s as a youth pastor. Give me a sub. If not, because that means that you're younger and that means that you're actually on YouTube. And so give me subs so that you will see some of these future videos.

00:16:48:02 - 00:17:08:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But the point is, previously before sidekick, I would just say raise your hand if you know what this phrase means. Sticks and stones may break my bones, and that's an engagement. But now, in a way, to go hybrid, taking my in-person and my digital and putting at the intersection of my students phones, I say, hey, scan this QR code and finish this phrase.

00:17:08:09 - 00:17:30:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And again, like my friend Anthony said back at that conference, I challenged myself to try and use sidekick in my message as I create at least one time per week. And so voting is a fantastic way to to utilize that and to use that. Now the another really fun custom way that sidekick, has to offer this was just voting.

00:17:30:13 - 00:17:48:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The last video was just some of its miscellaneous features. The next video, which is going to be linked right here on screen. You can see it if you're watching on YouTube. Go ahead and tap that and go check that out. Is the random wheel and how you can customize it and generate it with customized, sounds and punishments and all sorts of different things.

00:17:48:09 - 00:18:06:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So I want to chat through different creative ways. You can use that, perhaps in pre-roll and games, in messages and announcements, all sorts of different ways. I can't wait for you to see that. I hope that this helps you and your youth. Minutes to become more engaging, more interactive. Don't forget that's all at the Patreon is going to be about.

00:18:06:17 - 00:18:10:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But as always, don't forget my friends to stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 123: LIVE Sidekick Demo and Review! Youth Ministry Turned Interactive https://www.hybridministry.xyz/123 8b9a811b-d7a2-4708-951d-ed02b9f41afb Thu, 14 Nov 2024 05:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 123 LIVE Sidekick Demo and Review! Youth Ministry Turned Interactive full Nick Clason In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we’re diving into a live demo and review of Sidekick – a powerful tool for youth ministry and interactive programming! See how Sidekick can transform your youth group experience by adding a dynamic, creative edge to your student ministry. Sidekick from Download Youth Ministry is perfect for leaders looking to engage students in fresh ways, this episode is packed with insights to level up your student ministry service! 16:20 no 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST https://patreon.com/hybridministry 🖥️ SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup DESCRIPTION In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we’re diving into a live demo and review of Sidekick – a powerful tool for youth ministry and interactive programming! See how Sidekick can transform your youth group experience by adding a dynamic, creative edge to your student ministry. Sidekick from Download Youth Ministry is perfect for leaders looking to engage students in fresh ways, this episode is packed with insights to level up your student ministry service! 📓 SHOWNOTES http://www.hybridministry.xyz/123 //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup //COLEADER PRICING CODE: HYBRIDMINISTRY10 https://www.sidekick.tv/pricing //[FREE] STRATEGY GUIDE https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book //CUSTOM HYBRID COACHING https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching //CHURCH COMMUNICATIONS DONE FOR YOU! https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/comms 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz -------------- 🎉 FREE STUFF 🎉 We have all kinds of FREE Things that you can use in your context! The best way to pay us back is a review or a YouTube Subscribe! https://www.linktr.ee/clasonnick -------------- 🛠️TOOLS I USE THAT CAN HELP YOU! Some of the below links are affiliate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit //SIDEKICK SETUP GUIDE https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/setup 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 More Engaging Services with Sidekick 02:26 New Patreon Show Starting! 04:08 Feature #1 06:48 Co-Leader Promo Code 08:23 Feature #2 11:39 Feature #3 12:12 Feature #4 13:44 Feature #5 14:07 Feature #6 14:40 Feature #7 15:35 Feature #8 -------------- TRANSCRIPT 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;04;17 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Youth pastor. Collegiate minister. Senior pastor. What if I told you 00;00;04;17 - 00;00;12;28 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry that there was a better presentation software out there than pro presenter PowerPoint, or whatever else you use? 00;00;12;28 - 00;00;30;19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry It sounded too good to be true. Well, listen, it is made by youth pastors and is made for youth pastors. Give me a like if you think you already know what I'm talking about, because I am talking about my favorite presentation software and it's called sidekick. 00;00;30;19 - 00;01;01;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And here's why. This is great, regardless of if you're in youth ministry or not, because it is made for interaction and it is made for customization. But there is so much more. And in this video and in this upcoming playlist, I want to share with you what those features are. This video in particular, I'm going to drop my top eight different miscellaneous features because everyone knows that sidekick has things like the voting and the wheel picker and the name picker. 00;01;01;29 - 00;01;23;20 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But in this video, I'm going to share the other things that sidekick has to offer besides those obvious kind of milestone landmark, features built in woven into the presentation software. And if you're here on YouTube, as always, don't forget that there are chapters listed down below at the bottom so that you can jump ahead to what matters most to you. 00;01;23;20 - 00;01;50;02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But here's the thing in the context in which I'm currently working, we are all in on sidekick. What we've done is we have two computers now, one for pro presenter and one for sidekick. Because if you know, if you've used sidekick in the new beta version at all, you know that it runs through Google Chrome and in the previous versions, what you could do with running a software like, pro presenters, you'd have pro presenter up and running and then back behind it. 00;01;50;02 - 00;02;19;03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You could have the sidekick window and you could just toggle off the display. But now Chrome is actually more powerful than Pro Presenter. Most people I tell that they find that actually incredibly surprising. And so as a result of that, it makes switching between Chrome and Pro Presenter a little bit tricky. And so the way in which we have sort of circumvented or navigated that is we have just built two computers and we have a black magic video switcher where we can go from computer one to computer two. 00;02;19;09 - 00;02;44;24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And essentially we use Pro Presenter for just worship and lyrics, and then we use sidekick for every thing else. You know, I'm actually launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd, a brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week, going to be over on my Patreon page. And listen, Patreon, takes a little bit of a fee. 00;02;45;01 - 00;03;10;21 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so the reason that I'm doing that is to just, invest back into the podcast. But I am only charging $4 per month. I think it is a small, modest fee. Essentially it is going to break down to $1 per week per additional bonus. Podcast. What I want to do with that podcast, I just simply want to share with you the creative ways that we are running our youth ministry programing and how we're making it hybrid. 00;03;10;21 - 00;03;35;24 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so if you want more hybrid information, I would love to share that with you. This podcast and this YouTube video is meant to sort of like give a big broad strokes overview of what Hybrid Ministry is. But on my Patreon page, what I want to do is I just want to share an extra bonus podcast and simply chat through everything that I've done for the week and talk through the ways that we've tried to make it creative and talk through the ways in which we have tried to sort of hybridize our ministry. 00;03;35;24 - 00;04;01;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so that podcast is starting December 2nd. And for everyone who signs up during now, if you're watching live through December 2nd, I am going to send and mail you an exclusive free piece of merch. For all who sign up between now and December 2nd. Like I said, and it basically breaks down to $1 a month. So, either scan the QR code that you see here on screen or hit the link down below in the description. 00;04;01;29 - 00;04;25;02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But let's dive in to my eight favorite features of sidekick. Let's check it out. So my first favorite feature of sidekick is its co-leader integration. And if you're watching here on screen, you might be surprised to know that you're not looking at sidekick. What you're actually going to look at when we're we're actually going to start is here on co-leader and so on. 00;04;25;02 - 00;04;50;07 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Co-Leader. What you can do is, if you are a subscriber, a co-leader is a, curriculum roadmaps and, like, I guess almost, not pro presenter. What am I trying to say? Planning center replacement thing for youth pastors and for youth ministries. So here on co-leader, you can explore sort of all the different, series and topics and even, events that they have. 00;04;50;14 - 00;05;16;11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Co-Leader has a roadmap series and so sort of like their proposed curriculum. And so you can explore their you're one of roadmaps and then you can also explore their your two here of roadmaps. And but essentially on co-leader what's so cool about it. And I like co-leader it is actually become it's new is only in year two of development but it's actually become my favorite curriculum resource, because it literally does everything for you. 00;05;16;11 - 00;05;33;27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So you see here on our dashboard, these are series that we have redeemed our credits for. So Co-Leader works on sort of a credit system. And so we've redeemed, this credit series, this credit on this series here called masks. And so, for example, if you're in, session one of masks, you click view session here. 00;05;34;05 - 00;05;54;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And if you look right off to the side here, sidekick, you can open in sidekick. Boom. Click that little button and it will automatically import your entire sessions. So here's our session flow. They got your graphics and all that stuff. But starting here you got your countdown. You're welcome. Your icebreaker, your game, some songs, videos and then the teaching slides. 00;05;54;29 - 00;06;13;22 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And so I want to show you what that looks like over here in sidekick. So if you're here in sidekick you'll see. Let's actually do a, side by side so that you can see them in comparison. Right. So from the top we have, countdown. There's your countdown. You got your, game right there. You got another game. 00;06;13;22 - 00;06;38;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Masked celebrity. And all of this is included in your co-leader subscription. You got your, bumper video for your masks, and then you got your masks. Chameleon is the title of the message. Chameleon teaching slides right there, and you can see how all of that works together. And so by a simple click of the button, your entire youth ministry night is planned. 00;06;38;29 - 00;07;03;19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And it is absolutely crazy. Now if you're a download Youth Ministry member, the co-leader is slightly different than do you? I am, but if you've never done anything in with download youth ministry before or co-leader, then I want to let my podcast listeners know that exclusively here on this podcast. I'll give you 10% off, of co-leader, so you can use the code Hybrid Ministry ten. 00;07;03;19 - 00;07;26;03 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And what that includes is not only will that give you access to co-leader, but that also sort of will unlock access to this presentation software called sidekick. And so included is sidekick for a year. It allows you to do the one click presentations for everything that's in co-leader. Both year one and year two of the roadmaps, and you can get an access to co-leader premium or Premium Plus. 00;07;26;03 - 00;07;48;15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Okay. And so premium includes 260 co-leader credits. Like I said, it's kind of built off that credit system. And then you get 25 sidekick phone connections. That's for voting. We'll get to that in a minute. Or the premium class which is Premium Plus, which is 520 co-leader credits and 75 sidekick phone connections. So you can explore the differences between those two plans at this link here. 00;07;48;15 - 00;08;05;27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry On screen sidekick TV pricing don't forget, if you've never used or never done anything before with sidekick or with co-leader, then if you're signing up for the first time, Hybrid Ministry ten, I'll give you 10% off. Go ahead and check that out. And so I love that 00;08;05;27 - 00;08;10;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry about sidekick. I love that about, co-leader I love that, but it's integration. 00;08;10;01 - 00;08;10;11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So boom. 00;08;10;11 - 00;08;22;28 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Right here. Here's my full like rundown, my full run sheet for everything going on here in this masks series. Now that's my first favorite thing about sidekick the co-leader integration. 00;08;22;28 - 00;08;37;19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So my second favorite feature about sidekick is the YouTube video integration. Now, the thing I like about the YouTube video integration is it takes a while in sidekicks to to upload videos. 00;08;37;19 - 00;09;02;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You can drag and drop JPEGs easily, but when you go to upload a video, just it takes a minute and it's a little clunky to do, like a video, next video, next video, because you got to kind of do it one by one. So here's how it look like. So if I wanted to put a video on this slide, I'd click Edit Media videos, go browse, go find the video, upload it, wait for it to upload, and then it's it's in its spot as opposed to just a quick and easy drag and drop. 00;09;02;05 - 00;09;23;29 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry However, if, I wanted to just embed a YouTube video, that's very simple, and I've actually already done that right here on this one, you'll notice here's one of my YouTube videos embedded. So if I go to present this thing, remember it's browser based. So just very simply, 00;09;24;01 - 00;09;46;10 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry So just very simply, opens up a new window and you started hearing even the, the, what's it called? The countdown right there. But here's this video that I embedded social media right there into sidekick. I have all this functionality over here. I can pause the video, I can mute the video, I can restart the video. 00;09;46;10 - 00;10;10;05 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I can do all those sort of things. Let me get this smaller so that we can see both of them together. So this is my presentation window that will just go full screen. Right. But very simply, when I'm, when I'm wanting to include a video, I can embed a video. And this is embedded small, but I can also just, you know, very, very simply, very easily embed that video full screen. 00;10;10;05 - 00;10;44;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Right, as well. Now, the other thing like that we use in our youth ministry as we go hybrid taking our our in-person and our digital, we teach live messages. But then we also prefilled them for multiple reasons, because we use that as a springboard for our Sunday morning small group content. And so every Sunday morning we play a clip off of one of our message clips, even though the message was delivered live, we play the filmed version, in our room, just like a 2 to 3 minute clip to remind everyone what was said. 00;10;44;02 - 00;11;03;11 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Our our leaders can look at it ahead of time. Our students who missed on Wednesday can also look at it ahead of time on YouTube. It's evergreen content. It's meant to reach students who, might be asking questions about faith, God, whatever the case might be. And so we do that. And if you're interested in exploring more about what that might look like, link down. 00;11;03;11 - 00;11;38;27 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Below is a link to some custom coaching. I would love to help kind of level that game up for you, or even get you started from scratch if that's something that you're interested in. But it has been a hugely beneficial piece to us and our student ministry, having the ability to just simply embed our YouTube videos. And so for things like countdowns or for things that are like bigger files, I will actually upload those to YouTube, host them there, put them on just like a private unlisted link, and then embed that video into my sidekick presentation, as opposed to have to upload it every single time. 00;11;39;00 - 00;11;57;26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Now here's the other thing I love about sidekick. It's easy to build. So let me show you very quickly. Like, while, you know, while the videos might be a little more tricky to, to pull in or builder upload, they're easy to do. They're just a little bit time consuming. That's why it's easy to just drop a YouTube video in there. 00;11;57;26 - 00;12;09;26 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Right. But if I just want to like, add one of these JPEGs in here, all I gotta do is drag it and drop it and boom, it's uploaded and is ready to go. There it is. Okay, super simple, super easy to 00;12;09;26 - 00;12;17;19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry build. I love things like, these looping announcements. So right here, here's a bunch of different looping announcements. 00;12;17;19 - 00;12;39;04 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You know, don't forget that the, here's the here's the countdown video again. But, you know, as always, like, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten. Don't forget about that. That's going to be used to your advantage. If you want to check out Collider, you want to check out sidekick. Don't forget we got custom social media coaching. Scan the QR code that you see here on screen here. 00;12;39;04 - 00;12;58;09 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry I'll make it bigger so you can go and check out my completely free e-book about how to go hybrid. Or hey, don't forget about our Patreon. We got that going on $4 a month exclusive free merch along with all these other things that you see here. Listed out exclusive sticker help to show and segment topics, super chats and shout outs. 00;12;58;09 - 00;13;22;02 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry Right? But you can turn this right here. You can turn these announcements to be looping announcements. We use those every single week in our ministry. So you'll see right over here. If you're watching here on screen, you see this little, loop icon. That means that this, this set of announcements in this little, pocket of, of slides here is set to, rotate. 00;13;22;05 - 00;13;41;14 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry This one right here is not. So let me show you how you do it. Click this little gear icon. You click loop slides. You say how long you want the slides to loop for seven seconds or 10s or however long you want it to. And then you simply click close and then boom. When you click present, those will then be on a looper, which is a fantastic resource. 00;13;41;14 - 00;14;03;16 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry We use that every single week in our student ministry. I also want to let you know just about a couple of other things that are awesome. You have the, free option up here. So if you're co-leader, sidekick, person, these are all free different resources that you can get just like and quickly and simply, you got countdowns and games and videos and all sorts of things. 00;14;03;18 - 00;14;21;28 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You can embed or import any of these into your presentation. The other thing that's really cool is when you buy something on demand, look, I've bought these things before, they will automatically upload them. So as I was saying, kind of the video thing was a little clunky to upload and maybe you don't want to upload every single one of these to a YouTube playlist and then embed those via YouTube. 00;14;22;00 - 00;14;55;19 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry No sweat. No problem. Check it out. You can very simply buy something on gram and then boom, it'll be there in just a second and then you can quickly import it. Just like I did down here with this, finish the drawing game back to school. And there it is. Boom. Imported. All right, and then the other thing, man, the other thing that is so cool about, sidekick is that the you can control it from your phone simply by logging into app that sidekick.tv on your mobile device, and you can control it from anywhere in the room, including teaching. 00;14;55;24 - 00;15;19;28 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry You can control it from any other device, including like our, sound booth, computer, maybe running sidekick. I can go into my office, and I can control sidekick from my office. And so my office actually sits where I can see in through some glass doors into our auditorium. And so if it's on the wrong side or whatever, I can pull open on my, on my laptop home from the app, that sidekick, that TV type in and change it. 00;15;20;04 - 00;15;45;15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And I've had other like staff members and volunteers to be like, are you are you controlling that right now? And that part is so stinking cool. The last thing the eighth and final piece about sidekick that I love is the voting. The voting option is the the single greatest advent. This is what makes this presentation and software so unique and so customizable. 00;15;45;21 - 00;16;13;15 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry And that's what we're going to talk about. Additional creative ways to use it in your games, in your countdowns, in your teaching, in all sorts of different ways to deploy and use the voting feature in sidekick. You can't do this on any other presentation software. That video is going to be linked right here on screen. Go check out our Patreon as we'll talk about multiple creative ways to deploy voting and to deploy sidekick, and simply what I am doing to lean in and be more hybrid. 00;16;13;19 - 00;16;20;00 Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry But check that video out on screen. And don't forget, and as always, my friends, to stay hybrid. download youth ministry,sidekick,youth ministry,hybrid ministry,nick clason,youth pastor podcast,student ministry,youth ministry programming,name picker,wheel,Random Generator,Live voting,Youth ministry creativity,Creative Programming,ProPresenter,Youth Group,Youth Group Phones,How to handle phones in youth ministry,phones are so distracting in youth ministry 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
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DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we’re diving into a live demo and review of Sidekick – a powerful tool for youth ministry and interactive programming! See how Sidekick can transform your youth group experience by adding a dynamic, creative edge to your student ministry. Sidekick from Download Youth Ministry is perfect for leaders looking to engage students in fresh ways, this episode is packed with insights to level up your student ministry service!

📓 SHOWNOTES
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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 More Engaging Services with Sidekick
02:26 New Patreon Show Starting!
04:08 Feature #1
06:48 Co-Leader Promo Code
08:23 Feature #2
11:39 Feature #3
12:12 Feature #4
13:44 Feature #5
14:07 Feature #6
14:40 Feature #7
15:35 Feature #8

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;04;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Youth pastor. Collegiate minister. Senior pastor. What if I told you

00;00;04;17 - 00;00;12;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
that there was a better presentation software out there than pro presenter PowerPoint, or whatever else you use?

00;00;12;28 - 00;00;30;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It sounded too good to be true. Well, listen, it is made by youth pastors and is made for youth pastors. Give me a like if you think you already know what I'm talking about, because I am talking about my favorite presentation software and it's called sidekick.

00;00;30;19 - 00;01;01;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And here's why. This is great, regardless of if you're in youth ministry or not, because it is made for interaction and it is made for customization. But there is so much more. And in this video and in this upcoming playlist, I want to share with you what those features are. This video in particular, I'm going to drop my top eight different miscellaneous features because everyone knows that sidekick has things like the voting and the wheel picker and the name picker.

00;01;01;29 - 00;01;23;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But in this video, I'm going to share the other things that sidekick has to offer besides those obvious kind of milestone landmark, features built in woven into the presentation software. And if you're here on YouTube, as always, don't forget that there are chapters listed down below at the bottom so that you can jump ahead to what matters most to you.

00;01;23;20 - 00;01;50;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But here's the thing in the context in which I'm currently working, we are all in on sidekick. What we've done is we have two computers now, one for pro presenter and one for sidekick. Because if you know, if you've used sidekick in the new beta version at all, you know that it runs through Google Chrome and in the previous versions, what you could do with running a software like, pro presenters, you'd have pro presenter up and running and then back behind it.

00;01;50;02 - 00;02;19;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You could have the sidekick window and you could just toggle off the display. But now Chrome is actually more powerful than Pro Presenter. Most people I tell that they find that actually incredibly surprising. And so as a result of that, it makes switching between Chrome and Pro Presenter a little bit tricky. And so the way in which we have sort of circumvented or navigated that is we have just built two computers and we have a black magic video switcher where we can go from computer one to computer two.

00;02;19;09 - 00;02;44;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And essentially we use Pro Presenter for just worship and lyrics, and then we use sidekick for every thing else. You know, I'm actually launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd, a brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week, going to be over on my Patreon page. And listen, Patreon, takes a little bit of a fee.

00;02;45;01 - 00;03;10;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the reason that I'm doing that is to just, invest back into the podcast. But I am only charging $4 per month. I think it is a small, modest fee. Essentially it is going to break down to $1 per week per additional bonus. Podcast. What I want to do with that podcast, I just simply want to share with you the creative ways that we are running our youth ministry programing and how we're making it hybrid.

00;03;10;21 - 00;03;35;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so if you want more hybrid information, I would love to share that with you. This podcast and this YouTube video is meant to sort of like give a big broad strokes overview of what Hybrid Ministry is. But on my Patreon page, what I want to do is I just want to share an extra bonus podcast and simply chat through everything that I've done for the week and talk through the ways that we've tried to make it creative and talk through the ways in which we have tried to sort of hybridize our ministry.

00;03;35;24 - 00;04;01;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that podcast is starting December 2nd. And for everyone who signs up during now, if you're watching live through December 2nd, I am going to send and mail you an exclusive free piece of merch. For all who sign up between now and December 2nd. Like I said, and it basically breaks down to $1 a month. So, either scan the QR code that you see here on screen or hit the link down below in the description.

00;04;01;29 - 00;04;25;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But let's dive in to my eight favorite features of sidekick. Let's check it out. So my first favorite feature of sidekick is its co-leader integration. And if you're watching here on screen, you might be surprised to know that you're not looking at sidekick. What you're actually going to look at when we're we're actually going to start is here on co-leader and so on.

00;04;25;02 - 00;04;50;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Co-Leader. What you can do is, if you are a subscriber, a co-leader is a, curriculum roadmaps and, like, I guess almost, not pro presenter. What am I trying to say? Planning center replacement thing for youth pastors and for youth ministries. So here on co-leader, you can explore sort of all the different, series and topics and even, events that they have.

00;04;50;14 - 00;05;16;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Co-Leader has a roadmap series and so sort of like their proposed curriculum. And so you can explore their you're one of roadmaps and then you can also explore their your two here of roadmaps. And but essentially on co-leader what's so cool about it. And I like co-leader it is actually become it's new is only in year two of development but it's actually become my favorite curriculum resource, because it literally does everything for you.

00;05;16;11 - 00;05;33;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So you see here on our dashboard, these are series that we have redeemed our credits for. So Co-Leader works on sort of a credit system. And so we've redeemed, this credit series, this credit on this series here called masks. And so, for example, if you're in, session one of masks, you click view session here.

00;05;34;05 - 00;05;54;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you look right off to the side here, sidekick, you can open in sidekick. Boom. Click that little button and it will automatically import your entire sessions. So here's our session flow. They got your graphics and all that stuff. But starting here you got your countdown. You're welcome. Your icebreaker, your game, some songs, videos and then the teaching slides.

00;05;54;29 - 00;06;13;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so I want to show you what that looks like over here in sidekick. So if you're here in sidekick you'll see. Let's actually do a, side by side so that you can see them in comparison. Right. So from the top we have, countdown. There's your countdown. You got your, game right there. You got another game.

00;06;13;22 - 00;06;38;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Masked celebrity. And all of this is included in your co-leader subscription. You got your, bumper video for your masks, and then you got your masks. Chameleon is the title of the message. Chameleon teaching slides right there, and you can see how all of that works together. And so by a simple click of the button, your entire youth ministry night is planned.

00;06;38;29 - 00;07;03;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it is absolutely crazy. Now if you're a download Youth Ministry member, the co-leader is slightly different than do you? I am, but if you've never done anything in with download youth ministry before or co-leader, then I want to let my podcast listeners know that exclusively here on this podcast. I'll give you 10% off, of co-leader, so you can use the code Hybrid Ministry ten.

00;07;03;19 - 00;07;26;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And what that includes is not only will that give you access to co-leader, but that also sort of will unlock access to this presentation software called sidekick. And so included is sidekick for a year. It allows you to do the one click presentations for everything that's in co-leader. Both year one and year two of the roadmaps, and you can get an access to co-leader premium or Premium Plus.

00;07;26;03 - 00;07;48;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Okay. And so premium includes 260 co-leader credits. Like I said, it's kind of built off that credit system. And then you get 25 sidekick phone connections. That's for voting. We'll get to that in a minute. Or the premium class which is Premium Plus, which is 520 co-leader credits and 75 sidekick phone connections. So you can explore the differences between those two plans at this link here.

00;07;48;15 - 00;08;05;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
On screen sidekick TV pricing don't forget, if you've never used or never done anything before with sidekick or with co-leader, then if you're signing up for the first time, Hybrid Ministry ten, I'll give you 10% off. Go ahead and check that out. And so I love that

00;08;05;27 - 00;08;10;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
about sidekick. I love that about, co-leader I love that, but it's integration.

00;08;10;01 - 00;08;10;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So boom.

00;08;10;11 - 00;08;22;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right here. Here's my full like rundown, my full run sheet for everything going on here in this masks series. Now that's my first favorite thing about sidekick the co-leader integration.

00;08;22;28 - 00;08;37;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So my second favorite feature about sidekick is the YouTube video integration. Now, the thing I like about the YouTube video integration is it takes a while in sidekicks to to upload videos.

00;08;37;19 - 00;09;02;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can drag and drop JPEGs easily, but when you go to upload a video, just it takes a minute and it's a little clunky to do, like a video, next video, next video, because you got to kind of do it one by one. So here's how it look like. So if I wanted to put a video on this slide, I'd click Edit Media videos, go browse, go find the video, upload it, wait for it to upload, and then it's it's in its spot as opposed to just a quick and easy drag and drop.

00;09;02;05 - 00;09;23;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, if, I wanted to just embed a YouTube video, that's very simple, and I've actually already done that right here on this one, you'll notice here's one of my YouTube videos embedded. So if I go to present this thing, remember it's browser based. So just very simply,

00;09;24;01 - 00;09;46;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So just very simply, opens up a new window and you started hearing even the, the, what's it called? The countdown right there. But here's this video that I embedded social media right there into sidekick. I have all this functionality over here. I can pause the video, I can mute the video, I can restart the video.

00;09;46;10 - 00;10;10;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I can do all those sort of things. Let me get this smaller so that we can see both of them together. So this is my presentation window that will just go full screen. Right. But very simply, when I'm, when I'm wanting to include a video, I can embed a video. And this is embedded small, but I can also just, you know, very, very simply, very easily embed that video full screen.

00;10;10;05 - 00;10;44;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right, as well. Now, the other thing like that we use in our youth ministry as we go hybrid taking our our in-person and our digital, we teach live messages. But then we also prefilled them for multiple reasons, because we use that as a springboard for our Sunday morning small group content. And so every Sunday morning we play a clip off of one of our message clips, even though the message was delivered live, we play the filmed version, in our room, just like a 2 to 3 minute clip to remind everyone what was said.

00;10;44;02 - 00;11;03;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Our our leaders can look at it ahead of time. Our students who missed on Wednesday can also look at it ahead of time on YouTube. It's evergreen content. It's meant to reach students who, might be asking questions about faith, God, whatever the case might be. And so we do that. And if you're interested in exploring more about what that might look like, link down.

00;11;03;11 - 00;11;38;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Below is a link to some custom coaching. I would love to help kind of level that game up for you, or even get you started from scratch if that's something that you're interested in. But it has been a hugely beneficial piece to us and our student ministry, having the ability to just simply embed our YouTube videos. And so for things like countdowns or for things that are like bigger files, I will actually upload those to YouTube, host them there, put them on just like a private unlisted link, and then embed that video into my sidekick presentation, as opposed to have to upload it every single time.

00;11;39;00 - 00;11;57;26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now here's the other thing I love about sidekick. It's easy to build. So let me show you very quickly. Like, while, you know, while the videos might be a little more tricky to, to pull in or builder upload, they're easy to do. They're just a little bit time consuming. That's why it's easy to just drop a YouTube video in there.

00;11;57;26 - 00;12;09;26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. But if I just want to like, add one of these JPEGs in here, all I gotta do is drag it and drop it and boom, it's uploaded and is ready to go. There it is. Okay, super simple, super easy to

00;12;09;26 - 00;12;17;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
build. I love things like, these looping announcements. So right here, here's a bunch of different looping announcements.

00;12;17;19 - 00;12;39;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, don't forget that the, here's the here's the countdown video again. But, you know, as always, like, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten. Don't forget about that. That's going to be used to your advantage. If you want to check out Collider, you want to check out sidekick. Don't forget we got custom social media coaching. Scan the QR code that you see here on screen here.

00;12;39;04 - 00;12;58;09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'll make it bigger so you can go and check out my completely free e-book about how to go hybrid. Or hey, don't forget about our Patreon. We got that going on $4 a month exclusive free merch along with all these other things that you see here. Listed out exclusive sticker help to show and segment topics, super chats and shout outs.

00;12;58;09 - 00;13;22;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right? But you can turn this right here. You can turn these announcements to be looping announcements. We use those every single week in our ministry. So you'll see right over here. If you're watching here on screen, you see this little, loop icon. That means that this, this set of announcements in this little, pocket of, of slides here is set to, rotate.

00;13;22;05 - 00;13;41;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This one right here is not. So let me show you how you do it. Click this little gear icon. You click loop slides. You say how long you want the slides to loop for seven seconds or 10s or however long you want it to. And then you simply click close and then boom. When you click present, those will then be on a looper, which is a fantastic resource.

00;13;41;14 - 00;14;03;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We use that every single week in our student ministry. I also want to let you know just about a couple of other things that are awesome. You have the, free option up here. So if you're co-leader, sidekick, person, these are all free different resources that you can get just like and quickly and simply, you got countdowns and games and videos and all sorts of things.

00;14;03;18 - 00;14;21;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can embed or import any of these into your presentation. The other thing that's really cool is when you buy something on demand, look, I've bought these things before, they will automatically upload them. So as I was saying, kind of the video thing was a little clunky to upload and maybe you don't want to upload every single one of these to a YouTube playlist and then embed those via YouTube.

00;14;22;00 - 00;14;55;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
No sweat. No problem. Check it out. You can very simply buy something on gram and then boom, it'll be there in just a second and then you can quickly import it. Just like I did down here with this, finish the drawing game back to school. And there it is. Boom. Imported. All right, and then the other thing, man, the other thing that is so cool about, sidekick is that the you can control it from your phone simply by logging into app that sidekick.tv on your mobile device, and you can control it from anywhere in the room, including teaching.

00;14;55;24 - 00;15;19;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can control it from any other device, including like our, sound booth, computer, maybe running sidekick. I can go into my office, and I can control sidekick from my office. And so my office actually sits where I can see in through some glass doors into our auditorium. And so if it's on the wrong side or whatever, I can pull open on my, on my laptop home from the app, that sidekick, that TV type in and change it.

00;15;20;04 - 00;15;45;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I've had other like staff members and volunteers to be like, are you are you controlling that right now? And that part is so stinking cool. The last thing the eighth and final piece about sidekick that I love is the voting. The voting option is the the single greatest advent. This is what makes this presentation and software so unique and so customizable.

00;15;45;21 - 00;16;13;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's what we're going to talk about. Additional creative ways to use it in your games, in your countdowns, in your teaching, in all sorts of different ways to deploy and use the voting feature in sidekick. You can't do this on any other presentation software. That video is going to be linked right here on screen. Go check out our Patreon as we'll talk about multiple creative ways to deploy voting and to deploy sidekick, and simply what I am doing to lean in and be more hybrid.

00;16;13;19 - 00;16;20;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But check that video out on screen. And don't forget, and as always, my friends, to stay hybrid.

]]> 🎧 BONUS WEEKLY PODCAST
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DESCRIPTION
In this episode of the Hybrid Ministry Show, we’re diving into a live demo and review of Sidekick – a powerful tool for youth ministry and interactive programming! See how Sidekick can transform your youth group experience by adding a dynamic, creative edge to your student ministry. Sidekick from Download Youth Ministry is perfect for leaders looking to engage students in fresh ways, this episode is packed with insights to level up your student ministry service!

📓 SHOWNOTES
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🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 More Engaging Services with Sidekick
02:26 New Patreon Show Starting!
04:08 Feature #1
06:48 Co-Leader Promo Code
08:23 Feature #2
11:39 Feature #3
12:12 Feature #4
13:44 Feature #5
14:07 Feature #6
14:40 Feature #7
15:35 Feature #8

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;04;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Youth pastor. Collegiate minister. Senior pastor. What if I told you

00;00;04;17 - 00;00;12;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
that there was a better presentation software out there than pro presenter PowerPoint, or whatever else you use?

00;00;12;28 - 00;00;30;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It sounded too good to be true. Well, listen, it is made by youth pastors and is made for youth pastors. Give me a like if you think you already know what I'm talking about, because I am talking about my favorite presentation software and it's called sidekick.

00;00;30;19 - 00;01;01;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And here's why. This is great, regardless of if you're in youth ministry or not, because it is made for interaction and it is made for customization. But there is so much more. And in this video and in this upcoming playlist, I want to share with you what those features are. This video in particular, I'm going to drop my top eight different miscellaneous features because everyone knows that sidekick has things like the voting and the wheel picker and the name picker.

00;01;01;29 - 00;01;23;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But in this video, I'm going to share the other things that sidekick has to offer besides those obvious kind of milestone landmark, features built in woven into the presentation software. And if you're here on YouTube, as always, don't forget that there are chapters listed down below at the bottom so that you can jump ahead to what matters most to you.

00;01;23;20 - 00;01;50;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But here's the thing in the context in which I'm currently working, we are all in on sidekick. What we've done is we have two computers now, one for pro presenter and one for sidekick. Because if you know, if you've used sidekick in the new beta version at all, you know that it runs through Google Chrome and in the previous versions, what you could do with running a software like, pro presenters, you'd have pro presenter up and running and then back behind it.

00;01;50;02 - 00;02;19;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You could have the sidekick window and you could just toggle off the display. But now Chrome is actually more powerful than Pro Presenter. Most people I tell that they find that actually incredibly surprising. And so as a result of that, it makes switching between Chrome and Pro Presenter a little bit tricky. And so the way in which we have sort of circumvented or navigated that is we have just built two computers and we have a black magic video switcher where we can go from computer one to computer two.

00;02;19;09 - 00;02;44;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And essentially we use Pro Presenter for just worship and lyrics, and then we use sidekick for every thing else. You know, I'm actually launching here during the course of this playlist, starting officially on December 2nd, a brand new bonus podcast. I'm going to be releasing it one time per week, going to be over on my Patreon page. And listen, Patreon, takes a little bit of a fee.

00;02;45;01 - 00;03;10;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so the reason that I'm doing that is to just, invest back into the podcast. But I am only charging $4 per month. I think it is a small, modest fee. Essentially it is going to break down to $1 per week per additional bonus. Podcast. What I want to do with that podcast, I just simply want to share with you the creative ways that we are running our youth ministry programing and how we're making it hybrid.

00;03;10;21 - 00;03;35;24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so if you want more hybrid information, I would love to share that with you. This podcast and this YouTube video is meant to sort of like give a big broad strokes overview of what Hybrid Ministry is. But on my Patreon page, what I want to do is I just want to share an extra bonus podcast and simply chat through everything that I've done for the week and talk through the ways that we've tried to make it creative and talk through the ways in which we have tried to sort of hybridize our ministry.

00;03;35;24 - 00;04;01;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that podcast is starting December 2nd. And for everyone who signs up during now, if you're watching live through December 2nd, I am going to send and mail you an exclusive free piece of merch. For all who sign up between now and December 2nd. Like I said, and it basically breaks down to $1 a month. So, either scan the QR code that you see here on screen or hit the link down below in the description.

00;04;01;29 - 00;04;25;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But let's dive in to my eight favorite features of sidekick. Let's check it out. So my first favorite feature of sidekick is its co-leader integration. And if you're watching here on screen, you might be surprised to know that you're not looking at sidekick. What you're actually going to look at when we're we're actually going to start is here on co-leader and so on.

00;04;25;02 - 00;04;50;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Co-Leader. What you can do is, if you are a subscriber, a co-leader is a, curriculum roadmaps and, like, I guess almost, not pro presenter. What am I trying to say? Planning center replacement thing for youth pastors and for youth ministries. So here on co-leader, you can explore sort of all the different, series and topics and even, events that they have.

00;04;50;14 - 00;05;16;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Co-Leader has a roadmap series and so sort of like their proposed curriculum. And so you can explore their you're one of roadmaps and then you can also explore their your two here of roadmaps. And but essentially on co-leader what's so cool about it. And I like co-leader it is actually become it's new is only in year two of development but it's actually become my favorite curriculum resource, because it literally does everything for you.

00;05;16;11 - 00;05;33;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So you see here on our dashboard, these are series that we have redeemed our credits for. So Co-Leader works on sort of a credit system. And so we've redeemed, this credit series, this credit on this series here called masks. And so, for example, if you're in, session one of masks, you click view session here.

00;05;34;05 - 00;05;54;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you look right off to the side here, sidekick, you can open in sidekick. Boom. Click that little button and it will automatically import your entire sessions. So here's our session flow. They got your graphics and all that stuff. But starting here you got your countdown. You're welcome. Your icebreaker, your game, some songs, videos and then the teaching slides.

00;05;54;29 - 00;06;13;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so I want to show you what that looks like over here in sidekick. So if you're here in sidekick you'll see. Let's actually do a, side by side so that you can see them in comparison. Right. So from the top we have, countdown. There's your countdown. You got your, game right there. You got another game.

00;06;13;22 - 00;06;38;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Masked celebrity. And all of this is included in your co-leader subscription. You got your, bumper video for your masks, and then you got your masks. Chameleon is the title of the message. Chameleon teaching slides right there, and you can see how all of that works together. And so by a simple click of the button, your entire youth ministry night is planned.

00;06;38;29 - 00;07;03;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it is absolutely crazy. Now if you're a download Youth Ministry member, the co-leader is slightly different than do you? I am, but if you've never done anything in with download youth ministry before or co-leader, then I want to let my podcast listeners know that exclusively here on this podcast. I'll give you 10% off, of co-leader, so you can use the code Hybrid Ministry ten.

00;07;03;19 - 00;07;26;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And what that includes is not only will that give you access to co-leader, but that also sort of will unlock access to this presentation software called sidekick. And so included is sidekick for a year. It allows you to do the one click presentations for everything that's in co-leader. Both year one and year two of the roadmaps, and you can get an access to co-leader premium or Premium Plus.

00;07;26;03 - 00;07;48;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Okay. And so premium includes 260 co-leader credits. Like I said, it's kind of built off that credit system. And then you get 25 sidekick phone connections. That's for voting. We'll get to that in a minute. Or the premium class which is Premium Plus, which is 520 co-leader credits and 75 sidekick phone connections. So you can explore the differences between those two plans at this link here.

00;07;48;15 - 00;08;05;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
On screen sidekick TV pricing don't forget, if you've never used or never done anything before with sidekick or with co-leader, then if you're signing up for the first time, Hybrid Ministry ten, I'll give you 10% off. Go ahead and check that out. And so I love that

00;08;05;27 - 00;08;10;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
about sidekick. I love that about, co-leader I love that, but it's integration.

00;08;10;01 - 00;08;10;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So boom.

00;08;10;11 - 00;08;22;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right here. Here's my full like rundown, my full run sheet for everything going on here in this masks series. Now that's my first favorite thing about sidekick the co-leader integration.

00;08;22;28 - 00;08;37;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So my second favorite feature about sidekick is the YouTube video integration. Now, the thing I like about the YouTube video integration is it takes a while in sidekicks to to upload videos.

00;08;37;19 - 00;09;02;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can drag and drop JPEGs easily, but when you go to upload a video, just it takes a minute and it's a little clunky to do, like a video, next video, next video, because you got to kind of do it one by one. So here's how it look like. So if I wanted to put a video on this slide, I'd click Edit Media videos, go browse, go find the video, upload it, wait for it to upload, and then it's it's in its spot as opposed to just a quick and easy drag and drop.

00;09;02;05 - 00;09;23;29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
However, if, I wanted to just embed a YouTube video, that's very simple, and I've actually already done that right here on this one, you'll notice here's one of my YouTube videos embedded. So if I go to present this thing, remember it's browser based. So just very simply,

00;09;24;01 - 00;09;46;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So just very simply, opens up a new window and you started hearing even the, the, what's it called? The countdown right there. But here's this video that I embedded social media right there into sidekick. I have all this functionality over here. I can pause the video, I can mute the video, I can restart the video.

00;09;46;10 - 00;10;10;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I can do all those sort of things. Let me get this smaller so that we can see both of them together. So this is my presentation window that will just go full screen. Right. But very simply, when I'm, when I'm wanting to include a video, I can embed a video. And this is embedded small, but I can also just, you know, very, very simply, very easily embed that video full screen.

00;10;10;05 - 00;10;44;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right, as well. Now, the other thing like that we use in our youth ministry as we go hybrid taking our our in-person and our digital, we teach live messages. But then we also prefilled them for multiple reasons, because we use that as a springboard for our Sunday morning small group content. And so every Sunday morning we play a clip off of one of our message clips, even though the message was delivered live, we play the filmed version, in our room, just like a 2 to 3 minute clip to remind everyone what was said.

00;10;44;02 - 00;11;03;11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Our our leaders can look at it ahead of time. Our students who missed on Wednesday can also look at it ahead of time on YouTube. It's evergreen content. It's meant to reach students who, might be asking questions about faith, God, whatever the case might be. And so we do that. And if you're interested in exploring more about what that might look like, link down.

00;11;03;11 - 00;11;38;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Below is a link to some custom coaching. I would love to help kind of level that game up for you, or even get you started from scratch if that's something that you're interested in. But it has been a hugely beneficial piece to us and our student ministry, having the ability to just simply embed our YouTube videos. And so for things like countdowns or for things that are like bigger files, I will actually upload those to YouTube, host them there, put them on just like a private unlisted link, and then embed that video into my sidekick presentation, as opposed to have to upload it every single time.

00;11;39;00 - 00;11;57;26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now here's the other thing I love about sidekick. It's easy to build. So let me show you very quickly. Like, while, you know, while the videos might be a little more tricky to, to pull in or builder upload, they're easy to do. They're just a little bit time consuming. That's why it's easy to just drop a YouTube video in there.

00;11;57;26 - 00;12;09;26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right. But if I just want to like, add one of these JPEGs in here, all I gotta do is drag it and drop it and boom, it's uploaded and is ready to go. There it is. Okay, super simple, super easy to

00;12;09;26 - 00;12;17;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
build. I love things like, these looping announcements. So right here, here's a bunch of different looping announcements.

00;12;17;19 - 00;12;39;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, don't forget that the, here's the here's the countdown video again. But, you know, as always, like, don't forget Hybrid Ministry ten. Don't forget about that. That's going to be used to your advantage. If you want to check out Collider, you want to check out sidekick. Don't forget we got custom social media coaching. Scan the QR code that you see here on screen here.

00;12;39;04 - 00;12;58;09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'll make it bigger so you can go and check out my completely free e-book about how to go hybrid. Or hey, don't forget about our Patreon. We got that going on $4 a month exclusive free merch along with all these other things that you see here. Listed out exclusive sticker help to show and segment topics, super chats and shout outs.

00;12;58;09 - 00;13;22;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Right? But you can turn this right here. You can turn these announcements to be looping announcements. We use those every single week in our ministry. So you'll see right over here. If you're watching here on screen, you see this little, loop icon. That means that this, this set of announcements in this little, pocket of, of slides here is set to, rotate.

00;13;22;05 - 00;13;41;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
This one right here is not. So let me show you how you do it. Click this little gear icon. You click loop slides. You say how long you want the slides to loop for seven seconds or 10s or however long you want it to. And then you simply click close and then boom. When you click present, those will then be on a looper, which is a fantastic resource.

00;13;41;14 - 00;14;03;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We use that every single week in our student ministry. I also want to let you know just about a couple of other things that are awesome. You have the, free option up here. So if you're co-leader, sidekick, person, these are all free different resources that you can get just like and quickly and simply, you got countdowns and games and videos and all sorts of things.

00;14;03;18 - 00;14;21;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can embed or import any of these into your presentation. The other thing that's really cool is when you buy something on demand, look, I've bought these things before, they will automatically upload them. So as I was saying, kind of the video thing was a little clunky to upload and maybe you don't want to upload every single one of these to a YouTube playlist and then embed those via YouTube.

00;14;22;00 - 00;14;55;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
No sweat. No problem. Check it out. You can very simply buy something on gram and then boom, it'll be there in just a second and then you can quickly import it. Just like I did down here with this, finish the drawing game back to school. And there it is. Boom. Imported. All right, and then the other thing, man, the other thing that is so cool about, sidekick is that the you can control it from your phone simply by logging into app that sidekick.tv on your mobile device, and you can control it from anywhere in the room, including teaching.

00;14;55;24 - 00;15;19;28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can control it from any other device, including like our, sound booth, computer, maybe running sidekick. I can go into my office, and I can control sidekick from my office. And so my office actually sits where I can see in through some glass doors into our auditorium. And so if it's on the wrong side or whatever, I can pull open on my, on my laptop home from the app, that sidekick, that TV type in and change it.

00;15;20;04 - 00;15;45;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I've had other like staff members and volunteers to be like, are you are you controlling that right now? And that part is so stinking cool. The last thing the eighth and final piece about sidekick that I love is the voting. The voting option is the the single greatest advent. This is what makes this presentation and software so unique and so customizable.

00;15;45;21 - 00;16;13;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's what we're going to talk about. Additional creative ways to use it in your games, in your countdowns, in your teaching, in all sorts of different ways to deploy and use the voting feature in sidekick. You can't do this on any other presentation software. That video is going to be linked right here on screen. Go check out our Patreon as we'll talk about multiple creative ways to deploy voting and to deploy sidekick, and simply what I am doing to lean in and be more hybrid.

00;16;13;19 - 00;16;20;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But check that video out on screen. And don't forget, and as always, my friends, to stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 110: Distractions During Youth Group: The Solution https://www.hybridministry.xyz/110 00ce8b1a-164b-47e1-9c79-d97acd4acc5e Thu, 15 Aug 2024 04:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 110 Distractions During Youth Group: The Solution full Nick Clason What in the world do we do about cellphone usage during youth group?! It seems like it's getting worse and worse! Well, Josh Boldman, of DYM (downloadyouthministry.com) is here to help reveal his thoughts, as well as a full-proof program to not only take care of the cell phone epidemic, but to unveil the future of youth ministry as we all know it! 38:26 no 🔥 [FREE] Hybrid Ministry Strategy Guide🔥 https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 💥[CUSTOM] Hybrid Coaching💥 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/coaching ====================================== DESCRIPTION What in the world do we do about cellphone usage during youth group?! It seems like it's getting worse and worse! Well, Josh Boldman, of DYM (downloadyouthministry.com) is here to help reveal his thoughts, as well as a full-proof program to not only take care of the cell phone epidemic, but to unveil the future of youth ministry as we all know it! ====================================== 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/110 //CO-LEADER CURRICULUM https://www.coleader.co/ //SIDEKICK https://sidekick.tv/ //JOSH ON DYM https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/featured-authors/josh-boldman/ //SIDEKICK FEATURE REQUEST https://sidekick-tv.canny.io/feature-requests //JOSH ON SOCIAL https://www.tiktok.com/@joshboldman https://www.instagram.com/joshboldman/ https://www.facebook.com/joshboldman https://x.com/joshboldman 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz ====================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 Level up your youth ministry game with these freebies! 🔗 https://linktr.ee/clasonnick ====================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products VIDIQ https://vidiq.com/hybrid BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Intro - How your experience got you where you are now 04:15 Sidekick's Introduction into the Digital Realm of Youth Ministry 09:00 Sidekick's most user friendly features 13:50 What's next for Sidekick? 17:36 How Sidekick aids in showing up where students are 19:25 The Recipe to Engaging Students where they are 30:42 Final Thoughts on Hybrid Ministry -------------- ✍️TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00:15 - 00:00:23:04 Nick Clason What is up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Hybrid Ministry show. I, as always my host Nick Klassen. And I'm really excited. Today I got the one and only Josh Boldman who works at Diam now. He also has years of experience in youth ministry. And so we are going to interview Josh today. What's up everybody? I'm here with Josh Boldman. Josh how you doing this morning bro? 00:00:23:04 - 00:00:44:07 Josh Boldman I am good man. How are you doing I'm great. I'm glad to have you on Nick Clason the long awaited Josh Boldman interview. Josh Boldman Most podcasts are still waiting. I just wanted to make it very clear. Nick Clason Oh man, I feel like I'm in an exclusive club. Yeah, or something. Josh Boldman So they just don't know. They don't know it yet, but they're still waiting. 00:00:44:07 - 00:01:10:12 Nick Clason Yeah, they definitely are. But not me. Not us. Josh, like, tell the people, how did. Who are you and how did you get to where you are today? Josh Boldman Oh my gosh. Okay. That is it all started on a cold with. No. okay. So I have, right there. So I'll start with where I'm at. right now I am I am the team lead for co-leader, which is, a part of the download Youth Ministry family. 00:01:10:14 - 00:01:39:17 Josh Boldman I also, run lead in the sidekick arena, which is our presentation software. We'll get to that. but that's only been for about the last year. before that, I spent, somewhere in the neighborhood of. Right at about 20 years in student ministry, as a youth pastor or youth minister or student pastor or student ministries director, or any of the other myriad ways that you can you can describe it. 00:01:39:19 - 00:02:03:18 Josh Boldman but I did that. Gosh, from Florida, to Illinois, to, tiny, tiny little churches to big old churches to, single site to multi-site to we do youth ministry on Sunday morning to we do youth ministry on Wednesday nights like normal people do. all that, you know, so, you know, it's just kind of been all over the place. 00:02:03:24 - 00:02:27:24 Josh Boldman Yeah. but for the last ten, I'll say ten. It's probably like six, but I'll say ten years. I pastor mother, with Dwight. Yeah. It's like, how many kids were there? The 400. I don't know, it was too many to count. but yeah. So I, I've been an author with Tim, putting resources like games and teaching content and countdowns and videos and stuff together for DYM. 00:02:27:27 - 00:02:47:11 Josh Boldman And then about a year ago, they had somebody that was going on maternity leave and they're like, hey, you want to cover for that person? I was like, yeah, yeah, I do. And then I spent all 90 days of that maternity leave, trying to make it where there was literally no way they could let me go afterward. 00:02:47:11 - 00:03:08:12 Nick Clason And it it worked nice. Josh Boldman Absolutely worked. I was it was dicey for about about 45 days. And then I was like, nah, I think I got I think, I think I got this. So she came back and I was not asked to pack up and leave. so that has worked out for everybody. Yeah. You didn't put her on the job either? 00:03:08:12 - 00:03:31:27 Josh Boldman No, no, it's kind of great. Yeah. So, you know, it's been it's been a ride. this last year, co-leader has transitioned from a, a platform where you can plan ministry to a full blown annual curriculum. we've launched sidekick. sidekick, which is now in beta. we had Sidekick Legacy, which was a standalone app. 00:03:31:27 - 00:03:53:26 Josh Boldman Now it's built in the browser. So you open it in Chrome and you can you can play. You know, play your presentation literally anywhere. we did that all with any I mean, it's like literally anything we could have done, we we decided we were like, hey, you know what? If we just take everything we ever want to do and we just jam it all into one calendar year, and we got this. 00:03:53:27 - 00:04:08:28 Nick Clason Yeah, we got this guy now who's covering for this girl on maternity leave, and now we can. We had him go. So we're we need to get our money's worth out of him. That's there. Like, we have so many staff. We have so we have so many. And now, now we need to have them do things, so. 00:04:08:28 - 00:04:30:10 Nick Clason Oh, man, I gotta say the like this, I don't there's no pitch. Like, no, like kickback. None of this. I love co-leader and I love sidekick. And, we, I made our church and I think I told you this, but we'll tell everyone I was like, I made our church by two computers so that we could run pro presenter. 00:04:30:10 - 00:04:52:19 Nick Clason Because the musicians need the confidence monitor, like the not not what's on the screen mirror, but like what's coming. So like what? So that's valid. Josh Boldman So they don't practice is what you're telling me. Nick Clason Exactly. They're ill prepared. So I had to give them what they needed at the give the musicians you know, throw my bone. But I made them buy another computer and a like a black magic video switcher. 00:04:52:19 - 00:05:11:04 Josh Boldman And we running everything else now. Yeah. Off of sidekick. And so, so, so what I'm hearing you say is because of the worship ministry, you guys have to rely on dark magic. Is that. What is that where he is? Oh, black. Matt. Oh, it's a black. It's a company that's different. Okay. All right. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised either. 00:05:11:11 - 00:05:37:06 Nick Clason Yeah, yeah, either way. But I love the like I love a lot of things about it. But my favorite part about it is the phone integration. Right. And, we played last week like a game like, multiple choice game. And they could literally play on their phones. And this was the first time I'd, I'd use that particular, like, setting there and sidekick, like the, the question with, with the quiz like type of. 00:05:37:08 - 00:06:02:05 Nick Clason Yeah. Like what the correct answer. Yes. Yes. And I loved that. That was super fun. so talk to me just a little bit about, like, you know, you jump in. Were there rumblings and plans about sidekick being revamped or did you see some of like those opportunities and be like, this is what I see in youth ministry as a youth pastor, 20 plus years and now, yeah, I want to help kind of evolve it to the next stage, like give us that kind of background. 00:06:02:08 - 00:06:26:01 Josh Boldman Yeah. So something that, I it's really funny because I don't know that many youth workers realize, although I feel like we should is that, software development takes billions of dollars and lots and lots of time. and so, so when I started at downloading Ministry, the plan had already been. We are revamping sidekick. I'm. You know, I'm just gonna peel back the curtain, you know? 00:06:26:01 - 00:06:50:24 Josh Boldman You don't know. Yeah. Sorry. I took the original app. All right. Was written in a, in a programing environment that got depreciate. All right, so it is. It was built long, so it was built on something called chromium. and it it it is a like sidekick. Legacy is a work of art. Like it is a it was a game changer for me when I was in ministry. 00:06:50:24 - 00:07:14:13 Josh Boldman The the spinning wheel boxes. Yeah. it was one of a kind. No one was. Oh, my gosh, nobody was doing it right. And then, what happened about two years ago, maybe three years ago now is chromium got depreciated. And we realized what that meant was there was now no way to update the legacy. I don't know at all, like, impossible, like literally impossible. 00:07:14:16 - 00:07:31:17 Josh Boldman And and so it was like, okay, well, we can either rebuild a new one or we can take it in a different direction. And one of the really things that people that people hated was every time you open the legacy app, you have to sign in every single time you had to type in the password. It was a great time. 00:07:31:20 - 00:07:52:23 Josh Boldman I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our, like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running, and then it crashed. And then they had to reopen it, and they're like, from the booth, they yell out, what's the password? No. And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone. 00:07:52:23 - 00:08:14:14 Josh Boldman And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, so like, I immediately I started teaching, and then I get off stage and I'm like, I gotta change every password I mean, ever had. It was a nightmare. so we thought, okay, what is the best way to make this as portable as possible? 00:08:14:14 - 00:08:33:01 Josh Boldman So we went with putting it in, in the browser. Yeah. which I'll be honest, I mean, it was basically like it was a trade off, right? It gave us a lot of, functionality as far as portability, as far as far as syncing. Yeah. but it there are trade offs, right? Like Google Chrome. both. 00:08:33:01 - 00:08:52:11 Josh Boldman Google. Safari, Apple. you know, Firefox, they all have different rules about like window management. And so like you'll know like when you open sidekick and you go to present, you have to drag the window over to your other browser. Like that's not ideal right now. We that's why we have a video switcher now that's why. Right. 00:08:52:13 - 00:09:22:11 Josh Boldman Yeah. That's why we that's why we as Christians rely on dark black magic. Black. It's that's what it is. and so, so, you know, so there are some trade offs for sure. For sure. But, but what we started realizing was, the, the pitch that we started telling people that when it, I think it really kind of clicked for people how how different was good is we would tell them, like, we would show them what we could do with, with voting, with spinning wheel, with, with pick me like the main ideas. 00:09:22:14 - 00:09:41:11 Josh Boldman And I said, what's really cool is I can create this presentation. I can, immediately, as soon as I add an element to a slide, I can close the laptop, I can break it over my knee, I can set it on fire and throw it in the ocean. And then I can just go to church, open the computer, and it's it's there like it is there. 00:09:41:12 - 00:10:03:18 Josh Boldman It does not miss a beat. you probably have to like on the computer at church, though, because yours is God's an ocean. Oh yeah. No no no no. Yeah. There's no recovering from it really at the point. Not sidekicks. Not that good yet. Yeah. No, I mean, yeah. but. Yeah. So so it's, Yeah, it's it's being able to sync and being able to to go remote. 00:10:03:25 - 00:10:28:19 Josh Boldman That's awesome. But then when we started showing people, hey, all you have to do is the same thing you did to log in on your computer, do that on your phone. And what it does is it turns your phone into a remote for the exact same presentation that's running on your presentation computer. and I mean, just suddenly being able to when you're doing polls on your phone, you can see the results, before they're even shown on the screen. 00:10:28:22 - 00:10:57:09 Josh Boldman you can go to next, go back. You can do slide notes. You can. I mean, it did really any of the functionality that's there except for editing on the computer. You can do that literally on your phone in real time because I don't know if you've ever I'm certainly you've never been in this situation where you have a sixth grader who is so well intentioned is like, I want to run the computer and you're like, yes, that is a that is a thing a sixth grader can do. 00:10:57:09 - 00:11:26:24 Josh Boldman You can hit the spacebar. Yeah. And and then, and then they, and then they don't, they, they just don't hit the spacebar. And so like I would always use it as just like my, my phone was, I wasn't there. So I was running it, but it was my fallback. Like I was like, okay, that kid in the back, there was one time, I swear to you, right, at an unnamed church that I worked at for a while. 00:11:26:27 - 00:11:51:12 Josh Boldman I remember once, so I would always try, so I was a student ministry director there, and so I always I would always try, like, I would. Yeah, I was either teaching or whatever, but I would always try to do anytime I wasn't teaching, I would try to do something else. So like anytime I wasn't teaching, I would be in the booth or the, you know, doing the game or, you know, but so there's one time I'm in the booth and, and the lyrics for the songs are not firing on time. 00:11:51:12 - 00:12:18:01 Josh Boldman And I, so I'm like, leaning over and I'm looking. The kid is watching Star Wars the movie. Like, like an actual movie on his phone. Not a TikTok, not a YouTube. No. The two hour movie, two hour movie with subtitles. And he is holding his phone like screamed. Is it because the subtitles are so small? And I'm like, hey, I know, I know, you're looking at that because words are important. 00:12:18:03 - 00:12:38:25 Josh Boldman However, everyone else in the room is looking up here because words are important. So maybe I don't know, I don't know, that's just jump up and just jump on that. That's a win right there. Yeah. So but being able to you know when you're on stage and things go wrong there are like a couple of options. And and one of them is to make the person in the booth feel really bad. 00:12:38:25 - 00:13:00:09 Nick Clason And that is never the right option. Right. It's never to call attention to the person messed up. But we want to sometimes. Oh oh yes, yes, yes we do. But being able to just say, okay, I've got my phone here. Hey, Mr. Cube, don't worry, I'm just going to jump it like, yeah, was that was the game changer for me. 00:13:00:11 - 00:13:22:15 Josh Boldman and so now we're just on this journey of trying to reach full parity between the legacy version and what is right now, the lovingly called the beta version of sidekick. until it until it has all the same features. yeah. But what we're finding is that is, like I said, the original The legacy is a work of art. 00:13:22:17 - 00:13:47:09 Josh Boldman And, right now, we are working on boxes and that is in the browser proving to be a challenging. Yeah, it is, it's just, you know, it's one of those things like, you wouldn't think like even when we first, the first go around, we did, wheel and pick me. Right. Those were the first two things. And so with the wheel, you know, you think how this is, it's a spinning wheel. 00:13:47:10 - 00:14:04:24 Josh Boldman Like there's no. Yeah, there's nothing complicated here. Oh, but there is, friend, because pixels are square. Yeah. I don't know if you knew that or not, but pixels was great. So when you try and rotate them around and center axis that's a. Yeah. It's just it's one of those things like, you know, you think you got it. 00:14:04:24 - 00:14:21:03 Josh Boldman And then suddenly you're like, oh, that looks really bad. And so then it just it's like you have to go right back to the drawing board and, and so, so yeah. So right now we're working on boxes. It's, it's taking a little longer than we had hoped, but but you're working with square pixels now. So square pixels. 00:14:21:06 - 00:14:35:10 Josh Boldman We know what we're doing. Yeah. Yes. Wouldn't it be funny if like, in the like when, when it was the wheel, we had a problem because it was squares. But then like we're like, alright, now we're going to move the boxes and like just the world, like was like, you know what we figured out round pixels are better. 00:14:35:12 - 00:14:57:21 Josh Boldman And I was like, no, no. Yeah. But but yeah. So we're that. So we got boxes, in the pipeline. we're we, we here and I know anybody that knows sidekick already. Their first question that they have been asking is what about, survey says, which is our family feud builder. Right. And, that one is, it's coming. 00:14:57:21 - 00:15:19:27 Josh Boldman It's like, but it's it is it all takes a yeah, it all takes time. And, so, best way anybody, anybody that, you know, can help me go to sidekick.TV. There's a link there where you can, you can submit ideas and requests and you can even vote on other people's. And and that always helps us know kind of what's next. 00:15:19:29 - 00:15:36:15 Josh Boldman yeah. But yeah, we'll drop. That'll be. We're loving it, dude. I mean, and. Oh, I, I know the sound is starting to sound like a commercial and I apologize, but it's, it's it is. It's like it's just so fun is, when, when one of the most recent things we did was we connected everyone's dim accounts to the download youth ministry. 00:15:36:15 - 00:16:04:05 Josh Boldman If you buy something, there, he just automatically shows up. And that is that was awesome. Sweet. Because, I mean, it used to be, I don't know. I mean, you you make games for GM that are video based, right. And and when you do that those those files are massive. Like, you know, I mean, it's not uncommon for a game to be three, four gigabytes, you know, but it's also 3 or 4GB of, you know, that's 20, 30 videos for the game. 00:16:04:05 - 00:16:21:05 Josh Boldman And so then adding each of those in is kind of a nightmare. And so we figured out a way to do it is we do it on our end once and then it when you buy it, it just you can just it shows up in your library. You click on it and it's just in that is yeah, man, I'm telling you I will. 00:16:21:08 - 00:16:38:28 Josh Boldman I never have to worry about losing a thumb drive ever again. Yeah, because I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't know where my thumb drive it is right now. I lost it in 1997. so. Sounds like there are some important things on there. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Knows it was, I don't know, something. 00:16:38:28 - 00:17:04:23 Josh Boldman Call it bitcoin. Bitcoin I don't remember. You could have been rich. You wouldn't even have to be here right now. Well I'll tell you what. Of all the things like all the things you're talking about, there's like, there's phone usage on both sides, right? So if you're presenting, you can use your phone as a remote, but if you're, you're, watching your in the audience, there are like integrations where there's like voting and games and all that stuff. 00:17:04:23 - 00:17:25:07 Nick Clason Yeah. And, I think that's my favorite part. Like as a youth pastor now for, over ten years, like I've always been trying to figure out how to get ourselves in youth ministry. Like relevant to our students are, as opposed to, like, when they're at church, make them do something that's so completely foreign to like their current culture. 00:17:25:07 - 00:17:56:28 Nick Clason Right? Like youth culture, like they're all messaging one another through their phones. They're all like consuming news articles and social media through their phones. And then we get to church and like the church I was at, like when I started the previous regime, no shade. but they had, like, phone lockers, like they would take kids cellphones and lock them and like, and what we're do, in my opinion, is like, okay, so we're, we're just trying to modify their behavior, but we haven't actually like change their true authentic like desire to like be here and listen. 00:17:56:28 - 00:18:19:26 Nick Clason We just want them quieter for us. And like that we should just be better. Like, yeah. And so y'all start rolling out all this stuff on sidekick. And I'm like, here's the opportunity for us to use what is native to them in our environment and in a way that doesn't, like, break the bank anymore, because to get some of these features through other third party like platforms, we just don't have the money. 00:18:19:26 - 00:18:45:09 Nick Clason As a youth pastor, you know what I'm saying? In your budget, whatever the case might be. So yeah, so that's my favorite part. And so I would love it if you would talk about not just necessarily like the sidekick integration, but what has been your experience and your unique perspective as a youth pastor with how what we've done in youth culture and how like we've then asked them to come to church culture and how they don't all they're like oil and water sometimes. 00:18:45:09 - 00:19:07:04 Nick Clason Like, how are we? How can we reach students better and to find ourselves where they are, which is online, on phones, all those things. Josh Boldman I mean, okay, so you remember, man, even I mean, when I was growing up and especially early in my ministry, you know, it was always the, the thing was, you were always fighting against like, like travel sports, right? 00:19:07:04 - 00:19:30:07 Josh Boldman Like that was like the, the, the bane of youth ministry existence was like, oh, we still are really, by the way. Oh, to be cool. Yeah. Oh, no doubt. But it was like, I don't know, there was like a point where I think we just we got tired of seeing no results from shame, shaming those kids. Like, it's like you want to play travel ball. 00:19:30:11 - 00:19:47:28 Josh Boldman We'll play travel ball. Yeah. With the devil. You know, it's like that. Doesn't like it doesn't help anybody. When? When all we're doing is. Or like. Like, oh, you have a phone, go lock it up because it's, you know, it's like that, doesn't it? Yeah. What does that do? All that does is like when you're locking up a kid's phone. 00:19:48:05 - 00:20:10:09 Josh Boldman I feel like the way that you can know that it's not working is as soon as the the time, like the lockdown is over, was the very first thing they do. They run to go get it. Yeah. Which means that it was, it was on their mind still. So it's not like you really saved you know them any, any trouble or any like you didn't gain anything by pulling it away, you know, because their attention is still stuck on it. 00:20:10:11 - 00:20:36:16 Josh Boldman so really what I think, I think is we're seeing right now in youth ministry as a whole, in, in what we're trying to do, a sidekick is really we're trying to figure out ways to engage students, literally where they are. And so, I guess, have you, did you ever do camps where the rule was the kids couldn't even bring their phone to camp? 00:20:36:18 - 00:20:59:04 Nick Clason I never did. No, I could have, right. But I never I always I've always run my own camp, so I make the rules. So. Yeah. And I've always been in churches or youth ministries where the goal is to bring kids who don't go to our church to camp. And like, I'm not going to get a kid and their family who's never met me, send their kid like hours away without a lifeline back to them. 00:20:59:04 - 00:21:24:10 Josh Boldman Oh yeah. Kids. Oh, no. So I've never tried to fight that battle, but it was fake because we used to almost use that, like as an advertisement. We were like, come to camp where you get away from your phone and kids are like, I don't want to do that, you know? And so, like, there was a point where I think maybe 20 years ago, you probably could do it, but even now, it's not even just the kid, it's the parents that are like, I'm not sending my kid without their phone. 00:21:24:10 - 00:21:58:02 Josh Boldman What's wrong with you? You know? Yeah. So, like, so what we decided to do with with sidekick is like, okay, what if instead of constantly harping on, he put your phone away or go lock it up or don't even bring it, or, you know, trying to make it seem like the phone itself was the enemy. What if we decided to say like, hey, we understand that that phone, it's an extension of you now like that just, I mean, and that, I mean, you know, I mean, I think you can get really, like, dystopian, you know, like, like Blade Runner type type vibes from, like, the phone is an extension of you, but but it is 00:21:58:03 - 00:22:21:24 Josh Boldman mine is an extension of me like, I mean, I literally if I, I don't know when the last time I walked out of my house without my phone was like, it's not just because I didn't forget it, it's because if it's not in my pocket, it feels like I'm missing something. I feel like I know I'm missing it, and you're gonna need it, you know, like, oh, sure, it's your calendar, it's your wallet, it's your navigation, it's your everything. 00:22:21:24 - 00:22:49:12 Nick Clason Like it. So you can't so much. That's my argument is like this. It's not going anywhere. So we can try our hardest as youth pastors and churches to fight against culture. But it's a losing battle eventually. And it's not like, oh, let's give in to culture because it's evil, right? No, no, no. It's how do we take this thing that is not moral, it's not morally right or morally wrong, but how do we take this thing and just use it as a tool? 00:22:49:12 - 00:23:07:12 Josh Boldman It's it's a tool, 100% tool that we we would have died for 15, 20 years ago, like, oh yeah, I was talking on the last episode like we didn't have group chats 15 years ago. If you want to talk to your student, you talk to them when they came to your building and that was it. But now you can do pastoral care. 00:23:07:12 - 00:23:39:02 Nick Clason You can, and just do a basic thing like texting. When I'm talking about something like software development right now. Yeah. So one of the things, that has been really cool to experiment with, and we've seen a couple people do this really well is is using like polls like, okay, so there's a there are different ways you can use it, but the like, so say as you're teaching, if, if you're saying something that you know is going to fly right over their heads, right? 00:23:39:05 - 00:24:11:11 Josh Boldman Pausing literally at that moment and asking the question, hey, did you catch that? And yes or no, like literally something super simple like, did you catch that? Yes or no? And then adjusting what you say next based on their response or, we've even seen people take their entire services in like a, choose your own adventure type approach where, I mean, it is it seems minor, but it's something like, hey, we've got the worship team has two songs that they prepared, but we're only going to do one. 00:24:11:13 - 00:24:29:15 Josh Boldman Hey, you all, they're here. Yeah. Which one you want to do? You know, or, you know, I've, done a couple teaching times where, like, so, you know, every youth pastor has, like, their, like, bag of tricks, like the, the saw or the stories that they tell that it's like, okay, I can tell this story, like drop of a hat. 00:24:29:15 - 00:25:00:17 Josh Boldman Yeah. you know, and so, like, I, I'll start with, like, right at the beginning of a message will say, hey, guys, I can tell you one of, three stories. You know, when when I got hit by a car, one when I accidentally killed my girlfriend's cat and one when I, when I stubbed my toe, you know, and so, like, you take your pick, you know, and just let them pick, and it doesn't change anything about where that message is going, but letting them have a moment where they can speak into it. 00:25:00:17 - 00:25:27:22 Josh Boldman Like, I guarantee you, when the room picks the story, the room pays attention to the story more. Yeah. or or even at the end, you know, be a great way to, to really, especially if you're trying to reach students that are not familiar with church a lot, you know, like that aren't around a lot is, at the end of the message just saying, like, hey, on a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you agree with what you just heard? 00:25:27:25 - 00:25:46:26 Josh Boldman can you met and live in live results on the screen like, hey, okay, so but can you imagine how much that might change your small group conversations that are going to happen right after the lesson? If if you suddenly see, like, oh, we just talked about this and 80% of the room says, I don't agree, okay, great. 00:25:47:03 - 00:26:10:20 Josh Boldman Then let's go to our small groups and let's see this mess out. You know, or I think that there's, there's stuff like that or or you could even say if you're doing a series, you could, you could say, hey, here are the four weeks of the series. we did the intro this week. Which one you want to hear about next week and let them pick where you're going to go, and then you have a whole week to figure out how to get there. 00:26:10:22 - 00:26:29:11 Josh Boldman yeah. But it but I guarantee you, those students that voted are going to be more likely to be there if they know what you're talking about. And they actually helped get to to choose what that was going to be. Yeah, I think I think there's a lot there. And we're working love to say like we're working like it's like in development, right, right now. 00:26:29:11 - 00:26:49:09 Josh Boldman But it's like I mean, one of the things on the, on the docket is, is, you know, being able to have students from their seat ask questions, be able to give feedback, you know, in real time so that you, as you're standing there on the, you know, platform with your phone that you're able to see the questions as they come in. 00:26:49:11 - 00:27:06:03 Josh Boldman we're trying to figure out things like how to moderate those things because I don't know about you, but if you ask open ended questions and just have the answers up on the screen without, you might get some filtering. Yeah. Inappropriate answer, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, my the students that I've ever worked with are always saints and so they would not do that. 00:27:06:03 - 00:27:30:01 Nick Clason But I would imagine yours. Well you know it's crazy is like here's another like just interesting youth culture is like I was working at a church in Chicago and it was very like it, it prided itself on we reach people who are far from God. And so, you know, that's going to come with a certain like, oh, I student and now I'm in the Bible Belt in Dallas, Texas. 00:27:30:08 - 00:27:55:00 Nick Clason And, it's like it prides itself on being like the church for Christians almost. And like the kids, the students, they're the same, like it's oh, no doubt. Right. That's the crazy thing is what the internet has done is it's leveled that like playing field of like, yeah, certain cultures, their youth culture is very consistent now and despite the demographic. 00:27:55:00 - 00:28:16:08 Nick Clason And so the unique part is not our students. The unique part is helping our parents understand, that the students are still the same, you know, so, you know, something, we've seen is actually really cool that somebody was doing was they were using the live polls in their lobby for parents to answer as they were dropping their kids off. 00:28:16:08 - 00:28:40:12 Josh Boldman That's cool. And, it was yeah, it was very cool. Was like, and it was, you know, some like, minor stuff that it was like, you know, what time is your middle schoolers? Bedtime. Like, you know. Yeah. Seven, eight, nine, ten, 11. You know, just pick one, you know, stuff like that. And it was minor. But again, it's, not just that you get individuals to engage, but the fact that everybody can see the responses as it as it goes. 00:28:40:14 - 00:29:09:00 Josh Boldman There's, I think there's a lot of even still some untapped, untapped potential there. think about how to help people engage. Yeah. I think, we went to a conference a while back, and they're talking about the differences in generational ways of thinking. And like one of the things and I think this is true, despite like being an older, older generation of like all of us, but like Gen Z, Gen Alpha, like they're just looking to be known individually, like they don't want to be part of, like a sea of numbers. 00:29:09:00 - 00:29:32:20 Nick Clason Right. And so when you are in a bigger context and you have 100,000 kids, like it's hard to it's hard for them to, to stand out and stuff like this helps them get to just yeah, speak their, their voice. Right. And they get to play a role. And even if they're voting for something and their choice doesn't get picked like they were heard and that's oh yeah, that's all it needs to be. 00:29:32:20 - 00:29:52:17 Nick Clason It doesn't have to always go their way, you know? And there's probably some opportunity for them to learn some life lessons and stuff in there. But just like realizing like, hey, we're doing all this for you, but what what do you want? Like, that's I don't know. That's the key. So, Josh, as we wind this sucker down, like final thoughts. 00:29:52:17 - 00:30:16:09 Nick Clason Final words. What what what if anything's, like burning on your soul to get out there? Josh Boldman Oh, man. All right, well, here. I'm glad you asked, Nick. no. okay, here's the thing is. Yeah, I think we need to not be afraid of what our students want. And we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion. 00:30:16:11 - 00:30:48:22 Josh Boldman And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us. I think that that is, you know, where where we are heading is a world that values, a diversity of opinion. And the value placed on each of those opinions, is crucial. And so, like, I mean, I think people really can very easily get confused into thinking that that means that every opinion is right or that every opinion carries the same weight. 00:30:48:22 - 00:31:09:12 Josh Boldman And it's a that's not at all what it but it. I think there is a I think we we do ourselves and honestly the gospel and miss service when we, are a disservice. I don't think Miss Service is a word, a disservice when we, when we say, here is the correct answer, we don't even want to hear anything else. 00:31:09:15 - 00:31:42:02 Josh Boldman because our students are coming into our, our, our environments with their own opinions and own presuppositions. And yes, they probably heard them all from the same TikTok channel. Like, that's fine, but they all still want it. They want to be heard. And so I think any time we can even begin to open the door to showing them that we value what they are walking in with, I think just builds, it builds credibility in their eyes. 00:31:42:05 - 00:32:07:01 Josh Boldman I think in all honesty, I don't know, you know, I would argue that most students are they do not often find themselves in environments where their opinion is valued. so, I mean, whether that's school, I mean, and please don't hear me, teachers are awesome, but it is it is tough when especially when you have like a curriculum in a, in a school environment, you're like, hey, I need you to learn this thing. 00:32:07:07 - 00:32:31:22 Josh Boldman Like, and there's not a lot of debate in biology, you know, like, it's just this is where we're at, you know? And so, but I think if we can create environments where it's, we're inviting students into a conversation where their voice matters, whether that's a, a deep theological conversation or whether that is a game that is literally, hey, I need you to pick A, B, or C because it's a trivia question. 00:32:31:22 - 00:32:57:01 Josh Boldman Like it's it like, but but still valuing what they bring to the table. I think that that pays dividends in the long run in a, in a massive, massive way. I mean, whether that's later in the small group or whether that's ten years later or, you know, I'm at a point right now where kids, when I first started that were in sixth grade, now have their own sixth graders, and that is awful. 00:32:57:03 - 00:33:14:19 Josh Boldman but but it's the same thing is those those kids are now in the place where they're deciding, am I going to bring my own kid to a youth group or not? And, you know, and I think that the way we treat our students now will influence how they raise their own families and what that looks like for them in the future. 00:33:14:19 - 00:33:34:17 Josh Boldman So, never underestimate how important it is to for for a student's voice to be valued. Yeah. And what better spot in the world than for that to happen at church? Crazy, right? Who would've thought? Yeah, well, Josh, we're running out of time. But I appreciate you, man. Anywhere, anywhere else people can find, find the Josh Boldman, like. 00:33:34:19 - 00:34:00:20 Nick Clason Oh, yeah, they want to, like, untap some of these other thoughts and deeper musings of the word is, oh, I don't know if deeper is going to be with the find, but, all the social media is, it's at Josh Boldman. I know, I'm so glad it wasn't taken. Yeah. You're lucky. all right, I know. Yeah. but then, again, you know, the download youth ministry store, you know, I mean, this is not to sell stuff, but like, a lot of the stuff I've written really does reflect where I'm at, you know? 00:34:00:20 - 00:34:09:15 Josh Boldman And so, you know, check out any of that stuff there, but. Well, yeah. Love it. Man. Will appreciate you being on. And, everyone else, we'll talk next time. All right, bye friends. cell phones, teenagers and cell phones, cell phones at church, download youth ministry, sidekick, sidekick and cell phones, youth ministry ideas, youth ministry presentation, youth ministry programming, creative youth ministry messages, Generation Alpha value, individual, church games, church ideas, church cell phone involvement, youth pastor, youth group, youth pastor coach, youth ministry coaching, digital ministry, digital integration, hybrid ministry, nick clason, josh boldman 🔥 [FREE] Hybrid Ministry Strategy Guide🔥

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======================================
DESCRIPTION
What in the world do we do about cellphone usage during youth group?!
It seems like it's getting worse and worse!

Well, Josh Boldman, of DYM (downloadyouthministry.com) is here to help reveal his thoughts, as well as a full-proof program to not only take care of the cell phone epidemic, but to unveil the future of youth ministry as we all know it!

======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/110

//CO-LEADER CURRICULUM
https://www.coleader.co/

//SIDEKICK
https://sidekick.tv/

//JOSH ON DYM
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/featured-authors/josh-boldman/

//SIDEKICK FEATURE REQUEST
https://sidekick-tv.canny.io/feature-requests

//JOSH ON SOCIAL
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshboldman
https://www.instagram.com/joshboldman/
https://www.facebook.com/joshboldman
https://x.com/joshboldman

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

======================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
Level up your youth ministry game with these freebies!
🔗 https://linktr.ee/clasonnick

======================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Intro - How your experience got you where you are now
04:15 Sidekick's Introduction into the Digital Realm of Youth Ministry
09:00 Sidekick's most user friendly features
13:50 What's next for Sidekick?
17:36 How Sidekick aids in showing up where students are
19:25 The Recipe to Engaging Students where they are
30:42 Final Thoughts on Hybrid Ministry
--------------
✍️TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00:15 - 00:00:23:04
Nick Clason
What is up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Hybrid Ministry show. I, as always my host Nick Klassen. And I'm really excited. Today I got the one and only Josh Boldman who works at Diam now. He also has years of experience in youth ministry. And so we are going to interview Josh today. What's up everybody? I'm here with Josh Boldman. Josh how you doing this morning bro?

00:00:23:04 - 00:00:44:07
Josh Boldman
I am good man. How are you doing I'm great. I'm glad to have you on

Nick Clason
the long awaited Josh Boldman interview.

Josh Boldman
Most podcasts are still waiting. I just wanted to make it very clear.

Nick Clason
Oh man, I feel like I'm in an exclusive club. Yeah, or something.

Josh Boldman
So they just don't know. They don't know it yet, but they're still waiting.

00:00:44:07 - 00:01:10:12
Nick Clason
Yeah, they definitely are. But not me. Not us. Josh, like, tell the people, how did. Who are you and how did you get to where you are today?

Josh Boldman
Oh my gosh. Okay. That is it all started on a cold with. No. okay. So I have, right there. So I'll start with where I'm at. right now I am I am the team lead for co-leader, which is, a part of the download Youth Ministry family.

00:01:10:14 - 00:01:39:17
Josh Boldman
I also, run lead in the sidekick arena, which is our presentation software. We'll get to that. but that's only been for about the last year. before that, I spent, somewhere in the neighborhood of. Right at about 20 years in student ministry, as a youth pastor or youth minister or student pastor or student ministries director, or any of the other myriad ways that you can you can describe it.

00:01:39:19 - 00:02:03:18
Josh Boldman
but I did that. Gosh, from Florida, to Illinois, to, tiny, tiny little churches to big old churches to, single site to multi-site to we do youth ministry on Sunday morning to we do youth ministry on Wednesday nights like normal people do. all that, you know, so, you know, it's just kind of been all over the place.

00:02:03:24 - 00:02:27:24
Josh Boldman
Yeah. but for the last ten, I'll say ten. It's probably like six, but I'll say ten years. I pastor mother, with Dwight. Yeah. It's like, how many kids were there? The 400. I don't know, it was too many to count. but yeah. So I, I've been an author with Tim, putting resources like games and teaching content and countdowns and videos and stuff together for DYM.

00:02:27:27 - 00:02:47:11
Josh Boldman
And then about a year ago, they had somebody that was going on maternity leave and they're like, hey, you want to cover for that person? I was like, yeah, yeah, I do. And then I spent all 90 days of that maternity leave, trying to make it where there was literally no way they could let me go afterward.

00:02:47:11 - 00:03:08:12
Nick Clason
And it it worked nice.

Josh Boldman
Absolutely worked. I was it was dicey for about about 45 days. And then I was like, nah, I think I got I think, I think I got this. So she came back and I was not asked to pack up and leave. so that has worked out for everybody. Yeah. You didn't put her on the job either?

00:03:08:12 - 00:03:31:27
Josh Boldman
No, no, it's kind of great. Yeah. So, you know, it's been it's been a ride. this last year, co-leader has transitioned from a, a platform where you can plan ministry to a full blown annual curriculum. we've launched sidekick. sidekick, which is now in beta. we had Sidekick Legacy, which was a standalone app.

00:03:31:27 - 00:03:53:26
Josh Boldman
Now it's built in the browser. So you open it in Chrome and you can you can play. You know, play your presentation literally anywhere. we did that all with any I mean, it's like literally anything we could have done, we we decided we were like, hey, you know what? If we just take everything we ever want to do and we just jam it all into one calendar year, and we got this.

00:03:53:27 - 00:04:08:28
Nick Clason
Yeah, we got this guy now who's covering for this girl on maternity leave, and now we can. We had him go. So we're we need to get our money's worth out of him. That's there. Like, we have so many staff. We have so we have so many. And now, now we need to have them do things, so.

00:04:08:28 - 00:04:30:10
Nick Clason
Oh, man, I gotta say the like this, I don't there's no pitch. Like, no, like kickback. None of this. I love co-leader and I love sidekick. And, we, I made our church and I think I told you this, but we'll tell everyone I was like, I made our church by two computers so that we could run pro presenter.

00:04:30:10 - 00:04:52:19
Nick Clason
Because the musicians need the confidence monitor, like the not not what's on the screen mirror, but like what's coming. So like what? So that's valid.

Josh Boldman
So they don't practice is what you're telling me.

Nick Clason
Exactly. They're ill prepared. So I had to give them what they needed at the give the musicians you know, throw my bone. But I made them buy another computer and a like a black magic video switcher.

00:04:52:19 - 00:05:11:04
Josh Boldman
And we running everything else now. Yeah. Off of sidekick. And so, so, so what I'm hearing you say is because of the worship ministry, you guys have to rely on dark magic. Is that. What is that where he is? Oh, black. Matt. Oh, it's a black. It's a company that's different. Okay. All right. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised either.

00:05:11:11 - 00:05:37:06
Nick Clason
Yeah, yeah, either way. But I love the like I love a lot of things about it. But my favorite part about it is the phone integration. Right. And, we played last week like a game like, multiple choice game. And they could literally play on their phones. And this was the first time I'd, I'd use that particular, like, setting there and sidekick, like the, the question with, with the quiz like type of.

00:05:37:08 - 00:06:02:05
Nick Clason
Yeah. Like what the correct answer. Yes. Yes. And I loved that. That was super fun. so talk to me just a little bit about, like, you know, you jump in. Were there rumblings and plans about sidekick being revamped or did you see some of like those opportunities and be like, this is what I see in youth ministry as a youth pastor, 20 plus years and now, yeah, I want to help kind of evolve it to the next stage, like give us that kind of background.

00:06:02:08 - 00:06:26:01
Josh Boldman
Yeah. So something that, I it's really funny because I don't know that many youth workers realize, although I feel like we should is that, software development takes billions of dollars and lots and lots of time. and so, so when I started at downloading Ministry, the plan had already been. We are revamping sidekick. I'm. You know, I'm just gonna peel back the curtain, you know?

00:06:26:01 - 00:06:50:24
Josh Boldman
You don't know. Yeah. Sorry. I took the original app. All right. Was written in a, in a programing environment that got depreciate. All right, so it is. It was built long, so it was built on something called chromium. and it it it is a like sidekick. Legacy is a work of art. Like it is a it was a game changer for me when I was in ministry.

00:06:50:24 - 00:07:14:13
Josh Boldman
The the spinning wheel boxes. Yeah. it was one of a kind. No one was. Oh, my gosh, nobody was doing it right. And then, what happened about two years ago, maybe three years ago now is chromium got depreciated. And we realized what that meant was there was now no way to update the legacy. I don't know at all, like, impossible, like literally impossible.

00:07:14:16 - 00:07:31:17
Josh Boldman
And and so it was like, okay, well, we can either rebuild a new one or we can take it in a different direction. And one of the really things that people that people hated was every time you open the legacy app, you have to sign in every single time you had to type in the password. It was a great time.

00:07:31:20 - 00:07:52:23
Josh Boldman
I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our, like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running, and then it crashed. And then they had to reopen it, and they're like, from the booth, they yell out, what's the password? No. And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone.

00:07:52:23 - 00:08:14:14
Josh Boldman
And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, so like, I immediately I started teaching, and then I get off stage and I'm like, I gotta change every password I mean, ever had. It was a nightmare. so we thought, okay, what is the best way to make this as portable as possible?

00:08:14:14 - 00:08:33:01
Josh Boldman
So we went with putting it in, in the browser. Yeah. which I'll be honest, I mean, it was basically like it was a trade off, right? It gave us a lot of, functionality as far as portability, as far as far as syncing. Yeah. but it there are trade offs, right? Like Google Chrome. both.

00:08:33:01 - 00:08:52:11
Josh Boldman
Google. Safari, Apple. you know, Firefox, they all have different rules about like window management. And so like you'll know like when you open sidekick and you go to present, you have to drag the window over to your other browser. Like that's not ideal right now. We that's why we have a video switcher now that's why. Right.

00:08:52:13 - 00:09:22:11
Josh Boldman
Yeah. That's why we that's why we as Christians rely on dark black magic. Black. It's that's what it is. and so, so, you know, so there are some trade offs for sure. For sure. But, but what we started realizing was, the, the pitch that we started telling people that when it, I think it really kind of clicked for people how how different was good is we would tell them, like, we would show them what we could do with, with voting, with spinning wheel, with, with pick me like the main ideas.

00:09:22:14 - 00:09:41:11
Josh Boldman
And I said, what's really cool is I can create this presentation. I can, immediately, as soon as I add an element to a slide, I can close the laptop, I can break it over my knee, I can set it on fire and throw it in the ocean. And then I can just go to church, open the computer, and it's it's there like it is there.

00:09:41:12 - 00:10:03:18
Josh Boldman
It does not miss a beat. you probably have to like on the computer at church, though, because yours is God's an ocean. Oh yeah. No no no no. Yeah. There's no recovering from it really at the point. Not sidekicks. Not that good yet. Yeah. No, I mean, yeah. but. Yeah. So so it's, Yeah, it's it's being able to sync and being able to to go remote.

00:10:03:25 - 00:10:28:19
Josh Boldman
That's awesome. But then when we started showing people, hey, all you have to do is the same thing you did to log in on your computer, do that on your phone. And what it does is it turns your phone into a remote for the exact same presentation that's running on your presentation computer. and I mean, just suddenly being able to when you're doing polls on your phone, you can see the results, before they're even shown on the screen.

00:10:28:22 - 00:10:57:09
Josh Boldman
you can go to next, go back. You can do slide notes. You can. I mean, it did really any of the functionality that's there except for editing on the computer. You can do that literally on your phone in real time because I don't know if you've ever I'm certainly you've never been in this situation where you have a sixth grader who is so well intentioned is like, I want to run the computer and you're like, yes, that is a that is a thing a sixth grader can do.

00:10:57:09 - 00:11:26:24
Josh Boldman
You can hit the spacebar. Yeah. And and then, and then they, and then they don't, they, they just don't hit the spacebar. And so like I would always use it as just like my, my phone was, I wasn't there. So I was running it, but it was my fallback. Like I was like, okay, that kid in the back, there was one time, I swear to you, right, at an unnamed church that I worked at for a while.

00:11:26:27 - 00:11:51:12
Josh Boldman
I remember once, so I would always try, so I was a student ministry director there, and so I always I would always try, like, I would. Yeah, I was either teaching or whatever, but I would always try to do anytime I wasn't teaching, I would try to do something else. So like anytime I wasn't teaching, I would be in the booth or the, you know, doing the game or, you know, but so there's one time I'm in the booth and, and the lyrics for the songs are not firing on time.

00:11:51:12 - 00:12:18:01
Josh Boldman
And I, so I'm like, leaning over and I'm looking. The kid is watching Star Wars the movie. Like, like an actual movie on his phone. Not a TikTok, not a YouTube. No. The two hour movie, two hour movie with subtitles. And he is holding his phone like screamed. Is it because the subtitles are so small? And I'm like, hey, I know, I know, you're looking at that because words are important.

00:12:18:03 - 00:12:38:25
Josh Boldman
However, everyone else in the room is looking up here because words are important. So maybe I don't know, I don't know, that's just jump up and just jump on that. That's a win right there. Yeah. So but being able to you know when you're on stage and things go wrong there are like a couple of options. And and one of them is to make the person in the booth feel really bad.

00:12:38:25 - 00:13:00:09
Nick Clason
And that is never the right option. Right. It's never to call attention to the person messed up. But we want to sometimes. Oh oh yes, yes, yes we do. But being able to just say, okay, I've got my phone here. Hey, Mr. Cube, don't worry, I'm just going to jump it like, yeah, was that was the game changer for me.

00:13:00:11 - 00:13:22:15
Josh Boldman
and so now we're just on this journey of trying to reach full parity between the legacy version and what is right now, the lovingly called the beta version of sidekick. until it until it has all the same features. yeah. But what we're finding is that is, like I said, the original The legacy is a work of art.

00:13:22:17 - 00:13:47:09
Josh Boldman
And, right now, we are working on boxes and that is in the browser proving to be a challenging. Yeah, it is, it's just, you know, it's one of those things like, you wouldn't think like even when we first, the first go around, we did, wheel and pick me. Right. Those were the first two things. And so with the wheel, you know, you think how this is, it's a spinning wheel.

00:13:47:10 - 00:14:04:24
Josh Boldman
Like there's no. Yeah, there's nothing complicated here. Oh, but there is, friend, because pixels are square. Yeah. I don't know if you knew that or not, but pixels was great. So when you try and rotate them around and center axis that's a. Yeah. It's just it's one of those things like, you know, you think you got it.

00:14:04:24 - 00:14:21:03
Josh Boldman
And then suddenly you're like, oh, that looks really bad. And so then it just it's like you have to go right back to the drawing board and, and so, so yeah. So right now we're working on boxes. It's, it's taking a little longer than we had hoped, but but you're working with square pixels now. So square pixels.

00:14:21:06 - 00:14:35:10
Josh Boldman
We know what we're doing. Yeah. Yes. Wouldn't it be funny if like, in the like when, when it was the wheel, we had a problem because it was squares. But then like we're like, alright, now we're going to move the boxes and like just the world, like was like, you know what we figured out round pixels are better.

00:14:35:12 - 00:14:57:21
Josh Boldman
And I was like, no, no. Yeah. But but yeah. So we're that. So we got boxes, in the pipeline. we're we, we here and I know anybody that knows sidekick already. Their first question that they have been asking is what about, survey says, which is our family feud builder. Right. And, that one is, it's coming.

00:14:57:21 - 00:15:19:27
Josh Boldman
It's like, but it's it is it all takes a yeah, it all takes time. And, so, best way anybody, anybody that, you know, can help me go to sidekick.TV. There's a link there where you can, you can submit ideas and requests and you can even vote on other people's. And and that always helps us know kind of what's next.

00:15:19:29 - 00:15:36:15
Josh Boldman
yeah. But yeah, we'll drop. That'll be. We're loving it, dude. I mean, and. Oh, I, I know the sound is starting to sound like a commercial and I apologize, but it's, it's it is. It's like it's just so fun is, when, when one of the most recent things we did was we connected everyone's dim accounts to the download youth ministry.

00:15:36:15 - 00:16:04:05
Josh Boldman
If you buy something, there, he just automatically shows up. And that is that was awesome. Sweet. Because, I mean, it used to be, I don't know. I mean, you you make games for GM that are video based, right. And and when you do that those those files are massive. Like, you know, I mean, it's not uncommon for a game to be three, four gigabytes, you know, but it's also 3 or 4GB of, you know, that's 20, 30 videos for the game.

00:16:04:05 - 00:16:21:05
Josh Boldman
And so then adding each of those in is kind of a nightmare. And so we figured out a way to do it is we do it on our end once and then it when you buy it, it just you can just it shows up in your library. You click on it and it's just in that is yeah, man, I'm telling you I will.

00:16:21:08 - 00:16:38:28
Josh Boldman
I never have to worry about losing a thumb drive ever again. Yeah, because I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't know where my thumb drive it is right now. I lost it in 1997. so. Sounds like there are some important things on there. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Knows it was, I don't know, something.

00:16:38:28 - 00:17:04:23
Josh Boldman
Call it bitcoin. Bitcoin I don't remember. You could have been rich. You wouldn't even have to be here right now. Well I'll tell you what. Of all the things like all the things you're talking about, there's like, there's phone usage on both sides, right? So if you're presenting, you can use your phone as a remote, but if you're, you're, watching your in the audience, there are like integrations where there's like voting and games and all that stuff.

00:17:04:23 - 00:17:25:07
Nick Clason
Yeah. And, I think that's my favorite part. Like as a youth pastor now for, over ten years, like I've always been trying to figure out how to get ourselves in youth ministry. Like relevant to our students are, as opposed to, like, when they're at church, make them do something that's so completely foreign to like their current culture.

00:17:25:07 - 00:17:56:28
Nick Clason
Right? Like youth culture, like they're all messaging one another through their phones. They're all like consuming news articles and social media through their phones. And then we get to church and like the church I was at, like when I started the previous regime, no shade. but they had, like, phone lockers, like they would take kids cellphones and lock them and like, and what we're do, in my opinion, is like, okay, so we're, we're just trying to modify their behavior, but we haven't actually like change their true authentic like desire to like be here and listen.

00:17:56:28 - 00:18:19:26
Nick Clason
We just want them quieter for us. And like that we should just be better. Like, yeah. And so y'all start rolling out all this stuff on sidekick. And I'm like, here's the opportunity for us to use what is native to them in our environment and in a way that doesn't, like, break the bank anymore, because to get some of these features through other third party like platforms, we just don't have the money.

00:18:19:26 - 00:18:45:09
Nick Clason
As a youth pastor, you know what I'm saying? In your budget, whatever the case might be. So yeah, so that's my favorite part. And so I would love it if you would talk about not just necessarily like the sidekick integration, but what has been your experience and your unique perspective as a youth pastor with how what we've done in youth culture and how like we've then asked them to come to church culture and how they don't all they're like oil and water sometimes.

00:18:45:09 - 00:19:07:04
Nick Clason
Like, how are we? How can we reach students better and to find ourselves where they are, which is online, on phones, all those things.

Josh Boldman
I mean, okay, so you remember, man, even I mean, when I was growing up and especially early in my ministry, you know, it was always the, the thing was, you were always fighting against like, like travel sports, right?

00:19:07:04 - 00:19:30:07
Josh Boldman
Like that was like the, the, the bane of youth ministry existence was like, oh, we still are really, by the way. Oh, to be cool. Yeah. Oh, no doubt. But it was like, I don't know, there was like a point where I think we just we got tired of seeing no results from shame, shaming those kids. Like, it's like you want to play travel ball.

00:19:30:11 - 00:19:47:28
Josh Boldman
We'll play travel ball. Yeah. With the devil. You know, it's like that. Doesn't like it doesn't help anybody. When? When all we're doing is. Or like. Like, oh, you have a phone, go lock it up because it's, you know, it's like that, doesn't it? Yeah. What does that do? All that does is like when you're locking up a kid's phone.

00:19:48:05 - 00:20:10:09
Josh Boldman
I feel like the way that you can know that it's not working is as soon as the the time, like the lockdown is over, was the very first thing they do. They run to go get it. Yeah. Which means that it was, it was on their mind still. So it's not like you really saved you know them any, any trouble or any like you didn't gain anything by pulling it away, you know, because their attention is still stuck on it.

00:20:10:11 - 00:20:36:16
Josh Boldman
so really what I think, I think is we're seeing right now in youth ministry as a whole, in, in what we're trying to do, a sidekick is really we're trying to figure out ways to engage students, literally where they are. And so, I guess, have you, did you ever do camps where the rule was the kids couldn't even bring their phone to camp?

00:20:36:18 - 00:20:59:04
Nick Clason
I never did. No, I could have, right. But I never I always I've always run my own camp, so I make the rules. So. Yeah. And I've always been in churches or youth ministries where the goal is to bring kids who don't go to our church to camp. And like, I'm not going to get a kid and their family who's never met me, send their kid like hours away without a lifeline back to them.

00:20:59:04 - 00:21:24:10
Josh Boldman
Oh yeah. Kids. Oh, no. So I've never tried to fight that battle, but it was fake because we used to almost use that, like as an advertisement. We were like, come to camp where you get away from your phone and kids are like, I don't want to do that, you know? And so, like, there was a point where I think maybe 20 years ago, you probably could do it, but even now, it's not even just the kid, it's the parents that are like, I'm not sending my kid without their phone.

00:21:24:10 - 00:21:58:02
Josh Boldman
What's wrong with you? You know? Yeah. So, like, so what we decided to do with with sidekick is like, okay, what if instead of constantly harping on, he put your phone away or go lock it up or don't even bring it, or, you know, trying to make it seem like the phone itself was the enemy. What if we decided to say like, hey, we understand that that phone, it's an extension of you now like that just, I mean, and that, I mean, you know, I mean, I think you can get really, like, dystopian, you know, like, like Blade Runner type type vibes from, like, the phone is an extension of you, but but it is

00:21:58:03 - 00:22:21:24
Josh Boldman
mine is an extension of me like, I mean, I literally if I, I don't know when the last time I walked out of my house without my phone was like, it's not just because I didn't forget it, it's because if it's not in my pocket, it feels like I'm missing something. I feel like I know I'm missing it, and you're gonna need it, you know, like, oh, sure, it's your calendar, it's your wallet, it's your navigation, it's your everything.

00:22:21:24 - 00:22:49:12
Nick Clason
Like it. So you can't so much. That's my argument is like this. It's not going anywhere. So we can try our hardest as youth pastors and churches to fight against culture. But it's a losing battle eventually. And it's not like, oh, let's give in to culture because it's evil, right? No, no, no. It's how do we take this thing that is not moral, it's not morally right or morally wrong, but how do we take this thing and just use it as a tool?

00:22:49:12 - 00:23:07:12
Josh Boldman
It's it's a tool, 100% tool that we we would have died for 15, 20 years ago, like, oh yeah, I was talking on the last episode like we didn't have group chats 15 years ago. If you want to talk to your student, you talk to them when they came to your building and that was it. But now you can do pastoral care.

00:23:07:12 - 00:23:39:02
Nick Clason
You can, and just do a basic thing like texting. When I'm talking about something like software development right now. Yeah. So one of the things, that has been really cool to experiment with, and we've seen a couple people do this really well is is using like polls like, okay, so there's a there are different ways you can use it, but the like, so say as you're teaching, if, if you're saying something that you know is going to fly right over their heads, right?

00:23:39:05 - 00:24:11:11
Josh Boldman
Pausing literally at that moment and asking the question, hey, did you catch that? And yes or no, like literally something super simple like, did you catch that? Yes or no? And then adjusting what you say next based on their response or, we've even seen people take their entire services in like a, choose your own adventure type approach where, I mean, it is it seems minor, but it's something like, hey, we've got the worship team has two songs that they prepared, but we're only going to do one.

00:24:11:13 - 00:24:29:15
Josh Boldman
Hey, you all, they're here. Yeah. Which one you want to do? You know, or, you know, I've, done a couple teaching times where, like, so, you know, every youth pastor has, like, their, like, bag of tricks, like the, the saw or the stories that they tell that it's like, okay, I can tell this story, like drop of a hat.

00:24:29:15 - 00:25:00:17
Josh Boldman
Yeah. you know, and so, like, I, I'll start with, like, right at the beginning of a message will say, hey, guys, I can tell you one of, three stories. You know, when when I got hit by a car, one when I accidentally killed my girlfriend's cat and one when I, when I stubbed my toe, you know, and so, like, you take your pick, you know, and just let them pick, and it doesn't change anything about where that message is going, but letting them have a moment where they can speak into it.

00:25:00:17 - 00:25:27:22
Josh Boldman
Like, I guarantee you, when the room picks the story, the room pays attention to the story more. Yeah. or or even at the end, you know, be a great way to, to really, especially if you're trying to reach students that are not familiar with church a lot, you know, like that aren't around a lot is, at the end of the message just saying, like, hey, on a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you agree with what you just heard?

00:25:27:25 - 00:25:46:26
Josh Boldman
can you met and live in live results on the screen like, hey, okay, so but can you imagine how much that might change your small group conversations that are going to happen right after the lesson? If if you suddenly see, like, oh, we just talked about this and 80% of the room says, I don't agree, okay, great.

00:25:47:03 - 00:26:10:20
Josh Boldman
Then let's go to our small groups and let's see this mess out. You know, or I think that there's, there's stuff like that or or you could even say if you're doing a series, you could, you could say, hey, here are the four weeks of the series. we did the intro this week. Which one you want to hear about next week and let them pick where you're going to go, and then you have a whole week to figure out how to get there.

00:26:10:22 - 00:26:29:11
Josh Boldman
yeah. But it but I guarantee you, those students that voted are going to be more likely to be there if they know what you're talking about. And they actually helped get to to choose what that was going to be. Yeah, I think I think there's a lot there. And we're working love to say like we're working like it's like in development, right, right now.

00:26:29:11 - 00:26:49:09
Josh Boldman
But it's like I mean, one of the things on the, on the docket is, is, you know, being able to have students from their seat ask questions, be able to give feedback, you know, in real time so that you, as you're standing there on the, you know, platform with your phone that you're able to see the questions as they come in.

00:26:49:11 - 00:27:06:03
Josh Boldman
we're trying to figure out things like how to moderate those things because I don't know about you, but if you ask open ended questions and just have the answers up on the screen without, you might get some filtering. Yeah. Inappropriate answer, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, my the students that I've ever worked with are always saints and so they would not do that.

00:27:06:03 - 00:27:30:01
Nick Clason
But I would imagine yours. Well you know it's crazy is like here's another like just interesting youth culture is like I was working at a church in Chicago and it was very like it, it prided itself on we reach people who are far from God. And so, you know, that's going to come with a certain like, oh, I student and now I'm in the Bible Belt in Dallas, Texas.

00:27:30:08 - 00:27:55:00
Nick Clason
And, it's like it prides itself on being like the church for Christians almost. And like the kids, the students, they're the same, like it's oh, no doubt. Right. That's the crazy thing is what the internet has done is it's leveled that like playing field of like, yeah, certain cultures, their youth culture is very consistent now and despite the demographic.

00:27:55:00 - 00:28:16:08
Nick Clason
And so the unique part is not our students. The unique part is helping our parents understand, that the students are still the same, you know, so, you know, something, we've seen is actually really cool that somebody was doing was they were using the live polls in their lobby for parents to answer as they were dropping their kids off.

00:28:16:08 - 00:28:40:12
Josh Boldman
That's cool. And, it was yeah, it was very cool. Was like, and it was, you know, some like, minor stuff that it was like, you know, what time is your middle schoolers? Bedtime. Like, you know. Yeah. Seven, eight, nine, ten, 11. You know, just pick one, you know, stuff like that. And it was minor. But again, it's, not just that you get individuals to engage, but the fact that everybody can see the responses as it as it goes.

00:28:40:14 - 00:29:09:00
Josh Boldman
There's, I think there's a lot of even still some untapped, untapped potential there. think about how to help people engage. Yeah. I think, we went to a conference a while back, and they're talking about the differences in generational ways of thinking. And like one of the things and I think this is true, despite like being an older, older generation of like all of us, but like Gen Z, Gen Alpha, like they're just looking to be known individually, like they don't want to be part of, like a sea of numbers.

00:29:09:00 - 00:29:32:20
Nick Clason
Right. And so when you are in a bigger context and you have 100,000 kids, like it's hard to it's hard for them to, to stand out and stuff like this helps them get to just yeah, speak their, their voice. Right. And they get to play a role. And even if they're voting for something and their choice doesn't get picked like they were heard and that's oh yeah, that's all it needs to be.

00:29:32:20 - 00:29:52:17
Nick Clason
It doesn't have to always go their way, you know? And there's probably some opportunity for them to learn some life lessons and stuff in there. But just like realizing like, hey, we're doing all this for you, but what what do you want? Like, that's I don't know. That's the key. So, Josh, as we wind this sucker down, like final thoughts.

00:29:52:17 - 00:30:16:09
Nick Clason
Final words. What what what if anything's, like burning on your soul to get out there?

Josh Boldman
Oh, man. All right, well, here. I'm glad you asked, Nick. no. okay, here's the thing is. Yeah, I think we need to not be afraid of what our students want. And we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion.

00:30:16:11 - 00:30:48:22
Josh Boldman
And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us. I think that that is, you know, where where we are heading is a world that values, a diversity of opinion. And the value placed on each of those opinions, is crucial. And so, like, I mean, I think people really can very easily get confused into thinking that that means that every opinion is right or that every opinion carries the same weight.

00:30:48:22 - 00:31:09:12
Josh Boldman
And it's a that's not at all what it but it. I think there is a I think we we do ourselves and honestly the gospel and miss service when we, are a disservice. I don't think Miss Service is a word, a disservice when we, when we say, here is the correct answer, we don't even want to hear anything else.

00:31:09:15 - 00:31:42:02
Josh Boldman
because our students are coming into our, our, our environments with their own opinions and own presuppositions. And yes, they probably heard them all from the same TikTok channel. Like, that's fine, but they all still want it. They want to be heard. And so I think any time we can even begin to open the door to showing them that we value what they are walking in with, I think just builds, it builds credibility in their eyes.

00:31:42:05 - 00:32:07:01
Josh Boldman
I think in all honesty, I don't know, you know, I would argue that most students are they do not often find themselves in environments where their opinion is valued. so, I mean, whether that's school, I mean, and please don't hear me, teachers are awesome, but it is it is tough when especially when you have like a curriculum in a, in a school environment, you're like, hey, I need you to learn this thing.

00:32:07:07 - 00:32:31:22
Josh Boldman
Like, and there's not a lot of debate in biology, you know, like, it's just this is where we're at, you know? And so, but I think if we can create environments where it's, we're inviting students into a conversation where their voice matters, whether that's a, a deep theological conversation or whether that is a game that is literally, hey, I need you to pick A, B, or C because it's a trivia question.

00:32:31:22 - 00:32:57:01
Josh Boldman
Like it's it like, but but still valuing what they bring to the table. I think that that pays dividends in the long run in a, in a massive, massive way. I mean, whether that's later in the small group or whether that's ten years later or, you know, I'm at a point right now where kids, when I first started that were in sixth grade, now have their own sixth graders, and that is awful.

00:32:57:03 - 00:33:14:19
Josh Boldman
but but it's the same thing is those those kids are now in the place where they're deciding, am I going to bring my own kid to a youth group or not? And, you know, and I think that the way we treat our students now will influence how they raise their own families and what that looks like for them in the future.

00:33:14:19 - 00:33:34:17
Josh Boldman
So, never underestimate how important it is to for for a student's voice to be valued. Yeah. And what better spot in the world than for that to happen at church? Crazy, right? Who would've thought? Yeah, well, Josh, we're running out of time. But I appreciate you, man. Anywhere, anywhere else people can find, find the Josh Boldman, like.

00:33:34:19 - 00:34:00:20
Nick Clason
Oh, yeah, they want to, like, untap some of these other thoughts and deeper musings of the word is, oh, I don't know if deeper is going to be with the find, but, all the social media is, it's at Josh Boldman. I know, I'm so glad it wasn't taken. Yeah. You're lucky. all right, I know. Yeah. but then, again, you know, the download youth ministry store, you know, I mean, this is not to sell stuff, but like, a lot of the stuff I've written really does reflect where I'm at, you know?

00:34:00:20 - 00:34:09:15
Josh Boldman
And so, you know, check out any of that stuff there, but. Well, yeah. Love it. Man. Will appreciate you being on. And, everyone else, we'll talk next time. All right, bye friends.

]]> 🔥 [FREE] Hybrid Ministry Strategy Guide🔥

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DESCRIPTION
What in the world do we do about cellphone usage during youth group?!
It seems like it's getting worse and worse!

Well, Josh Boldman, of DYM (downloadyouthministry.com) is here to help reveal his thoughts, as well as a full-proof program to not only take care of the cell phone epidemic, but to unveil the future of youth ministry as we all know it!

======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/110

//CO-LEADER CURRICULUM
https://www.coleader.co/

//SIDEKICK
https://sidekick.tv/

//JOSH ON DYM
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/featured-authors/josh-boldman/

//SIDEKICK FEATURE REQUEST
https://sidekick-tv.canny.io/feature-requests

//JOSH ON SOCIAL
https://www.tiktok.com/@joshboldman
https://www.instagram.com/joshboldman/
https://www.facebook.com/joshboldman
https://x.com/joshboldman

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

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🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
Level up your youth ministry game with these freebies!
🔗 https://linktr.ee/clasonnick

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🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
VIDIQ
https://vidiq.com/hybrid

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
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--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Intro - How your experience got you where you are now
04:15 Sidekick's Introduction into the Digital Realm of Youth Ministry
09:00 Sidekick's most user friendly features
13:50 What's next for Sidekick?
17:36 How Sidekick aids in showing up where students are
19:25 The Recipe to Engaging Students where they are
30:42 Final Thoughts on Hybrid Ministry
--------------
✍️TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00:15 - 00:00:23:04
Nick Clason
What is up, everybody? Welcome back to another episode of the Hybrid Ministry show. I, as always my host Nick Klassen. And I'm really excited. Today I got the one and only Josh Boldman who works at Diam now. He also has years of experience in youth ministry. And so we are going to interview Josh today. What's up everybody? I'm here with Josh Boldman. Josh how you doing this morning bro?

00:00:23:04 - 00:00:44:07
Josh Boldman
I am good man. How are you doing I'm great. I'm glad to have you on

Nick Clason
the long awaited Josh Boldman interview.

Josh Boldman
Most podcasts are still waiting. I just wanted to make it very clear.

Nick Clason
Oh man, I feel like I'm in an exclusive club. Yeah, or something.

Josh Boldman
So they just don't know. They don't know it yet, but they're still waiting.

00:00:44:07 - 00:01:10:12
Nick Clason
Yeah, they definitely are. But not me. Not us. Josh, like, tell the people, how did. Who are you and how did you get to where you are today?

Josh Boldman
Oh my gosh. Okay. That is it all started on a cold with. No. okay. So I have, right there. So I'll start with where I'm at. right now I am I am the team lead for co-leader, which is, a part of the download Youth Ministry family.

00:01:10:14 - 00:01:39:17
Josh Boldman
I also, run lead in the sidekick arena, which is our presentation software. We'll get to that. but that's only been for about the last year. before that, I spent, somewhere in the neighborhood of. Right at about 20 years in student ministry, as a youth pastor or youth minister or student pastor or student ministries director, or any of the other myriad ways that you can you can describe it.

00:01:39:19 - 00:02:03:18
Josh Boldman
but I did that. Gosh, from Florida, to Illinois, to, tiny, tiny little churches to big old churches to, single site to multi-site to we do youth ministry on Sunday morning to we do youth ministry on Wednesday nights like normal people do. all that, you know, so, you know, it's just kind of been all over the place.

00:02:03:24 - 00:02:27:24
Josh Boldman
Yeah. but for the last ten, I'll say ten. It's probably like six, but I'll say ten years. I pastor mother, with Dwight. Yeah. It's like, how many kids were there? The 400. I don't know, it was too many to count. but yeah. So I, I've been an author with Tim, putting resources like games and teaching content and countdowns and videos and stuff together for DYM.

00:02:27:27 - 00:02:47:11
Josh Boldman
And then about a year ago, they had somebody that was going on maternity leave and they're like, hey, you want to cover for that person? I was like, yeah, yeah, I do. And then I spent all 90 days of that maternity leave, trying to make it where there was literally no way they could let me go afterward.

00:02:47:11 - 00:03:08:12
Nick Clason
And it it worked nice.

Josh Boldman
Absolutely worked. I was it was dicey for about about 45 days. And then I was like, nah, I think I got I think, I think I got this. So she came back and I was not asked to pack up and leave. so that has worked out for everybody. Yeah. You didn't put her on the job either?

00:03:08:12 - 00:03:31:27
Josh Boldman
No, no, it's kind of great. Yeah. So, you know, it's been it's been a ride. this last year, co-leader has transitioned from a, a platform where you can plan ministry to a full blown annual curriculum. we've launched sidekick. sidekick, which is now in beta. we had Sidekick Legacy, which was a standalone app.

00:03:31:27 - 00:03:53:26
Josh Boldman
Now it's built in the browser. So you open it in Chrome and you can you can play. You know, play your presentation literally anywhere. we did that all with any I mean, it's like literally anything we could have done, we we decided we were like, hey, you know what? If we just take everything we ever want to do and we just jam it all into one calendar year, and we got this.

00:03:53:27 - 00:04:08:28
Nick Clason
Yeah, we got this guy now who's covering for this girl on maternity leave, and now we can. We had him go. So we're we need to get our money's worth out of him. That's there. Like, we have so many staff. We have so we have so many. And now, now we need to have them do things, so.

00:04:08:28 - 00:04:30:10
Nick Clason
Oh, man, I gotta say the like this, I don't there's no pitch. Like, no, like kickback. None of this. I love co-leader and I love sidekick. And, we, I made our church and I think I told you this, but we'll tell everyone I was like, I made our church by two computers so that we could run pro presenter.

00:04:30:10 - 00:04:52:19
Nick Clason
Because the musicians need the confidence monitor, like the not not what's on the screen mirror, but like what's coming. So like what? So that's valid.

Josh Boldman
So they don't practice is what you're telling me.

Nick Clason
Exactly. They're ill prepared. So I had to give them what they needed at the give the musicians you know, throw my bone. But I made them buy another computer and a like a black magic video switcher.

00:04:52:19 - 00:05:11:04
Josh Boldman
And we running everything else now. Yeah. Off of sidekick. And so, so, so what I'm hearing you say is because of the worship ministry, you guys have to rely on dark magic. Is that. What is that where he is? Oh, black. Matt. Oh, it's a black. It's a company that's different. Okay. All right. I mean, I wouldn't have been surprised either.

00:05:11:11 - 00:05:37:06
Nick Clason
Yeah, yeah, either way. But I love the like I love a lot of things about it. But my favorite part about it is the phone integration. Right. And, we played last week like a game like, multiple choice game. And they could literally play on their phones. And this was the first time I'd, I'd use that particular, like, setting there and sidekick, like the, the question with, with the quiz like type of.

00:05:37:08 - 00:06:02:05
Nick Clason
Yeah. Like what the correct answer. Yes. Yes. And I loved that. That was super fun. so talk to me just a little bit about, like, you know, you jump in. Were there rumblings and plans about sidekick being revamped or did you see some of like those opportunities and be like, this is what I see in youth ministry as a youth pastor, 20 plus years and now, yeah, I want to help kind of evolve it to the next stage, like give us that kind of background.

00:06:02:08 - 00:06:26:01
Josh Boldman
Yeah. So something that, I it's really funny because I don't know that many youth workers realize, although I feel like we should is that, software development takes billions of dollars and lots and lots of time. and so, so when I started at downloading Ministry, the plan had already been. We are revamping sidekick. I'm. You know, I'm just gonna peel back the curtain, you know?

00:06:26:01 - 00:06:50:24
Josh Boldman
You don't know. Yeah. Sorry. I took the original app. All right. Was written in a, in a programing environment that got depreciate. All right, so it is. It was built long, so it was built on something called chromium. and it it it is a like sidekick. Legacy is a work of art. Like it is a it was a game changer for me when I was in ministry.

00:06:50:24 - 00:07:14:13
Josh Boldman
The the spinning wheel boxes. Yeah. it was one of a kind. No one was. Oh, my gosh, nobody was doing it right. And then, what happened about two years ago, maybe three years ago now is chromium got depreciated. And we realized what that meant was there was now no way to update the legacy. I don't know at all, like, impossible, like literally impossible.

00:07:14:16 - 00:07:31:17
Josh Boldman
And and so it was like, okay, well, we can either rebuild a new one or we can take it in a different direction. And one of the really things that people that people hated was every time you open the legacy app, you have to sign in every single time you had to type in the password. It was a great time.

00:07:31:20 - 00:07:52:23
Josh Boldman
I got into trouble. One time I was in front of our, like our whole camp, like it was like a thousand kids, right? And sidekick was running, and then it crashed. And then they had to reopen it, and they're like, from the booth, they yell out, what's the password? No. And in front of 1000 students, I had to say a password into the microphone.

00:07:52:23 - 00:08:14:14
Josh Boldman
And here's the best part. You ready for this? It was the same password for everything. Like my my bank account and, all this stuff. So, like, so like, I immediately I started teaching, and then I get off stage and I'm like, I gotta change every password I mean, ever had. It was a nightmare. so we thought, okay, what is the best way to make this as portable as possible?

00:08:14:14 - 00:08:33:01
Josh Boldman
So we went with putting it in, in the browser. Yeah. which I'll be honest, I mean, it was basically like it was a trade off, right? It gave us a lot of, functionality as far as portability, as far as far as syncing. Yeah. but it there are trade offs, right? Like Google Chrome. both.

00:08:33:01 - 00:08:52:11
Josh Boldman
Google. Safari, Apple. you know, Firefox, they all have different rules about like window management. And so like you'll know like when you open sidekick and you go to present, you have to drag the window over to your other browser. Like that's not ideal right now. We that's why we have a video switcher now that's why. Right.

00:08:52:13 - 00:09:22:11
Josh Boldman
Yeah. That's why we that's why we as Christians rely on dark black magic. Black. It's that's what it is. and so, so, you know, so there are some trade offs for sure. For sure. But, but what we started realizing was, the, the pitch that we started telling people that when it, I think it really kind of clicked for people how how different was good is we would tell them, like, we would show them what we could do with, with voting, with spinning wheel, with, with pick me like the main ideas.

00:09:22:14 - 00:09:41:11
Josh Boldman
And I said, what's really cool is I can create this presentation. I can, immediately, as soon as I add an element to a slide, I can close the laptop, I can break it over my knee, I can set it on fire and throw it in the ocean. And then I can just go to church, open the computer, and it's it's there like it is there.

00:09:41:12 - 00:10:03:18
Josh Boldman
It does not miss a beat. you probably have to like on the computer at church, though, because yours is God's an ocean. Oh yeah. No no no no. Yeah. There's no recovering from it really at the point. Not sidekicks. Not that good yet. Yeah. No, I mean, yeah. but. Yeah. So so it's, Yeah, it's it's being able to sync and being able to to go remote.

00:10:03:25 - 00:10:28:19
Josh Boldman
That's awesome. But then when we started showing people, hey, all you have to do is the same thing you did to log in on your computer, do that on your phone. And what it does is it turns your phone into a remote for the exact same presentation that's running on your presentation computer. and I mean, just suddenly being able to when you're doing polls on your phone, you can see the results, before they're even shown on the screen.

00:10:28:22 - 00:10:57:09
Josh Boldman
you can go to next, go back. You can do slide notes. You can. I mean, it did really any of the functionality that's there except for editing on the computer. You can do that literally on your phone in real time because I don't know if you've ever I'm certainly you've never been in this situation where you have a sixth grader who is so well intentioned is like, I want to run the computer and you're like, yes, that is a that is a thing a sixth grader can do.

00:10:57:09 - 00:11:26:24
Josh Boldman
You can hit the spacebar. Yeah. And and then, and then they, and then they don't, they, they just don't hit the spacebar. And so like I would always use it as just like my, my phone was, I wasn't there. So I was running it, but it was my fallback. Like I was like, okay, that kid in the back, there was one time, I swear to you, right, at an unnamed church that I worked at for a while.

00:11:26:27 - 00:11:51:12
Josh Boldman
I remember once, so I would always try, so I was a student ministry director there, and so I always I would always try, like, I would. Yeah, I was either teaching or whatever, but I would always try to do anytime I wasn't teaching, I would try to do something else. So like anytime I wasn't teaching, I would be in the booth or the, you know, doing the game or, you know, but so there's one time I'm in the booth and, and the lyrics for the songs are not firing on time.

00:11:51:12 - 00:12:18:01
Josh Boldman
And I, so I'm like, leaning over and I'm looking. The kid is watching Star Wars the movie. Like, like an actual movie on his phone. Not a TikTok, not a YouTube. No. The two hour movie, two hour movie with subtitles. And he is holding his phone like screamed. Is it because the subtitles are so small? And I'm like, hey, I know, I know, you're looking at that because words are important.

00:12:18:03 - 00:12:38:25
Josh Boldman
However, everyone else in the room is looking up here because words are important. So maybe I don't know, I don't know, that's just jump up and just jump on that. That's a win right there. Yeah. So but being able to you know when you're on stage and things go wrong there are like a couple of options. And and one of them is to make the person in the booth feel really bad.

00:12:38:25 - 00:13:00:09
Nick Clason
And that is never the right option. Right. It's never to call attention to the person messed up. But we want to sometimes. Oh oh yes, yes, yes we do. But being able to just say, okay, I've got my phone here. Hey, Mr. Cube, don't worry, I'm just going to jump it like, yeah, was that was the game changer for me.

00:13:00:11 - 00:13:22:15
Josh Boldman
and so now we're just on this journey of trying to reach full parity between the legacy version and what is right now, the lovingly called the beta version of sidekick. until it until it has all the same features. yeah. But what we're finding is that is, like I said, the original The legacy is a work of art.

00:13:22:17 - 00:13:47:09
Josh Boldman
And, right now, we are working on boxes and that is in the browser proving to be a challenging. Yeah, it is, it's just, you know, it's one of those things like, you wouldn't think like even when we first, the first go around, we did, wheel and pick me. Right. Those were the first two things. And so with the wheel, you know, you think how this is, it's a spinning wheel.

00:13:47:10 - 00:14:04:24
Josh Boldman
Like there's no. Yeah, there's nothing complicated here. Oh, but there is, friend, because pixels are square. Yeah. I don't know if you knew that or not, but pixels was great. So when you try and rotate them around and center axis that's a. Yeah. It's just it's one of those things like, you know, you think you got it.

00:14:04:24 - 00:14:21:03
Josh Boldman
And then suddenly you're like, oh, that looks really bad. And so then it just it's like you have to go right back to the drawing board and, and so, so yeah. So right now we're working on boxes. It's, it's taking a little longer than we had hoped, but but you're working with square pixels now. So square pixels.

00:14:21:06 - 00:14:35:10
Josh Boldman
We know what we're doing. Yeah. Yes. Wouldn't it be funny if like, in the like when, when it was the wheel, we had a problem because it was squares. But then like we're like, alright, now we're going to move the boxes and like just the world, like was like, you know what we figured out round pixels are better.

00:14:35:12 - 00:14:57:21
Josh Boldman
And I was like, no, no. Yeah. But but yeah. So we're that. So we got boxes, in the pipeline. we're we, we here and I know anybody that knows sidekick already. Their first question that they have been asking is what about, survey says, which is our family feud builder. Right. And, that one is, it's coming.

00:14:57:21 - 00:15:19:27
Josh Boldman
It's like, but it's it is it all takes a yeah, it all takes time. And, so, best way anybody, anybody that, you know, can help me go to sidekick.TV. There's a link there where you can, you can submit ideas and requests and you can even vote on other people's. And and that always helps us know kind of what's next.

00:15:19:29 - 00:15:36:15
Josh Boldman
yeah. But yeah, we'll drop. That'll be. We're loving it, dude. I mean, and. Oh, I, I know the sound is starting to sound like a commercial and I apologize, but it's, it's it is. It's like it's just so fun is, when, when one of the most recent things we did was we connected everyone's dim accounts to the download youth ministry.

00:15:36:15 - 00:16:04:05
Josh Boldman
If you buy something, there, he just automatically shows up. And that is that was awesome. Sweet. Because, I mean, it used to be, I don't know. I mean, you you make games for GM that are video based, right. And and when you do that those those files are massive. Like, you know, I mean, it's not uncommon for a game to be three, four gigabytes, you know, but it's also 3 or 4GB of, you know, that's 20, 30 videos for the game.

00:16:04:05 - 00:16:21:05
Josh Boldman
And so then adding each of those in is kind of a nightmare. And so we figured out a way to do it is we do it on our end once and then it when you buy it, it just you can just it shows up in your library. You click on it and it's just in that is yeah, man, I'm telling you I will.

00:16:21:08 - 00:16:38:28
Josh Boldman
I never have to worry about losing a thumb drive ever again. Yeah, because I don't know if you know this or not, but I don't know where my thumb drive it is right now. I lost it in 1997. so. Sounds like there are some important things on there. Yeah. Oh, yeah. Knows it was, I don't know, something.

00:16:38:28 - 00:17:04:23
Josh Boldman
Call it bitcoin. Bitcoin I don't remember. You could have been rich. You wouldn't even have to be here right now. Well I'll tell you what. Of all the things like all the things you're talking about, there's like, there's phone usage on both sides, right? So if you're presenting, you can use your phone as a remote, but if you're, you're, watching your in the audience, there are like integrations where there's like voting and games and all that stuff.

00:17:04:23 - 00:17:25:07
Nick Clason
Yeah. And, I think that's my favorite part. Like as a youth pastor now for, over ten years, like I've always been trying to figure out how to get ourselves in youth ministry. Like relevant to our students are, as opposed to, like, when they're at church, make them do something that's so completely foreign to like their current culture.

00:17:25:07 - 00:17:56:28
Nick Clason
Right? Like youth culture, like they're all messaging one another through their phones. They're all like consuming news articles and social media through their phones. And then we get to church and like the church I was at, like when I started the previous regime, no shade. but they had, like, phone lockers, like they would take kids cellphones and lock them and like, and what we're do, in my opinion, is like, okay, so we're, we're just trying to modify their behavior, but we haven't actually like change their true authentic like desire to like be here and listen.

00:17:56:28 - 00:18:19:26
Nick Clason
We just want them quieter for us. And like that we should just be better. Like, yeah. And so y'all start rolling out all this stuff on sidekick. And I'm like, here's the opportunity for us to use what is native to them in our environment and in a way that doesn't, like, break the bank anymore, because to get some of these features through other third party like platforms, we just don't have the money.

00:18:19:26 - 00:18:45:09
Nick Clason
As a youth pastor, you know what I'm saying? In your budget, whatever the case might be. So yeah, so that's my favorite part. And so I would love it if you would talk about not just necessarily like the sidekick integration, but what has been your experience and your unique perspective as a youth pastor with how what we've done in youth culture and how like we've then asked them to come to church culture and how they don't all they're like oil and water sometimes.

00:18:45:09 - 00:19:07:04
Nick Clason
Like, how are we? How can we reach students better and to find ourselves where they are, which is online, on phones, all those things.

Josh Boldman
I mean, okay, so you remember, man, even I mean, when I was growing up and especially early in my ministry, you know, it was always the, the thing was, you were always fighting against like, like travel sports, right?

00:19:07:04 - 00:19:30:07
Josh Boldman
Like that was like the, the, the bane of youth ministry existence was like, oh, we still are really, by the way. Oh, to be cool. Yeah. Oh, no doubt. But it was like, I don't know, there was like a point where I think we just we got tired of seeing no results from shame, shaming those kids. Like, it's like you want to play travel ball.

00:19:30:11 - 00:19:47:28
Josh Boldman
We'll play travel ball. Yeah. With the devil. You know, it's like that. Doesn't like it doesn't help anybody. When? When all we're doing is. Or like. Like, oh, you have a phone, go lock it up because it's, you know, it's like that, doesn't it? Yeah. What does that do? All that does is like when you're locking up a kid's phone.

00:19:48:05 - 00:20:10:09
Josh Boldman
I feel like the way that you can know that it's not working is as soon as the the time, like the lockdown is over, was the very first thing they do. They run to go get it. Yeah. Which means that it was, it was on their mind still. So it's not like you really saved you know them any, any trouble or any like you didn't gain anything by pulling it away, you know, because their attention is still stuck on it.

00:20:10:11 - 00:20:36:16
Josh Boldman
so really what I think, I think is we're seeing right now in youth ministry as a whole, in, in what we're trying to do, a sidekick is really we're trying to figure out ways to engage students, literally where they are. And so, I guess, have you, did you ever do camps where the rule was the kids couldn't even bring their phone to camp?

00:20:36:18 - 00:20:59:04
Nick Clason
I never did. No, I could have, right. But I never I always I've always run my own camp, so I make the rules. So. Yeah. And I've always been in churches or youth ministries where the goal is to bring kids who don't go to our church to camp. And like, I'm not going to get a kid and their family who's never met me, send their kid like hours away without a lifeline back to them.

00:20:59:04 - 00:21:24:10
Josh Boldman
Oh yeah. Kids. Oh, no. So I've never tried to fight that battle, but it was fake because we used to almost use that, like as an advertisement. We were like, come to camp where you get away from your phone and kids are like, I don't want to do that, you know? And so, like, there was a point where I think maybe 20 years ago, you probably could do it, but even now, it's not even just the kid, it's the parents that are like, I'm not sending my kid without their phone.

00:21:24:10 - 00:21:58:02
Josh Boldman
What's wrong with you? You know? Yeah. So, like, so what we decided to do with with sidekick is like, okay, what if instead of constantly harping on, he put your phone away or go lock it up or don't even bring it, or, you know, trying to make it seem like the phone itself was the enemy. What if we decided to say like, hey, we understand that that phone, it's an extension of you now like that just, I mean, and that, I mean, you know, I mean, I think you can get really, like, dystopian, you know, like, like Blade Runner type type vibes from, like, the phone is an extension of you, but but it is

00:21:58:03 - 00:22:21:24
Josh Boldman
mine is an extension of me like, I mean, I literally if I, I don't know when the last time I walked out of my house without my phone was like, it's not just because I didn't forget it, it's because if it's not in my pocket, it feels like I'm missing something. I feel like I know I'm missing it, and you're gonna need it, you know, like, oh, sure, it's your calendar, it's your wallet, it's your navigation, it's your everything.

00:22:21:24 - 00:22:49:12
Nick Clason
Like it. So you can't so much. That's my argument is like this. It's not going anywhere. So we can try our hardest as youth pastors and churches to fight against culture. But it's a losing battle eventually. And it's not like, oh, let's give in to culture because it's evil, right? No, no, no. It's how do we take this thing that is not moral, it's not morally right or morally wrong, but how do we take this thing and just use it as a tool?

00:22:49:12 - 00:23:07:12
Josh Boldman
It's it's a tool, 100% tool that we we would have died for 15, 20 years ago, like, oh yeah, I was talking on the last episode like we didn't have group chats 15 years ago. If you want to talk to your student, you talk to them when they came to your building and that was it. But now you can do pastoral care.

00:23:07:12 - 00:23:39:02
Nick Clason
You can, and just do a basic thing like texting. When I'm talking about something like software development right now. Yeah. So one of the things, that has been really cool to experiment with, and we've seen a couple people do this really well is is using like polls like, okay, so there's a there are different ways you can use it, but the like, so say as you're teaching, if, if you're saying something that you know is going to fly right over their heads, right?

00:23:39:05 - 00:24:11:11
Josh Boldman
Pausing literally at that moment and asking the question, hey, did you catch that? And yes or no, like literally something super simple like, did you catch that? Yes or no? And then adjusting what you say next based on their response or, we've even seen people take their entire services in like a, choose your own adventure type approach where, I mean, it is it seems minor, but it's something like, hey, we've got the worship team has two songs that they prepared, but we're only going to do one.

00:24:11:13 - 00:24:29:15
Josh Boldman
Hey, you all, they're here. Yeah. Which one you want to do? You know, or, you know, I've, done a couple teaching times where, like, so, you know, every youth pastor has, like, their, like, bag of tricks, like the, the saw or the stories that they tell that it's like, okay, I can tell this story, like drop of a hat.

00:24:29:15 - 00:25:00:17
Josh Boldman
Yeah. you know, and so, like, I, I'll start with, like, right at the beginning of a message will say, hey, guys, I can tell you one of, three stories. You know, when when I got hit by a car, one when I accidentally killed my girlfriend's cat and one when I, when I stubbed my toe, you know, and so, like, you take your pick, you know, and just let them pick, and it doesn't change anything about where that message is going, but letting them have a moment where they can speak into it.

00:25:00:17 - 00:25:27:22
Josh Boldman
Like, I guarantee you, when the room picks the story, the room pays attention to the story more. Yeah. or or even at the end, you know, be a great way to, to really, especially if you're trying to reach students that are not familiar with church a lot, you know, like that aren't around a lot is, at the end of the message just saying, like, hey, on a scale of 1 to 5, how much do you agree with what you just heard?

00:25:27:25 - 00:25:46:26
Josh Boldman
can you met and live in live results on the screen like, hey, okay, so but can you imagine how much that might change your small group conversations that are going to happen right after the lesson? If if you suddenly see, like, oh, we just talked about this and 80% of the room says, I don't agree, okay, great.

00:25:47:03 - 00:26:10:20
Josh Boldman
Then let's go to our small groups and let's see this mess out. You know, or I think that there's, there's stuff like that or or you could even say if you're doing a series, you could, you could say, hey, here are the four weeks of the series. we did the intro this week. Which one you want to hear about next week and let them pick where you're going to go, and then you have a whole week to figure out how to get there.

00:26:10:22 - 00:26:29:11
Josh Boldman
yeah. But it but I guarantee you, those students that voted are going to be more likely to be there if they know what you're talking about. And they actually helped get to to choose what that was going to be. Yeah, I think I think there's a lot there. And we're working love to say like we're working like it's like in development, right, right now.

00:26:29:11 - 00:26:49:09
Josh Boldman
But it's like I mean, one of the things on the, on the docket is, is, you know, being able to have students from their seat ask questions, be able to give feedback, you know, in real time so that you, as you're standing there on the, you know, platform with your phone that you're able to see the questions as they come in.

00:26:49:11 - 00:27:06:03
Josh Boldman
we're trying to figure out things like how to moderate those things because I don't know about you, but if you ask open ended questions and just have the answers up on the screen without, you might get some filtering. Yeah. Inappropriate answer, I don't know, I don't know. I mean, my the students that I've ever worked with are always saints and so they would not do that.

00:27:06:03 - 00:27:30:01
Nick Clason
But I would imagine yours. Well you know it's crazy is like here's another like just interesting youth culture is like I was working at a church in Chicago and it was very like it, it prided itself on we reach people who are far from God. And so, you know, that's going to come with a certain like, oh, I student and now I'm in the Bible Belt in Dallas, Texas.

00:27:30:08 - 00:27:55:00
Nick Clason
And, it's like it prides itself on being like the church for Christians almost. And like the kids, the students, they're the same, like it's oh, no doubt. Right. That's the crazy thing is what the internet has done is it's leveled that like playing field of like, yeah, certain cultures, their youth culture is very consistent now and despite the demographic.

00:27:55:00 - 00:28:16:08
Nick Clason
And so the unique part is not our students. The unique part is helping our parents understand, that the students are still the same, you know, so, you know, something, we've seen is actually really cool that somebody was doing was they were using the live polls in their lobby for parents to answer as they were dropping their kids off.

00:28:16:08 - 00:28:40:12
Josh Boldman
That's cool. And, it was yeah, it was very cool. Was like, and it was, you know, some like, minor stuff that it was like, you know, what time is your middle schoolers? Bedtime. Like, you know. Yeah. Seven, eight, nine, ten, 11. You know, just pick one, you know, stuff like that. And it was minor. But again, it's, not just that you get individuals to engage, but the fact that everybody can see the responses as it as it goes.

00:28:40:14 - 00:29:09:00
Josh Boldman
There's, I think there's a lot of even still some untapped, untapped potential there. think about how to help people engage. Yeah. I think, we went to a conference a while back, and they're talking about the differences in generational ways of thinking. And like one of the things and I think this is true, despite like being an older, older generation of like all of us, but like Gen Z, Gen Alpha, like they're just looking to be known individually, like they don't want to be part of, like a sea of numbers.

00:29:09:00 - 00:29:32:20
Nick Clason
Right. And so when you are in a bigger context and you have 100,000 kids, like it's hard to it's hard for them to, to stand out and stuff like this helps them get to just yeah, speak their, their voice. Right. And they get to play a role. And even if they're voting for something and their choice doesn't get picked like they were heard and that's oh yeah, that's all it needs to be.

00:29:32:20 - 00:29:52:17
Nick Clason
It doesn't have to always go their way, you know? And there's probably some opportunity for them to learn some life lessons and stuff in there. But just like realizing like, hey, we're doing all this for you, but what what do you want? Like, that's I don't know. That's the key. So, Josh, as we wind this sucker down, like final thoughts.

00:29:52:17 - 00:30:16:09
Nick Clason
Final words. What what what if anything's, like burning on your soul to get out there?

Josh Boldman
Oh, man. All right, well, here. I'm glad you asked, Nick. no. okay, here's the thing is. Yeah, I think we need to not be afraid of what our students want. And we need to not be afraid of them expressing their opinion.

00:30:16:11 - 00:30:48:22
Josh Boldman
And we need to not be afraid of them disagreeing with each other or with us. I think that that is, you know, where where we are heading is a world that values, a diversity of opinion. And the value placed on each of those opinions, is crucial. And so, like, I mean, I think people really can very easily get confused into thinking that that means that every opinion is right or that every opinion carries the same weight.

00:30:48:22 - 00:31:09:12
Josh Boldman
And it's a that's not at all what it but it. I think there is a I think we we do ourselves and honestly the gospel and miss service when we, are a disservice. I don't think Miss Service is a word, a disservice when we, when we say, here is the correct answer, we don't even want to hear anything else.

00:31:09:15 - 00:31:42:02
Josh Boldman
because our students are coming into our, our, our environments with their own opinions and own presuppositions. And yes, they probably heard them all from the same TikTok channel. Like, that's fine, but they all still want it. They want to be heard. And so I think any time we can even begin to open the door to showing them that we value what they are walking in with, I think just builds, it builds credibility in their eyes.

00:31:42:05 - 00:32:07:01
Josh Boldman
I think in all honesty, I don't know, you know, I would argue that most students are they do not often find themselves in environments where their opinion is valued. so, I mean, whether that's school, I mean, and please don't hear me, teachers are awesome, but it is it is tough when especially when you have like a curriculum in a, in a school environment, you're like, hey, I need you to learn this thing.

00:32:07:07 - 00:32:31:22
Josh Boldman
Like, and there's not a lot of debate in biology, you know, like, it's just this is where we're at, you know? And so, but I think if we can create environments where it's, we're inviting students into a conversation where their voice matters, whether that's a, a deep theological conversation or whether that is a game that is literally, hey, I need you to pick A, B, or C because it's a trivia question.

00:32:31:22 - 00:32:57:01
Josh Boldman
Like it's it like, but but still valuing what they bring to the table. I think that that pays dividends in the long run in a, in a massive, massive way. I mean, whether that's later in the small group or whether that's ten years later or, you know, I'm at a point right now where kids, when I first started that were in sixth grade, now have their own sixth graders, and that is awful.

00:32:57:03 - 00:33:14:19
Josh Boldman
but but it's the same thing is those those kids are now in the place where they're deciding, am I going to bring my own kid to a youth group or not? And, you know, and I think that the way we treat our students now will influence how they raise their own families and what that looks like for them in the future.

00:33:14:19 - 00:33:34:17
Josh Boldman
So, never underestimate how important it is to for for a student's voice to be valued. Yeah. And what better spot in the world than for that to happen at church? Crazy, right? Who would've thought? Yeah, well, Josh, we're running out of time. But I appreciate you, man. Anywhere, anywhere else people can find, find the Josh Boldman, like.

00:33:34:19 - 00:34:00:20
Nick Clason
Oh, yeah, they want to, like, untap some of these other thoughts and deeper musings of the word is, oh, I don't know if deeper is going to be with the find, but, all the social media is, it's at Josh Boldman. I know, I'm so glad it wasn't taken. Yeah. You're lucky. all right, I know. Yeah. but then, again, you know, the download youth ministry store, you know, I mean, this is not to sell stuff, but like, a lot of the stuff I've written really does reflect where I'm at, you know?

00:34:00:20 - 00:34:09:15
Josh Boldman
And so, you know, check out any of that stuff there, but. Well, yeah. Love it. Man. Will appreciate you being on. And, everyone else, we'll talk next time. All right, bye friends.

]]> Episode 092: 🖐️ 5 Secret Benefits of Filming YouTube Videos for Youth Ministries https://www.hybridministry.xyz/092 05087092-0158-4127-b402-401393069189 Thu, 11 Apr 2024 04:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 092 🖐️ 5 Secret Benefits of Filming YouTube Videos for Youth Ministries full Nick Clason 📹YouTube is the perfect platform for youth pastors and youth ministries. Why? * 95% of youth group teenagers are on YouTube * YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, powered by Google * YouTube plays to the skillset of all youth pastors In this video, let's help you start sitting down in front of the camera and filming messages and content for your youth group! 19:23 no 💥 [LIMITED TIME OFFER] Video Editing for Youth Pastors💥 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/editing 🔥 [FREE] Hybrid Ministry Strategy Guide🔥 https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book ====================================== DESCRIPTION 📹YouTube is the perfect platform for youth pastors and youth ministries. Why? 95% of youth group teenagers are on YouTube YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, powered by Google YouTube plays to the skillset of all youth pastors In this video, let's help you start sitting down in front of the camera and filming messages and content for your youth group! Follow along as we unpack the best practices guide of YouTube for Youth Pastors: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLHMhNNfqmmmAsKRJ1VCBJl ====================================== 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/092 //YOUTUBE VIDEO https://youtu.be/3bq5CGstZmE //GET STARTED FOR UNDER $100 https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book //SONY ZVE-10 https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv //SEAN CANNEL &amp; THINK MEDIA https://www.youtube.com/@seanTHiNKs //FULL-PROOF TIME MANAGEMENT GUIDE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8&amp;t=189s //YOUVERSION LIVE EVENTS https://my.bible.com/events //TELEPROMPTER https://walmrt.us/4a6ZJU1 //TOP 5 YOUTH CURRICULUMS: RANKED! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI //WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN [Link Placeholder] //SIDEKICK http://www.sidekick.tv FREE VIDEO EDITING OPTIONS //CAPCUT https://www.capcut.com //DAVINCI RESOLVE https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/event/davinciresolvedownload 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz ====================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym 📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email EMAIL: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email 🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut 😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook 📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers" https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis ====================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products SONY ZVE-10 https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Why Youth Pastors should Pre-Film their Messages 02:10 Leveling Up Your YouTube Gear 06:54 Adding Shownotes to your YouTube Videos 10:31 Top 5 Benefits of Pre-Filming Your Messages to YouTube TRANSCRIPT 00:00:00:00 - 00:00:31:03 Nick Clason Youth Pastor, Let me guess, you have a desire for the students that you have been entrusted to in your care to come, to learn, know, love and follow Jesus. And let me guess, part of that strategy, part of that way that you hope students do that is to show up for them and to be there when they have difficult and tough questions to help them answer and make sense of life which is around them. 00:00:31:04 - 00:00:57:13 Nick Clason Well, according to Pew Research, 95% of teenagers have used will use or plan to use the platform of YouTube. And so from the most conservative parents in your church who would never even imagine letting their kids enter the World Wide Web to all the way to the least restrictive parents who gave their kids a phone and let them have wild access to the Internet. 00:00:57:15 - 00:01:21:28 Nick Clason YouTube is a great strategy and a great platform for students and student ministry. Like if in your youth ministry context, you're using YouTube, subscribe if you're not and hey, either way, hit the bell because we're in a playlist called YouTube for Youth Ministries. But how do we start posting content to YouTube? Like you might know these stats, You might know it's important. 00:01:21:28 - 00:01:44:06 Nick Clason You might know students are on the you might know it's a really accessible platform, but how do you actually begin filming editing, recording and posting videos to YouTube? Well, this is the perfect video because in it I want to share with you what gear you can use to start leveling up your YouTube game with simply just shooting on your cell phone. 00:01:44:06 - 00:02:07:27 Nick Clason I also want to talk about how you can manage your time to fit in the process of filming YouTube videos and posting it. I'm also going to give you some next steps directly out of this video so that you can start doing some side benefits for you. And then finally, how to actually edit your video so that it looks good and professional and fits the vibe that's going on YouTube. 00:02:08:03 - 00:02:33:28 Nick Clason Welcome to the Hybrid ministry show. So if you're anything like me and you work at church, you look around your youth room and you compare it to the auditorium or the main church room that the rest of the or the rest of your, you know, big church is using where your pastors preaching on Sunday morning and you probably look and think, man, I don't have the gear to capture my services and post them on YouTube. 00:02:34:00 - 00:03:05:24 Nick Clason And the answer to that is probably unequivocally 100% accurate. You probably don't. Right. But I actually have linked right here on screen my 100% completely free e-book, which is called 40 done for you posting tools, which really, honestly maybe needs a new title because what it ultimately is, is my complete philosophy as well as strategy guide for leveling up your YouTube and your social media game. 00:03:05:24 - 00:03:32:00 Nick Clason It's all about creating custom content for YouTube. And so one of the elements in that e-book, if you click it and if you download it, is a link to a blog that I have created called YouTube Gear on a Budget. And simply what it is is it will help you level up your YouTube gear if you choose to shoot video on your phone that is of course the most expensive piece is that camera piece. 00:03:32:03 - 00:04:04:25 Nick Clason But you can level up your game for less than $100 by adding in some external microphones. I have linked on in the e-book. Bluetooth wireless microphones, a shotgun style microphone for Android. The same thing's for for iPhones as well. Also, just like a phone based tripod, you can get a tabletop one that's a little shorter or you can get a full, full length standing tripod as well as a basic ring light that so, you know, your videos look decent with lighting. 00:04:05:01 - 00:04:27:25 Nick Clason You can also take care of most of that by just filming in a space that has some good lighting. And then if you do want to go the next layer beyond just $100 or less, if you want to stop shooting on your phone and you want to start shooting on a good camera, the one that I recommend that was recommended to me by Sean Cannell via his YouTube channel, check out and Think Media. 00:04:27:27 - 00:04:50:29 Nick Clason If you haven't had a chance. He is a YouTube guru, but the Sony ZVE-10. It’s a Great camera. We bought it along with the lens for about $700 in our student ministry space one time purchase. But now we're using it and we're using it for everything. We're using it for long form videos as well as vertically shot and vertically based videos. 00:04:51:04 - 00:05:15:19 Nick Clason But one of the pieces, one of the challenges for most youth pastors is that we're running from fire to fire to fire to fire and meeting to meeting to me and to meeting this kid, kid who needs counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling, all the different things, all the different demands of our space and our time. We're linked right here at the top of this video is my 100% completely free, foolproof strategy for good time management. 00:05:15:19 - 00:05:38:26 Nick Clason And here's the honest truth that frankly, like there are always going to be issues, are always going to be struggles, are always going to be fires and things that pop up on your calendar. But if you manage your time and just a little sneak peek like you are 100% completely in charge of your time and your time management. 00:05:38:26 - 00:06:02:17 Nick Clason And so if you don't make a priority and a space in your calendar to sit down and pre film your messages, just like we're talking about here, like you are not going to be able to to start posting content to YouTube, you have to make it a priority just like you make sitting down and crafting a Wednesday night program a priority. 00:06:02:23 - 00:06:25:04 Nick Clason You also have to make sitting down and pre filming your messages a priority. So you're probably going to have to get several weeks in advance on this, both on your teaching scope and curriculum, which link down below. I have link to my five favorite teaching curriculum, so go check that out. And in a video that we've dropped not too long ago, you can check that out if you're interested in something like that. 00:06:25:06 - 00:06:58:24 Nick Clason But your plan, your curriculum, and then you'll write out your teaching and then you'll sit down and you'll deliver the message direct to camera, all because you told your time what was going to happen to it. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't counsel students and mute their senior pastor and plan for your Wednesday night, but if pre filming your message is if getting the message of Jesus and the message of hope out on the Internet, on YouTube is important to you, then you need to determine when you're going to place that that thing on your calendar to do it. 00:06:58:26 - 00:07:21:11 Nick Clason Now, just like this YouTube video, all YouTube videos have a description section. And so when you are preaching or teaching or delivering some piece of content direct to camera on screen, you can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my student Ministry's YouTube channel, we post two links. 00:07:21:11 - 00:07:45:00 Nick Clason The first link is a next steps digital type connect card. And I think about if you live in the room and you want to challenge students to take the next step of getting baptized, or if you're alive in the room and they prayed to receive Christ or they just need some sort of prayer, you might point them to a physical connect card in the seatback in front of them, or at the middle of like a table or something like that. 00:07:45:00 - 00:08:07:07 Nick Clason If you're sitting around tables in your space on the same way, you can offer a digital version. And I mean, let's be honest, if they fill out a physical connect card, probably you are taking that caption that information digitally somehow, whether that be in your church management system, in software, or if it's just by tracking that information via something more basic like Excel. 00:08:07:08 - 00:08:31:29 Nick Clason Nonetheless, you take it from a physical moment to digital. And so if you can offer a digital based connect card, then you know that you are going to be getting that information and you're going to be cutting out that middleman portion. The other thing that I offer in our digital are link in our description in most of our YouTube videos is what we call our digital Notes platform. 00:08:31:29 - 00:08:53:20 Nick Clason And our digital notes is simply using the free, by the way, free YouVersion live events. And so if you've ever used that before, it's a thing that you can create. And on the back end on you version of the Bible app, you create a live service. And so I set our digital notes to go quote unquote live. 00:08:53:20 - 00:09:24:27 Nick Clason So it's discovered in the live kind of panel of your you you version Bible app. It's when you discover when your church is live. And so I set that for when we're teaching our message live same day same time. However it does at the end give you a small URL. And so then the play, the digital notes plan, the live event can be clicked on and accessed at any time, regardless of if it is quote unquote live in the version Bible app. 00:09:24:29 - 00:09:45:16 Nick Clason And so you can put text, you can put images, you can put Bible passages, and then they, the followers along, they can create private notes based off of all of those things. They can save them so that they can kind of archive them and come back later. But one of my favorite pieces to the digital notes is that you can create an external link. 00:09:45:16 - 00:10:09:01 Nick Clason And so again, if a student is following along, live in the room or on YouTube at the end, they can they can have a live link to go out to Digital Connect card. They can have a live link to go out to camp signups. They can have a live link to go out to whatever you want it to be, whatever sort of call to action, whatever sort of next step your message may be pointing students toward. 00:10:09:03 - 00:10:38:21 Nick Clason The other thing is, of course, it is on you version. And so you can also link Bible reading plans directly in there as well. And so think about it. What if you had a whole message on the importance of reading the Bible and getting in God's Word? And then what if you actually had a Bible reading plan that they could start reading that night or the next morning that they could start enjoying and begin reading to help them follow through on what you were talking about? 00:10:38:23 - 00:11:04:15 Nick Clason So obviously, in addition, right, like in addition to posting videos to YouTube to reach more students for 95% of teenagers have or will plan to spend some of their time or at least use the app in some way, shape or form. There are, I think, five additional like benefits to sitting down and pre filming your talks direct to camera benefit number one is more practice. 00:11:04:15 - 00:11:22:23 Nick Clason It gives you an opportunity to engage with your content more frequently than just getting up and teaching it live on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning or whenever that might be. And so by the time you do actually get around on Wednesday night or Sunday morning to deliver your content, direct camera, you've already delivered it at least once. 00:11:22:23 - 00:11:56:02 Nick Clason And if you need more takes, maybe two or three, and so you're much more familiar with the content and the concepts that you were teaching. Benefit number two is, of course, you're going to be forced to get ahead. You're going to be forced to to be working ahead in your delivery of of this content and preparation. So my workflow goes, I sit down and I write it all out and not linked in my $100 or less leveling up guide. 00:11:56:05 - 00:12:17:19 Nick Clason But one that is recommended potentially you may have to get a beefier tripod is using a using a teleprompter holder. And so you can get a teleprompter and you can use an iPad with the free teleprompter app. But so I sit down, I prep my message and I script it out and I may script it word for word. 00:12:17:22 - 00:12:48:25 Nick Clason 2000 or 2500 words is usually a good length for YouTube. It helps me hopefully shoot in under the 15 minute mark. That's always my goal on time. Write it all out and then deliver it Direct camera. That's where I include things like subscribe and cards linked up at the top and end screens like I write and spell every single thing out word for word, so that then the teleprompter will just kind of do its thing and flow right in front of me and I just read it directly there. 00:12:48:28 - 00:13:17:08 Nick Clason It does take a little bit of work to get used to it. It is a skill that's not exactly natural. You can do it. But, you know, I'm just letting you know, get get used to it. Then also I have I then take the the manuscript, the full YouTube manuscript, and I use Google Drive. And so I create a new copy of that an in a different folder, and I rename it live talk notes. 00:13:17:12 - 00:13:50:08 Nick Clason And so then I go back through that and I add highlights and I add all of those types of things, like, you know, yellow is, is like on screen or slide. Green is like any scripture or whatever, any video clips because like I may not actually like show a video clip on when I'm filming it to YouTube. If I do, it might just be some B-roll over top of the background as opposed to like showing a full on like video clip, like stop, pause the room, watch screen, come back type of thing, video clips and interactive elements. 00:13:50:08 - 00:14:09:00 Nick Clason I add all those things, but I do it in a completely different document. I adapt it from the manuscript to more of like an outline type style. And then as I'm doing that, I'm also building slides and putting it into a thing like Sidekick, where I can use integrated tools like the wheel and name Picker and the live voting elements and all those types of things. 00:14:09:00 - 00:14:34:10 Nick Clason More info link down below on Sidekick Sidekick.tv And so my workflow is my head. I write it, I deliver it, direct camera, and then I also readapt it to be taught in the room in between. When I shoot it and readapt it is when we're editing it or posting it, we're adding thumbnails or adding time codes, all the YouTube type things that need to take place. 00:14:34:10 - 00:15:05:04 Nick Clason So that is live. Usually the Monday before what we we posted on Monday and then deliver it live in the room on Wednesday. And then our students discuss it again on the following Sunday morning. So that whole week on social, our focus is, you know, Monday it drops, Wednesdays are live teaching and then Sunday they discuss it and then woven all throughout there are you know several different like kind of teaching videos social media type clips. 00:15:05:06 - 00:15:32:29 Nick Clason Benefit number three is it will help you create evergreen type content. Evergreen content is just a marketing word for content that is always relevant. In fact, last night I had a student from a former ministry and a former church that's going through a difficult and tough time. So hey, like I'm having a hard time. Like things are rough, you know, and some have had some some bad news and some kind of tragedy hit their family. 00:15:32:29 - 00:16:07:10 Nick Clason And so we don't even have this live yet. Like we're getting these back right now from our editor. But we are about to launch into a series called When Bad Things Happen. I have a link actually down below if you're interested in that series that is available on ym360 curriculum site. But we taught it as a student ministry team and like I said, it's not live on YouTube yet, but I was sending her the links to our direct drop box like videos so or Google Drive videos so that she could watch it. 00:16:07:12 - 00:16:32:07 Nick Clason And that's again like that's one of the benefits of filming your content is that when someone's going through a hard time who lives a thousand miles away, you can send them stuff like this that might be able to help them get through it and navigate through life. You see, this isn't just a vanity thing. Like you can help students, you can help care for students, shepherds, students, disciple students, teach students. 00:16:32:07 - 00:16:55:16 Nick Clason When you film, you're content. That's what you want to do. Live in the room, right? The difference is church is often built like a organization that's trying to capture people through a cable TV style of of marketing as opposed to an OnDemand style of marketing. And when you preach from your messages, you can start to wade into that quote unquote, on demand type of messaging. 00:16:55:16 - 00:17:13:11 Nick Clason So when someone's going through a hard time or when someone needs a guide to how to use the Bible or whatever it is that you have taught that you know is valuable, you can send them to your YouTube channel for a link to evergreen content, to content that matters. And so benefit number four, of course, is it's the antidote. 00:17:13:11 - 00:17:37:02 Nick Clason It is the cure to travel sports. Not entirely like that. Kids still traveling to baseball, but if you film your messages while they're still going to be traveling to baseball, would you rather them travel to baseball, miss out on church altogether, or would you rather them travel to baseball and still have the opportunity to catch up on the series, to hear the message to learn the thing? 00:17:37:02 - 00:18:03:04 Nick Clason Like I think we would all take option two. I mean, maybe we all like option three, which is like nuking travel baseball so that it never happens again. But since that's probably not going to be an option, we'll settle for option number two and options are an option. But side benefit number five of pre filming your messages is Sean Cannell the guru of YouTube, has a strategy called Ask specific questions. 00:18:03:04 - 00:18:32:06 Nick Clason ASQ or actually not ask answer specific questions. So think about it, right? You can answer your students specific questions. For example, how do I respond when bad things happen? Boom, That's a teaching series. Answer that question posted to YouTube. The goal is not necessarily to go viral and be caught and seen by other students in other states and other student ministries, though that can be something that happens. 00:18:32:06 - 00:18:54:22 Nick Clason But that's not the goal, right? The goal is to create content that is going to be helpful and beneficial to answer specific questions about God, about faith, about theology to the students that God has entrusted into you and into your care. Once you've shot the content, you now move into the hardest space of all of this process, probably, which is editing. 00:18:54:25 - 00:19:19:10 Nick Clason And there are some three different ways that you can do it. Cap Cut, DaVinci Resolve. Those are linked down below in the description, but also linked right here on screen is the best editing tools in the best editing apps, how to edit, how to level up your editing and why editing on videos does actually matter. So go ahead. 00:19:19:10 - 00:19:35:04 Nick Clason Take a look at that video. We love to catch you over there as we're continuing on our YouTube for Youth Ministry playlist. But don't forget and as always, stay hybrid. YouTube, YouTube for Youth Ministry, YouTube Shorts for Youth Ministry, YouTube Thumbnails for Youth Ministry, YouTube for Student Ministry, Sean Cannell, YouTube Gear on a Budget, Start Posting Videos on Social Media, Youth Pastor, Hybrid Ministry, Student Ministry, Youth Group, How do I post my Youth Group Messages on the internet? 💥 [LIMITED TIME OFFER] Video Editing for Youth Pastors💥

https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/editing

🔥 [FREE] Hybrid Ministry Strategy Guide🔥

https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

======================================
DESCRIPTION
📹YouTube is the perfect platform for youth pastors and youth ministries.
Why?

  • 95% of youth group teenagers are on YouTube
  • YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, powered by Google
  • YouTube plays to the skillset of all youth pastors

In this video, let's help you start sitting down in front of the camera and filming messages and content for your youth group!
Follow along as we unpack the best practices guide of YouTube for Youth Pastors:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLHMhNNfqmmmAsKRJ1VCBJl
======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/092

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/3bq5CGstZmE

//GET STARTED FOR UNDER $100
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//SONY ZVE-10
https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv

//SEAN CANNEL & THINK MEDIA
https://www.youtube.com/@seanTHiNKs

//FULL-PROOF TIME MANAGEMENT GUIDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8&t=189s

//YOUVERSION LIVE EVENTS
https://my.bible.com/events

//TELEPROMPTER
https://walmrt.us/4a6ZJU1

//TOP 5 YOUTH CURRICULUMS: RANKED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI

//WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN
[Link Placeholder]

//SIDEKICK
http://www.sidekick.tv

FREE VIDEO EDITING OPTIONS
//CAPCUT
https://www.capcut.com

//DAVINCI RESOLVE

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/event/davinciresolvedownload

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz
======================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email
EMAIL: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

======================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

SONY ZVE-10
https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Why Youth Pastors should Pre-Film their Messages
02:10 Leveling Up Your YouTube Gear
06:54 Adding Shownotes to your YouTube Videos
10:31 Top 5 Benefits of Pre-Filming Your Messages to YouTube

TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:31:03
Nick Clason
Youth Pastor, Let me guess, you have a desire for the students that you have been entrusted to in your care to come, to learn, know, love and follow Jesus. And let me guess, part of that strategy, part of that way that you hope students do that is to show up for them and to be there when they have difficult and tough questions to help them answer and make sense of life which is around them.

00:00:31:04 - 00:00:57:13
Nick Clason
Well, according to Pew Research, 95% of teenagers have used will use or plan to use the platform of YouTube. And so from the most conservative parents in your church who would never even imagine letting their kids enter the World Wide Web to all the way to the least restrictive parents who gave their kids a phone and let them have wild access to the Internet.

00:00:57:15 - 00:01:21:28
Nick Clason
YouTube is a great strategy and a great platform for students and student ministry. Like if in your youth ministry context, you're using YouTube, subscribe if you're not and hey, either way, hit the bell because we're in a playlist called YouTube for Youth Ministries. But how do we start posting content to YouTube? Like you might know these stats, You might know it's important.

00:01:21:28 - 00:01:44:06
Nick Clason
You might know students are on the you might know it's a really accessible platform, but how do you actually begin filming editing, recording and posting videos to YouTube? Well, this is the perfect video because in it I want to share with you what gear you can use to start leveling up your YouTube game with simply just shooting on your cell phone.

00:01:44:06 - 00:02:07:27
Nick Clason
I also want to talk about how you can manage your time to fit in the process of filming YouTube videos and posting it. I'm also going to give you some next steps directly out of this video so that you can start doing some side benefits for you. And then finally, how to actually edit your video so that it looks good and professional and fits the vibe that's going on YouTube.

00:02:08:03 - 00:02:33:28
Nick Clason
Welcome to the Hybrid ministry show. So if you're anything like me and you work at church, you look around your youth room and you compare it to the auditorium or the main church room that the rest of the or the rest of your, you know, big church is using where your pastors preaching on Sunday morning and you probably look and think, man, I don't have the gear to capture my services and post them on YouTube.

00:02:34:00 - 00:03:05:24
Nick Clason
And the answer to that is probably unequivocally 100% accurate. You probably don't. Right. But I actually have linked right here on screen my 100% completely free e-book, which is called 40 done for you posting tools, which really, honestly maybe needs a new title because what it ultimately is, is my complete philosophy as well as strategy guide for leveling up your YouTube and your social media game.

00:03:05:24 - 00:03:32:00
Nick Clason
It's all about creating custom content for YouTube. And so one of the elements in that e-book, if you click it and if you download it, is a link to a blog that I have created called YouTube Gear on a Budget. And simply what it is is it will help you level up your YouTube gear if you choose to shoot video on your phone that is of course the most expensive piece is that camera piece.

00:03:32:03 - 00:04:04:25
Nick Clason
But you can level up your game for less than $100 by adding in some external microphones. I have linked on in the e-book. Bluetooth wireless microphones, a shotgun style microphone for Android. The same thing's for for iPhones as well. Also, just like a phone based tripod, you can get a tabletop one that's a little shorter or you can get a full, full length standing tripod as well as a basic ring light that so, you know, your videos look decent with lighting.

00:04:05:01 - 00:04:27:25
Nick Clason
You can also take care of most of that by just filming in a space that has some good lighting. And then if you do want to go the next layer beyond just $100 or less, if you want to stop shooting on your phone and you want to start shooting on a good camera, the one that I recommend that was recommended to me by Sean Cannell via his YouTube channel, check out and Think Media.

00:04:27:27 - 00:04:50:29
Nick Clason
If you haven't had a chance. He is a YouTube guru, but the Sony ZVE-10. It’s a Great camera. We bought it along with the lens for about $700 in our student ministry space one time purchase. But now we're using it and we're using it for everything. We're using it for long form videos as well as vertically shot and vertically based videos.

00:04:51:04 - 00:05:15:19
Nick Clason
But one of the pieces, one of the challenges for most youth pastors is that we're running from fire to fire to fire to fire and meeting to meeting to me and to meeting this kid, kid who needs counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling, all the different things, all the different demands of our space and our time. We're linked right here at the top of this video is my 100% completely free, foolproof strategy for good time management.

00:05:15:19 - 00:05:38:26
Nick Clason
And here's the honest truth that frankly, like there are always going to be issues, are always going to be struggles, are always going to be fires and things that pop up on your calendar. But if you manage your time and just a little sneak peek like you are 100% completely in charge of your time and your time management.

00:05:38:26 - 00:06:02:17
Nick Clason
And so if you don't make a priority and a space in your calendar to sit down and pre film your messages, just like we're talking about here, like you are not going to be able to to start posting content to YouTube, you have to make it a priority just like you make sitting down and crafting a Wednesday night program a priority.

00:06:02:23 - 00:06:25:04
Nick Clason
You also have to make sitting down and pre filming your messages a priority. So you're probably going to have to get several weeks in advance on this, both on your teaching scope and curriculum, which link down below. I have link to my five favorite teaching curriculum, so go check that out. And in a video that we've dropped not too long ago, you can check that out if you're interested in something like that.

00:06:25:06 - 00:06:58:24
Nick Clason
But your plan, your curriculum, and then you'll write out your teaching and then you'll sit down and you'll deliver the message direct to camera, all because you told your time what was going to happen to it. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't counsel students and mute their senior pastor and plan for your Wednesday night, but if pre filming your message is if getting the message of Jesus and the message of hope out on the Internet, on YouTube is important to you, then you need to determine when you're going to place that that thing on your calendar to do it.

00:06:58:26 - 00:07:21:11
Nick Clason
Now, just like this YouTube video, all YouTube videos have a description section. And so when you are preaching or teaching or delivering some piece of content direct to camera on screen, you can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my student Ministry's YouTube channel, we post two links.

00:07:21:11 - 00:07:45:00
Nick Clason
The first link is a next steps digital type connect card. And I think about if you live in the room and you want to challenge students to take the next step of getting baptized, or if you're alive in the room and they prayed to receive Christ or they just need some sort of prayer, you might point them to a physical connect card in the seatback in front of them, or at the middle of like a table or something like that.

00:07:45:00 - 00:08:07:07
Nick Clason
If you're sitting around tables in your space on the same way, you can offer a digital version. And I mean, let's be honest, if they fill out a physical connect card, probably you are taking that caption that information digitally somehow, whether that be in your church management system, in software, or if it's just by tracking that information via something more basic like Excel.

00:08:07:08 - 00:08:31:29
Nick Clason
Nonetheless, you take it from a physical moment to digital. And so if you can offer a digital based connect card, then you know that you are going to be getting that information and you're going to be cutting out that middleman portion. The other thing that I offer in our digital are link in our description in most of our YouTube videos is what we call our digital Notes platform.

00:08:31:29 - 00:08:53:20
Nick Clason
And our digital notes is simply using the free, by the way, free YouVersion live events. And so if you've ever used that before, it's a thing that you can create. And on the back end on you version of the Bible app, you create a live service. And so I set our digital notes to go quote unquote live.

00:08:53:20 - 00:09:24:27
Nick Clason
So it's discovered in the live kind of panel of your you you version Bible app. It's when you discover when your church is live. And so I set that for when we're teaching our message live same day same time. However it does at the end give you a small URL. And so then the play, the digital notes plan, the live event can be clicked on and accessed at any time, regardless of if it is quote unquote live in the version Bible app.

00:09:24:29 - 00:09:45:16
Nick Clason
And so you can put text, you can put images, you can put Bible passages, and then they, the followers along, they can create private notes based off of all of those things. They can save them so that they can kind of archive them and come back later. But one of my favorite pieces to the digital notes is that you can create an external link.

00:09:45:16 - 00:10:09:01
Nick Clason
And so again, if a student is following along, live in the room or on YouTube at the end, they can they can have a live link to go out to Digital Connect card. They can have a live link to go out to camp signups. They can have a live link to go out to whatever you want it to be, whatever sort of call to action, whatever sort of next step your message may be pointing students toward.

00:10:09:03 - 00:10:38:21
Nick Clason
The other thing is, of course, it is on you version. And so you can also link Bible reading plans directly in there as well. And so think about it. What if you had a whole message on the importance of reading the Bible and getting in God's Word? And then what if you actually had a Bible reading plan that they could start reading that night or the next morning that they could start enjoying and begin reading to help them follow through on what you were talking about?

00:10:38:23 - 00:11:04:15
Nick Clason
So obviously, in addition, right, like in addition to posting videos to YouTube to reach more students for 95% of teenagers have or will plan to spend some of their time or at least use the app in some way, shape or form. There are, I think, five additional like benefits to sitting down and pre filming your talks direct to camera benefit number one is more practice.

00:11:04:15 - 00:11:22:23
Nick Clason
It gives you an opportunity to engage with your content more frequently than just getting up and teaching it live on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning or whenever that might be. And so by the time you do actually get around on Wednesday night or Sunday morning to deliver your content, direct camera, you've already delivered it at least once.

00:11:22:23 - 00:11:56:02
Nick Clason
And if you need more takes, maybe two or three, and so you're much more familiar with the content and the concepts that you were teaching. Benefit number two is, of course, you're going to be forced to get ahead. You're going to be forced to to be working ahead in your delivery of of this content and preparation. So my workflow goes, I sit down and I write it all out and not linked in my $100 or less leveling up guide.

00:11:56:05 - 00:12:17:19
Nick Clason
But one that is recommended potentially you may have to get a beefier tripod is using a using a teleprompter holder. And so you can get a teleprompter and you can use an iPad with the free teleprompter app. But so I sit down, I prep my message and I script it out and I may script it word for word.

00:12:17:22 - 00:12:48:25
Nick Clason
2000 or 2500 words is usually a good length for YouTube. It helps me hopefully shoot in under the 15 minute mark. That's always my goal on time. Write it all out and then deliver it Direct camera. That's where I include things like subscribe and cards linked up at the top and end screens like I write and spell every single thing out word for word, so that then the teleprompter will just kind of do its thing and flow right in front of me and I just read it directly there.

00:12:48:28 - 00:13:17:08
Nick Clason
It does take a little bit of work to get used to it. It is a skill that's not exactly natural. You can do it. But, you know, I'm just letting you know, get get used to it. Then also I have I then take the the manuscript, the full YouTube manuscript, and I use Google Drive. And so I create a new copy of that an in a different folder, and I rename it live talk notes.

00:13:17:12 - 00:13:50:08
Nick Clason
And so then I go back through that and I add highlights and I add all of those types of things, like, you know, yellow is, is like on screen or slide. Green is like any scripture or whatever, any video clips because like I may not actually like show a video clip on when I'm filming it to YouTube. If I do, it might just be some B-roll over top of the background as opposed to like showing a full on like video clip, like stop, pause the room, watch screen, come back type of thing, video clips and interactive elements.

00:13:50:08 - 00:14:09:00
Nick Clason
I add all those things, but I do it in a completely different document. I adapt it from the manuscript to more of like an outline type style. And then as I'm doing that, I'm also building slides and putting it into a thing like Sidekick, where I can use integrated tools like the wheel and name Picker and the live voting elements and all those types of things.

00:14:09:00 - 00:14:34:10
Nick Clason
More info link down below on Sidekick Sidekick.tv And so my workflow is my head. I write it, I deliver it, direct camera, and then I also readapt it to be taught in the room in between. When I shoot it and readapt it is when we're editing it or posting it, we're adding thumbnails or adding time codes, all the YouTube type things that need to take place.

00:14:34:10 - 00:15:05:04
Nick Clason
So that is live. Usually the Monday before what we we posted on Monday and then deliver it live in the room on Wednesday. And then our students discuss it again on the following Sunday morning. So that whole week on social, our focus is, you know, Monday it drops, Wednesdays are live teaching and then Sunday they discuss it and then woven all throughout there are you know several different like kind of teaching videos social media type clips.

00:15:05:06 - 00:15:32:29
Nick Clason
Benefit number three is it will help you create evergreen type content. Evergreen content is just a marketing word for content that is always relevant. In fact, last night I had a student from a former ministry and a former church that's going through a difficult and tough time. So hey, like I'm having a hard time. Like things are rough, you know, and some have had some some bad news and some kind of tragedy hit their family.

00:15:32:29 - 00:16:07:10
Nick Clason
And so we don't even have this live yet. Like we're getting these back right now from our editor. But we are about to launch into a series called When Bad Things Happen. I have a link actually down below if you're interested in that series that is available on ym360 curriculum site. But we taught it as a student ministry team and like I said, it's not live on YouTube yet, but I was sending her the links to our direct drop box like videos so or Google Drive videos so that she could watch it.

00:16:07:12 - 00:16:32:07
Nick Clason
And that's again like that's one of the benefits of filming your content is that when someone's going through a hard time who lives a thousand miles away, you can send them stuff like this that might be able to help them get through it and navigate through life. You see, this isn't just a vanity thing. Like you can help students, you can help care for students, shepherds, students, disciple students, teach students.

00:16:32:07 - 00:16:55:16
Nick Clason
When you film, you're content. That's what you want to do. Live in the room, right? The difference is church is often built like a organization that's trying to capture people through a cable TV style of of marketing as opposed to an OnDemand style of marketing. And when you preach from your messages, you can start to wade into that quote unquote, on demand type of messaging.

00:16:55:16 - 00:17:13:11
Nick Clason
So when someone's going through a hard time or when someone needs a guide to how to use the Bible or whatever it is that you have taught that you know is valuable, you can send them to your YouTube channel for a link to evergreen content, to content that matters. And so benefit number four, of course, is it's the antidote.

00:17:13:11 - 00:17:37:02
Nick Clason
It is the cure to travel sports. Not entirely like that. Kids still traveling to baseball, but if you film your messages while they're still going to be traveling to baseball, would you rather them travel to baseball, miss out on church altogether, or would you rather them travel to baseball and still have the opportunity to catch up on the series, to hear the message to learn the thing?

00:17:37:02 - 00:18:03:04
Nick Clason
Like I think we would all take option two. I mean, maybe we all like option three, which is like nuking travel baseball so that it never happens again. But since that's probably not going to be an option, we'll settle for option number two and options are an option. But side benefit number five of pre filming your messages is Sean Cannell the guru of YouTube, has a strategy called Ask specific questions.

00:18:03:04 - 00:18:32:06
Nick Clason
ASQ or actually not ask answer specific questions. So think about it, right? You can answer your students specific questions. For example, how do I respond when bad things happen? Boom, That's a teaching series. Answer that question posted to YouTube. The goal is not necessarily to go viral and be caught and seen by other students in other states and other student ministries, though that can be something that happens.

00:18:32:06 - 00:18:54:22
Nick Clason
But that's not the goal, right? The goal is to create content that is going to be helpful and beneficial to answer specific questions about God, about faith, about theology to the students that God has entrusted into you and into your care. Once you've shot the content, you now move into the hardest space of all of this process, probably, which is editing.

00:18:54:25 - 00:19:19:10
Nick Clason
And there are some three different ways that you can do it. Cap Cut, DaVinci Resolve. Those are linked down below in the description, but also linked right here on screen is the best editing tools in the best editing apps, how to edit, how to level up your editing and why editing on videos does actually matter. So go ahead.

00:19:19:10 - 00:19:35:04
Nick Clason
Take a look at that video. We love to catch you over there as we're continuing on our YouTube for Youth Ministry playlist. But don't forget and as always, stay hybrid.

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======================================
DESCRIPTION
📹YouTube is the perfect platform for youth pastors and youth ministries.
Why?

  • 95% of youth group teenagers are on YouTube
  • YouTube is the 2nd largest search engine, powered by Google
  • YouTube plays to the skillset of all youth pastors

In this video, let's help you start sitting down in front of the camera and filming messages and content for your youth group!
Follow along as we unpack the best practices guide of YouTube for Youth Pastors:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLHMhNNfqmmmAsKRJ1VCBJl
======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/092

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/3bq5CGstZmE

//GET STARTED FOR UNDER $100
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//SONY ZVE-10
https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv

//SEAN CANNEL & THINK MEDIA
https://www.youtube.com/@seanTHiNKs

//FULL-PROOF TIME MANAGEMENT GUIDE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8&t=189s

//YOUVERSION LIVE EVENTS
https://my.bible.com/events

//TELEPROMPTER
https://walmrt.us/4a6ZJU1

//TOP 5 YOUTH CURRICULUMS: RANKED!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTQXsananwI

//WHEN BAD THINGS HAPPEN
[Link Placeholder]

//SIDEKICK
http://www.sidekick.tv

FREE VIDEO EDITING OPTIONS
//CAPCUT
https://www.capcut.com

//DAVINCI RESOLVE

https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/event/davinciresolvedownload

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
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Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz
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🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
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🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources"
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🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

SONY ZVE-10
https://walmrt.us/3IyaDWv

BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

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AUTO POD
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TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Why Youth Pastors should Pre-Film their Messages
02:10 Leveling Up Your YouTube Gear
06:54 Adding Shownotes to your YouTube Videos
10:31 Top 5 Benefits of Pre-Filming Your Messages to YouTube

TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:00 - 00:00:31:03
Nick Clason
Youth Pastor, Let me guess, you have a desire for the students that you have been entrusted to in your care to come, to learn, know, love and follow Jesus. And let me guess, part of that strategy, part of that way that you hope students do that is to show up for them and to be there when they have difficult and tough questions to help them answer and make sense of life which is around them.

00:00:31:04 - 00:00:57:13
Nick Clason
Well, according to Pew Research, 95% of teenagers have used will use or plan to use the platform of YouTube. And so from the most conservative parents in your church who would never even imagine letting their kids enter the World Wide Web to all the way to the least restrictive parents who gave their kids a phone and let them have wild access to the Internet.

00:00:57:15 - 00:01:21:28
Nick Clason
YouTube is a great strategy and a great platform for students and student ministry. Like if in your youth ministry context, you're using YouTube, subscribe if you're not and hey, either way, hit the bell because we're in a playlist called YouTube for Youth Ministries. But how do we start posting content to YouTube? Like you might know these stats, You might know it's important.

00:01:21:28 - 00:01:44:06
Nick Clason
You might know students are on the you might know it's a really accessible platform, but how do you actually begin filming editing, recording and posting videos to YouTube? Well, this is the perfect video because in it I want to share with you what gear you can use to start leveling up your YouTube game with simply just shooting on your cell phone.

00:01:44:06 - 00:02:07:27
Nick Clason
I also want to talk about how you can manage your time to fit in the process of filming YouTube videos and posting it. I'm also going to give you some next steps directly out of this video so that you can start doing some side benefits for you. And then finally, how to actually edit your video so that it looks good and professional and fits the vibe that's going on YouTube.

00:02:08:03 - 00:02:33:28
Nick Clason
Welcome to the Hybrid ministry show. So if you're anything like me and you work at church, you look around your youth room and you compare it to the auditorium or the main church room that the rest of the or the rest of your, you know, big church is using where your pastors preaching on Sunday morning and you probably look and think, man, I don't have the gear to capture my services and post them on YouTube.

00:02:34:00 - 00:03:05:24
Nick Clason
And the answer to that is probably unequivocally 100% accurate. You probably don't. Right. But I actually have linked right here on screen my 100% completely free e-book, which is called 40 done for you posting tools, which really, honestly maybe needs a new title because what it ultimately is, is my complete philosophy as well as strategy guide for leveling up your YouTube and your social media game.

00:03:05:24 - 00:03:32:00
Nick Clason
It's all about creating custom content for YouTube. And so one of the elements in that e-book, if you click it and if you download it, is a link to a blog that I have created called YouTube Gear on a Budget. And simply what it is is it will help you level up your YouTube gear if you choose to shoot video on your phone that is of course the most expensive piece is that camera piece.

00:03:32:03 - 00:04:04:25
Nick Clason
But you can level up your game for less than $100 by adding in some external microphones. I have linked on in the e-book. Bluetooth wireless microphones, a shotgun style microphone for Android. The same thing's for for iPhones as well. Also, just like a phone based tripod, you can get a tabletop one that's a little shorter or you can get a full, full length standing tripod as well as a basic ring light that so, you know, your videos look decent with lighting.

00:04:05:01 - 00:04:27:25
Nick Clason
You can also take care of most of that by just filming in a space that has some good lighting. And then if you do want to go the next layer beyond just $100 or less, if you want to stop shooting on your phone and you want to start shooting on a good camera, the one that I recommend that was recommended to me by Sean Cannell via his YouTube channel, check out and Think Media.

00:04:27:27 - 00:04:50:29
Nick Clason
If you haven't had a chance. He is a YouTube guru, but the Sony ZVE-10. It’s a Great camera. We bought it along with the lens for about $700 in our student ministry space one time purchase. But now we're using it and we're using it for everything. We're using it for long form videos as well as vertically shot and vertically based videos.

00:04:51:04 - 00:05:15:19
Nick Clason
But one of the pieces, one of the challenges for most youth pastors is that we're running from fire to fire to fire to fire and meeting to meeting to me and to meeting this kid, kid who needs counseling, counseling, counseling, counseling, all the different things, all the different demands of our space and our time. We're linked right here at the top of this video is my 100% completely free, foolproof strategy for good time management.

00:05:15:19 - 00:05:38:26
Nick Clason
And here's the honest truth that frankly, like there are always going to be issues, are always going to be struggles, are always going to be fires and things that pop up on your calendar. But if you manage your time and just a little sneak peek like you are 100% completely in charge of your time and your time management.

00:05:38:26 - 00:06:02:17
Nick Clason
And so if you don't make a priority and a space in your calendar to sit down and pre film your messages, just like we're talking about here, like you are not going to be able to to start posting content to YouTube, you have to make it a priority just like you make sitting down and crafting a Wednesday night program a priority.

00:06:02:23 - 00:06:25:04
Nick Clason
You also have to make sitting down and pre filming your messages a priority. So you're probably going to have to get several weeks in advance on this, both on your teaching scope and curriculum, which link down below. I have link to my five favorite teaching curriculum, so go check that out. And in a video that we've dropped not too long ago, you can check that out if you're interested in something like that.

00:06:25:06 - 00:06:58:24
Nick Clason
But your plan, your curriculum, and then you'll write out your teaching and then you'll sit down and you'll deliver the message direct to camera, all because you told your time what was going to happen to it. And I'm not saying that you shouldn't counsel students and mute their senior pastor and plan for your Wednesday night, but if pre filming your message is if getting the message of Jesus and the message of hope out on the Internet, on YouTube is important to you, then you need to determine when you're going to place that that thing on your calendar to do it.

00:06:58:26 - 00:07:21:11
Nick Clason
Now, just like this YouTube video, all YouTube videos have a description section. And so when you are preaching or teaching or delivering some piece of content direct to camera on screen, you can always say down below in the description are links. And so for every single video that I post on my student Ministry's YouTube channel, we post two links.

00:07:21:11 - 00:07:45:00
Nick Clason
The first link is a next steps digital type connect card. And I think about if you live in the room and you want to challenge students to take the next step of getting baptized, or if you're alive in the room and they prayed to receive Christ or they just need some sort of prayer, you might point them to a physical connect card in the seatback in front of them, or at the middle of like a table or something like that.

00:07:45:00 - 00:08:07:07
Nick Clason
If you're sitting around tables in your space on the same way, you can offer a digital version. And I mean, let's be honest, if they fill out a physical connect card, probably you are taking that caption that information digitally somehow, whether that be in your church management system, in software, or if it's just by tracking that information via something more basic like Excel.

00:08:07:08 - 00:08:31:29
Nick Clason
Nonetheless, you take it from a physical moment to digital. And so if you can offer a digital based connect card, then you know that you are going to be getting that information and you're going to be cutting out that middleman portion. The other thing that I offer in our digital are link in our description in most of our YouTube videos is what we call our digital Notes platform.

00:08:31:29 - 00:08:53:20
Nick Clason
And our digital notes is simply using the free, by the way, free YouVersion live events. And so if you've ever used that before, it's a thing that you can create. And on the back end on you version of the Bible app, you create a live service. And so I set our digital notes to go quote unquote live.

00:08:53:20 - 00:09:24:27
Nick Clason
So it's discovered in the live kind of panel of your you you version Bible app. It's when you discover when your church is live. And so I set that for when we're teaching our message live same day same time. However it does at the end give you a small URL. And so then the play, the digital notes plan, the live event can be clicked on and accessed at any time, regardless of if it is quote unquote live in the version Bible app.

00:09:24:29 - 00:09:45:16
Nick Clason
And so you can put text, you can put images, you can put Bible passages, and then they, the followers along, they can create private notes based off of all of those things. They can save them so that they can kind of archive them and come back later. But one of my favorite pieces to the digital notes is that you can create an external link.

00:09:45:16 - 00:10:09:01
Nick Clason
And so again, if a student is following along, live in the room or on YouTube at the end, they can they can have a live link to go out to Digital Connect card. They can have a live link to go out to camp signups. They can have a live link to go out to whatever you want it to be, whatever sort of call to action, whatever sort of next step your message may be pointing students toward.

00:10:09:03 - 00:10:38:21
Nick Clason
The other thing is, of course, it is on you version. And so you can also link Bible reading plans directly in there as well. And so think about it. What if you had a whole message on the importance of reading the Bible and getting in God's Word? And then what if you actually had a Bible reading plan that they could start reading that night or the next morning that they could start enjoying and begin reading to help them follow through on what you were talking about?

00:10:38:23 - 00:11:04:15
Nick Clason
So obviously, in addition, right, like in addition to posting videos to YouTube to reach more students for 95% of teenagers have or will plan to spend some of their time or at least use the app in some way, shape or form. There are, I think, five additional like benefits to sitting down and pre filming your talks direct to camera benefit number one is more practice.

00:11:04:15 - 00:11:22:23
Nick Clason
It gives you an opportunity to engage with your content more frequently than just getting up and teaching it live on a Wednesday night or Sunday morning or whenever that might be. And so by the time you do actually get around on Wednesday night or Sunday morning to deliver your content, direct camera, you've already delivered it at least once.

00:11:22:23 - 00:11:56:02
Nick Clason
And if you need more takes, maybe two or three, and so you're much more familiar with the content and the concepts that you were teaching. Benefit number two is, of course, you're going to be forced to get ahead. You're going to be forced to to be working ahead in your delivery of of this content and preparation. So my workflow goes, I sit down and I write it all out and not linked in my $100 or less leveling up guide.

00:11:56:05 - 00:12:17:19
Nick Clason
But one that is recommended potentially you may have to get a beefier tripod is using a using a teleprompter holder. And so you can get a teleprompter and you can use an iPad with the free teleprompter app. But so I sit down, I prep my message and I script it out and I may script it word for word.

00:12:17:22 - 00:12:48:25
Nick Clason
2000 or 2500 words is usually a good length for YouTube. It helps me hopefully shoot in under the 15 minute mark. That's always my goal on time. Write it all out and then deliver it Direct camera. That's where I include things like subscribe and cards linked up at the top and end screens like I write and spell every single thing out word for word, so that then the teleprompter will just kind of do its thing and flow right in front of me and I just read it directly there.

00:12:48:28 - 00:13:17:08
Nick Clason
It does take a little bit of work to get used to it. It is a skill that's not exactly natural. You can do it. But, you know, I'm just letting you know, get get used to it. Then also I have I then take the the manuscript, the full YouTube manuscript, and I use Google Drive. And so I create a new copy of that an in a different folder, and I rename it live talk notes.

00:13:17:12 - 00:13:50:08
Nick Clason
And so then I go back through that and I add highlights and I add all of those types of things, like, you know, yellow is, is like on screen or slide. Green is like any scripture or whatever, any video clips because like I may not actually like show a video clip on when I'm filming it to YouTube. If I do, it might just be some B-roll over top of the background as opposed to like showing a full on like video clip, like stop, pause the room, watch screen, come back type of thing, video clips and interactive elements.

00:13:50:08 - 00:14:09:00
Nick Clason
I add all those things, but I do it in a completely different document. I adapt it from the manuscript to more of like an outline type style. And then as I'm doing that, I'm also building slides and putting it into a thing like Sidekick, where I can use integrated tools like the wheel and name Picker and the live voting elements and all those types of things.

00:14:09:00 - 00:14:34:10
Nick Clason
More info link down below on Sidekick Sidekick.tv And so my workflow is my head. I write it, I deliver it, direct camera, and then I also readapt it to be taught in the room in between. When I shoot it and readapt it is when we're editing it or posting it, we're adding thumbnails or adding time codes, all the YouTube type things that need to take place.

00:14:34:10 - 00:15:05:04
Nick Clason
So that is live. Usually the Monday before what we we posted on Monday and then deliver it live in the room on Wednesday. And then our students discuss it again on the following Sunday morning. So that whole week on social, our focus is, you know, Monday it drops, Wednesdays are live teaching and then Sunday they discuss it and then woven all throughout there are you know several different like kind of teaching videos social media type clips.

00:15:05:06 - 00:15:32:29
Nick Clason
Benefit number three is it will help you create evergreen type content. Evergreen content is just a marketing word for content that is always relevant. In fact, last night I had a student from a former ministry and a former church that's going through a difficult and tough time. So hey, like I'm having a hard time. Like things are rough, you know, and some have had some some bad news and some kind of tragedy hit their family.

00:15:32:29 - 00:16:07:10
Nick Clason
And so we don't even have this live yet. Like we're getting these back right now from our editor. But we are about to launch into a series called When Bad Things Happen. I have a link actually down below if you're interested in that series that is available on ym360 curriculum site. But we taught it as a student ministry team and like I said, it's not live on YouTube yet, but I was sending her the links to our direct drop box like videos so or Google Drive videos so that she could watch it.

00:16:07:12 - 00:16:32:07
Nick Clason
And that's again like that's one of the benefits of filming your content is that when someone's going through a hard time who lives a thousand miles away, you can send them stuff like this that might be able to help them get through it and navigate through life. You see, this isn't just a vanity thing. Like you can help students, you can help care for students, shepherds, students, disciple students, teach students.

00:16:32:07 - 00:16:55:16
Nick Clason
When you film, you're content. That's what you want to do. Live in the room, right? The difference is church is often built like a organization that's trying to capture people through a cable TV style of of marketing as opposed to an OnDemand style of marketing. And when you preach from your messages, you can start to wade into that quote unquote, on demand type of messaging.

00:16:55:16 - 00:17:13:11
Nick Clason
So when someone's going through a hard time or when someone needs a guide to how to use the Bible or whatever it is that you have taught that you know is valuable, you can send them to your YouTube channel for a link to evergreen content, to content that matters. And so benefit number four, of course, is it's the antidote.

00:17:13:11 - 00:17:37:02
Nick Clason
It is the cure to travel sports. Not entirely like that. Kids still traveling to baseball, but if you film your messages while they're still going to be traveling to baseball, would you rather them travel to baseball, miss out on church altogether, or would you rather them travel to baseball and still have the opportunity to catch up on the series, to hear the message to learn the thing?

00:17:37:02 - 00:18:03:04
Nick Clason
Like I think we would all take option two. I mean, maybe we all like option three, which is like nuking travel baseball so that it never happens again. But since that's probably not going to be an option, we'll settle for option number two and options are an option. But side benefit number five of pre filming your messages is Sean Cannell the guru of YouTube, has a strategy called Ask specific questions.

00:18:03:04 - 00:18:32:06
Nick Clason
ASQ or actually not ask answer specific questions. So think about it, right? You can answer your students specific questions. For example, how do I respond when bad things happen? Boom, That's a teaching series. Answer that question posted to YouTube. The goal is not necessarily to go viral and be caught and seen by other students in other states and other student ministries, though that can be something that happens.

00:18:32:06 - 00:18:54:22
Nick Clason
But that's not the goal, right? The goal is to create content that is going to be helpful and beneficial to answer specific questions about God, about faith, about theology to the students that God has entrusted into you and into your care. Once you've shot the content, you now move into the hardest space of all of this process, probably, which is editing.

00:18:54:25 - 00:19:19:10
Nick Clason
And there are some three different ways that you can do it. Cap Cut, DaVinci Resolve. Those are linked down below in the description, but also linked right here on screen is the best editing tools in the best editing apps, how to edit, how to level up your editing and why editing on videos does actually matter. So go ahead.

00:19:19:10 - 00:19:35:04
Nick Clason
Take a look at that video. We love to catch you over there as we're continuing on our YouTube for Youth Ministry playlist. But don't forget and as always, stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 090: 🐿️ When to Split High School and Middle School Youth Group https://www.hybridministry.xyz/090 dd81d119-6c2c-4b4c-a23c-3a16893a6318 Thu, 28 Mar 2024 04:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 090 🐿️ When to Split High School and Middle School Youth Group full Nick Clason 🐿️ Middle School and High School Students What are the factors that need to be considered when deciding whether or not you’re ready to split them? And what are some creative hacks to getting around it, if you’re not ready or able yet? 11:20 no ⚡ [FREE] Hybrid Reach More Students Strategy Guide⚡ https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book ====================================== DESCRIPTION 🐿️ Middle School and High School Students What are the factors that need to be considered when deciding whether or not you’re ready to split them? And what are some creative hacks to getting around it, if you’re not ready or able yet? ====================================== 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/090 //YOUTUBE VIDEO 📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book ⚡ OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz ====================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym 📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email EMAIL: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email 🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut 😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook 📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers" https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis ====================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00 Sharing Youth Rooms with Outside Groups 01:08 3 Factors to Consider Before Splitting Middle and High School 03:54 The Pros to Making the Split 05:23 The Cons of Making the Split 06:59 Four Creative Hacks to Reimagining the Split TRANSCRIPT 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;01;28 Nick Clason Youth pastors. 00;00;01;28 - 00;00;28;59 Nick Clason Have you ever had a high school student say to you, “I don't want to come to youth group with that middle schooler!” Give us a like if you know, a high school student who has done that and maybe subscribe if you've actually never heard that. And then the rest of us who have liked the video because we've had high school students do that will either know that you're lying or we're going to be super jealous because you and me all know that in the back of our heads, right? 00;00;29;00 - 00;00;56;35 Nick Clason Like we may or may not have the bandwidth or the time to split up the middle school and the high school students. And so, in today's video. We're going to explore the best, most premium and optimal time and way to split up your middle school and your high school students. We’ll talk about the three factors to consider. We will ask two clarifying questions in each of the sections. 00;00;56;40 - 00;01;20;09 Nick Clason The top two pros, the top two cons, and finally, some creative hacks to get around making the big switch. If you know you're not ready for or don't have the time for it, factor number one is your size. Like you have to consider how big is your group? What is your average group's critical mass. That’s question number one? 00;01;20;12 - 00;01;49;42 Nick Clason Then number two in the sized question is what momentum will be lost by splitting up your students? The other factor you have to consider is your bandwidth. For example, like do you have the bandwidth to split middle school and high school? When I was working at church early on in my ministry, I determined that we had a big enough critical mass and that we could withstand this switch. 00;01;49;47 - 00;02;06;55 Nick Clason But then we had to switch and I had to add to my calendar and my schedule another night to meet. And I ended up deciding to make that decision. In that season of life. It was the right move and it was the right call. So we did middle school on Wednesday night and we did high school on Sunday night. 00;02;06;56 - 00;02;30;02 Nick Clason Prior to that, we did both of them together on Wednesday night. So Sunday night was a new addition. And looking back, I don't know actually, cause I only ended up running it for a year prior to then me moving on to a different church. I don't know if it was the right decision. You have to measure and know what your bandwidth is and if you have the bandwidth to split. 00;02;30;02 - 00;02;53;35 Nick Clason And I would recommend right here the top of this video is a video where we talked about time management and go through that. And that little exercise might actually help give you some clarification on do you truly have the bandwidth. Also, the second question under bandwidth is do you potentially have a volunteer to help you own that other piece, the other split piece as you navigate? 00;02;53;35 - 00;03;19;25 Nick Clason And then the third factor, of course, is space. Does your space in your church, does it accommodate it? And the second question is what constraints is this going to put on your space? So, for example, I worked at a church that didn't have a lot of space, even though it was a big church, big a big multi-site church in in Chicago area. 00;03;19;29 - 00;03;45;36 Nick Clason But other ministries had other nights of the week that they had things going on, like our groups ministry met and our junior home ministry met and are like grief share. I can't remember all the different ones, but there's always a different ministry on a different night of the week. And so our decision to either have junior high and high school together or split up was going to either demand two nights a week for our space or just one. 00;03;45;36 - 00;04;10;57 Nick Clason And then that that dictated how and when the other ministries in your space met. So a couple of pros for splitting up middle school and high school. Again, if if your size, if your bandwidth and if your space will all kind of accommodate it and if all those factors that you asked this question swirl around are working together, pro number one, of course, is like developmentally 00;04;11;51 - 00;04;28;39 Nick Clason splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate. I mean, you just think about it. I think of that sixth grade boy in your group and then think of that 12th grade girl, like developmentally speaking. They're just in two different spots and this is no shade thrown on that sixth grade boy or that 12th grade girl. 00;04;28;44 - 00;05;13;44 Nick Clason But, you know, they each need different things, their need. They need to be challenged in a different way. And so splitting them up will help you as a youth pastor, be able to navigate that well, to be able to really, truly give and provide for each of those people individually what they need and what they're looking for. Pro Number two is that probably the high school students preference, it may not be the middle school students preference on the top, but underneath that it may actually be the best thing for a middle school student to give them their own space, to just simply be a middle schooler and not have high schoolers looking over frustratedly 00;05;13;45 - 00;05;37;36 Nick Clason or condemningly or even just being annoyed. And the high school students may want their own space to kind of lean into and be uniquely high school students. But the cons, of course, are it is more taxing on you as the individual or on you in your time or on you and your space. And so you may be in a context that has multiple staff and so that may be the solution. 00;05;37;36 - 00;06;03;36 Nick Clason One of you runs one night and run one of you runs another night. But if you are your own person and if you do not have the staff to accommodate something like this, then it is going to be more taxing and another con I honestly would say is that it's not necessarily it doesn't necessarily give students a realistic view and or picture of the rest of life in the rest of the world. 00;06;03;36 - 00;06;27;24 Nick Clason Like right now, I am a 34 year old youth pastor at a church and there is not one other 34 year old on my staff. As far as I know, I could be wrong and I might not be thinking about a certain person, but the fact of the matter is like I interact with Boomers and Xers and us another Millennials that is now my exact age and also some people that are Gen Z and so on. 00;06;27;24 - 00;06;57;17 Nick Clason Our staff, we have an age range all the way from 20 up to like 60, 65 ish, right? Like we have a big span of age. And so sometimes like segmenting down our ministries, while they may be developmentally good or they may also be like preferences of certain ages at the high school students and middle school students, it may not be what is best for them, and it may not give them the most realistic picture of what their future life is going to be. 00;06;57;22 - 00;07;27;11 Nick Clason Which leads me to my third idea three creative hacks to kind of get around this. If you don't have the bandwidth and if you're not quite yet ready to split middle school and high school, the first one is stagger your programing. So maybe you have your students meet all within the same time block Which I would probably recommend for like parent’s sake, If they have a middle school student and a high school student, they don't have to drop off and pick up at different time. 00;07;27;11 - 00;07;54;21 Nick Clason So if it's like 6 to 8, they drop off both students. But then inside the building, middle schoolers are in this element of your service and high schoolers are in this element of the service, and then they switch and then high school switch to this element while middle schoolers then switch to that element. That is a way for you to lean into a good volunteer, to be able to run the additional space so that you can be teaching or running the game or wherever you need to be in those moments. 00;07;54;26 - 00;08;17;15 Nick Clason But it will also give middle school and high school students their own unique difference set up and their own unique, different space. Another creative hack answer that I have is consider the idea of going hybrid and you're like, Wait a minute, that doesn't do anything for the space. And in some ways you're 100% right, but leaves right here in mind 100% completely free e-book. 00;08;17;15 - 00;08;41;53 Nick Clason I will lead you through how to develop out a hybrid strategy and the bedrock. The baseline for my hybrid strategy is begin pre filming your talks ahead of time, pre film talks, and then post them to YouTube. And then from there, as you maybe clip up a few of those using a service link down below like Opus.Pro to give you AI generated shorts, reels and TikToks 00;08;42;07 - 00;09;03;08 Nick Clason You can sprinkle those in throughout your week. And then the last piece of it is you can then add in and then use an element of fun into your social media and you can use your students to do that. And so perhaps an element of your creative staggered programing is creating a space for your students. Come together and get on video and make content with you. 00;09;03;08 - 00;09;29;31 Nick Clason And you might be thinking like, Wait a minute, do they want to do that? And the answer to those yes, Generation Z and Generation Alpha, they live in a a publisher type of generation with a publisher type of mindset. And most of us have been raised in an industrial age where we create content and or we create an environment that we then sit down and we produce it and or deliver it to people. 00;09;29;31 - 00;09;52;08 Nick Clason And then we assume that they want to just sit and consume it. And the tables are turned in that day and age. And so the advantage is, while digital is the language of teenagers, you can include them in your strategy. Another hack I have for you is that you can make your small groups like more age and more gender graded. 00;09;52;08 - 00;10;14;09 Nick Clason And so if you don't have the bandwidth yet to split apart your big middle school and high school group, when you break them down into small groups, whether that be on a different night of the week or even the same night that they're all together. When you do that, you then give them that space. And so maybe you teach to a large room and you do have to sort of hit the middle somewhere between that sixth grade and that 12th grader. 00;10;14;14 - 00;10;52;16 Nick Clason But when they break down into their small groups, they're more age appropriate and they're more age and grade and gender graded. And then finally, an idea could be simply to just lean in to the age discrepancy. You know, there's an age discrepancy. You know, it may not be ideal and or it may not be everyone's preference, but if you lean into it and if you let the middle schoolers have the high schoolers have a little bit more fun, and then if you lean into the high schoolers and allow them to see that they have an opportunity to step up and be leaders to these middle school students, it can be a win win for you 00;10;52;16 - 00;11;15;30 Nick Clason and for your youth ministry, which is why I have linked right here on the screen youth group Growth. How do we reach Generation Alpha and Generation Z in this new world that we find our selves in? So go ahead. Take a look at that video. And don't forget that we trying to make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible. 00;11;15;42 - 00;11;19;04 Nick Clason So as always, stay hybrid. When to split high school and middle school students, When to split high school and middle school ministries, Junior High Youth Ministry, High School Youth Ministry, Hybrid Ministry, Nick Clason, Youth Pastor Podcast, Rethinking Youth Ministry, How to Grow your Youth Ministry, Student Ministry Podcast, Church Youth Group, Youth Group, Student Ministry ⚡ [FREE] Hybrid Reach More Students Strategy Guide⚡

https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

======================================
DESCRIPTION
🐿️ Middle School and High School Students
What are the factors that need to be considered when deciding whether or not you’re ready to split them?
And what are some creative hacks to getting around it, if you’re not ready or able yet?
======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/090

//YOUTUBE VIDEO

📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

⚡ OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
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Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

======================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email
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😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

======================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
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OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
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//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
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AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Sharing Youth Rooms with Outside Groups
01:08 3 Factors to Consider Before Splitting Middle and High School
03:54 The Pros to Making the Split
05:23 The Cons of Making the Split
06:59 Four Creative Hacks to Reimagining the Split

TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;01;28
Nick Clason
Youth pastors.

00;00;01;28 - 00;00;28;59
Nick Clason
Have you ever had a high school student say to you, “I don't want to come to youth group with that middle schooler!” Give us a like if you know, a high school student who has done that and maybe subscribe if you've actually never heard that. And then the rest of us who have liked the video because we've had high school students do that will either know that you're lying or we're going to be super jealous because you and me all know that in the back of our heads, right?

00;00;29;00 - 00;00;56;35
Nick Clason
Like we may or may not have the bandwidth or the time to split up the middle school and the high school students. And so, in today's video. We're going to explore the best, most premium and optimal time and way to split up your middle school and your high school students. We’ll talk about the three factors to consider. We will ask two clarifying questions in each of the sections.

00;00;56;40 - 00;01;20;09
Nick Clason
The top two pros, the top two cons, and finally, some creative hacks to get around making the big switch. If you know you're not ready for or don't have the time for it, factor number one is your size. Like you have to consider how big is your group? What is your average group's critical mass. That’s question number one?

00;01;20;12 - 00;01;49;42
Nick Clason
Then number two in the sized question is what momentum will be lost by splitting up your students? The other factor you have to consider is your bandwidth. For example, like do you have the bandwidth to split middle school and high school? When I was working at church early on in my ministry, I determined that we had a big enough critical mass and that we could withstand this switch.

00;01;49;47 - 00;02;06;55
Nick Clason
But then we had to switch and I had to add to my calendar and my schedule another night to meet. And I ended up deciding to make that decision. In that season of life. It was the right move and it was the right call. So we did middle school on Wednesday night and we did high school on Sunday night.

00;02;06;56 - 00;02;30;02
Nick Clason
Prior to that, we did both of them together on Wednesday night. So Sunday night was a new addition. And looking back, I don't know actually, cause I only ended up running it for a year prior to then me moving on to a different church. I don't know if it was the right decision. You have to measure and know what your bandwidth is and if you have the bandwidth to split.

00;02;30;02 - 00;02;53;35
Nick Clason
And I would recommend right here the top of this video is a video where we talked about time management and go through that. And that little exercise might actually help give you some clarification on do you truly have the bandwidth. Also, the second question under bandwidth is do you potentially have a volunteer to help you own that other piece, the other split piece as you navigate?

00;02;53;35 - 00;03;19;25
Nick Clason
And then the third factor, of course, is space. Does your space in your church, does it accommodate it? And the second question is what constraints is this going to put on your space? So, for example, I worked at a church that didn't have a lot of space, even though it was a big church, big a big multi-site church in in Chicago area.

00;03;19;29 - 00;03;45;36
Nick Clason
But other ministries had other nights of the week that they had things going on, like our groups ministry met and our junior home ministry met and are like grief share. I can't remember all the different ones, but there's always a different ministry on a different night of the week. And so our decision to either have junior high and high school together or split up was going to either demand two nights a week for our space or just one.

00;03;45;36 - 00;04;10;57
Nick Clason
And then that that dictated how and when the other ministries in your space met. So a couple of pros for splitting up middle school and high school. Again, if if your size, if your bandwidth and if your space will all kind of accommodate it and if all those factors that you asked this question swirl around are working together, pro number one, of course, is like developmentally

00;04;11;51 - 00;04;28;39
Nick Clason
splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate. I mean, you just think about it. I think of that sixth grade boy in your group and then think of that 12th grade girl, like developmentally speaking. They're just in two different spots and this is no shade thrown on that sixth grade boy or that 12th grade girl.

00;04;28;44 - 00;05;13;44
Nick Clason
But, you know, they each need different things, their need. They need to be challenged in a different way. And so splitting them up will help you as a youth pastor, be able to navigate that well, to be able to really, truly give and provide for each of those people individually what they need and what they're looking for. Pro Number two is that probably the high school students preference, it may not be the middle school students preference on the top, but underneath that it may actually be the best thing for a middle school student to give them their own space, to just simply be a middle schooler and not have high schoolers looking over frustratedly

00;05;13;45 - 00;05;37;36
Nick Clason
or condemningly or even just being annoyed. And the high school students may want their own space to kind of lean into and be uniquely high school students. But the cons, of course, are it is more taxing on you as the individual or on you in your time or on you and your space. And so you may be in a context that has multiple staff and so that may be the solution.

00;05;37;36 - 00;06;03;36
Nick Clason
One of you runs one night and run one of you runs another night. But if you are your own person and if you do not have the staff to accommodate something like this, then it is going to be more taxing and another con I honestly would say is that it's not necessarily it doesn't necessarily give students a realistic view and or picture of the rest of life in the rest of the world.

00;06;03;36 - 00;06;27;24
Nick Clason
Like right now, I am a 34 year old youth pastor at a church and there is not one other 34 year old on my staff. As far as I know, I could be wrong and I might not be thinking about a certain person, but the fact of the matter is like I interact with Boomers and Xers and us another Millennials that is now my exact age and also some people that are Gen Z and so on.

00;06;27;24 - 00;06;57;17
Nick Clason
Our staff, we have an age range all the way from 20 up to like 60, 65 ish, right? Like we have a big span of age. And so sometimes like segmenting down our ministries, while they may be developmentally good or they may also be like preferences of certain ages at the high school students and middle school students, it may not be what is best for them, and it may not give them the most realistic picture of what their future life is going to be.

00;06;57;22 - 00;07;27;11
Nick Clason
Which leads me to my third idea three creative hacks to kind of get around this. If you don't have the bandwidth and if you're not quite yet ready to split middle school and high school, the first one is stagger your programing. So maybe you have your students meet all within the same time block Which I would probably recommend for like parent’s sake, If they have a middle school student and a high school student, they don't have to drop off and pick up at different time.

00;07;27;11 - 00;07;54;21
Nick Clason
So if it's like 6 to 8, they drop off both students. But then inside the building, middle schoolers are in this element of your service and high schoolers are in this element of the service, and then they switch and then high school switch to this element while middle schoolers then switch to that element. That is a way for you to lean into a good volunteer, to be able to run the additional space so that you can be teaching or running the game or wherever you need to be in those moments.

00;07;54;26 - 00;08;17;15
Nick Clason
But it will also give middle school and high school students their own unique difference set up and their own unique, different space. Another creative hack answer that I have is consider the idea of going hybrid and you're like, Wait a minute, that doesn't do anything for the space. And in some ways you're 100% right, but leaves right here in mind 100% completely free e-book.

00;08;17;15 - 00;08;41;53
Nick Clason
I will lead you through how to develop out a hybrid strategy and the bedrock. The baseline for my hybrid strategy is begin pre filming your talks ahead of time, pre film talks, and then post them to YouTube. And then from there, as you maybe clip up a few of those using a service link down below like Opus.Pro to give you AI generated shorts, reels and TikToks

00;08;42;07 - 00;09;03;08
Nick Clason
You can sprinkle those in throughout your week. And then the last piece of it is you can then add in and then use an element of fun into your social media and you can use your students to do that. And so perhaps an element of your creative staggered programing is creating a space for your students. Come together and get on video and make content with you.

00;09;03;08 - 00;09;29;31
Nick Clason
And you might be thinking like, Wait a minute, do they want to do that? And the answer to those yes, Generation Z and Generation Alpha, they live in a a publisher type of generation with a publisher type of mindset. And most of us have been raised in an industrial age where we create content and or we create an environment that we then sit down and we produce it and or deliver it to people.

00;09;29;31 - 00;09;52;08
Nick Clason
And then we assume that they want to just sit and consume it. And the tables are turned in that day and age. And so the advantage is, while digital is the language of teenagers, you can include them in your strategy. Another hack I have for you is that you can make your small groups like more age and more gender graded.

00;09;52;08 - 00;10;14;09
Nick Clason
And so if you don't have the bandwidth yet to split apart your big middle school and high school group, when you break them down into small groups, whether that be on a different night of the week or even the same night that they're all together. When you do that, you then give them that space. And so maybe you teach to a large room and you do have to sort of hit the middle somewhere between that sixth grade and that 12th grader.

00;10;14;14 - 00;10;52;16
Nick Clason
But when they break down into their small groups, they're more age appropriate and they're more age and grade and gender graded. And then finally, an idea could be simply to just lean in to the age discrepancy. You know, there's an age discrepancy. You know, it may not be ideal and or it may not be everyone's preference, but if you lean into it and if you let the middle schoolers have the high schoolers have a little bit more fun, and then if you lean into the high schoolers and allow them to see that they have an opportunity to step up and be leaders to these middle school students, it can be a win win for you

00;10;52;16 - 00;11;15;30
Nick Clason
and for your youth ministry, which is why I have linked right here on the screen youth group Growth. How do we reach Generation Alpha and Generation Z in this new world that we find our selves in? So go ahead. Take a look at that video. And don't forget that we trying to make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible.

00;11;15;42 - 00;11;19;04
Nick Clason
So as always, stay hybrid.

]]> ⚡ [FREE] Hybrid Reach More Students Strategy Guide⚡

https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

======================================
DESCRIPTION
🐿️ Middle School and High School Students
What are the factors that need to be considered when deciding whether or not you’re ready to split them?
And what are some creative hacks to getting around it, if you’re not ready or able yet?
======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/090

//YOUTUBE VIDEO

📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

⚡ OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

======================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email
EMAIL: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

======================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Sharing Youth Rooms with Outside Groups
01:08 3 Factors to Consider Before Splitting Middle and High School
03:54 The Pros to Making the Split
05:23 The Cons of Making the Split
06:59 Four Creative Hacks to Reimagining the Split

TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;01;28
Nick Clason
Youth pastors.

00;00;01;28 - 00;00;28;59
Nick Clason
Have you ever had a high school student say to you, “I don't want to come to youth group with that middle schooler!” Give us a like if you know, a high school student who has done that and maybe subscribe if you've actually never heard that. And then the rest of us who have liked the video because we've had high school students do that will either know that you're lying or we're going to be super jealous because you and me all know that in the back of our heads, right?

00;00;29;00 - 00;00;56;35
Nick Clason
Like we may or may not have the bandwidth or the time to split up the middle school and the high school students. And so, in today's video. We're going to explore the best, most premium and optimal time and way to split up your middle school and your high school students. We’ll talk about the three factors to consider. We will ask two clarifying questions in each of the sections.

00;00;56;40 - 00;01;20;09
Nick Clason
The top two pros, the top two cons, and finally, some creative hacks to get around making the big switch. If you know you're not ready for or don't have the time for it, factor number one is your size. Like you have to consider how big is your group? What is your average group's critical mass. That’s question number one?

00;01;20;12 - 00;01;49;42
Nick Clason
Then number two in the sized question is what momentum will be lost by splitting up your students? The other factor you have to consider is your bandwidth. For example, like do you have the bandwidth to split middle school and high school? When I was working at church early on in my ministry, I determined that we had a big enough critical mass and that we could withstand this switch.

00;01;49;47 - 00;02;06;55
Nick Clason
But then we had to switch and I had to add to my calendar and my schedule another night to meet. And I ended up deciding to make that decision. In that season of life. It was the right move and it was the right call. So we did middle school on Wednesday night and we did high school on Sunday night.

00;02;06;56 - 00;02;30;02
Nick Clason
Prior to that, we did both of them together on Wednesday night. So Sunday night was a new addition. And looking back, I don't know actually, cause I only ended up running it for a year prior to then me moving on to a different church. I don't know if it was the right decision. You have to measure and know what your bandwidth is and if you have the bandwidth to split.

00;02;30;02 - 00;02;53;35
Nick Clason
And I would recommend right here the top of this video is a video where we talked about time management and go through that. And that little exercise might actually help give you some clarification on do you truly have the bandwidth. Also, the second question under bandwidth is do you potentially have a volunteer to help you own that other piece, the other split piece as you navigate?

00;02;53;35 - 00;03;19;25
Nick Clason
And then the third factor, of course, is space. Does your space in your church, does it accommodate it? And the second question is what constraints is this going to put on your space? So, for example, I worked at a church that didn't have a lot of space, even though it was a big church, big a big multi-site church in in Chicago area.

00;03;19;29 - 00;03;45;36
Nick Clason
But other ministries had other nights of the week that they had things going on, like our groups ministry met and our junior home ministry met and are like grief share. I can't remember all the different ones, but there's always a different ministry on a different night of the week. And so our decision to either have junior high and high school together or split up was going to either demand two nights a week for our space or just one.

00;03;45;36 - 00;04;10;57
Nick Clason
And then that that dictated how and when the other ministries in your space met. So a couple of pros for splitting up middle school and high school. Again, if if your size, if your bandwidth and if your space will all kind of accommodate it and if all those factors that you asked this question swirl around are working together, pro number one, of course, is like developmentally

00;04;11;51 - 00;04;28;39
Nick Clason
splitting middle school and high school seems to be appropriate. I mean, you just think about it. I think of that sixth grade boy in your group and then think of that 12th grade girl, like developmentally speaking. They're just in two different spots and this is no shade thrown on that sixth grade boy or that 12th grade girl.

00;04;28;44 - 00;05;13;44
Nick Clason
But, you know, they each need different things, their need. They need to be challenged in a different way. And so splitting them up will help you as a youth pastor, be able to navigate that well, to be able to really, truly give and provide for each of those people individually what they need and what they're looking for. Pro Number two is that probably the high school students preference, it may not be the middle school students preference on the top, but underneath that it may actually be the best thing for a middle school student to give them their own space, to just simply be a middle schooler and not have high schoolers looking over frustratedly

00;05;13;45 - 00;05;37;36
Nick Clason
or condemningly or even just being annoyed. And the high school students may want their own space to kind of lean into and be uniquely high school students. But the cons, of course, are it is more taxing on you as the individual or on you in your time or on you and your space. And so you may be in a context that has multiple staff and so that may be the solution.

00;05;37;36 - 00;06;03;36
Nick Clason
One of you runs one night and run one of you runs another night. But if you are your own person and if you do not have the staff to accommodate something like this, then it is going to be more taxing and another con I honestly would say is that it's not necessarily it doesn't necessarily give students a realistic view and or picture of the rest of life in the rest of the world.

00;06;03;36 - 00;06;27;24
Nick Clason
Like right now, I am a 34 year old youth pastor at a church and there is not one other 34 year old on my staff. As far as I know, I could be wrong and I might not be thinking about a certain person, but the fact of the matter is like I interact with Boomers and Xers and us another Millennials that is now my exact age and also some people that are Gen Z and so on.

00;06;27;24 - 00;06;57;17
Nick Clason
Our staff, we have an age range all the way from 20 up to like 60, 65 ish, right? Like we have a big span of age. And so sometimes like segmenting down our ministries, while they may be developmentally good or they may also be like preferences of certain ages at the high school students and middle school students, it may not be what is best for them, and it may not give them the most realistic picture of what their future life is going to be.

00;06;57;22 - 00;07;27;11
Nick Clason
Which leads me to my third idea three creative hacks to kind of get around this. If you don't have the bandwidth and if you're not quite yet ready to split middle school and high school, the first one is stagger your programing. So maybe you have your students meet all within the same time block Which I would probably recommend for like parent’s sake, If they have a middle school student and a high school student, they don't have to drop off and pick up at different time.

00;07;27;11 - 00;07;54;21
Nick Clason
So if it's like 6 to 8, they drop off both students. But then inside the building, middle schoolers are in this element of your service and high schoolers are in this element of the service, and then they switch and then high school switch to this element while middle schoolers then switch to that element. That is a way for you to lean into a good volunteer, to be able to run the additional space so that you can be teaching or running the game or wherever you need to be in those moments.

00;07;54;26 - 00;08;17;15
Nick Clason
But it will also give middle school and high school students their own unique difference set up and their own unique, different space. Another creative hack answer that I have is consider the idea of going hybrid and you're like, Wait a minute, that doesn't do anything for the space. And in some ways you're 100% right, but leaves right here in mind 100% completely free e-book.

00;08;17;15 - 00;08;41;53
Nick Clason
I will lead you through how to develop out a hybrid strategy and the bedrock. The baseline for my hybrid strategy is begin pre filming your talks ahead of time, pre film talks, and then post them to YouTube. And then from there, as you maybe clip up a few of those using a service link down below like Opus.Pro to give you AI generated shorts, reels and TikToks

00;08;42;07 - 00;09;03;08
Nick Clason
You can sprinkle those in throughout your week. And then the last piece of it is you can then add in and then use an element of fun into your social media and you can use your students to do that. And so perhaps an element of your creative staggered programing is creating a space for your students. Come together and get on video and make content with you.

00;09;03;08 - 00;09;29;31
Nick Clason
And you might be thinking like, Wait a minute, do they want to do that? And the answer to those yes, Generation Z and Generation Alpha, they live in a a publisher type of generation with a publisher type of mindset. And most of us have been raised in an industrial age where we create content and or we create an environment that we then sit down and we produce it and or deliver it to people.

00;09;29;31 - 00;09;52;08
Nick Clason
And then we assume that they want to just sit and consume it. And the tables are turned in that day and age. And so the advantage is, while digital is the language of teenagers, you can include them in your strategy. Another hack I have for you is that you can make your small groups like more age and more gender graded.

00;09;52;08 - 00;10;14;09
Nick Clason
And so if you don't have the bandwidth yet to split apart your big middle school and high school group, when you break them down into small groups, whether that be on a different night of the week or even the same night that they're all together. When you do that, you then give them that space. And so maybe you teach to a large room and you do have to sort of hit the middle somewhere between that sixth grade and that 12th grader.

00;10;14;14 - 00;10;52;16
Nick Clason
But when they break down into their small groups, they're more age appropriate and they're more age and grade and gender graded. And then finally, an idea could be simply to just lean in to the age discrepancy. You know, there's an age discrepancy. You know, it may not be ideal and or it may not be everyone's preference, but if you lean into it and if you let the middle schoolers have the high schoolers have a little bit more fun, and then if you lean into the high schoolers and allow them to see that they have an opportunity to step up and be leaders to these middle school students, it can be a win win for you

00;10;52;16 - 00;11;15;30
Nick Clason
and for your youth ministry, which is why I have linked right here on the screen youth group Growth. How do we reach Generation Alpha and Generation Z in this new world that we find our selves in? So go ahead. Take a look at that video. And don't forget that we trying to make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible.

00;11;15;42 - 00;11;19;04
Nick Clason
So as always, stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 088: 🔥Youth Ministry Planning: Weekend Service vs. Midweek Program https://www.hybridministry.xyz/088 bdee39bc-79f5-45a8-ab0e-ec6e5b914476 Thu, 14 Mar 2024 04:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 088 🔥Youth Ministry Planning: Weekend Service vs. Midweek Program full Nick Clason 🤔 What is the best day to meet with our youth group students 🖐️I’m ranking my top 5 curriculum resources ⚙️Finally, I’m going to share my top 3 interactive, and creative programming hacks 21:32 no <h3>⚡ [FREE] How to Film Messages⚡</h3> <p><a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p><strong>======================================</strong><br> <strong>DESCRIPTION</strong><br> 🤔 What is the best day to meet with our youth group students<br> 🖐️I’m ranking my top 5 curriculum resources<br> ⚙️Finally, I’m going to share my top 3 interactive, and creative programming hacks<br> <strong>======================================</strong><br> 📓<strong>SHOWNOTES</strong><br> //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS<br> <a href="http://www.hybridministry.xyz/088" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.hybridministry.xyz/088</a></p> <p>//YOUTUBE VIDEO<br> <a href="https://youtu.be/TTQXsananwI" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youtu.be/TTQXsananwI</a></p> <p><strong>BEST TIME TO MEET?</strong><br> //SPORTS &amp; EXTRA CURRICULARS<br> <a href="http://www.hybridministry.xyz/087" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.hybridministry.xyz/087</a></p> <p><strong>TEACHING</strong><br> //STUDENTS WANT OWNERSHIP &amp; BELONGING<br> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOPjD5hN-g" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOPjD5hN-g</a></p> <p>//HYBRID STRATEGY<br> <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p>//OPUS.PRO<br> <a href="https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361</a></p> <p>1) CO-LEADER<br> <a href="https://www.coleader.co/pricing" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.coleader.co/pricing</a></p> <p>2) YM360<br> <a href="https://youthministry360.com/collections/sermon-series" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youthministry360.com/collections/sermon-series</a></p> <p>3) GROW CURRICULUM<br> <a href="https://growcurriculum.org/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://growcurriculum.org/</a></p> <p>4) XP3<br> <a href="https://store.thinkorange.com/collections/xp3-license-category" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://store.thinkorange.com/collections/xp3-license-category</a></p> <p>5) DYM LIBRARY<br> <a href="https://www.downloadyouthministry.com" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.downloadyouthministry.com</a></p> <p>//MEMBERSHIP PRICING<br> <a href="https://www.dymmembership.com/pricing" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.dymmembership.com/pricing</a></p> <p><strong>3 PROGRAMMING HACKS</strong><br> //USE SIDEKICK FOR INTERACTION!<br> <a href="https://www.sidekick.tv/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.sidekick.tv/</a></p> <hr> <p>👉 <strong>STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK</strong><br> YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/</a><br> TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Facebook: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry</a><br> Website: <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz</a></p> <p><strong>======================================</strong></p> <p><strong>🆓 FREEBIES 🆓</strong><br> 📅 "<strong>The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy</strong>"<br> <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p>🖥️ "<strong>My 9 Favorite DYM Resources</strong>"<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym</a></p> <p>📨 <strong>Full Proof Recruiting Email</strong><br> EMAIL: <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email" 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<p><strong>--------------</strong><br> 🕰️<strong>TIMECODES</strong><br> 00:00 Programming Your Youth Service<br> 00:54 The Pros and Cons of different Youth Group Meeting Days and Times<br> 05:04 Three Questions to Ask when deciding when to meet for Youth Group<br> 07:51 The Top 5 Youth Ministry Curriculum Resource Sites<br> 13:44 3 Creative Youth Group Programming Hacks</p> <p><strong>TRANSCRIPT</strong><br> 00;00;00;00 - 00;00;20;40<br> Nick Clason<br> Last summer I had a leader say I thought that was a stupid idea. However, I later realized how genius it really was. What was it? I want you to stick around to the end, because this is actually one of my favorite youth group programing hacks. In addition to that, we're going to be talking about selecting the optimal youth.</p> <p>00;00;20;40 - 00;00;44;48<br> Nick Clason<br> Time for you, your church and your youth group is at Wednesday night. Is it Sunday Night? Is it Sunday morning? Subscribe. If it's Wednesday night for you. Like if it's Sunday night and hey, hit the bell. If you have to be at your church on Sunday morning, I think that pretty much covers all of us. I also want to rank my top five five youth group curriculum providers and resources links down below in the show notes.</p> <p>00;00;44;50 - 00;01;10;49<br> Nick Clason<br> And finally, I'm going to share with you my three favorite creative and potentially hybrid creative programing hacks. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show and the best time to meet. Like I remember when I started as a youth pastor, I was working at a church and I was inheriting a youth ministry that was run by volunteers. And so high school was on Tuesday night, middle school was on Wednesday night.</p> <p>00;01;10;49 - 00;01;31;23<br> Nick Clason<br> And I met with my pastor early on, like my very first week on the job. And he told me, he said, Hey, listen, you can do whatever you want, which is an absolute dream for a youth pastor. But as a young youth pastor, the decision was actually agonizing. Do I meet Wednesday night? Do I keep meeting Tuesday night, which is when the high school are meeting?</p> <p>00;01;31;23 - 00;01;53;35<br> Nick Clason<br> Do I switch to like a Sunday night vibe? And so Wednesday night, Sunday night, Sunday morning, like and I did have a Sunday morning component and so like you have to, you know, kind of navigate and know like what is going on within your church. But I had an advantage at that church because the youth ministry pretty much ran the place during midweek.</p> <p>00;01;53;49 - 00;02;21;05<br> Nick Clason<br> There was no midweek kids, kids ministry programing. Kids ministry did AWANA on Sunday night at like 4:15 or something. And it was kind of an odd time, which I did end up way down the road years later, jump into Sunday night. But early on I made a decision to just stick with Wednesday. So let's chat through the pros and cons of Wednesday night, Sunday night and Sunday morning, and then maybe another day of the week in there for you.</p> <p>00;02;21;10 - 00;02;42;41<br> Nick Clason<br> But the pro of of Wednesday night to me is probably your most traditional youth night. It's been a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas, Fort Worth area a lot of churches do. Wednesday night and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night.</p> <p>00;02;42;41 - 00;03;03;20<br> Nick Clason<br> And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right? But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy, a mid-week connection point from if you're typically meeting on Sunday morning, you get back together in the middle of the week. That's helpful. The con of it, however, and we talked about it here in the last video, is youth sports and extracurricular activities.</p> <p>00;03;03;20 - 00;03;31;44<br> Nick Clason<br> People are just getting busy. And so it makes attendance and it makes the accessibility, I believe, of a Wednesday night trickier, Sunday Night, however, the pro, I would say is probably one of the most unscheduled night for teens. Like more and more extracurricular activities, more and more sports are invading Sunday night, but it is probably the most free night that your teens have when you're looking at it from a vantage point of the majority of the availability.</p> <p>00;03;31;49 - 00;03;50;55<br> Nick Clason<br> The kind of it, however, is not only for you, but for you and your teens and your leaders. It makes for a long day. You were at church Sunday morning and you've got a little gap in the middle and then you have to come back. And that returning to church like that's that is always a hard hurdle to jump I’ve found.</p> <p>00;03;50;59 - 00;04;09;17<br> Nick Clason<br> If you have a kid who's not regularly planning on being at church, you say, hey, come back tonight, do like I got homework and all the things and families kind of have Sunday dinners. And so Sunday nights do tend to kind of make for a long day and then in a lot of our cases, we all have to be at church on Sunday morning.</p> <p>00;04;09;22 - 00;04;35;00<br> Nick Clason<br> Some of us do our youth service on Sunday morning. Some of us have more of like a Sunday school kind of curriculum, them that we have to adhere to or carry out. The pro of Sunday morning is it's probably the easiest to gather crowd. You're going to have your most captive audience. In fact, in a video that I talked about, the decline of church attendance, most teens are attending church because they're coming with their parents.</p> <p>00;04;35;00 - 00;04;52;19<br> Nick Clason<br> And so if their parents are coming to church, they're coming to church. And so Sunday morning is a great time for that to happen. The con of it is, while it may be the most captive audience, you may have the most amount of people the teenagers tend to be and feel and the environment just feels a little more tame.</p> <p>00;04;52;19 - 00;05;18;29<br> Nick Clason<br> It's not a youth ministry. It's more like we are a ministry of the overall church here on a Sunday morning. But when you're making these decisions, okay, because in my case, I was talking about when I started that job, I really could decide whatever I wanted. But in a lot of cases, you don't have that that luxury. And the reason might be because you're coming into a more established church, you're coming into a more established youth group.</p> <p>00;05;18;29 - 00;05;43;15<br> Nick Clason<br> And so the other like three questions to ask in this setting are, number one, what is expected of you? For example, are you even allowed to not have Sunday morning as an option? Like what is the expectation of your church and do you have the freedom to pull certain programs, pull certain time slots that you meet? So you need to make sure you know that before you make a decision and get yourself potentially in trouble.</p> <p>00;05;43;20 - 00;06;13;35<br> Nick Clason<br> Question number two is what's the rest of your church doing? For example, I went to a church and and my pastor told me that this is different. I had the the freedom to make this decision. I did not have to meet on Wednesday night and I made that decision. However, once programing started in the fall, I realized that I had made a pretty big mistake because the entire church, adults, kids, preschool, everyone came back to church on Wednesday night and the only group not there, the only group not meeting ended up being middle schoolers.</p> <p>00;06;13;35 - 00;06;34;06<br> Nick Clason<br> And so I had parents of middle schoolers really, really upset because they felt like their kid was not being cared for and that their kid didn't matter. In the life cycle of the church. So what is the rest of your church doing? You need to weigh that out. And if the whole church coming together for midweek, then you probably should have something there for the youth as well.</p> <p>00;06;34;06 - 00;06;55;37<br> Nick Clason<br> And the third question is where do you have natural momentum? Like I said, the church, I made a decision between Wednesday night and Tuesday night and all that. I ended up landing on Wednesday night, but then years later I switched over to Sunday night and I split apart middle school and I split apart high school. And when I did that, I pulled away a little bit of momentum as well.</p> <p>00;06;55;38 - 00;07;20;44<br> Nick Clason<br> Middle school was fine because it stayed on the night that it was on Wednesday night. But high school struggled because we tried to move on the Sunday night to become more adaptable to their schedules. However, at that church I was in, my students had become used to a certain rhythm and so moving, making that decision that made them have to adjust their schedule and adjust the way that they attached and that they connected to our church.</p> <p>00;07;20;48 - 00;07;46;22<br> Nick Clason<br> And here's thing none of that matters, right? In your youth ministry. If you don't have students who feel connected and don't feel like they have a piece of ownership in helping growing your youth ministry into a vibrant community, which we talked about in a previous video, how to actually teach well, course you need those two components before your teaching is really going to matter.</p> <p>00;07;46;22 - 00;08;08;55<br> Nick Clason<br> So let's talk about the five best curriculum resource sites, which we talked about. Students want to feel a sense of ownership and they want to feel a sense of belonging. And those two things need to exist in your youth ministry before your teaching is really going to start to matter. Wherever teaching and youth ministry, they're not going anywhere.</p> <p>00;08;08;55 - 00;08;33;15<br> Nick Clason<br> It's part of what we do in youth ministry. And the fact is, you work too hard to let your messages die on your hard drive after you've delivered it to a full or maybe even potentially full or half full or less full or not as full as you'd like. Room of teenagers. And so that's why I recommend linked right here down below in description, my completely free hybrid strategy.</p> <p>00;08;33;15 - 00;08;53;22<br> Nick Clason<br> If you're a youth pastor, you need to start posting your entire full length messages to YouTube. And I hear you're thinking like, I don't have livestreaming capabilities. I don't have livestreaming equipment. Hey, listen, most youth ministries don't. I certainly don't. But what we do is we actually do a YouTube video, sit down direct to camera. Honestly, very similar to what you're probably watching here.</p> <p>00;08;53;27 - 00;09;14;23<br> Nick Clason<br> You can watch it on a phone, a tablet, TV, a computer, whatever it is, but you post a full length video to YouTube, you get it down to 10 to 15 minutes in length, post it. You can do some basic after editing if you like. If not, just post it on up there. But then what that does is it also helps give you an anchor for your social media curriculum.</p> <p>00;09;14;33 - 00;09;33;43<br> Nick Clason<br> And so the message doesn't have to just die on a Wednesday night, on a Sunday night, on a Thursday night, whatever night of the week is your youth night, but it can live on in perpetuity. And as you teach certain series, you know how it is when it's like a students like I have a question about a particular topic and you just wrapped up a series, but they weren't there.</p> <p>00;09;33;48 - 00;09;51;04<br> Nick Clason<br> Now guess what? You can share them that link and be like, Hey, I actually just talked about I'd love for you to take a watch and then let's get back together and let's, let's chat about it. But that, that bedrock of that YouTube video that can that sort of establishes the framework for all your social media throughout the week.</p> <p>00;09;51;04 - 00;10;12;20<br> Nick Clason<br> You can post fun content and you can also post teaching clips now because you have a fully filmed wide screen based video that you can then clip up. You can use a service like Opus AI or Opus.Pro link down below. Description Check that out if that’s something you want AI will clip up your messages for you and do all the editing.</p> <p>00;10;12;20 - 00;10;35;33<br> Nick Clason<br> And it looks masterful. It looks it looks great. But let's talk about my five favorite curriculum resources. You may be creating your own curriculum as a youth pastor, but you don't have to. And if you don't have time for you don't want to do it, this these five resources will all save you tons of time. But they may not save you tons of money because they each have a different price tag attached to them.</p> <p>00;10;35;38 - 00;10;58;37<br> Nick Clason<br> So my number one favorite resource curriculum provider right now is coleader.co. That is from Download Youth Ministry and they have three sort of different tiers of billing. You can get a free version where they'll just give you access to it and you'll get 40 free credits to begin and to explore. The good thing about coleader is it plans your whole program.</p> <p>00;10;58;37 - 00;11;29;41<br> Nick Clason<br> It doesn't just give you a teaching script. Then they're premium version. It's about $249 a year billed annually, which breaks down to about $10 a week, again, including all of your programing and messages and songs and small group questions that gives you about 26 or so weeks of programing. So maybe this would be good if if you're doing like school year Wednesday night from like September through May, but you're not meeting in the summer and you have a lot of like gaps and Christmas parties and Thanksgivings off and stuff like that.</p> <p>00;11;29;46 - 00;11;49;45<br> Nick Clason<br> And maybe you do actually teach some of your own content and you sort of supplement in there, but you need something to pull from when you're in a pinch. And then premium plus is about $399 a year. Billed annually breaks down to about $8 or so per week. And premium plus also gives you access to the new sidekick Beta, which is amazing.</p> <p>00;11;49;56 - 00;12;10;39<br> Nick Clason<br> My number two on the list is the YM 360 sermon library is just a website which has kind of like an ala carte vibe. Where you go, you can grab different lessons three and four week series that have been taught by and taught by different youth. Pastors usually break it down to about $35 per series. So check that out.</p> <p>00;12;10;39 - 00;12;38;33<br> Nick Clason<br> Link down below in the description. My third favorite one is the Grow curriculum. And it is. It looks great this week. It is modern. Have full disclosure. I've never used it. Mostly price tag reasons. And in most churches that I’ve been at, we've had some other provider already. But I love the what they guys what the guys over at stuff you can use do what they stand for and so you can check that out link down below in the description.</p> <p>00;12;38;33 - 00;13;08;22<br> Nick Clason<br> My fourth is XP3, orange. It is probably the Cadillac of all youth ministry curriculums is also probably the most expensive on their website. Their annual license for it is anywhere from $449 a year all the way up to 2700 per year. And that's going to be based on your average youth group size. And then number five, my fifth resource is honestly just DYM library, similar to the YM360 model.</p> <p>00;13;08;33 - 00;13;27;23<br> Nick Clason<br> You can just go get a DYM membership. They've started at $12 a month, gold at $26.99 a month, and then gold plus at $40 a month. Gold plus gives you sidekick phone connections so you can scan the code on screen. Do live poll voting. One of my favorite hybrid ways to do youth ministry these days. But you can just hop on there.</p> <p>00;13;27;28 - 00;13;49;10<br> Nick Clason<br> They also gives you store credit when you have the membership. So whether you have a membership or not, you can ahead of time and you can find series there typically for anywhere from $5 to $12 per series for anywhere from like 3 to 4 week teaching series. So now here we are. What is my favorite youth group programing hack?</p> <p>00;13;49;15 - 00;14;05;24<br> Nick Clason<br> Well, number one link the times that you meet by purpose, right? In a lot of cases, you may not be making a decision for youth ministry. You have like one singular time to me. Is it Wednesday? Is it Sunday? Right. Like you may already have to meet Sunday morning and then you're having to figure out when else to meet.</p> <p>00;14;05;28 - 00;14;24;59<br> Nick Clason<br> And so instead of having to channel like supply curriculum for each and every one of those things, what we do in our current setting, I'll just tell you is Sunday morning is connect groups. And that's for the entire church adults, kids, students, everyone. And when I got here, we were like supplying curriculum for connect groups. And then on Wednesday nights we taught out of a different curriculum.</p> <p>00;14;25;13 - 00;14;50;10<br> Nick Clason<br> And so on Wednesday nights now we teach a message and then on Sunday morning they discuss the message. We have more students on Sunday morning and a lot of our students on Sunday morning don't attend back over here on Wednesday night. So because we pre film our curriculum, we will play a little clip, a teaser, also a reminder for those students who did actually come on Wednesday night to help the Sunday morning people be able to have the discussion.</p> <p>00;14;50;15 - 00;15;11;12<br> Nick Clason<br> All of our leaders are able to then watch the videos in full to be able to teach the lesson. If they didn't make it on Wednesday night and you're able to have that discussion. But also, if you did come Wednesday Night, it doesn't feel like a retread or a repeat. I can't remember who said this, but I remember someone someone saying at a a conference is something like think about all the times you meet.</p> <p>00;15;11;12 - 00;15;37;35<br> Nick Clason<br> If you have especially in student ministry of like main church service, you have youth Sunday morning and then you have youth Wednesday Night. And if every-- if a student comes every single week, 52 different times per year, then that is 52 times that they are taught a sermon and challenged to make an adjustment in their life and change. That is another 52 times when they come to the Youth night that they are taught a sermon and challenged 52 different times to change.</p> <p>00;15;37;40 - 00;16;06;52<br> Nick Clason<br> And then the third time they come to the youth other thing and they are challenged 52 different times per year and preach a sermon with some content and challenged to change their life. I don't do math on the fly very well, but that's like well over 150 times that they're supposed to do something different with their life. And just think that when you tie these to Wednesday night, Sunday morning, whatever your thing is, when you tie them together with purpose, if you have to have both meeting slots, that helps you, right?</p> <p>00;16;06;52 - 00;16;33;58<br> Nick Clason<br> Streamline your teaching. But that's also helpful to the students. It's not a laziness thing, right? In my opinion. It's not like you're just trying to get out of doing more. It's stewarding your budget, but it's also helping like most like disciple your students. Because then when your teaching is in alignment, everything can be in alignment. Your social media for that week, whatever you taught on Wednesday, that's the topic on your your social media, that's a topic on all of your digital hybrid resources.</p> <p>00;16;34;03 - 00;16;55;42<br> Nick Clason<br> Right? Number two, my favorite hack is interactive teaching. Let me just share with you right here on screen tonight. I am teaching live in the room at my church and we are in a series called How to use the Bible. And in that we have been giving them like, you know, reasons for why the Bible is reliable, reasons for why we can know that we can trust the Bible.</p> <p>00;16;55;47 - 00;17;19;41<br> Nick Clason<br> But then we're also like helping share them, like actual hands on tactical, like guides on how to use the Bible. But tonight I'm talking about filtering God's Word or filtering culture through the lens of God's Word in everything that we do. So what I am doing tonight is I'm starting out with a Pawn Stars video clip talking about someone who brought in a fake Babe Ruth baseball card.</p> <p>00;17;19;46 - 00;17;36;13<br> Nick Clason<br> And then from there, I'm telling them the hook straight away. I'm like, Are you a Biblical Christian or are you a Cultural Christian? And then we have tables in our space. And so I'm letting them talk about the difference between a Biblical Christian and a Cultural Christian. And how can you tell me give them a few minutes to chat that out.</p> <p>00;17;36;18 - 00;17;59;10<br> Nick Clason<br> Then I'm going to have a poll on the screen with Sidekick. We're asking them this question that says, Do we agree or disagree? Do we? Do we view everything in our life through a filter? Right? And then I'm going to give them three filters I view my life through Dad filter, Colts Fan filter, coffee filter, Shout out to coffee.</p> <p>00;17;59;10 - 00;18;23;51<br> Nick Clason<br> My brand new Valentine's gift, the Moca-master coffee maker first cup out of it this morning. Delicious. Ten out of ten would recommend. Then from there I am going to show them a picture of like a one of my kids watches for Christmas that they got. And talk about how scientists say that the same process that happens when you learn a new language is also what's happening when we're spending time on our screens.</p> <p>00;18;23;56 - 00;18;55;17<br> Nick Clason<br> And then I'm going to give them the definition of a cultural Christian versus a biblical Christian. And then I'm going to build a poll asking them what their favorite drink is like caramel macchiato, coffee, chocolate, milk, and they're going to have a chance to vote on that. All the while, all of my notes are in a thing that we call digital notes, and we use the YouVersion Live events plan that is a completely free tool that you can use, but your church can set up live events and so kids can have their phones and they can be following along with the scriptures and taking notes.</p> <p>00;18;55;17 - 00;19;19;03<br> Nick Clason<br> But then we're going to take them to Daniel. Chapter one. I got one more poll in there from Sidekick. I got another turn n talk. I got a map of where they go from Babylon to to from from Jerusalem to Babylon. Let's see, then I got some reasons why you oppose the food in Daniel Chapter one. I say what scholars think the age of this Daniel was, which is 11 to 17.</p> <p>00;19;19;03 - 00;19;37;09<br> Nick Clason<br> And so my question is, how does a teenage boy end up in a foreign land? His parents are likely killed and he's opposing the king. How do you think he did that? How does he have enough wisdom to know what to do and what to oppose? And then I'm going to bring a coffee pot on stage and talk about how what we put in the pod there is what we filter.</p> <p>00;19;37;09 - 00;19;57;18<br> Nick Clason<br> What spits out right, is a true form of of Christianity or it's not. But the Bible has to be the filter through which we do that. But the only way that matters if we truly have a desire to follow Jesus. Now, I don't like my whole reason for sharing All that is simply just for you to see all the different like I have sent them off to, to take questions.</p> <p>00;19;57;18 - 00;20;26;54<br> Nick Clason<br> And then we have digital notes for them to follow along with. And we have polls on the screen and then we have a break in between. My first part of my teaching and my last part of my teaching, which is my third hack, and that's the one the leader said. I thought that was the most stupid idea because what I would do at summer camp last year is I teach for a little bit, share a little story in opening illustration, and then I would open it to a question and then I'd send them off in their small groups right there in that space in audio auditorium style seating at camp and say, Find your small</p> <p>00;20;26;54 - 00;20;44;26<br> Nick Clason<br> group and your small group leader and answer these two questions and it would break for 10 minutes. And he said, I thought we were going to lose them. Like I thought like, man, that's dumb. Like, we are going to lose. These kids are going to go crazy. But what it actually did was it helped us have longer sessions and deeper teaching because we gave a break.</p> <p>00;20;44;37 - 00;21;05;56<br> Nick Clason<br> I wasn't just sitting and teaching for 20 straight minutes, 30 straight minutes, 40 heaven forbid, straight minutes, because I gave them a break and I let them contribute to the conversation, which is what Gen Z is looking to do. Right? And so that one of the challenges to good creative teaching, because like I said, we use tables in our space most Wednesday Nights.</p> <p>00;21;06;00 - 00;21;30;02<br> Nick Clason<br> It's one of the challenges to that right is navigating shared space, shared space in youth ministries, which is actually the next video it's going to be linked to right here on the screen. It’s a huge challenge and a problem facing youth pastors. How do you navigate it? What are best practices linked right here? Take a look at that, because we're here to try and make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible.</p> <p>00;21;30;02 - 00;21;32;26<br> Nick Clason<br> So as always, stay hybrid. </p> Youth Group, Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry Coach, Nick Clason, Hybrid Ministry, Youth Group Meeting Times, Best Youth Service Night of the Week, Programming in Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry Planning, Grow Your Youth Ministry, Youth Group Games for Church, Student Ministry, Your Group service ideas, Youth ministry service ideas, Weekend service vs. mid-week program, The Best Meeting Times for Church Youth Group, The Best Curriculum for Youth Group, ⚡ [FREE] How to Film Messages⚡

https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

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DESCRIPTION
🤔 What is the best day to meet with our youth group students
🖐️I’m ranking my top 5 curriculum resources
⚙️Finally, I’m going to share my top 3 interactive, and creative programming hacks
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📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/088

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/TTQXsananwI

BEST TIME TO MEET?
//SPORTS & EXTRA CURRICULARS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/087

TEACHING
//STUDENTS WANT OWNERSHIP & BELONGING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOPjD5hN-g

//HYBRID STRATEGY
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//OPUS.PRO
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1) CO-LEADER
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3) GROW CURRICULUM
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4) XP3
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5) DYM LIBRARY
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//MEMBERSHIP PRICING
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3 PROGRAMMING HACKS
//USE SIDEKICK FOR INTERACTION!
https://www.sidekick.tv/

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

======================================

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🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

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TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
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--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Programming Your Youth Service
00:54 The Pros and Cons of different Youth Group Meeting Days and Times
05:04 Three Questions to Ask when deciding when to meet for Youth Group
07:51 The Top 5 Youth Ministry Curriculum Resource Sites
13:44 3 Creative Youth Group Programming Hacks

TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;20;40
Nick Clason
Last summer I had a leader say I thought that was a stupid idea. However, I later realized how genius it really was. What was it? I want you to stick around to the end, because this is actually one of my favorite youth group programing hacks. In addition to that, we're going to be talking about selecting the optimal youth.

00;00;20;40 - 00;00;44;48
Nick Clason
Time for you, your church and your youth group is at Wednesday night. Is it Sunday Night? Is it Sunday morning? Subscribe. If it's Wednesday night for you. Like if it's Sunday night and hey, hit the bell. If you have to be at your church on Sunday morning, I think that pretty much covers all of us. I also want to rank my top five five youth group curriculum providers and resources links down below in the show notes.

00;00;44;50 - 00;01;10;49
Nick Clason
And finally, I'm going to share with you my three favorite creative and potentially hybrid creative programing hacks. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show and the best time to meet. Like I remember when I started as a youth pastor, I was working at a church and I was inheriting a youth ministry that was run by volunteers. And so high school was on Tuesday night, middle school was on Wednesday night.

00;01;10;49 - 00;01;31;23
Nick Clason
And I met with my pastor early on, like my very first week on the job. And he told me, he said, Hey, listen, you can do whatever you want, which is an absolute dream for a youth pastor. But as a young youth pastor, the decision was actually agonizing. Do I meet Wednesday night? Do I keep meeting Tuesday night, which is when the high school are meeting?

00;01;31;23 - 00;01;53;35
Nick Clason
Do I switch to like a Sunday night vibe? And so Wednesday night, Sunday night, Sunday morning, like and I did have a Sunday morning component and so like you have to, you know, kind of navigate and know like what is going on within your church. But I had an advantage at that church because the youth ministry pretty much ran the place during midweek.

00;01;53;49 - 00;02;21;05
Nick Clason
There was no midweek kids, kids ministry programing. Kids ministry did AWANA on Sunday night at like 4:15 or something. And it was kind of an odd time, which I did end up way down the road years later, jump into Sunday night. But early on I made a decision to just stick with Wednesday. So let's chat through the pros and cons of Wednesday night, Sunday night and Sunday morning, and then maybe another day of the week in there for you.

00;02;21;10 - 00;02;42;41
Nick Clason
But the pro of of Wednesday night to me is probably your most traditional youth night. It's been a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas, Fort Worth area a lot of churches do. Wednesday night and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night.

00;02;42;41 - 00;03;03;20
Nick Clason
And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right? But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy, a mid-week connection point from if you're typically meeting on Sunday morning, you get back together in the middle of the week. That's helpful. The con of it, however, and we talked about it here in the last video, is youth sports and extracurricular activities.

00;03;03;20 - 00;03;31;44
Nick Clason
People are just getting busy. And so it makes attendance and it makes the accessibility, I believe, of a Wednesday night trickier, Sunday Night, however, the pro, I would say is probably one of the most unscheduled night for teens. Like more and more extracurricular activities, more and more sports are invading Sunday night, but it is probably the most free night that your teens have when you're looking at it from a vantage point of the majority of the availability.

00;03;31;49 - 00;03;50;55
Nick Clason
The kind of it, however, is not only for you, but for you and your teens and your leaders. It makes for a long day. You were at church Sunday morning and you've got a little gap in the middle and then you have to come back. And that returning to church like that's that is always a hard hurdle to jump I’ve found.

00;03;50;59 - 00;04;09;17
Nick Clason
If you have a kid who's not regularly planning on being at church, you say, hey, come back tonight, do like I got homework and all the things and families kind of have Sunday dinners. And so Sunday nights do tend to kind of make for a long day and then in a lot of our cases, we all have to be at church on Sunday morning.

00;04;09;22 - 00;04;35;00
Nick Clason
Some of us do our youth service on Sunday morning. Some of us have more of like a Sunday school kind of curriculum, them that we have to adhere to or carry out. The pro of Sunday morning is it's probably the easiest to gather crowd. You're going to have your most captive audience. In fact, in a video that I talked about, the decline of church attendance, most teens are attending church because they're coming with their parents.

00;04;35;00 - 00;04;52;19
Nick Clason
And so if their parents are coming to church, they're coming to church. And so Sunday morning is a great time for that to happen. The con of it is, while it may be the most captive audience, you may have the most amount of people the teenagers tend to be and feel and the environment just feels a little more tame.

00;04;52;19 - 00;05;18;29
Nick Clason
It's not a youth ministry. It's more like we are a ministry of the overall church here on a Sunday morning. But when you're making these decisions, okay, because in my case, I was talking about when I started that job, I really could decide whatever I wanted. But in a lot of cases, you don't have that that luxury. And the reason might be because you're coming into a more established church, you're coming into a more established youth group.

00;05;18;29 - 00;05;43;15
Nick Clason
And so the other like three questions to ask in this setting are, number one, what is expected of you? For example, are you even allowed to not have Sunday morning as an option? Like what is the expectation of your church and do you have the freedom to pull certain programs, pull certain time slots that you meet? So you need to make sure you know that before you make a decision and get yourself potentially in trouble.

00;05;43;20 - 00;06;13;35
Nick Clason
Question number two is what's the rest of your church doing? For example, I went to a church and and my pastor told me that this is different. I had the the freedom to make this decision. I did not have to meet on Wednesday night and I made that decision. However, once programing started in the fall, I realized that I had made a pretty big mistake because the entire church, adults, kids, preschool, everyone came back to church on Wednesday night and the only group not there, the only group not meeting ended up being middle schoolers.

00;06;13;35 - 00;06;34;06
Nick Clason
And so I had parents of middle schoolers really, really upset because they felt like their kid was not being cared for and that their kid didn't matter. In the life cycle of the church. So what is the rest of your church doing? You need to weigh that out. And if the whole church coming together for midweek, then you probably should have something there for the youth as well.

00;06;34;06 - 00;06;55;37
Nick Clason
And the third question is where do you have natural momentum? Like I said, the church, I made a decision between Wednesday night and Tuesday night and all that. I ended up landing on Wednesday night, but then years later I switched over to Sunday night and I split apart middle school and I split apart high school. And when I did that, I pulled away a little bit of momentum as well.

00;06;55;38 - 00;07;20;44
Nick Clason
Middle school was fine because it stayed on the night that it was on Wednesday night. But high school struggled because we tried to move on the Sunday night to become more adaptable to their schedules. However, at that church I was in, my students had become used to a certain rhythm and so moving, making that decision that made them have to adjust their schedule and adjust the way that they attached and that they connected to our church.

00;07;20;48 - 00;07;46;22
Nick Clason
And here's thing none of that matters, right? In your youth ministry. If you don't have students who feel connected and don't feel like they have a piece of ownership in helping growing your youth ministry into a vibrant community, which we talked about in a previous video, how to actually teach well, course you need those two components before your teaching is really going to matter.

00;07;46;22 - 00;08;08;55
Nick Clason
So let's talk about the five best curriculum resource sites, which we talked about. Students want to feel a sense of ownership and they want to feel a sense of belonging. And those two things need to exist in your youth ministry before your teaching is really going to start to matter. Wherever teaching and youth ministry, they're not going anywhere.

00;08;08;55 - 00;08;33;15
Nick Clason
It's part of what we do in youth ministry. And the fact is, you work too hard to let your messages die on your hard drive after you've delivered it to a full or maybe even potentially full or half full or less full or not as full as you'd like. Room of teenagers. And so that's why I recommend linked right here down below in description, my completely free hybrid strategy.

00;08;33;15 - 00;08;53;22
Nick Clason
If you're a youth pastor, you need to start posting your entire full length messages to YouTube. And I hear you're thinking like, I don't have livestreaming capabilities. I don't have livestreaming equipment. Hey, listen, most youth ministries don't. I certainly don't. But what we do is we actually do a YouTube video, sit down direct to camera. Honestly, very similar to what you're probably watching here.

00;08;53;27 - 00;09;14;23
Nick Clason
You can watch it on a phone, a tablet, TV, a computer, whatever it is, but you post a full length video to YouTube, you get it down to 10 to 15 minutes in length, post it. You can do some basic after editing if you like. If not, just post it on up there. But then what that does is it also helps give you an anchor for your social media curriculum.

00;09;14;33 - 00;09;33;43
Nick Clason
And so the message doesn't have to just die on a Wednesday night, on a Sunday night, on a Thursday night, whatever night of the week is your youth night, but it can live on in perpetuity. And as you teach certain series, you know how it is when it's like a students like I have a question about a particular topic and you just wrapped up a series, but they weren't there.

00;09;33;48 - 00;09;51;04
Nick Clason
Now guess what? You can share them that link and be like, Hey, I actually just talked about I'd love for you to take a watch and then let's get back together and let's, let's chat about it. But that, that bedrock of that YouTube video that can that sort of establishes the framework for all your social media throughout the week.

00;09;51;04 - 00;10;12;20
Nick Clason
You can post fun content and you can also post teaching clips now because you have a fully filmed wide screen based video that you can then clip up. You can use a service like Opus AI or Opus.Pro link down below. Description Check that out if that’s something you want AI will clip up your messages for you and do all the editing.

00;10;12;20 - 00;10;35;33
Nick Clason
And it looks masterful. It looks it looks great. But let's talk about my five favorite curriculum resources. You may be creating your own curriculum as a youth pastor, but you don't have to. And if you don't have time for you don't want to do it, this these five resources will all save you tons of time. But they may not save you tons of money because they each have a different price tag attached to them.

00;10;35;38 - 00;10;58;37
Nick Clason
So my number one favorite resource curriculum provider right now is coleader.co. That is from Download Youth Ministry and they have three sort of different tiers of billing. You can get a free version where they'll just give you access to it and you'll get 40 free credits to begin and to explore. The good thing about coleader is it plans your whole program.

00;10;58;37 - 00;11;29;41
Nick Clason
It doesn't just give you a teaching script. Then they're premium version. It's about $249 a year billed annually, which breaks down to about $10 a week, again, including all of your programing and messages and songs and small group questions that gives you about 26 or so weeks of programing. So maybe this would be good if if you're doing like school year Wednesday night from like September through May, but you're not meeting in the summer and you have a lot of like gaps and Christmas parties and Thanksgivings off and stuff like that.

00;11;29;46 - 00;11;49;45
Nick Clason
And maybe you do actually teach some of your own content and you sort of supplement in there, but you need something to pull from when you're in a pinch. And then premium plus is about $399 a year. Billed annually breaks down to about $8 or so per week. And premium plus also gives you access to the new sidekick Beta, which is amazing.

00;11;49;56 - 00;12;10;39
Nick Clason
My number two on the list is the YM 360 sermon library is just a website which has kind of like an ala carte vibe. Where you go, you can grab different lessons three and four week series that have been taught by and taught by different youth. Pastors usually break it down to about $35 per series. So check that out.

00;12;10;39 - 00;12;38;33
Nick Clason
Link down below in the description. My third favorite one is the Grow curriculum. And it is. It looks great this week. It is modern. Have full disclosure. I've never used it. Mostly price tag reasons. And in most churches that I’ve been at, we've had some other provider already. But I love the what they guys what the guys over at stuff you can use do what they stand for and so you can check that out link down below in the description.

00;12;38;33 - 00;13;08;22
Nick Clason
My fourth is XP3, orange. It is probably the Cadillac of all youth ministry curriculums is also probably the most expensive on their website. Their annual license for it is anywhere from $449 a year all the way up to 2700 per year. And that's going to be based on your average youth group size. And then number five, my fifth resource is honestly just DYM library, similar to the YM360 model.

00;13;08;33 - 00;13;27;23
Nick Clason
You can just go get a DYM membership. They've started at $12 a month, gold at $26.99 a month, and then gold plus at $40 a month. Gold plus gives you sidekick phone connections so you can scan the code on screen. Do live poll voting. One of my favorite hybrid ways to do youth ministry these days. But you can just hop on there.

00;13;27;28 - 00;13;49;10
Nick Clason
They also gives you store credit when you have the membership. So whether you have a membership or not, you can ahead of time and you can find series there typically for anywhere from $5 to $12 per series for anywhere from like 3 to 4 week teaching series. So now here we are. What is my favorite youth group programing hack?

00;13;49;15 - 00;14;05;24
Nick Clason
Well, number one link the times that you meet by purpose, right? In a lot of cases, you may not be making a decision for youth ministry. You have like one singular time to me. Is it Wednesday? Is it Sunday? Right. Like you may already have to meet Sunday morning and then you're having to figure out when else to meet.

00;14;05;28 - 00;14;24;59
Nick Clason
And so instead of having to channel like supply curriculum for each and every one of those things, what we do in our current setting, I'll just tell you is Sunday morning is connect groups. And that's for the entire church adults, kids, students, everyone. And when I got here, we were like supplying curriculum for connect groups. And then on Wednesday nights we taught out of a different curriculum.

00;14;25;13 - 00;14;50;10
Nick Clason
And so on Wednesday nights now we teach a message and then on Sunday morning they discuss the message. We have more students on Sunday morning and a lot of our students on Sunday morning don't attend back over here on Wednesday night. So because we pre film our curriculum, we will play a little clip, a teaser, also a reminder for those students who did actually come on Wednesday night to help the Sunday morning people be able to have the discussion.

00;14;50;15 - 00;15;11;12
Nick Clason
All of our leaders are able to then watch the videos in full to be able to teach the lesson. If they didn't make it on Wednesday night and you're able to have that discussion. But also, if you did come Wednesday Night, it doesn't feel like a retread or a repeat. I can't remember who said this, but I remember someone someone saying at a a conference is something like think about all the times you meet.

00;15;11;12 - 00;15;37;35
Nick Clason
If you have especially in student ministry of like main church service, you have youth Sunday morning and then you have youth Wednesday Night. And if every-- if a student comes every single week, 52 different times per year, then that is 52 times that they are taught a sermon and challenged to make an adjustment in their life and change. That is another 52 times when they come to the Youth night that they are taught a sermon and challenged 52 different times to change.

00;15;37;40 - 00;16;06;52
Nick Clason
And then the third time they come to the youth other thing and they are challenged 52 different times per year and preach a sermon with some content and challenged to change their life. I don't do math on the fly very well, but that's like well over 150 times that they're supposed to do something different with their life. And just think that when you tie these to Wednesday night, Sunday morning, whatever your thing is, when you tie them together with purpose, if you have to have both meeting slots, that helps you, right?

00;16;06;52 - 00;16;33;58
Nick Clason
Streamline your teaching. But that's also helpful to the students. It's not a laziness thing, right? In my opinion. It's not like you're just trying to get out of doing more. It's stewarding your budget, but it's also helping like most like disciple your students. Because then when your teaching is in alignment, everything can be in alignment. Your social media for that week, whatever you taught on Wednesday, that's the topic on your your social media, that's a topic on all of your digital hybrid resources.

00;16;34;03 - 00;16;55;42
Nick Clason
Right? Number two, my favorite hack is interactive teaching. Let me just share with you right here on screen tonight. I am teaching live in the room at my church and we are in a series called How to use the Bible. And in that we have been giving them like, you know, reasons for why the Bible is reliable, reasons for why we can know that we can trust the Bible.

00;16;55;47 - 00;17;19;41
Nick Clason
But then we're also like helping share them, like actual hands on tactical, like guides on how to use the Bible. But tonight I'm talking about filtering God's Word or filtering culture through the lens of God's Word in everything that we do. So what I am doing tonight is I'm starting out with a Pawn Stars video clip talking about someone who brought in a fake Babe Ruth baseball card.

00;17;19;46 - 00;17;36;13
Nick Clason
And then from there, I'm telling them the hook straight away. I'm like, Are you a Biblical Christian or are you a Cultural Christian? And then we have tables in our space. And so I'm letting them talk about the difference between a Biblical Christian and a Cultural Christian. And how can you tell me give them a few minutes to chat that out.

00;17;36;18 - 00;17;59;10
Nick Clason
Then I'm going to have a poll on the screen with Sidekick. We're asking them this question that says, Do we agree or disagree? Do we? Do we view everything in our life through a filter? Right? And then I'm going to give them three filters I view my life through Dad filter, Colts Fan filter, coffee filter, Shout out to coffee.

00;17;59;10 - 00;18;23;51
Nick Clason
My brand new Valentine's gift, the Moca-master coffee maker first cup out of it this morning. Delicious. Ten out of ten would recommend. Then from there I am going to show them a picture of like a one of my kids watches for Christmas that they got. And talk about how scientists say that the same process that happens when you learn a new language is also what's happening when we're spending time on our screens.

00;18;23;56 - 00;18;55;17
Nick Clason
And then I'm going to give them the definition of a cultural Christian versus a biblical Christian. And then I'm going to build a poll asking them what their favorite drink is like caramel macchiato, coffee, chocolate, milk, and they're going to have a chance to vote on that. All the while, all of my notes are in a thing that we call digital notes, and we use the YouVersion Live events plan that is a completely free tool that you can use, but your church can set up live events and so kids can have their phones and they can be following along with the scriptures and taking notes.

00;18;55;17 - 00;19;19;03
Nick Clason
But then we're going to take them to Daniel. Chapter one. I got one more poll in there from Sidekick. I got another turn n talk. I got a map of where they go from Babylon to to from from Jerusalem to Babylon. Let's see, then I got some reasons why you oppose the food in Daniel Chapter one. I say what scholars think the age of this Daniel was, which is 11 to 17.

00;19;19;03 - 00;19;37;09
Nick Clason
And so my question is, how does a teenage boy end up in a foreign land? His parents are likely killed and he's opposing the king. How do you think he did that? How does he have enough wisdom to know what to do and what to oppose? And then I'm going to bring a coffee pot on stage and talk about how what we put in the pod there is what we filter.

00;19;37;09 - 00;19;57;18
Nick Clason
What spits out right, is a true form of of Christianity or it's not. But the Bible has to be the filter through which we do that. But the only way that matters if we truly have a desire to follow Jesus. Now, I don't like my whole reason for sharing All that is simply just for you to see all the different like I have sent them off to, to take questions.

00;19;57;18 - 00;20;26;54
Nick Clason
And then we have digital notes for them to follow along with. And we have polls on the screen and then we have a break in between. My first part of my teaching and my last part of my teaching, which is my third hack, and that's the one the leader said. I thought that was the most stupid idea because what I would do at summer camp last year is I teach for a little bit, share a little story in opening illustration, and then I would open it to a question and then I'd send them off in their small groups right there in that space in audio auditorium style seating at camp and say, Find your small

00;20;26;54 - 00;20;44;26
Nick Clason
group and your small group leader and answer these two questions and it would break for 10 minutes. And he said, I thought we were going to lose them. Like I thought like, man, that's dumb. Like, we are going to lose. These kids are going to go crazy. But what it actually did was it helped us have longer sessions and deeper teaching because we gave a break.

00;20;44;37 - 00;21;05;56
Nick Clason
I wasn't just sitting and teaching for 20 straight minutes, 30 straight minutes, 40 heaven forbid, straight minutes, because I gave them a break and I let them contribute to the conversation, which is what Gen Z is looking to do. Right? And so that one of the challenges to good creative teaching, because like I said, we use tables in our space most Wednesday Nights.

00;21;06;00 - 00;21;30;02
Nick Clason
It's one of the challenges to that right is navigating shared space, shared space in youth ministries, which is actually the next video it's going to be linked to right here on the screen. It’s a huge challenge and a problem facing youth pastors. How do you navigate it? What are best practices linked right here? Take a look at that, because we're here to try and make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible.

00;21;30;02 - 00;21;32;26
Nick Clason
So as always, stay hybrid.

]]> ⚡ [FREE] How to Film Messages⚡

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======================================
DESCRIPTION
🤔 What is the best day to meet with our youth group students
🖐️I’m ranking my top 5 curriculum resources
⚙️Finally, I’m going to share my top 3 interactive, and creative programming hacks
======================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/088

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/TTQXsananwI

BEST TIME TO MEET?
//SPORTS & EXTRA CURRICULARS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/087

TEACHING
//STUDENTS WANT OWNERSHIP & BELONGING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gqOPjD5hN-g

//HYBRID STRATEGY
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

//OPUS.PRO
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

1) CO-LEADER
https://www.coleader.co/pricing

2) YM360
https://youthministry360.com/collections/sermon-series

3) GROW CURRICULUM
https://growcurriculum.org/

4) XP3
https://store.thinkorange.com/collections/xp3-license-category

5) DYM LIBRARY
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com

//MEMBERSHIP PRICING
https://www.dymmembership.com/pricing

3 PROGRAMMING HACKS
//USE SIDEKICK FOR INTERACTION!
https://www.sidekick.tv/

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

======================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "The Full Hybrid Ministry Strategy"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🖥️ "My 9 Favorite DYM Resources"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

📨 Full Proof Recruiting Email
EMAIL: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/recruiting-email

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

======================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Programming Your Youth Service
00:54 The Pros and Cons of different Youth Group Meeting Days and Times
05:04 Three Questions to Ask when deciding when to meet for Youth Group
07:51 The Top 5 Youth Ministry Curriculum Resource Sites
13:44 3 Creative Youth Group Programming Hacks

TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;00 - 00;00;20;40
Nick Clason
Last summer I had a leader say I thought that was a stupid idea. However, I later realized how genius it really was. What was it? I want you to stick around to the end, because this is actually one of my favorite youth group programing hacks. In addition to that, we're going to be talking about selecting the optimal youth.

00;00;20;40 - 00;00;44;48
Nick Clason
Time for you, your church and your youth group is at Wednesday night. Is it Sunday Night? Is it Sunday morning? Subscribe. If it's Wednesday night for you. Like if it's Sunday night and hey, hit the bell. If you have to be at your church on Sunday morning, I think that pretty much covers all of us. I also want to rank my top five five youth group curriculum providers and resources links down below in the show notes.

00;00;44;50 - 00;01;10;49
Nick Clason
And finally, I'm going to share with you my three favorite creative and potentially hybrid creative programing hacks. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show and the best time to meet. Like I remember when I started as a youth pastor, I was working at a church and I was inheriting a youth ministry that was run by volunteers. And so high school was on Tuesday night, middle school was on Wednesday night.

00;01;10;49 - 00;01;31;23
Nick Clason
And I met with my pastor early on, like my very first week on the job. And he told me, he said, Hey, listen, you can do whatever you want, which is an absolute dream for a youth pastor. But as a young youth pastor, the decision was actually agonizing. Do I meet Wednesday night? Do I keep meeting Tuesday night, which is when the high school are meeting?

00;01;31;23 - 00;01;53;35
Nick Clason
Do I switch to like a Sunday night vibe? And so Wednesday night, Sunday night, Sunday morning, like and I did have a Sunday morning component and so like you have to, you know, kind of navigate and know like what is going on within your church. But I had an advantage at that church because the youth ministry pretty much ran the place during midweek.

00;01;53;49 - 00;02;21;05
Nick Clason
There was no midweek kids, kids ministry programing. Kids ministry did AWANA on Sunday night at like 4:15 or something. And it was kind of an odd time, which I did end up way down the road years later, jump into Sunday night. But early on I made a decision to just stick with Wednesday. So let's chat through the pros and cons of Wednesday night, Sunday night and Sunday morning, and then maybe another day of the week in there for you.

00;02;21;10 - 00;02;42;41
Nick Clason
But the pro of of Wednesday night to me is probably your most traditional youth night. It's been a lot of churches, a lot of youth groups have done for years. And like down here where I live in DFW, Dallas, Fort Worth area a lot of churches do. Wednesday night and I came from Chicago. Not many churches did did Wednesday night.

00;02;42;41 - 00;03;03;20
Nick Clason
And that's just kind of a cultural thing, right? But the pro to me is it's like a midweek kind of jolt of energy, a mid-week connection point from if you're typically meeting on Sunday morning, you get back together in the middle of the week. That's helpful. The con of it, however, and we talked about it here in the last video, is youth sports and extracurricular activities.

00;03;03;20 - 00;03;31;44
Nick Clason
People are just getting busy. And so it makes attendance and it makes the accessibility, I believe, of a Wednesday night trickier, Sunday Night, however, the pro, I would say is probably one of the most unscheduled night for teens. Like more and more extracurricular activities, more and more sports are invading Sunday night, but it is probably the most free night that your teens have when you're looking at it from a vantage point of the majority of the availability.

00;03;31;49 - 00;03;50;55
Nick Clason
The kind of it, however, is not only for you, but for you and your teens and your leaders. It makes for a long day. You were at church Sunday morning and you've got a little gap in the middle and then you have to come back. And that returning to church like that's that is always a hard hurdle to jump I’ve found.

00;03;50;59 - 00;04;09;17
Nick Clason
If you have a kid who's not regularly planning on being at church, you say, hey, come back tonight, do like I got homework and all the things and families kind of have Sunday dinners. And so Sunday nights do tend to kind of make for a long day and then in a lot of our cases, we all have to be at church on Sunday morning.

00;04;09;22 - 00;04;35;00
Nick Clason
Some of us do our youth service on Sunday morning. Some of us have more of like a Sunday school kind of curriculum, them that we have to adhere to or carry out. The pro of Sunday morning is it's probably the easiest to gather crowd. You're going to have your most captive audience. In fact, in a video that I talked about, the decline of church attendance, most teens are attending church because they're coming with their parents.

00;04;35;00 - 00;04;52;19
Nick Clason
And so if their parents are coming to church, they're coming to church. And so Sunday morning is a great time for that to happen. The con of it is, while it may be the most captive audience, you may have the most amount of people the teenagers tend to be and feel and the environment just feels a little more tame.

00;04;52;19 - 00;05;18;29
Nick Clason
It's not a youth ministry. It's more like we are a ministry of the overall church here on a Sunday morning. But when you're making these decisions, okay, because in my case, I was talking about when I started that job, I really could decide whatever I wanted. But in a lot of cases, you don't have that that luxury. And the reason might be because you're coming into a more established church, you're coming into a more established youth group.

00;05;18;29 - 00;05;43;15
Nick Clason
And so the other like three questions to ask in this setting are, number one, what is expected of you? For example, are you even allowed to not have Sunday morning as an option? Like what is the expectation of your church and do you have the freedom to pull certain programs, pull certain time slots that you meet? So you need to make sure you know that before you make a decision and get yourself potentially in trouble.

00;05;43;20 - 00;06;13;35
Nick Clason
Question number two is what's the rest of your church doing? For example, I went to a church and and my pastor told me that this is different. I had the the freedom to make this decision. I did not have to meet on Wednesday night and I made that decision. However, once programing started in the fall, I realized that I had made a pretty big mistake because the entire church, adults, kids, preschool, everyone came back to church on Wednesday night and the only group not there, the only group not meeting ended up being middle schoolers.

00;06;13;35 - 00;06;34;06
Nick Clason
And so I had parents of middle schoolers really, really upset because they felt like their kid was not being cared for and that their kid didn't matter. In the life cycle of the church. So what is the rest of your church doing? You need to weigh that out. And if the whole church coming together for midweek, then you probably should have something there for the youth as well.

00;06;34;06 - 00;06;55;37
Nick Clason
And the third question is where do you have natural momentum? Like I said, the church, I made a decision between Wednesday night and Tuesday night and all that. I ended up landing on Wednesday night, but then years later I switched over to Sunday night and I split apart middle school and I split apart high school. And when I did that, I pulled away a little bit of momentum as well.

00;06;55;38 - 00;07;20;44
Nick Clason
Middle school was fine because it stayed on the night that it was on Wednesday night. But high school struggled because we tried to move on the Sunday night to become more adaptable to their schedules. However, at that church I was in, my students had become used to a certain rhythm and so moving, making that decision that made them have to adjust their schedule and adjust the way that they attached and that they connected to our church.

00;07;20;48 - 00;07;46;22
Nick Clason
And here's thing none of that matters, right? In your youth ministry. If you don't have students who feel connected and don't feel like they have a piece of ownership in helping growing your youth ministry into a vibrant community, which we talked about in a previous video, how to actually teach well, course you need those two components before your teaching is really going to matter.

00;07;46;22 - 00;08;08;55
Nick Clason
So let's talk about the five best curriculum resource sites, which we talked about. Students want to feel a sense of ownership and they want to feel a sense of belonging. And those two things need to exist in your youth ministry before your teaching is really going to start to matter. Wherever teaching and youth ministry, they're not going anywhere.

00;08;08;55 - 00;08;33;15
Nick Clason
It's part of what we do in youth ministry. And the fact is, you work too hard to let your messages die on your hard drive after you've delivered it to a full or maybe even potentially full or half full or less full or not as full as you'd like. Room of teenagers. And so that's why I recommend linked right here down below in description, my completely free hybrid strategy.

00;08;33;15 - 00;08;53;22
Nick Clason
If you're a youth pastor, you need to start posting your entire full length messages to YouTube. And I hear you're thinking like, I don't have livestreaming capabilities. I don't have livestreaming equipment. Hey, listen, most youth ministries don't. I certainly don't. But what we do is we actually do a YouTube video, sit down direct to camera. Honestly, very similar to what you're probably watching here.

00;08;53;27 - 00;09;14;23
Nick Clason
You can watch it on a phone, a tablet, TV, a computer, whatever it is, but you post a full length video to YouTube, you get it down to 10 to 15 minutes in length, post it. You can do some basic after editing if you like. If not, just post it on up there. But then what that does is it also helps give you an anchor for your social media curriculum.

00;09;14;33 - 00;09;33;43
Nick Clason
And so the message doesn't have to just die on a Wednesday night, on a Sunday night, on a Thursday night, whatever night of the week is your youth night, but it can live on in perpetuity. And as you teach certain series, you know how it is when it's like a students like I have a question about a particular topic and you just wrapped up a series, but they weren't there.

00;09;33;48 - 00;09;51;04
Nick Clason
Now guess what? You can share them that link and be like, Hey, I actually just talked about I'd love for you to take a watch and then let's get back together and let's, let's chat about it. But that, that bedrock of that YouTube video that can that sort of establishes the framework for all your social media throughout the week.

00;09;51;04 - 00;10;12;20
Nick Clason
You can post fun content and you can also post teaching clips now because you have a fully filmed wide screen based video that you can then clip up. You can use a service like Opus AI or Opus.Pro link down below. Description Check that out if that’s something you want AI will clip up your messages for you and do all the editing.

00;10;12;20 - 00;10;35;33
Nick Clason
And it looks masterful. It looks it looks great. But let's talk about my five favorite curriculum resources. You may be creating your own curriculum as a youth pastor, but you don't have to. And if you don't have time for you don't want to do it, this these five resources will all save you tons of time. But they may not save you tons of money because they each have a different price tag attached to them.

00;10;35;38 - 00;10;58;37
Nick Clason
So my number one favorite resource curriculum provider right now is coleader.co. That is from Download Youth Ministry and they have three sort of different tiers of billing. You can get a free version where they'll just give you access to it and you'll get 40 free credits to begin and to explore. The good thing about coleader is it plans your whole program.

00;10;58;37 - 00;11;29;41
Nick Clason
It doesn't just give you a teaching script. Then they're premium version. It's about $249 a year billed annually, which breaks down to about $10 a week, again, including all of your programing and messages and songs and small group questions that gives you about 26 or so weeks of programing. So maybe this would be good if if you're doing like school year Wednesday night from like September through May, but you're not meeting in the summer and you have a lot of like gaps and Christmas parties and Thanksgivings off and stuff like that.

00;11;29;46 - 00;11;49;45
Nick Clason
And maybe you do actually teach some of your own content and you sort of supplement in there, but you need something to pull from when you're in a pinch. And then premium plus is about $399 a year. Billed annually breaks down to about $8 or so per week. And premium plus also gives you access to the new sidekick Beta, which is amazing.

00;11;49;56 - 00;12;10;39
Nick Clason
My number two on the list is the YM 360 sermon library is just a website which has kind of like an ala carte vibe. Where you go, you can grab different lessons three and four week series that have been taught by and taught by different youth. Pastors usually break it down to about $35 per series. So check that out.

00;12;10;39 - 00;12;38;33
Nick Clason
Link down below in the description. My third favorite one is the Grow curriculum. And it is. It looks great this week. It is modern. Have full disclosure. I've never used it. Mostly price tag reasons. And in most churches that I’ve been at, we've had some other provider already. But I love the what they guys what the guys over at stuff you can use do what they stand for and so you can check that out link down below in the description.

00;12;38;33 - 00;13;08;22
Nick Clason
My fourth is XP3, orange. It is probably the Cadillac of all youth ministry curriculums is also probably the most expensive on their website. Their annual license for it is anywhere from $449 a year all the way up to 2700 per year. And that's going to be based on your average youth group size. And then number five, my fifth resource is honestly just DYM library, similar to the YM360 model.

00;13;08;33 - 00;13;27;23
Nick Clason
You can just go get a DYM membership. They've started at $12 a month, gold at $26.99 a month, and then gold plus at $40 a month. Gold plus gives you sidekick phone connections so you can scan the code on screen. Do live poll voting. One of my favorite hybrid ways to do youth ministry these days. But you can just hop on there.

00;13;27;28 - 00;13;49;10
Nick Clason
They also gives you store credit when you have the membership. So whether you have a membership or not, you can ahead of time and you can find series there typically for anywhere from $5 to $12 per series for anywhere from like 3 to 4 week teaching series. So now here we are. What is my favorite youth group programing hack?

00;13;49;15 - 00;14;05;24
Nick Clason
Well, number one link the times that you meet by purpose, right? In a lot of cases, you may not be making a decision for youth ministry. You have like one singular time to me. Is it Wednesday? Is it Sunday? Right. Like you may already have to meet Sunday morning and then you're having to figure out when else to meet.

00;14;05;28 - 00;14;24;59
Nick Clason
And so instead of having to channel like supply curriculum for each and every one of those things, what we do in our current setting, I'll just tell you is Sunday morning is connect groups. And that's for the entire church adults, kids, students, everyone. And when I got here, we were like supplying curriculum for connect groups. And then on Wednesday nights we taught out of a different curriculum.

00;14;25;13 - 00;14;50;10
Nick Clason
And so on Wednesday nights now we teach a message and then on Sunday morning they discuss the message. We have more students on Sunday morning and a lot of our students on Sunday morning don't attend back over here on Wednesday night. So because we pre film our curriculum, we will play a little clip, a teaser, also a reminder for those students who did actually come on Wednesday night to help the Sunday morning people be able to have the discussion.

00;14;50;15 - 00;15;11;12
Nick Clason
All of our leaders are able to then watch the videos in full to be able to teach the lesson. If they didn't make it on Wednesday night and you're able to have that discussion. But also, if you did come Wednesday Night, it doesn't feel like a retread or a repeat. I can't remember who said this, but I remember someone someone saying at a a conference is something like think about all the times you meet.

00;15;11;12 - 00;15;37;35
Nick Clason
If you have especially in student ministry of like main church service, you have youth Sunday morning and then you have youth Wednesday Night. And if every-- if a student comes every single week, 52 different times per year, then that is 52 times that they are taught a sermon and challenged to make an adjustment in their life and change. That is another 52 times when they come to the Youth night that they are taught a sermon and challenged 52 different times to change.

00;15;37;40 - 00;16;06;52
Nick Clason
And then the third time they come to the youth other thing and they are challenged 52 different times per year and preach a sermon with some content and challenged to change their life. I don't do math on the fly very well, but that's like well over 150 times that they're supposed to do something different with their life. And just think that when you tie these to Wednesday night, Sunday morning, whatever your thing is, when you tie them together with purpose, if you have to have both meeting slots, that helps you, right?

00;16;06;52 - 00;16;33;58
Nick Clason
Streamline your teaching. But that's also helpful to the students. It's not a laziness thing, right? In my opinion. It's not like you're just trying to get out of doing more. It's stewarding your budget, but it's also helping like most like disciple your students. Because then when your teaching is in alignment, everything can be in alignment. Your social media for that week, whatever you taught on Wednesday, that's the topic on your your social media, that's a topic on all of your digital hybrid resources.

00;16;34;03 - 00;16;55;42
Nick Clason
Right? Number two, my favorite hack is interactive teaching. Let me just share with you right here on screen tonight. I am teaching live in the room at my church and we are in a series called How to use the Bible. And in that we have been giving them like, you know, reasons for why the Bible is reliable, reasons for why we can know that we can trust the Bible.

00;16;55;47 - 00;17;19;41
Nick Clason
But then we're also like helping share them, like actual hands on tactical, like guides on how to use the Bible. But tonight I'm talking about filtering God's Word or filtering culture through the lens of God's Word in everything that we do. So what I am doing tonight is I'm starting out with a Pawn Stars video clip talking about someone who brought in a fake Babe Ruth baseball card.

00;17;19;46 - 00;17;36;13
Nick Clason
And then from there, I'm telling them the hook straight away. I'm like, Are you a Biblical Christian or are you a Cultural Christian? And then we have tables in our space. And so I'm letting them talk about the difference between a Biblical Christian and a Cultural Christian. And how can you tell me give them a few minutes to chat that out.

00;17;36;18 - 00;17;59;10
Nick Clason
Then I'm going to have a poll on the screen with Sidekick. We're asking them this question that says, Do we agree or disagree? Do we? Do we view everything in our life through a filter? Right? And then I'm going to give them three filters I view my life through Dad filter, Colts Fan filter, coffee filter, Shout out to coffee.

00;17;59;10 - 00;18;23;51
Nick Clason
My brand new Valentine's gift, the Moca-master coffee maker first cup out of it this morning. Delicious. Ten out of ten would recommend. Then from there I am going to show them a picture of like a one of my kids watches for Christmas that they got. And talk about how scientists say that the same process that happens when you learn a new language is also what's happening when we're spending time on our screens.

00;18;23;56 - 00;18;55;17
Nick Clason
And then I'm going to give them the definition of a cultural Christian versus a biblical Christian. And then I'm going to build a poll asking them what their favorite drink is like caramel macchiato, coffee, chocolate, milk, and they're going to have a chance to vote on that. All the while, all of my notes are in a thing that we call digital notes, and we use the YouVersion Live events plan that is a completely free tool that you can use, but your church can set up live events and so kids can have their phones and they can be following along with the scriptures and taking notes.

00;18;55;17 - 00;19;19;03
Nick Clason
But then we're going to take them to Daniel. Chapter one. I got one more poll in there from Sidekick. I got another turn n talk. I got a map of where they go from Babylon to to from from Jerusalem to Babylon. Let's see, then I got some reasons why you oppose the food in Daniel Chapter one. I say what scholars think the age of this Daniel was, which is 11 to 17.

00;19;19;03 - 00;19;37;09
Nick Clason
And so my question is, how does a teenage boy end up in a foreign land? His parents are likely killed and he's opposing the king. How do you think he did that? How does he have enough wisdom to know what to do and what to oppose? And then I'm going to bring a coffee pot on stage and talk about how what we put in the pod there is what we filter.

00;19;37;09 - 00;19;57;18
Nick Clason
What spits out right, is a true form of of Christianity or it's not. But the Bible has to be the filter through which we do that. But the only way that matters if we truly have a desire to follow Jesus. Now, I don't like my whole reason for sharing All that is simply just for you to see all the different like I have sent them off to, to take questions.

00;19;57;18 - 00;20;26;54
Nick Clason
And then we have digital notes for them to follow along with. And we have polls on the screen and then we have a break in between. My first part of my teaching and my last part of my teaching, which is my third hack, and that's the one the leader said. I thought that was the most stupid idea because what I would do at summer camp last year is I teach for a little bit, share a little story in opening illustration, and then I would open it to a question and then I'd send them off in their small groups right there in that space in audio auditorium style seating at camp and say, Find your small

00;20;26;54 - 00;20;44;26
Nick Clason
group and your small group leader and answer these two questions and it would break for 10 minutes. And he said, I thought we were going to lose them. Like I thought like, man, that's dumb. Like, we are going to lose. These kids are going to go crazy. But what it actually did was it helped us have longer sessions and deeper teaching because we gave a break.

00;20;44;37 - 00;21;05;56
Nick Clason
I wasn't just sitting and teaching for 20 straight minutes, 30 straight minutes, 40 heaven forbid, straight minutes, because I gave them a break and I let them contribute to the conversation, which is what Gen Z is looking to do. Right? And so that one of the challenges to good creative teaching, because like I said, we use tables in our space most Wednesday Nights.

00;21;06;00 - 00;21;30;02
Nick Clason
It's one of the challenges to that right is navigating shared space, shared space in youth ministries, which is actually the next video it's going to be linked to right here on the screen. It’s a huge challenge and a problem facing youth pastors. How do you navigate it? What are best practices linked right here? Take a look at that, because we're here to try and make digital discipleship easy, possible and accessible.

00;21;30;02 - 00;21;32;26
Nick Clason
So as always, stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 079: 🤷 Youth Pastor: Event Coordinators? or Disciple-Makers? https://www.hybridministry.xyz/079 ac0ac724-dc9a-4652-8ce5-a51c3c872e8b Thu, 11 Jan 2024 07:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 079 🤷 Youth Pastor: Event Coordinators? or Disciple-Makers? full Nick Clason 📈 How do we get more people to show up to our events? How do we grow our group? How do we attract and retain teens? 57% of American Church Goers, according to Pew Research, don’t even attend church once a month!! 👌In this episode we’re going to explore 3 key shifts in our thinking ⚙️And I have the ultimate tool to accessing and resourcing people/students in the digital age. 14:39 no ⚡ [FREE] Crush Social Media This New Year ⚡ 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 2024 [FREE] Youth Ministry Masterclass on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg ======================================== DESCRIPTION 📈 How do we get more people to show up to our events? How do we grow our group? How do we attract and retain teens? 57% of American Church Goers, according to Pew Research, don’t even attend church once a month!! 👌In this episode we’re going to explore 3 key shifts in our thinking ⚙️And I have the ultimate tool to accessing and resourcing people/students in the digital age. Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg ======================================== 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/079 //YOUTUBE VIDEO https://youtu.be/EzhYluEKZ_I SHIFT #1 FROM PRODUCTION TO ACCESS //PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utmsource=adaptivemailer&amp;utmmedium=email&amp;utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&amp;org=982&amp;lvl=100&amp;ite=9703&amp;lea=2048393&amp;ctr=0&amp;par=1&amp;trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae //TERRY PARKMAN https://www.terryparkman.com/ //GEN ALPHA DATA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo //PRO CHURCH TOOLS https://prochurchtools.com/ //FULL DIGITAL STRATEGY https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book SHIFT #2 FROM PERFORMANCE TO ENGAGEMENT //EVERY YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A GOOD DIGITAL PRESENCE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDxepdu4iiM SHIFT #3 FROM QUANTITY TO COMMUNITY //THE QUESTIONS OF BELONGING https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo //WORLD'S GREATEST DONUT https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ryhkIRyDb4 //MASTER YOUR TIME https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz ======================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 🎅 "The Ultimate (and FREE!) Christmas Party Gude" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/christmas-party-run-sheet PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips 🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut 😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook 📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers" https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis ======================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa -------------- 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00-01:21 Event Coordinator? Or Disciple-Maker? 01:21-07:18 SHIFT #1 from PRODUCTION to ACCESS 07:18-09:20 SHIFT #2 from PERFORMANCE to ENGAGEMENT 09:20-16:14 SHIFT #3 from QUANTITY to COMMUNITY ✍️TRANSCRIPT Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa Nick Clason (00:00): Youth pastors. How do we get more people to show up to our events? How do we grow the size of our youth groups? How do we attract and retain teenagers? See, all these questions are common questions. They're things that we're all facing at least at some level. And regardless of if you think that the attendance debate matters or not, we talked about it in our very last video linked up here in our playlist, in our youth ministry 2024 masterclass that we are going through completely free all here online on YouTube. Love to have you subscribe, check it out, and make sure you don't miss another one. We talked about the church attendance conundrum because 54% of American Christians are not attending church according to Pew Research at least one time per month. So in this episode, I want to talk to you about three key shifts that are going to help us reach the next generation as we explore this question. Nick Clason (00:50): Are we in the event making business or are we in the disciple making business? And I also have the ultimate tool that I believe can help you become more accessible in resourcing both your people and your students in this new found digital age. Like I said, we'd love to have you subscribe, like leave a comment, leave a rating, leave a review. All of those things help us get found and make sure that you can get the very next episode as soon as it drops episode 80 in our 2024 Youth Ministry masterclass. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, everyone, my name's Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in DFW Dallas Fort Worth. Been in youth ministry now being January of 2024. Mark's my 13th year in youth ministry and I've most recently went to a conference with the Gen Z guru himself. Terry Parkman. If you don't know Terry, he's amazing, but he talked about some of these shifts, so I just want to kind of elaborate on them and kick some of them around a little bit more. Nick Clason (01:46): But he talked about the difference that Generation Z and now subsequently generation Alpha, who if you didn't see in our last episode, we classified them being born somewhere between 2010 and 2018, probably more than 2012 rage, which is what Pew research kind of settles on as the origin date of generation alpha. Nonetheless, Terry Parkman specifically talking about Gen Z, talks about the shift in thinking from Gen Z who thinks more in a digital age, digital mindset versus all of US millennials and older Gen x boomers and so on and so forth, who are more raised in a industrial aged way of thinking and industrial age way frankly of living. And so what the first shift that is important that he talks about is we need to shift from an industrial minded way of production, which is an industrial value to one of access. The way that we talk about it is just simply build access points onto your ministry, so an industrial way of thinking and the production value production kind of mindset. Nick Clason (02:54): Think about seeker style churches back in the early nineties or early two thousands where you may open with a secular song, one that's familiar, one that's relatable. You may try to go for relevant lighting, you may really try to put the entire screws down on the production, the value of how important production is, and that a really well-produced thing will draw out consumers, it's almost like the mentality if we build it, they will come. It also comes down to simply how much can we produce the amount of production value that we can add? The more production value that we can add, the better, the greater, the higher the number, the more that we can produce, the more that we can attract. That's an industrial way of thinking. Meanwhile, a digital way of thinking, they don't necessarily Gen Z Gen and Alpha and the generations that are coming on behind, they don't necessarily want those things. Nick Clason (03:49): They're looking more for access. They're wondering, do I fit here? Can I gain access to this place and how can I let my gifts be utilized and flourish and shine here? Honestly, one of my number one pet peeves in churches is when we from a volunteer aspect say things like, we need you to do our job. That is not enticing in any way, shape, or form, and it's especially not enticing to the next generation. What I think they otherwise might more importantly, more interestingly want to hear is, Hey, we want you to shine here and how can we partner with you to make a difference in this world? It goes from US centric to them centric, and I get it. I'm hearing you scream on the other side, but that's not what a disciple of Jesus does. Correct. However, how are we ever going to be relevant and make any sort of inroads with the next generation? Nick Clason (04:46): If the way in which we posture ourselves is fundamentally and vehemently different than them, are we asking them to acquiesce to us as opposed to us finding ways that it's not that big of a deal to make a subtle shift? Because in the same way, we can still ask Gen Z and Gen Alpha to serve, we are just making it them centric instead of US centric. And again, you might be screaming that they shouldn't be them centric, but isn't it just as Unbiblical and Christlike for us to be US centric, organization centric, pastor centric in the land of access points. Our church right now, honestly, probably right now as I'm recording this on a random night in December, we have these things, these events, and they're amazing and they get talked about and they get promoted and they're all over social, and someone asked me how do I sign up for it and do you know what? Nick Clason (05:37): I said? I work there at the church, I don't actually have anything to do with it, and obviously I'm not there right now. I said, I have no idea. We have these events. There's sort of this lore about them, but how to actually access it. It's confusing, and I frankly haven't tried, so that's probably on me, but point of it is, is your church accessible? How easy to navigate is your website. I love what Brady Sheer and all of them at Pro Church Tools up in Canada say all the time and say, make your website, be a one stop shop. Don't for one thing, go sign up via the bulletin for the other thing. Send an email for the third thing, head to the website and for the fourth thing, find someone in the lobby. You never know what to do, where to go, and so only the most loyal and only the person with the most headstrong sort of stubbornness is going to ever actually find anything out. Nick Clason (06:29): Anybody else who comes upon any sort of roadblock or opposition, all of a sudden it's just really easy for them to crumble. And here's the fact, I don't believe I have all the answers, but one of the ways in which we are trying to create more access points in our ministry is through our digital strategy, which I have completely laid out in my 100% completely free ebook free for you. Grab the link, go download it. All I need is your name. All I need is your email and that's it. It's yours to use. It's my strategy that I've used to grow YouTube channel in a year from zero subscribers all the way up to almost 400 subscribers. It might be even past 400 by the time that this video actually drops, it's completely laid out. It's basically my social media masterclass and guess what I gave it and I'm giving it to you for free, and I would love to encourage you to just grab it, try it, implement it, and check it all out. Nick Clason (07:18): Shift number two is we need to shift from performance based and industrial way of thinking to more engagement based. So if you think about an industrial way of thinking where performance is king, think about the best, the prettiest, the nicest, the smelliest people on stage with a good swath of diversity and all those things, or just even in youth ministry, we've all sort of had the basis of like, let's just have some fun, and if the kids have fun, then they'll definitely want to come back. If we perform really well for them and we don't screw up, then they'll be like, man, that place was so good. I just want to come back. That's an industrial way of thinking, and here's the problem. If you are a youth pastor and you're my age or you're a millennial, that's the way that you think because that's the way and that's the age in which you were raised in. Nick Clason (08:03): To think that that's what is valued, but the next generation that's more in a digital age, they're not worried about performance. They want to know, am I able to engage with this? When it's all about performance, think about a conveyor belt and a factory. The way that that goes is if there's a certain part in the conveyor belt that's causing a backup, what do we do? We just stick another person in there. We don't care what that person does, who that person is, what that person can do for us or our organization. We just want to know, can that person keep the conveyor belt from stopping? Can that person keep the performance going? But a digital way of thinking, a digital shift when you go from performance to more engagement based thinking is you're wondering, Hey, how can we create good content that students want to engage with? Nick Clason (08:48): Which is why I link right down below or right up here on the screen, whichever one, I'm not sure if I've used my card yet or not in this video, but every youth ministry needs a good digital presence. It's my full YouTube strategy. It's my full social media strategy. It's the one that's tied to my ebook. It's the video explaining the ebook if you want to go check that out. Again, I don't have all the answers. It's just my way to sort of attempt to try and engage more with our students who are different, who are digital thinkers, who are Gen Z and coming quick behind them, generation alpha. The third shift is we need to switch from a value of quantity to a value of community, an industrial way of thinking. We are entirely built in most churches for quantity. Think about it. If you have a church with auditorium style seating, the goal of that room is to get the most amount of quantity of people in to listen to one captivating speaker, wax eloquent for a week, and listen, honestly, no shade thrown. Nick Clason (09:48): Most pastors, you're really good at your job, you're good at crafting sermons and you're good at delivering sermons, but the fact of the matter is, while you may be awesome at it, that's just not what's as highly valued in our world, especially in the world of digital. With audio, podcasts, YouTube podcast, people can listen to audio books, sermons. They can listen to the best preachers in the entire world. Again, no offense to you at the drop of a hat, instantly binging them, never actually running out of content. That's how accessible all of this stuff is, and so when people come to church, they don't want to just be another number kind of filtered into the auditorium to look at the back of someone's seat. That's why I believe link down below in the show notes. In this episode, we talked about why churches are dying. Nick Clason (10:32): I think churches are not adapting to the new issues and the new way of thinking that this next generation is so adamant about, and again, that generation, this next generation, this digital way of generation, they're not looking for a room to come and consume some more content. They're looking for community. And so if our rooms are built for quantity, thus they're not then built at least optimally for community. I mean, I know I worked at a church one time that we had Longwood ews and they were bolted to the ground. We couldn't do anything about those things, and even if they weren't bolted to the ground, they were heavy as sin. Man, I could not lift one of those things because once we finally did try to lift them, I was like, dang, who got these in here? It's like a five man job. The goal was get these things in here, never to be moved again. Nick Clason (11:22): This room is for one purpose and one purpose only, and the purpose that most younger people are looking for is not that. A dangerous way I believe of thinking is that we often value a Christian culture more than the Christ of the culture, and so therefore, I believe that what we're trying to do is we're trying to force people into a way of thinking, and when community trump's performance, we actually get a messy, authentic, real interaction with other believers who love Jesus and are trying to pursue and follow him. And so in a digital way of thinking, I think people who value community are looking for asking questions like, where do I belong? And are these people at my church? Are they my people? The students, they're asking those questions and they may, like we said in our last video and this masterclass in video two, this is not video three, they may be asking, are these people my people? Nick Clason (12:15): And they may be coming to your youth ministry, and just because they're there doesn't necessarily mean that they're engaging in religious practice. And it also doesn't necessarily mean that they're there because they want to be, because almost 50% of no, it's 65% of students come to church with at least one parent. That's where they're coming to church. They're not coming to church. They love God. They're not coming to church. They love you. They're not coming to church. They love your youth ministry. They're coming to church. They're coming to church with their parents, but if they can find a real captivating community that they can't say no to, they're not going anywhere. So it's not about what you produce, it's about the community that's available to them. We live now with the very first global generation. Students spend on average, shockingly five to eight hours on their phones screens per day. Nick Clason (13:06): The church world was built for consumers, and what's happening now is in that generation what's being internalized, they want to find a place to externalize it. And so one of the ideas that I have, again, I don't have all the answers, I don't know if this is a good idea or not. We did it in our space. It seemed to work well. It's a hybrid event. It's called the World's Greatest Donut, completely free event guide right here. You can click it, and it's just an opportunity to engage with students beyond your program times because I think a lot of times what we try to do is we try to get as many people, as much quantity into a room and call that success. What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to expand the relationship beyond just the one time per week, and that's what this event is all built on. Nick Clason (13:46): It's a one-time event for an in-person event, however it lives on for an entire month. Not only live in the room, but it also lives live on your social media. That's the in-person versus the digital creating a hybrid moment together. Hey, the ultimate tool that I teased at the beginning of this video is, and I've already said it, it's my ebook. It's my full digital strategy. The fact is I don't have it all together, but the way in which you can utilize that is you have to become a master of your time, which is a video that's linked right here on the screen. It was a couple of videos ago, and the next video in this playlist is how to implement a good social media strategy where you're not simply just posting announcements. Click either one of those and we would love to see you on the other side. And as always, my friends stay hybrid. 2024 Church Attendance, Hybrid Ministry, Youth Ministry, Youth Group, Youth Group Attendance, Student Ministry, Student Ministry Attendance, Generation Alpha Attendance at Church, Church Attendance, How to Grow my Youth Group in 2024, Church Attendance Trends, Church Growth, Youth Ministry Growth, Student Ministry Growth, Church Ministry, Youth Pastor, Youth Pastor Coach ⚡ [FREE] Crush Social Media This New Year ⚡

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========================================

DESCRIPTION
📈 How do we get more people to show up to our events?
How do we grow our group?
How do we attract and retain teens?

57% of American Church Goers, according to Pew Research, don’t even attend church once a month!!

👌In this episode we’re going to explore 3 key shifts in our thinking
⚙️And I have the ultimate tool to accessing and resourcing people/students in the digital age.

Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg

========================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/079

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/EzhYluEKZ_I

SHIFT #1 FROM PRODUCTION TO ACCESS
//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utm_source=adaptivemailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&org=982&lvl=100&ite=9703&lea=2048393&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae

//TERRY PARKMAN
https://www.terryparkman.com/

//GEN ALPHA DATA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo

//PRO CHURCH TOOLS
https://prochurchtools.com/

//FULL DIGITAL STRATEGY
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

SHIFT #2 FROM PERFORMANCE TO ENGAGEMENT

//EVERY YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A GOOD DIGITAL PRESENCE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDxepdu4iiM

SHIFT #3 FROM QUANTITY TO COMMUNITY

//THE QUESTIONS OF BELONGING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo

//WORLD'S GREATEST DONUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ryhkIRyDb4

//MASTER YOUR TIME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🎅 "The Ultimate (and FREE!) Christmas Party Gude"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/christmas-party-run-sheet
PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

========================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-01:21 Event Coordinator? Or Disciple-Maker?
01:21-07:18 SHIFT #1 from PRODUCTION to ACCESS
07:18-09:20 SHIFT #2 from PERFORMANCE to ENGAGEMENT
09:20-16:14 SHIFT #3 from QUANTITY to COMMUNITY

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Youth pastors. How do we get more people to show up to our events? How do we grow the size of our youth groups? How do we attract and retain teenagers? See, all these questions are common questions. They're things that we're all facing at least at some level. And regardless of if you think that the attendance debate matters or not, we talked about it in our very last video linked up here in our playlist, in our youth ministry 2024 masterclass that we are going through completely free all here online on YouTube. Love to have you subscribe, check it out, and make sure you don't miss another one. We talked about the church attendance conundrum because 54% of American Christians are not attending church according to Pew Research at least one time per month. So in this episode, I want to talk to you about three key shifts that are going to help us reach the next generation as we explore this question.

Nick Clason (00:50):
Are we in the event making business or are we in the disciple making business? And I also have the ultimate tool that I believe can help you become more accessible in resourcing both your people and your students in this new found digital age. Like I said, we'd love to have you subscribe, like leave a comment, leave a rating, leave a review. All of those things help us get found and make sure that you can get the very next episode as soon as it drops episode 80 in our 2024 Youth Ministry masterclass. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, everyone, my name's Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in DFW Dallas Fort Worth. Been in youth ministry now being January of 2024. Mark's my 13th year in youth ministry and I've most recently went to a conference with the Gen Z guru himself. Terry Parkman. If you don't know Terry, he's amazing, but he talked about some of these shifts, so I just want to kind of elaborate on them and kick some of them around a little bit more.

Nick Clason (01:46):
But he talked about the difference that Generation Z and now subsequently generation Alpha, who if you didn't see in our last episode, we classified them being born somewhere between 2010 and 2018, probably more than 2012 rage, which is what Pew research kind of settles on as the origin date of generation alpha. Nonetheless, Terry Parkman specifically talking about Gen Z, talks about the shift in thinking from Gen Z who thinks more in a digital age, digital mindset versus all of US millennials and older Gen x boomers and so on and so forth, who are more raised in a industrial aged way of thinking and industrial age way frankly of living. And so what the first shift that is important that he talks about is we need to shift from an industrial minded way of production, which is an industrial value to one of access. The way that we talk about it is just simply build access points onto your ministry, so an industrial way of thinking and the production value production kind of mindset.

Nick Clason (02:54):
Think about seeker style churches back in the early nineties or early two thousands where you may open with a secular song, one that's familiar, one that's relatable. You may try to go for relevant lighting, you may really try to put the entire screws down on the production, the value of how important production is, and that a really well-produced thing will draw out consumers, it's almost like the mentality if we build it, they will come. It also comes down to simply how much can we produce the amount of production value that we can add? The more production value that we can add, the better, the greater, the higher the number, the more that we can produce, the more that we can attract. That's an industrial way of thinking. Meanwhile, a digital way of thinking, they don't necessarily Gen Z Gen and Alpha and the generations that are coming on behind, they don't necessarily want those things.

Nick Clason (03:49):
They're looking more for access. They're wondering, do I fit here? Can I gain access to this place and how can I let my gifts be utilized and flourish and shine here? Honestly, one of my number one pet peeves in churches is when we from a volunteer aspect say things like, we need you to do our job. That is not enticing in any way, shape, or form, and it's especially not enticing to the next generation. What I think they otherwise might more importantly, more interestingly want to hear is, Hey, we want you to shine here and how can we partner with you to make a difference in this world? It goes from US centric to them centric, and I get it. I'm hearing you scream on the other side, but that's not what a disciple of Jesus does. Correct. However, how are we ever going to be relevant and make any sort of inroads with the next generation?

Nick Clason (04:46):
If the way in which we posture ourselves is fundamentally and vehemently different than them, are we asking them to acquiesce to us as opposed to us finding ways that it's not that big of a deal to make a subtle shift? Because in the same way, we can still ask Gen Z and Gen Alpha to serve, we are just making it them centric instead of US centric. And again, you might be screaming that they shouldn't be them centric, but isn't it just as Unbiblical and Christlike for us to be US centric, organization centric, pastor centric in the land of access points. Our church right now, honestly, probably right now as I'm recording this on a random night in December, we have these things, these events, and they're amazing and they get talked about and they get promoted and they're all over social, and someone asked me how do I sign up for it and do you know what?

Nick Clason (05:37):
I said? I work there at the church, I don't actually have anything to do with it, and obviously I'm not there right now. I said, I have no idea. We have these events. There's sort of this lore about them, but how to actually access it. It's confusing, and I frankly haven't tried, so that's probably on me, but point of it is, is your church accessible? How easy to navigate is your website. I love what Brady Sheer and all of them at Pro Church Tools up in Canada say all the time and say, make your website, be a one stop shop. Don't for one thing, go sign up via the bulletin for the other thing. Send an email for the third thing, head to the website and for the fourth thing, find someone in the lobby. You never know what to do, where to go, and so only the most loyal and only the person with the most headstrong sort of stubbornness is going to ever actually find anything out.

Nick Clason (06:29):
Anybody else who comes upon any sort of roadblock or opposition, all of a sudden it's just really easy for them to crumble. And here's the fact, I don't believe I have all the answers, but one of the ways in which we are trying to create more access points in our ministry is through our digital strategy, which I have completely laid out in my 100% completely free ebook free for you. Grab the link, go download it. All I need is your name. All I need is your email and that's it. It's yours to use. It's my strategy that I've used to grow YouTube channel in a year from zero subscribers all the way up to almost 400 subscribers. It might be even past 400 by the time that this video actually drops, it's completely laid out. It's basically my social media masterclass and guess what I gave it and I'm giving it to you for free, and I would love to encourage you to just grab it, try it, implement it, and check it all out.

Nick Clason (07:18):
Shift number two is we need to shift from performance based and industrial way of thinking to more engagement based. So if you think about an industrial way of thinking where performance is king, think about the best, the prettiest, the nicest, the smelliest people on stage with a good swath of diversity and all those things, or just even in youth ministry, we've all sort of had the basis of like, let's just have some fun, and if the kids have fun, then they'll definitely want to come back. If we perform really well for them and we don't screw up, then they'll be like, man, that place was so good. I just want to come back. That's an industrial way of thinking, and here's the problem. If you are a youth pastor and you're my age or you're a millennial, that's the way that you think because that's the way and that's the age in which you were raised in.

Nick Clason (08:03):
To think that that's what is valued, but the next generation that's more in a digital age, they're not worried about performance. They want to know, am I able to engage with this? When it's all about performance, think about a conveyor belt and a factory. The way that that goes is if there's a certain part in the conveyor belt that's causing a backup, what do we do? We just stick another person in there. We don't care what that person does, who that person is, what that person can do for us or our organization. We just want to know, can that person keep the conveyor belt from stopping? Can that person keep the performance going? But a digital way of thinking, a digital shift when you go from performance to more engagement based thinking is you're wondering, Hey, how can we create good content that students want to engage with?

Nick Clason (08:48):
Which is why I link right down below or right up here on the screen, whichever one, I'm not sure if I've used my card yet or not in this video, but every youth ministry needs a good digital presence. It's my full YouTube strategy. It's my full social media strategy. It's the one that's tied to my ebook. It's the video explaining the ebook if you want to go check that out. Again, I don't have all the answers. It's just my way to sort of attempt to try and engage more with our students who are different, who are digital thinkers, who are Gen Z and coming quick behind them, generation alpha. The third shift is we need to switch from a value of quantity to a value of community, an industrial way of thinking. We are entirely built in most churches for quantity. Think about it. If you have a church with auditorium style seating, the goal of that room is to get the most amount of quantity of people in to listen to one captivating speaker, wax eloquent for a week, and listen, honestly, no shade thrown.

Nick Clason (09:48):
Most pastors, you're really good at your job, you're good at crafting sermons and you're good at delivering sermons, but the fact of the matter is, while you may be awesome at it, that's just not what's as highly valued in our world, especially in the world of digital. With audio, podcasts, YouTube podcast, people can listen to audio books, sermons. They can listen to the best preachers in the entire world. Again, no offense to you at the drop of a hat, instantly binging them, never actually running out of content. That's how accessible all of this stuff is, and so when people come to church, they don't want to just be another number kind of filtered into the auditorium to look at the back of someone's seat. That's why I believe link down below in the show notes. In this episode, we talked about why churches are dying.

Nick Clason (10:32):
I think churches are not adapting to the new issues and the new way of thinking that this next generation is so adamant about, and again, that generation, this next generation, this digital way of generation, they're not looking for a room to come and consume some more content. They're looking for community. And so if our rooms are built for quantity, thus they're not then built at least optimally for community. I mean, I know I worked at a church one time that we had Longwood ews and they were bolted to the ground. We couldn't do anything about those things, and even if they weren't bolted to the ground, they were heavy as sin. Man, I could not lift one of those things because once we finally did try to lift them, I was like, dang, who got these in here? It's like a five man job. The goal was get these things in here, never to be moved again.

Nick Clason (11:22):
This room is for one purpose and one purpose only, and the purpose that most younger people are looking for is not that. A dangerous way I believe of thinking is that we often value a Christian culture more than the Christ of the culture, and so therefore, I believe that what we're trying to do is we're trying to force people into a way of thinking, and when community trump's performance, we actually get a messy, authentic, real interaction with other believers who love Jesus and are trying to pursue and follow him. And so in a digital way of thinking, I think people who value community are looking for asking questions like, where do I belong? And are these people at my church? Are they my people? The students, they're asking those questions and they may, like we said in our last video and this masterclass in video two, this is not video three, they may be asking, are these people my people?

Nick Clason (12:15):
And they may be coming to your youth ministry, and just because they're there doesn't necessarily mean that they're engaging in religious practice. And it also doesn't necessarily mean that they're there because they want to be, because almost 50% of no, it's 65% of students come to church with at least one parent. That's where they're coming to church. They're not coming to church. They love God. They're not coming to church. They love you. They're not coming to church. They love your youth ministry. They're coming to church. They're coming to church with their parents, but if they can find a real captivating community that they can't say no to, they're not going anywhere. So it's not about what you produce, it's about the community that's available to them. We live now with the very first global generation. Students spend on average, shockingly five to eight hours on their phones screens per day.

Nick Clason (13:06):
The church world was built for consumers, and what's happening now is in that generation what's being internalized, they want to find a place to externalize it. And so one of the ideas that I have, again, I don't have all the answers, I don't know if this is a good idea or not. We did it in our space. It seemed to work well. It's a hybrid event. It's called the World's Greatest Donut, completely free event guide right here. You can click it, and it's just an opportunity to engage with students beyond your program times because I think a lot of times what we try to do is we try to get as many people, as much quantity into a room and call that success. What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to expand the relationship beyond just the one time per week, and that's what this event is all built on.

Nick Clason (13:46):
It's a one-time event for an in-person event, however it lives on for an entire month. Not only live in the room, but it also lives live on your social media. That's the in-person versus the digital creating a hybrid moment together. Hey, the ultimate tool that I teased at the beginning of this video is, and I've already said it, it's my ebook. It's my full digital strategy. The fact is I don't have it all together, but the way in which you can utilize that is you have to become a master of your time, which is a video that's linked right here on the screen. It was a couple of videos ago, and the next video in this playlist is how to implement a good social media strategy where you're not simply just posting announcements. Click either one of those and we would love to see you on the other side. And as always, my friends stay hybrid.

]]> ⚡ [FREE] Crush Social Media This New Year ⚡

📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

2024 [FREE] Youth Ministry Masterclass on YouTube:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg

========================================

DESCRIPTION
📈 How do we get more people to show up to our events?
How do we grow our group?
How do we attract and retain teens?

57% of American Church Goers, according to Pew Research, don’t even attend church once a month!!

👌In this episode we’re going to explore 3 key shifts in our thinking
⚙️And I have the ultimate tool to accessing and resourcing people/students in the digital age.

Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg

========================================
📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/079

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/EzhYluEKZ_I

SHIFT #1 FROM PRODUCTION TO ACCESS
//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utm_source=adaptivemailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&org=982&lvl=100&ite=9703&lea=2048393&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae

//TERRY PARKMAN
https://www.terryparkman.com/

//GEN ALPHA DATA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo

//PRO CHURCH TOOLS
https://prochurchtools.com/

//FULL DIGITAL STRATEGY
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

SHIFT #2 FROM PERFORMANCE TO ENGAGEMENT

//EVERY YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A GOOD DIGITAL PRESENCE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SDxepdu4iiM

SHIFT #3 FROM QUANTITY TO COMMUNITY

//THE QUESTIONS OF BELONGING
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHpeDaLS3oo

//WORLD'S GREATEST DONUT
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ryhkIRyDb4

//MASTER YOUR TIME
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🎅 "The Ultimate (and FREE!) Christmas Party Gude"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/christmas-party-run-sheet
PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

========================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-01:21 Event Coordinator? Or Disciple-Maker?
01:21-07:18 SHIFT #1 from PRODUCTION to ACCESS
07:18-09:20 SHIFT #2 from PERFORMANCE to ENGAGEMENT
09:20-16:14 SHIFT #3 from QUANTITY to COMMUNITY

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Youth pastors. How do we get more people to show up to our events? How do we grow the size of our youth groups? How do we attract and retain teenagers? See, all these questions are common questions. They're things that we're all facing at least at some level. And regardless of if you think that the attendance debate matters or not, we talked about it in our very last video linked up here in our playlist, in our youth ministry 2024 masterclass that we are going through completely free all here online on YouTube. Love to have you subscribe, check it out, and make sure you don't miss another one. We talked about the church attendance conundrum because 54% of American Christians are not attending church according to Pew Research at least one time per month. So in this episode, I want to talk to you about three key shifts that are going to help us reach the next generation as we explore this question.

Nick Clason (00:50):
Are we in the event making business or are we in the disciple making business? And I also have the ultimate tool that I believe can help you become more accessible in resourcing both your people and your students in this new found digital age. Like I said, we'd love to have you subscribe, like leave a comment, leave a rating, leave a review. All of those things help us get found and make sure that you can get the very next episode as soon as it drops episode 80 in our 2024 Youth Ministry masterclass. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, everyone, my name's Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in DFW Dallas Fort Worth. Been in youth ministry now being January of 2024. Mark's my 13th year in youth ministry and I've most recently went to a conference with the Gen Z guru himself. Terry Parkman. If you don't know Terry, he's amazing, but he talked about some of these shifts, so I just want to kind of elaborate on them and kick some of them around a little bit more.

Nick Clason (01:46):
But he talked about the difference that Generation Z and now subsequently generation Alpha, who if you didn't see in our last episode, we classified them being born somewhere between 2010 and 2018, probably more than 2012 rage, which is what Pew research kind of settles on as the origin date of generation alpha. Nonetheless, Terry Parkman specifically talking about Gen Z, talks about the shift in thinking from Gen Z who thinks more in a digital age, digital mindset versus all of US millennials and older Gen x boomers and so on and so forth, who are more raised in a industrial aged way of thinking and industrial age way frankly of living. And so what the first shift that is important that he talks about is we need to shift from an industrial minded way of production, which is an industrial value to one of access. The way that we talk about it is just simply build access points onto your ministry, so an industrial way of thinking and the production value production kind of mindset.

Nick Clason (02:54):
Think about seeker style churches back in the early nineties or early two thousands where you may open with a secular song, one that's familiar, one that's relatable. You may try to go for relevant lighting, you may really try to put the entire screws down on the production, the value of how important production is, and that a really well-produced thing will draw out consumers, it's almost like the mentality if we build it, they will come. It also comes down to simply how much can we produce the amount of production value that we can add? The more production value that we can add, the better, the greater, the higher the number, the more that we can produce, the more that we can attract. That's an industrial way of thinking. Meanwhile, a digital way of thinking, they don't necessarily Gen Z Gen and Alpha and the generations that are coming on behind, they don't necessarily want those things.

Nick Clason (03:49):
They're looking more for access. They're wondering, do I fit here? Can I gain access to this place and how can I let my gifts be utilized and flourish and shine here? Honestly, one of my number one pet peeves in churches is when we from a volunteer aspect say things like, we need you to do our job. That is not enticing in any way, shape, or form, and it's especially not enticing to the next generation. What I think they otherwise might more importantly, more interestingly want to hear is, Hey, we want you to shine here and how can we partner with you to make a difference in this world? It goes from US centric to them centric, and I get it. I'm hearing you scream on the other side, but that's not what a disciple of Jesus does. Correct. However, how are we ever going to be relevant and make any sort of inroads with the next generation?

Nick Clason (04:46):
If the way in which we posture ourselves is fundamentally and vehemently different than them, are we asking them to acquiesce to us as opposed to us finding ways that it's not that big of a deal to make a subtle shift? Because in the same way, we can still ask Gen Z and Gen Alpha to serve, we are just making it them centric instead of US centric. And again, you might be screaming that they shouldn't be them centric, but isn't it just as Unbiblical and Christlike for us to be US centric, organization centric, pastor centric in the land of access points. Our church right now, honestly, probably right now as I'm recording this on a random night in December, we have these things, these events, and they're amazing and they get talked about and they get promoted and they're all over social, and someone asked me how do I sign up for it and do you know what?

Nick Clason (05:37):
I said? I work there at the church, I don't actually have anything to do with it, and obviously I'm not there right now. I said, I have no idea. We have these events. There's sort of this lore about them, but how to actually access it. It's confusing, and I frankly haven't tried, so that's probably on me, but point of it is, is your church accessible? How easy to navigate is your website. I love what Brady Sheer and all of them at Pro Church Tools up in Canada say all the time and say, make your website, be a one stop shop. Don't for one thing, go sign up via the bulletin for the other thing. Send an email for the third thing, head to the website and for the fourth thing, find someone in the lobby. You never know what to do, where to go, and so only the most loyal and only the person with the most headstrong sort of stubbornness is going to ever actually find anything out.

Nick Clason (06:29):
Anybody else who comes upon any sort of roadblock or opposition, all of a sudden it's just really easy for them to crumble. And here's the fact, I don't believe I have all the answers, but one of the ways in which we are trying to create more access points in our ministry is through our digital strategy, which I have completely laid out in my 100% completely free ebook free for you. Grab the link, go download it. All I need is your name. All I need is your email and that's it. It's yours to use. It's my strategy that I've used to grow YouTube channel in a year from zero subscribers all the way up to almost 400 subscribers. It might be even past 400 by the time that this video actually drops, it's completely laid out. It's basically my social media masterclass and guess what I gave it and I'm giving it to you for free, and I would love to encourage you to just grab it, try it, implement it, and check it all out.

Nick Clason (07:18):
Shift number two is we need to shift from performance based and industrial way of thinking to more engagement based. So if you think about an industrial way of thinking where performance is king, think about the best, the prettiest, the nicest, the smelliest people on stage with a good swath of diversity and all those things, or just even in youth ministry, we've all sort of had the basis of like, let's just have some fun, and if the kids have fun, then they'll definitely want to come back. If we perform really well for them and we don't screw up, then they'll be like, man, that place was so good. I just want to come back. That's an industrial way of thinking, and here's the problem. If you are a youth pastor and you're my age or you're a millennial, that's the way that you think because that's the way and that's the age in which you were raised in.

Nick Clason (08:03):
To think that that's what is valued, but the next generation that's more in a digital age, they're not worried about performance. They want to know, am I able to engage with this? When it's all about performance, think about a conveyor belt and a factory. The way that that goes is if there's a certain part in the conveyor belt that's causing a backup, what do we do? We just stick another person in there. We don't care what that person does, who that person is, what that person can do for us or our organization. We just want to know, can that person keep the conveyor belt from stopping? Can that person keep the performance going? But a digital way of thinking, a digital shift when you go from performance to more engagement based thinking is you're wondering, Hey, how can we create good content that students want to engage with?

Nick Clason (08:48):
Which is why I link right down below or right up here on the screen, whichever one, I'm not sure if I've used my card yet or not in this video, but every youth ministry needs a good digital presence. It's my full YouTube strategy. It's my full social media strategy. It's the one that's tied to my ebook. It's the video explaining the ebook if you want to go check that out. Again, I don't have all the answers. It's just my way to sort of attempt to try and engage more with our students who are different, who are digital thinkers, who are Gen Z and coming quick behind them, generation alpha. The third shift is we need to switch from a value of quantity to a value of community, an industrial way of thinking. We are entirely built in most churches for quantity. Think about it. If you have a church with auditorium style seating, the goal of that room is to get the most amount of quantity of people in to listen to one captivating speaker, wax eloquent for a week, and listen, honestly, no shade thrown.

Nick Clason (09:48):
Most pastors, you're really good at your job, you're good at crafting sermons and you're good at delivering sermons, but the fact of the matter is, while you may be awesome at it, that's just not what's as highly valued in our world, especially in the world of digital. With audio, podcasts, YouTube podcast, people can listen to audio books, sermons. They can listen to the best preachers in the entire world. Again, no offense to you at the drop of a hat, instantly binging them, never actually running out of content. That's how accessible all of this stuff is, and so when people come to church, they don't want to just be another number kind of filtered into the auditorium to look at the back of someone's seat. That's why I believe link down below in the show notes. In this episode, we talked about why churches are dying.

Nick Clason (10:32):
I think churches are not adapting to the new issues and the new way of thinking that this next generation is so adamant about, and again, that generation, this next generation, this digital way of generation, they're not looking for a room to come and consume some more content. They're looking for community. And so if our rooms are built for quantity, thus they're not then built at least optimally for community. I mean, I know I worked at a church one time that we had Longwood ews and they were bolted to the ground. We couldn't do anything about those things, and even if they weren't bolted to the ground, they were heavy as sin. Man, I could not lift one of those things because once we finally did try to lift them, I was like, dang, who got these in here? It's like a five man job. The goal was get these things in here, never to be moved again.

Nick Clason (11:22):
This room is for one purpose and one purpose only, and the purpose that most younger people are looking for is not that. A dangerous way I believe of thinking is that we often value a Christian culture more than the Christ of the culture, and so therefore, I believe that what we're trying to do is we're trying to force people into a way of thinking, and when community trump's performance, we actually get a messy, authentic, real interaction with other believers who love Jesus and are trying to pursue and follow him. And so in a digital way of thinking, I think people who value community are looking for asking questions like, where do I belong? And are these people at my church? Are they my people? The students, they're asking those questions and they may, like we said in our last video and this masterclass in video two, this is not video three, they may be asking, are these people my people?

Nick Clason (12:15):
And they may be coming to your youth ministry, and just because they're there doesn't necessarily mean that they're engaging in religious practice. And it also doesn't necessarily mean that they're there because they want to be, because almost 50% of no, it's 65% of students come to church with at least one parent. That's where they're coming to church. They're not coming to church. They love God. They're not coming to church. They love you. They're not coming to church. They love your youth ministry. They're coming to church. They're coming to church with their parents, but if they can find a real captivating community that they can't say no to, they're not going anywhere. So it's not about what you produce, it's about the community that's available to them. We live now with the very first global generation. Students spend on average, shockingly five to eight hours on their phones screens per day.

Nick Clason (13:06):
The church world was built for consumers, and what's happening now is in that generation what's being internalized, they want to find a place to externalize it. And so one of the ideas that I have, again, I don't have all the answers, I don't know if this is a good idea or not. We did it in our space. It seemed to work well. It's a hybrid event. It's called the World's Greatest Donut, completely free event guide right here. You can click it, and it's just an opportunity to engage with students beyond your program times because I think a lot of times what we try to do is we try to get as many people, as much quantity into a room and call that success. What I'm trying to do is I'm trying to expand the relationship beyond just the one time per week, and that's what this event is all built on.

Nick Clason (13:46):
It's a one-time event for an in-person event, however it lives on for an entire month. Not only live in the room, but it also lives live on your social media. That's the in-person versus the digital creating a hybrid moment together. Hey, the ultimate tool that I teased at the beginning of this video is, and I've already said it, it's my ebook. It's my full digital strategy. The fact is I don't have it all together, but the way in which you can utilize that is you have to become a master of your time, which is a video that's linked right here on the screen. It was a couple of videos ago, and the next video in this playlist is how to implement a good social media strategy where you're not simply just posting announcements. Click either one of those and we would love to see you on the other side. And as always, my friends stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 078: 📈 Youth Group Growth: Reaching Gen Z & Gen Alpha https://www.hybridministry.xyz/078 f04a3693-e236-4113-9f75-42c655a4d0c6 Thu, 04 Jan 2024 04:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 078 📈 Youth Group Growth: Reaching Gen Z & Gen Alpha full Nick Clason 📈 Youth Ministry Growth and Attendance 🔢 Do number really matter? 😤 It’s an agonizing pursuit that all of us as youth pastors and leaders are constantly feel the tension. Data suggests that church attendance is going down. Which means we have our work cut out for us as youth pastors. How do we reach Generation Z or Generation Alpha students? Especially in light of this new reality? 16:22 no ⚡ [FREE] Social Media Mastery Awaits! Get Your Hands on Our Free One-Month Ebook ⚡ 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 2024 [FREE] Youth Ministry Masterclass on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLIJceFHg7w8vxlx5ARqXeg Try Sidekick Beta!! https://app.sidekick.tv/auth/create?code=NickClason ======================================== DESCRIPTION 📈 Youth Ministry Growth and Attendance 🔢 Do number really matter? 😤 It’s an agonizing pursuit that all of us as youth pastors and leaders are constantly feel the tension. Whether we buy into the debate or not, pressure is real. Maybe pressure from your senior pastor Maybe pressure from other parents Maybe even pressure from yourself And furthermore, according to Pew Research, one in five church goeers in 2022 participated in virtual church once a month. However, 57% did not attend in person or watch online per month. Not just anyone in general.. But Americans who TYPICALLY attend services. How do we reach Generation Z or Generation Alpha students? Especially in light of this new reality? Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube ======================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 🎅 "The Ultimate (and FREE!) Christmas Party Gude" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/christmas-party-run-sheet PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips 🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide" GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut 😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook 📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers" https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis ======================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //BEST DYM RESOURCES https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/078 //YOUTUBE VIDEO https://youtu.be/BHpeDaLS3oo //PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utmsource=adaptivemailer&amp;utmmedium=email&amp;utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&amp;org=982&amp;lvl=100&amp;ite=9703&amp;lea=2048393&amp;ctr=0&amp;par=1&amp;trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae //DATA ON GEN ALPHA https://explodingtopics.com/blog/generation-alpha-guide //DR. ELMORE'S BOOK https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Unfiltered-Challenges-Anxious-Population-ebook/dp/B07YQ9XT8N/ref=sr12?hvadid=580669290679&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvlocphy=9027211&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvqmt=e&amp;hvrand=8887138684661202423&amp;hvtargid=kwd-831658052586&amp;hydadcr=24309_13537702&amp;keywords=gen+z+unfiltered&amp;qid=1701783263&amp;sr=8-2 //TEEN CHURCH ATTENDANCE PATTERNS https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2020/09/10/u-s-teens-take-after-their-parents-religiously-attend-services-together-and-enjoy-family-rituals/ //TEENS AND THEIR PARENTS https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/10/10-key-findings-about-the-religious-lives-of-u-s-teens-and-their-parents/ //4 CHAIR DISCIPLING https://www.amazon.com/Chair-Discipling-What-Jesus-Calls/dp/0802418813/ref=ascdf0802418813/?tag=hyprod-20&amp;linkCode=df0&amp;hvadid=266167140404&amp;hvpos=&amp;hvnetw=g&amp;hvrand=13879828523234723627&amp;hvpone=&amp;hvptwo=&amp;hvqmt=&amp;hvdev=c&amp;hvdvcmdl=&amp;hvlocint=&amp;hvlocphy=9027211&amp;hvtargid=pla-557460291481&amp;psc=1&amp;mcid=c72abb3a6997315793653dc9cbd8d965&amp;gclid=CjwKCAiApuCrBhAuEiwA8VJ6Jry6x6cwpQRcpt1hnTOOVAIdS6r9rmBPSQleT8QwxqgYzqAeu6RyuBoCFo4QAvD_BwE //GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID STRATEGY https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00-02:05 Do numbers matter? 02:05-05:30 Who are Generation Z and Generation Alpha? 05:30-07:13 Attendance Finding 1: Teens share religion with parents 07:13-10:48 Attendance Finding 2: Teens go to service, but don't engage in religious practices 10:48-16:22 Attendance Finding 3: Teens attend church with one or both of their parents ✍️TRANSCRIPT Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa Nick Clason (00:00): Youth ministry growth in attendance in the age old Questions do numbers really matter? Here's what I know. I was one time called by a church that said, Hey, just a couple weeks ago in our church of multiple thousands, we've had only eight students show up. So whether you buy into the debate or not, the pressure is always there. Maybe pressure from your senior pastor, maybe pressure from youth parents, maybe even internal pressure that you just put on yourself. And what's even crazier is according to Pew Research, one in five, churchgoers back in 2022, participated in a virtual church service at least one time, which is a good thing. I mean, heck, we're in the hybrid ministry podcast, you know what I'm saying? However, 57% did not attend church in person or watch online during the course of at least one month, which means greater than 50%, not just of anyone in general of churchgoers are not typically attending church services. Nick Clason (01:05): So how in the world with that as the framework for church attendance and the way that youth ministry attendance is going, how in the world do we even reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha students, especially in light of this brand new reality? We're going to be sharing in this episode three key findings about teens and their attendance trends. And furthermore, I'm going to share with you one way that I as a youth pastor am shifting my thinking and maybe you can also shift your thinking about reaching this next generation. And finally, I have a bonus tip that I think is going to actually be the number one game changer in this entire conversation. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. You're in youth ministry, or if you're just a church leader and you're at least overseeing at some level some capacity, generation Z generation alpha, it's important because we're talking about youth group attendance and it's important to understand who we're actually talking about. Nick Clason (02:01): So Generation Z and Generation Alpha are kind of the two generations in play in this conversation. In fact, I have a video linked at the top of the screen. Go ahead and check it out where we did a deep dive into Generation Alpha and started to explore them. And quite frankly, it's one of the only videos I know that's out there about Generation Alpha. The data is still really new and still really young because the fact of the matter is that according to exploding topics.com link in the description, if you're watching on YouTube, you might be able to see some of these things online. If you're not watching on YouTube, you should definitely check that out. But Gen Alpha is made up of people born between 2010 and 2025. Wait, what? 2025? Yeah, you heard that, right? They're not even born yet. Okay. And so the fact of the matter is that that data actually is in opposition to some other experts such as Tim Elmore, who by the way, I have a chart right here on screen. Nick Clason (02:53): Again, if you're not watching on YouTube, go grab it or link in the show notes. It's from his book, generation Z Unfiltered, the Nine Hidden Challenges of Facing the Most Anxious Population of All Time. This chart is absolute goal, but you'll notice that he draws the line for the end of generation Z at 2018. So we have exploding topics at 2010. We have Tim Elmore at 2018, all of that to be said, Elmore's book is a little bit dated, and so I think that more research and just time we've honed in a little bit and gotten a little bit closer. And so while this chart is gold, you should definitely look at it and inspect it and learn a little bit more. Elmore doesn't talk about Gen Alpha. They're not on his radar yet when he wrote the book. And so according to this chart, pew research draws the line for Gen Alpha at 2012. Nick Clason (03:40): But again, the reason why any of this matters, not to bog you down with dates and things like that is that if you're a youth pastor or if you're in church leadership, what you need to understand is that the conversation we're having is like, do we take Elmore's date or do we take Pew Research's Day or do we take exploding topics day? Whatever it is, the reason this matters is because this is a difference between is that kid in kid's ministry or is that kid in youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z. The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have is going to be freshmen, sophomores in high school, and now after that they're waving on up, they're in college already and they are entering the workforce. Nick Clason (04:23): So if you are not a youth pastor, but just like a regular pastor listening, no longer is Gen Z, something that the youth pastor needs to try and understand and uncover this matters for you. This is important for you as a pastor. And so if you've gotten value so far out of this video, I would love to encourage you to like and subscribe and hit the notification bell because we're actually in the middle of a series right now, the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass, this is section number two in that class. The rest of them are going to be dropped in the playlist that's linked down below in the description. So if you have not seen every single video, go back and check out video number one. We talked about time management, but without any further ado here, let's dive into the three key findings about Generation Z, generation alpha and church attendance in youth ministry moving forward in 2024 and frankly beyond. Nick Clason (05:12): All right, so the three key findings that are really important to understand about Generation Z and Gen Alpha is a lot of this data pulled from Pew research articles pulled and included in the description, whether you're in a podcast catcher or on YouTube, if you are not watching on YouTube, you will notice that some charts and graphs and stuff like that are going to show up on screen here on YouTube. If you're not watching, you're just listening, you can go grab the link in the show notes at http://www.hybridministry.xyz, and this is episode 78, so slash 0 7 8. But the first key finding that I want to share with you is this is that most teens share the same religious affiliation as their parents, meaning this, your attendance as a youth pastor, youth ministry leader is highly derived from the adult attendance in your church. Nick Clason (06:00): You've probably heard this before, but that's why it's important that we don't have silos. It's just as important for you as a youth pastor to lean in to what is going on in the rest of your church. You can't neglect it, you can't forsake it, and you can't take on a posture of arrogance that what you're doing is better than the rest of the church. Even if you low key think that the fact of the matter is that your youth ministry attendance is highly, highly tied to your adult attendance. So if your church is growing, odds are your youth ministry is growing, and if your church is struggling, odds are your youth ministry might be struggling. The biggest dropoff that you'll notice in this graph here and in this research from Pew is that the biggest dropoff from parents who attend church to teenagers who attend church happens in mainline denominations where the highest proportion is in evangelical churches. Nick Clason (06:53): Key finding. Number two, teens are just as likely as their parents to say that they go to services, but when it comes to more personal forms of religious expression, teens actually appear to be less devout and less religious. I have a stat I want to share with you from my own context, my own anecdotal experience in our church, cross Creek Church located in Colleyville, Texas, we have four parts to a four-part discipleship pathway. So we have explore, which is people who are far from God looking for God or maybe seeking God connect. And so once they've made a decision, cross the line, faith, connect with Jesus, connect with this church, connect with community, grow, grow in your faith, get closer to God, learn to walk with God, learn to invest in a few, learn to multiply. And then finally, the fourth one is a multiplier. Nick Clason (07:38): Someone who is not only making disciples, but making disciples who makes disciples. So we're very christocentric, disciple making, Bible-based church, all that to be said, we explained all of that one day on a Sunday morning to our students and we asked them to self-identify where they would put themselves in the pathway, explore, connect, grow, multiply. We used kind of pulled from one of my favorite books, link in the show notes, Dan Bader's book four chair discipling. So we used four different chairs to illustrate the sections of the pathway. The explorer phase was illustrated by a camping chair because it's really mobile portable. You can get close to church, then you can pull it back away if that's a decision that you want to make. We talked about how the connect chair is actually like a recliner. People tend to get across that line of faith and then get very fat and happy. Nick Clason (08:23): The grow chair is one that's marked by suffering and sacrifice, and so we got the hard metal chair, the one that hurts your butt when you sit in it for a little bit too long. And then finally the multiply phase was illustrated by a couch because the goal of it is to bring people back onto that couch with you, go back down through the pipeline, go back down through the process. So we illustrated that and we asked students to self-identify. We had 40.76 of our students say that they were in the connect phase, the recliner phase, but the overwhelming majority said that they were in 45.2% said that they were in the grow phase. So nearly half of our students self-identified as being in the grow phase where only like 4% said they're in the explore phase, and 9.5 said they were actually all the way in the multiply phase. Nick Clason (09:07): Now we have identifiers in our church metrics that we say if you've done these three or four things, then you are in this phase and you've moved on to the next phase. So we can pull that data on our students as well, but this is just them classifying themselves. I now lead a group of four other guys on a Sunday morning in our grow phase, we have a book that we go through a curriculum, and we just got done with the first book. There's three totals. So we just got done with the first book. It's seven weeks. It's daily reading. I mean it's a high bar. Every single one of them. At the beginning of this time, they said, I read the Bible, I pray I do all this stuff. Now that we've actually been in it, now that the rubber has met the road. Nick Clason (09:49): At the end of this, all of their summarization of it was like, man, this was a lot more than I'm used to. And one of the kids said back to this, teens are just as, they may go to service, but they may not practice religious expression. Part of the problem is they've gone to church so much, and so they know what the right answers are and they know what they should be doing. And so even when you ask them, how do you grow in your faith? What are you doing to grow in your faith? They would answer with the right answers. Well, I pray, read the Bible, but they all admitted at the end of it, you always said that, but we weren't really actually doing it, at least not at this level. So that just bears it out in that key finding. Key finding. Nick Clason (10:29): Number three, most teens report attending religious services with either both at 40% or one 25% of their parents. Again, meaning your attendance is again highly derived from your adult attendance. Again, in my own context, our own experience or Wednesday night, we would mostly say that that's classified under the explore classification. So let's bring outsiders and we probably, we average somewhere south of 45 to 40% of our Sunday morning attendance, which is our second step in our pathway, our connect phase. So I would not say that we have more students in connect than in the explore phase. What I would actually say is that Sunday morning is more convenient and that's when parents, and that's when students are also naturally making Sunday morning or just any church attendance a priority. And so that's the reason why I believe that our attendance is a little bit out of balance between Wednesday night and Sunday morning, and that's not a problem to be solved. Nick Clason (11:29): It's more attention to lean into and be managed, but it really just underscores this point that most teens attend church with either a parent or a single parent, meaning once again, like I said, your students are attending church either with both parents at 40% or one parent at 25%. Again, as much as we think that our programming is so relevant, captivating, so much better than the rest of the church, the reality is our success as youth pastors is often tied to the overall success of the church. However, I do think that there is something that matters and that there is something that we need to focus our mindset to shift a little bit on. So let's dive into that into the next section. All right, so the shift that I believe all of us should consider if 57% of born again claim Christians, self-proclaimed Christians are not attending church online or in person at least one time per month, I think that you and I should consider finding a way to go hybrid. Nick Clason (12:26): And I know you said, Hey, hey, hey, that last stat that said they weren't going online or in person. When I say hybrid, I don't just mean streaming your services. That can be an element of it, but I really believe that's a small portion of a good digital strategy. And again, I hear you. You're like, dude, I don't have time for it, and I get it. It is a lot of work and it's going to require a little bit of time management, thankfully, linked down below, I have this playlist where the last video I talked about good time management, but a good digital hybrid integrated strategy is more than just putting a camera in the back of the room and letting someone watch what's going on in the room. You're not interested in that, frankly, and neither am I. We want something that's made for the internet, something like this, something that's more relational, something that's more direct to camera, maybe something that's a little bit more interactive, but find a way to make it more hybrid. Nick Clason (13:18): Find a way to make it more integrated. I also hear you on the other side, but churches of family church should be about one-on-one relationships, and I agree with that. Full fledge, a hundred percent church about relationships. The best, most dynamic experiences I ever have is when I'm rubbing shoulders or sitting knee to knee with somebody. However, I'll also make the argument that churches are in the content creation and content production business. Think about it. What do you spend the majority of your time on? Programming, message prep, planning, worship services, small group, all things that are content based, and especially pastors, senior pastors, no offense to you, but Sunday morning services are some of the least relational moments in the entire week in the lifecycle of a church. Here's my deal. I'm a youth pastor, so I get in early, I get set up. Sometimes I'm a little bit late because of my setup into church. Nick Clason (14:12): I walk in, I sit down, I sing some songs, I sit down, I stare at the back of someone's head, I listen to a sermon for 30 something minutes. I get up early because I have stuff to do as a youth pastor, to get ready for the student ministry that meets during the last two services of our three service Sunday morning set. I'm not talking to a single human being in that entire service, but what I could do is I could consume all of that digitally. I could listen to it, my headphones on a run. I could listen to that honestly, while I'm across the way in the student building, getting things ready, having the Facebook live stream on in my ears while I'm getting things set up. I'm not saying that I should do that. I'm not saying that that's a recommended strategy, but I am saying the content consumption side, so much of what we're producing content-wise, can be done digitally. Nick Clason (14:57): So as youth pastors, as we're trying to reach Gen Z, as we're trying to reach Gen Alpha, a completely different generation, I wonder if it's worth considering a shift from focusing only on to finding a way to be a little bit more hybrid, which is why I've created this 100% completely free ebook right here on the screen, linked down below in the description. Also, you're going to see that as I bring about this bonus question. This is really the crux of this entire kind of argument. The question is this, are we as youth pastors, are we as youth ministry leaders? Are we in the event business or are we in the disciple making business? And you know what the fact of the matter is, we're actually going to dive even deeper into that question on the screen linked right here. So go ahead and take a look at that. If you're interested in exploring more about my hybrid strategy, that ebook, as well as that episode is linked right here on the screen as well. Hey, check you on the other side. Continue to enjoy this free masterclass, and as always, stay hybrid. 2024 Church Attendance, Hybrid Ministry, Youth Ministry, Youth Group, Youth Group Attendance, Student Ministry, Student Ministry Attendance, Generation Alpha Attendance at Church, Generation Z Attendance at Church, Church Attendance, How to Grow my Youth Group, Church Attendance Trends, Church Attendance Patterns, Church Growth, Youth Ministry Growth, Student Ministry Growth, Church Ministry, Youth Pastor, Youth Pastor Coach ⚡ [FREE] Social Media Mastery Awaits! Get Your Hands on Our Free One-Month Ebook ⚡

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DESCRIPTION
📈 Youth Ministry Growth and Attendance

🔢 Do number really matter?

😤 It’s an agonizing pursuit that all of us as youth pastors and leaders are constantly feel the tension.

Whether we buy into the debate or not, pressure is real.

Maybe pressure from your senior pastor
Maybe pressure from other parents
Maybe even pressure from yourself

And furthermore, according to Pew Research, one in five church goeers in 2022 participated in virtual church once a month.
However, 57% did not attend in person or watch online per month.
Not just anyone in general.. But Americans who TYPICALLY attend services.

How do we reach Generation Z or Generation Alpha students?
Especially in light of this new reality?

Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🎅 "The Ultimate (and FREE!) Christmas Party Gude"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/christmas-party-run-sheet
PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

========================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry

Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/078

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/BHpeDaLS3oo

//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utm_source=adaptivemailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&org=982&lvl=100&ite=9703&lea=2048393&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae

//DATA ON GEN ALPHA
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/generation-alpha-guide

//DR. ELMORE'S BOOK
https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Unfiltered-Challenges-Anxious-Population-ebook/dp/B07YQ9XT8N/ref=sr_1_2?hvadid=580669290679&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9027211&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8887138684661202423&hvtargid=kwd-831658052586&hydadcr=24309_13537702&keywords=gen+z+unfiltered&qid=1701783263&sr=8-2

//TEEN CHURCH ATTENDANCE PATTERNS
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2020/09/10/u-s-teens-take-after-their-parents-religiously-attend-services-together-and-enjoy-family-rituals/

//TEENS AND THEIR PARENTS
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/10/10-key-findings-about-the-religious-lives-of-u-s-teens-and-their-parents/

//4 CHAIR DISCIPLING
https://www.amazon.com/Chair-Discipling-What-Jesus-Calls/dp/0802418813/ref=asc_df_0802418813/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=266167140404&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13879828523234723627&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027211&hvtargid=pla-557460291481&psc=1&mcid=c72abb3a6997315793653dc9cbd8d965&gclid=CjwKCAiApuCrBhAuEiwA8VJ6Jry6x6cwpQRcpt1hnTOOVAIdS6r9rmBPSQleT8QwxqgYzqAeu6RyuBoCFo4QAvD_BwE

//GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID STRATEGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-02:05 Do numbers matter?
02:05-05:30 Who are Generation Z and Generation Alpha?
05:30-07:13 Attendance Finding 1: Teens share religion with parents
07:13-10:48 Attendance Finding 2: Teens go to service, but don't engage in religious practices
10:48-16:22 Attendance Finding 3: Teens attend church with one or both of their parents

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Youth ministry growth in attendance in the age old Questions do numbers really matter? Here's what I know. I was one time called by a church that said, Hey, just a couple weeks ago in our church of multiple thousands, we've had only eight students show up. So whether you buy into the debate or not, the pressure is always there. Maybe pressure from your senior pastor, maybe pressure from youth parents, maybe even internal pressure that you just put on yourself. And what's even crazier is according to Pew Research, one in five, churchgoers back in 2022, participated in a virtual church service at least one time, which is a good thing. I mean, heck, we're in the hybrid ministry podcast, you know what I'm saying? However, 57% did not attend church in person or watch online during the course of at least one month, which means greater than 50%, not just of anyone in general of churchgoers are not typically attending church services.

Nick Clason (01:05):
So how in the world with that as the framework for church attendance and the way that youth ministry attendance is going, how in the world do we even reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha students, especially in light of this brand new reality? We're going to be sharing in this episode three key findings about teens and their attendance trends. And furthermore, I'm going to share with you one way that I as a youth pastor am shifting my thinking and maybe you can also shift your thinking about reaching this next generation. And finally, I have a bonus tip that I think is going to actually be the number one game changer in this entire conversation. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. You're in youth ministry, or if you're just a church leader and you're at least overseeing at some level some capacity, generation Z generation alpha, it's important because we're talking about youth group attendance and it's important to understand who we're actually talking about.

Nick Clason (02:01):
So Generation Z and Generation Alpha are kind of the two generations in play in this conversation. In fact, I have a video linked at the top of the screen. Go ahead and check it out where we did a deep dive into Generation Alpha and started to explore them. And quite frankly, it's one of the only videos I know that's out there about Generation Alpha. The data is still really new and still really young because the fact of the matter is that according to exploding topics.com link in the description, if you're watching on YouTube, you might be able to see some of these things online. If you're not watching on YouTube, you should definitely check that out. But Gen Alpha is made up of people born between 2010 and 2025. Wait, what? 2025? Yeah, you heard that, right? They're not even born yet. Okay. And so the fact of the matter is that that data actually is in opposition to some other experts such as Tim Elmore, who by the way, I have a chart right here on screen.

Nick Clason (02:53):
Again, if you're not watching on YouTube, go grab it or link in the show notes. It's from his book, generation Z Unfiltered, the Nine Hidden Challenges of Facing the Most Anxious Population of All Time. This chart is absolute goal, but you'll notice that he draws the line for the end of generation Z at 2018. So we have exploding topics at 2010. We have Tim Elmore at 2018, all of that to be said, Elmore's book is a little bit dated, and so I think that more research and just time we've honed in a little bit and gotten a little bit closer. And so while this chart is gold, you should definitely look at it and inspect it and learn a little bit more. Elmore doesn't talk about Gen Alpha. They're not on his radar yet when he wrote the book. And so according to this chart, pew research draws the line for Gen Alpha at 2012.

Nick Clason (03:40):
But again, the reason why any of this matters, not to bog you down with dates and things like that is that if you're a youth pastor or if you're in church leadership, what you need to understand is that the conversation we're having is like, do we take Elmore's date or do we take Pew Research's Day or do we take exploding topics day? Whatever it is, the reason this matters is because this is a difference between is that kid in kid's ministry or is that kid in youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z. The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have is going to be freshmen, sophomores in high school, and now after that they're waving on up, they're in college already and they are entering the workforce.

Nick Clason (04:23):
So if you are not a youth pastor, but just like a regular pastor listening, no longer is Gen Z, something that the youth pastor needs to try and understand and uncover this matters for you. This is important for you as a pastor. And so if you've gotten value so far out of this video, I would love to encourage you to like and subscribe and hit the notification bell because we're actually in the middle of a series right now, the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass, this is section number two in that class. The rest of them are going to be dropped in the playlist that's linked down below in the description. So if you have not seen every single video, go back and check out video number one. We talked about time management, but without any further ado here, let's dive into the three key findings about Generation Z, generation alpha and church attendance in youth ministry moving forward in 2024 and frankly beyond.

Nick Clason (05:12):
All right, so the three key findings that are really important to understand about Generation Z and Gen Alpha is a lot of this data pulled from Pew research articles pulled and included in the description, whether you're in a podcast catcher or on YouTube, if you are not watching on YouTube, you will notice that some charts and graphs and stuff like that are going to show up on screen here on YouTube. If you're not watching, you're just listening, you can go grab the link in the show notes at http://www.hybridministry.xyz, and this is episode 78, so slash 0 7 8. But the first key finding that I want to share with you is this is that most teens share the same religious affiliation as their parents, meaning this, your attendance as a youth pastor, youth ministry leader is highly derived from the adult attendance in your church.

Nick Clason (06:00):
You've probably heard this before, but that's why it's important that we don't have silos. It's just as important for you as a youth pastor to lean in to what is going on in the rest of your church. You can't neglect it, you can't forsake it, and you can't take on a posture of arrogance that what you're doing is better than the rest of the church. Even if you low key think that the fact of the matter is that your youth ministry attendance is highly, highly tied to your adult attendance. So if your church is growing, odds are your youth ministry is growing, and if your church is struggling, odds are your youth ministry might be struggling. The biggest dropoff that you'll notice in this graph here and in this research from Pew is that the biggest dropoff from parents who attend church to teenagers who attend church happens in mainline denominations where the highest proportion is in evangelical churches.

Nick Clason (06:53):
Key finding. Number two, teens are just as likely as their parents to say that they go to services, but when it comes to more personal forms of religious expression, teens actually appear to be less devout and less religious. I have a stat I want to share with you from my own context, my own anecdotal experience in our church, cross Creek Church located in Colleyville, Texas, we have four parts to a four-part discipleship pathway. So we have explore, which is people who are far from God looking for God or maybe seeking God connect. And so once they've made a decision, cross the line, faith, connect with Jesus, connect with this church, connect with community, grow, grow in your faith, get closer to God, learn to walk with God, learn to invest in a few, learn to multiply. And then finally, the fourth one is a multiplier.

Nick Clason (07:38):
Someone who is not only making disciples, but making disciples who makes disciples. So we're very christocentric, disciple making, Bible-based church, all that to be said, we explained all of that one day on a Sunday morning to our students and we asked them to self-identify where they would put themselves in the pathway, explore, connect, grow, multiply. We used kind of pulled from one of my favorite books, link in the show notes, Dan Bader's book four chair discipling. So we used four different chairs to illustrate the sections of the pathway. The explorer phase was illustrated by a camping chair because it's really mobile portable. You can get close to church, then you can pull it back away if that's a decision that you want to make. We talked about how the connect chair is actually like a recliner. People tend to get across that line of faith and then get very fat and happy.

Nick Clason (08:23):
The grow chair is one that's marked by suffering and sacrifice, and so we got the hard metal chair, the one that hurts your butt when you sit in it for a little bit too long. And then finally the multiply phase was illustrated by a couch because the goal of it is to bring people back onto that couch with you, go back down through the pipeline, go back down through the process. So we illustrated that and we asked students to self-identify. We had 40.76 of our students say that they were in the connect phase, the recliner phase, but the overwhelming majority said that they were in 45.2% said that they were in the grow phase. So nearly half of our students self-identified as being in the grow phase where only like 4% said they're in the explore phase, and 9.5 said they were actually all the way in the multiply phase.

Nick Clason (09:07):
Now we have identifiers in our church metrics that we say if you've done these three or four things, then you are in this phase and you've moved on to the next phase. So we can pull that data on our students as well, but this is just them classifying themselves. I now lead a group of four other guys on a Sunday morning in our grow phase, we have a book that we go through a curriculum, and we just got done with the first book. There's three totals. So we just got done with the first book. It's seven weeks. It's daily reading. I mean it's a high bar. Every single one of them. At the beginning of this time, they said, I read the Bible, I pray I do all this stuff. Now that we've actually been in it, now that the rubber has met the road.

Nick Clason (09:49):
At the end of this, all of their summarization of it was like, man, this was a lot more than I'm used to. And one of the kids said back to this, teens are just as, they may go to service, but they may not practice religious expression. Part of the problem is they've gone to church so much, and so they know what the right answers are and they know what they should be doing. And so even when you ask them, how do you grow in your faith? What are you doing to grow in your faith? They would answer with the right answers. Well, I pray, read the Bible, but they all admitted at the end of it, you always said that, but we weren't really actually doing it, at least not at this level. So that just bears it out in that key finding. Key finding.

Nick Clason (10:29):
Number three, most teens report attending religious services with either both at 40% or one 25% of their parents. Again, meaning your attendance is again highly derived from your adult attendance. Again, in my own context, our own experience or Wednesday night, we would mostly say that that's classified under the explore classification. So let's bring outsiders and we probably, we average somewhere south of 45 to 40% of our Sunday morning attendance, which is our second step in our pathway, our connect phase. So I would not say that we have more students in connect than in the explore phase. What I would actually say is that Sunday morning is more convenient and that's when parents, and that's when students are also naturally making Sunday morning or just any church attendance a priority. And so that's the reason why I believe that our attendance is a little bit out of balance between Wednesday night and Sunday morning, and that's not a problem to be solved.

Nick Clason (11:29):
It's more attention to lean into and be managed, but it really just underscores this point that most teens attend church with either a parent or a single parent, meaning once again, like I said, your students are attending church either with both parents at 40% or one parent at 25%. Again, as much as we think that our programming is so relevant, captivating, so much better than the rest of the church, the reality is our success as youth pastors is often tied to the overall success of the church. However, I do think that there is something that matters and that there is something that we need to focus our mindset to shift a little bit on. So let's dive into that into the next section. All right, so the shift that I believe all of us should consider if 57% of born again claim Christians, self-proclaimed Christians are not attending church online or in person at least one time per month, I think that you and I should consider finding a way to go hybrid.

Nick Clason (12:26):
And I know you said, Hey, hey, hey, that last stat that said they weren't going online or in person. When I say hybrid, I don't just mean streaming your services. That can be an element of it, but I really believe that's a small portion of a good digital strategy. And again, I hear you. You're like, dude, I don't have time for it, and I get it. It is a lot of work and it's going to require a little bit of time management, thankfully, linked down below, I have this playlist where the last video I talked about good time management, but a good digital hybrid integrated strategy is more than just putting a camera in the back of the room and letting someone watch what's going on in the room. You're not interested in that, frankly, and neither am I. We want something that's made for the internet, something like this, something that's more relational, something that's more direct to camera, maybe something that's a little bit more interactive, but find a way to make it more hybrid.

Nick Clason (13:18):
Find a way to make it more integrated. I also hear you on the other side, but churches of family church should be about one-on-one relationships, and I agree with that. Full fledge, a hundred percent church about relationships. The best, most dynamic experiences I ever have is when I'm rubbing shoulders or sitting knee to knee with somebody. However, I'll also make the argument that churches are in the content creation and content production business. Think about it. What do you spend the majority of your time on? Programming, message prep, planning, worship services, small group, all things that are content based, and especially pastors, senior pastors, no offense to you, but Sunday morning services are some of the least relational moments in the entire week in the lifecycle of a church. Here's my deal. I'm a youth pastor, so I get in early, I get set up. Sometimes I'm a little bit late because of my setup into church.

Nick Clason (14:12):
I walk in, I sit down, I sing some songs, I sit down, I stare at the back of someone's head, I listen to a sermon for 30 something minutes. I get up early because I have stuff to do as a youth pastor, to get ready for the student ministry that meets during the last two services of our three service Sunday morning set. I'm not talking to a single human being in that entire service, but what I could do is I could consume all of that digitally. I could listen to it, my headphones on a run. I could listen to that honestly, while I'm across the way in the student building, getting things ready, having the Facebook live stream on in my ears while I'm getting things set up. I'm not saying that I should do that. I'm not saying that that's a recommended strategy, but I am saying the content consumption side, so much of what we're producing content-wise, can be done digitally.

Nick Clason (14:57):
So as youth pastors, as we're trying to reach Gen Z, as we're trying to reach Gen Alpha, a completely different generation, I wonder if it's worth considering a shift from focusing only on to finding a way to be a little bit more hybrid, which is why I've created this 100% completely free ebook right here on the screen, linked down below in the description. Also, you're going to see that as I bring about this bonus question. This is really the crux of this entire kind of argument. The question is this, are we as youth pastors, are we as youth ministry leaders? Are we in the event business or are we in the disciple making business? And you know what the fact of the matter is, we're actually going to dive even deeper into that question on the screen linked right here. So go ahead and take a look at that. If you're interested in exploring more about my hybrid strategy, that ebook, as well as that episode is linked right here on the screen as well. Hey, check you on the other side. Continue to enjoy this free masterclass, and as always, stay hybrid.

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DESCRIPTION
📈 Youth Ministry Growth and Attendance

🔢 Do number really matter?

😤 It’s an agonizing pursuit that all of us as youth pastors and leaders are constantly feel the tension.

Whether we buy into the debate or not, pressure is real.

Maybe pressure from your senior pastor
Maybe pressure from other parents
Maybe even pressure from yourself

And furthermore, according to Pew Research, one in five church goeers in 2022 participated in virtual church once a month.
However, 57% did not attend in person or watch online per month.
Not just anyone in general.. But Americans who TYPICALLY attend services.

How do we reach Generation Z or Generation Alpha students?
Especially in light of this new reality?

Subscribe to our channel and don't miss any more videos from the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass FREE on YouTube

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
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PRACTICAL YM TIPS: https://www.youtube.com/@practicalyouthministrytips

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🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/dym

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
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AUTO POD
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TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
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👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry

Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/078

//YOUTUBE VIDEO
https://youtu.be/BHpeDaLS3oo

//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLES ON CHURCH ATTENDANCE
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2022/03/22/more-houses-of-worship-are-returning-to-normal-operations-but-in-person-attendance-is-unchanged-since-fall/?utm_source=adaptivemailer&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=rel%20-%2022-03-22%20worship%20attendance&org=982&lvl=100&ite=9703&lea=2048393&ctr=0&par=1&trk=a0d3j0000112o9deae

//DATA ON GEN ALPHA
https://explodingtopics.com/blog/generation-alpha-guide

//DR. ELMORE'S BOOK
https://www.amazon.com/Generation-Unfiltered-Challenges-Anxious-Population-ebook/dp/B07YQ9XT8N/ref=sr_1_2?hvadid=580669290679&hvdev=c&hvlocphy=9027211&hvnetw=g&hvqmt=e&hvrand=8887138684661202423&hvtargid=kwd-831658052586&hydadcr=24309_13537702&keywords=gen+z+unfiltered&qid=1701783263&sr=8-2

//TEEN CHURCH ATTENDANCE PATTERNS
https://www.pewresearch.org/religion/2020/09/10/u-s-teens-take-after-their-parents-religiously-attend-services-together-and-enjoy-family-rituals/

//TEENS AND THEIR PARENTS
https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2020/09/10/10-key-findings-about-the-religious-lives-of-u-s-teens-and-their-parents/

//4 CHAIR DISCIPLING
https://www.amazon.com/Chair-Discipling-What-Jesus-Calls/dp/0802418813/ref=asc_df_0802418813/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=266167140404&hvpos=&hvnetw=g&hvrand=13879828523234723627&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=c&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9027211&hvtargid=pla-557460291481&psc=1&mcid=c72abb3a6997315793653dc9cbd8d965&gclid=CjwKCAiApuCrBhAuEiwA8VJ6Jry6x6cwpQRcpt1hnTOOVAIdS6r9rmBPSQleT8QwxqgYzqAeu6RyuBoCFo4QAvD_BwE

//GOOD TIME MANAGEMENT FOR A HYBRID STRATEGY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xlS1kWcQBS8

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-02:05 Do numbers matter?
02:05-05:30 Who are Generation Z and Generation Alpha?
05:30-07:13 Attendance Finding 1: Teens share religion with parents
07:13-10:48 Attendance Finding 2: Teens go to service, but don't engage in religious practices
10:48-16:22 Attendance Finding 3: Teens attend church with one or both of their parents

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
http://www.rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Youth ministry growth in attendance in the age old Questions do numbers really matter? Here's what I know. I was one time called by a church that said, Hey, just a couple weeks ago in our church of multiple thousands, we've had only eight students show up. So whether you buy into the debate or not, the pressure is always there. Maybe pressure from your senior pastor, maybe pressure from youth parents, maybe even internal pressure that you just put on yourself. And what's even crazier is according to Pew Research, one in five, churchgoers back in 2022, participated in a virtual church service at least one time, which is a good thing. I mean, heck, we're in the hybrid ministry podcast, you know what I'm saying? However, 57% did not attend church in person or watch online during the course of at least one month, which means greater than 50%, not just of anyone in general of churchgoers are not typically attending church services.

Nick Clason (01:05):
So how in the world with that as the framework for church attendance and the way that youth ministry attendance is going, how in the world do we even reach Gen Z and Gen Alpha students, especially in light of this brand new reality? We're going to be sharing in this episode three key findings about teens and their attendance trends. And furthermore, I'm going to share with you one way that I as a youth pastor am shifting my thinking and maybe you can also shift your thinking about reaching this next generation. And finally, I have a bonus tip that I think is going to actually be the number one game changer in this entire conversation. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. You're in youth ministry, or if you're just a church leader and you're at least overseeing at some level some capacity, generation Z generation alpha, it's important because we're talking about youth group attendance and it's important to understand who we're actually talking about.

Nick Clason (02:01):
So Generation Z and Generation Alpha are kind of the two generations in play in this conversation. In fact, I have a video linked at the top of the screen. Go ahead and check it out where we did a deep dive into Generation Alpha and started to explore them. And quite frankly, it's one of the only videos I know that's out there about Generation Alpha. The data is still really new and still really young because the fact of the matter is that according to exploding topics.com link in the description, if you're watching on YouTube, you might be able to see some of these things online. If you're not watching on YouTube, you should definitely check that out. But Gen Alpha is made up of people born between 2010 and 2025. Wait, what? 2025? Yeah, you heard that, right? They're not even born yet. Okay. And so the fact of the matter is that that data actually is in opposition to some other experts such as Tim Elmore, who by the way, I have a chart right here on screen.

Nick Clason (02:53):
Again, if you're not watching on YouTube, go grab it or link in the show notes. It's from his book, generation Z Unfiltered, the Nine Hidden Challenges of Facing the Most Anxious Population of All Time. This chart is absolute goal, but you'll notice that he draws the line for the end of generation Z at 2018. So we have exploding topics at 2010. We have Tim Elmore at 2018, all of that to be said, Elmore's book is a little bit dated, and so I think that more research and just time we've honed in a little bit and gotten a little bit closer. And so while this chart is gold, you should definitely look at it and inspect it and learn a little bit more. Elmore doesn't talk about Gen Alpha. They're not on his radar yet when he wrote the book. And so according to this chart, pew research draws the line for Gen Alpha at 2012.

Nick Clason (03:40):
But again, the reason why any of this matters, not to bog you down with dates and things like that is that if you're a youth pastor or if you're in church leadership, what you need to understand is that the conversation we're having is like, do we take Elmore's date or do we take Pew Research's Day or do we take exploding topics day? Whatever it is, the reason this matters is because this is a difference between is that kid in kid's ministry or is that kid in youth ministry? And if we're talking about youth group numbers and youth group attendance, we need to understand Gen Alpha, but we also need to understand Gen Z. The kicker on this is that Gen Z, really the youngest Gen Z that we have is going to be freshmen, sophomores in high school, and now after that they're waving on up, they're in college already and they are entering the workforce.

Nick Clason (04:23):
So if you are not a youth pastor, but just like a regular pastor listening, no longer is Gen Z, something that the youth pastor needs to try and understand and uncover this matters for you. This is important for you as a pastor. And so if you've gotten value so far out of this video, I would love to encourage you to like and subscribe and hit the notification bell because we're actually in the middle of a series right now, the 2024 Youth Ministry Masterclass, this is section number two in that class. The rest of them are going to be dropped in the playlist that's linked down below in the description. So if you have not seen every single video, go back and check out video number one. We talked about time management, but without any further ado here, let's dive into the three key findings about Generation Z, generation alpha and church attendance in youth ministry moving forward in 2024 and frankly beyond.

Nick Clason (05:12):
All right, so the three key findings that are really important to understand about Generation Z and Gen Alpha is a lot of this data pulled from Pew research articles pulled and included in the description, whether you're in a podcast catcher or on YouTube, if you are not watching on YouTube, you will notice that some charts and graphs and stuff like that are going to show up on screen here on YouTube. If you're not watching, you're just listening, you can go grab the link in the show notes at http://www.hybridministry.xyz, and this is episode 78, so slash 0 7 8. But the first key finding that I want to share with you is this is that most teens share the same religious affiliation as their parents, meaning this, your attendance as a youth pastor, youth ministry leader is highly derived from the adult attendance in your church.

Nick Clason (06:00):
You've probably heard this before, but that's why it's important that we don't have silos. It's just as important for you as a youth pastor to lean in to what is going on in the rest of your church. You can't neglect it, you can't forsake it, and you can't take on a posture of arrogance that what you're doing is better than the rest of the church. Even if you low key think that the fact of the matter is that your youth ministry attendance is highly, highly tied to your adult attendance. So if your church is growing, odds are your youth ministry is growing, and if your church is struggling, odds are your youth ministry might be struggling. The biggest dropoff that you'll notice in this graph here and in this research from Pew is that the biggest dropoff from parents who attend church to teenagers who attend church happens in mainline denominations where the highest proportion is in evangelical churches.

Nick Clason (06:53):
Key finding. Number two, teens are just as likely as their parents to say that they go to services, but when it comes to more personal forms of religious expression, teens actually appear to be less devout and less religious. I have a stat I want to share with you from my own context, my own anecdotal experience in our church, cross Creek Church located in Colleyville, Texas, we have four parts to a four-part discipleship pathway. So we have explore, which is people who are far from God looking for God or maybe seeking God connect. And so once they've made a decision, cross the line, faith, connect with Jesus, connect with this church, connect with community, grow, grow in your faith, get closer to God, learn to walk with God, learn to invest in a few, learn to multiply. And then finally, the fourth one is a multiplier.

Nick Clason (07:38):
Someone who is not only making disciples, but making disciples who makes disciples. So we're very christocentric, disciple making, Bible-based church, all that to be said, we explained all of that one day on a Sunday morning to our students and we asked them to self-identify where they would put themselves in the pathway, explore, connect, grow, multiply. We used kind of pulled from one of my favorite books, link in the show notes, Dan Bader's book four chair discipling. So we used four different chairs to illustrate the sections of the pathway. The explorer phase was illustrated by a camping chair because it's really mobile portable. You can get close to church, then you can pull it back away if that's a decision that you want to make. We talked about how the connect chair is actually like a recliner. People tend to get across that line of faith and then get very fat and happy.

Nick Clason (08:23):
The grow chair is one that's marked by suffering and sacrifice, and so we got the hard metal chair, the one that hurts your butt when you sit in it for a little bit too long. And then finally the multiply phase was illustrated by a couch because the goal of it is to bring people back onto that couch with you, go back down through the pipeline, go back down through the process. So we illustrated that and we asked students to self-identify. We had 40.76 of our students say that they were in the connect phase, the recliner phase, but the overwhelming majority said that they were in 45.2% said that they were in the grow phase. So nearly half of our students self-identified as being in the grow phase where only like 4% said they're in the explore phase, and 9.5 said they were actually all the way in the multiply phase.

Nick Clason (09:07):
Now we have identifiers in our church metrics that we say if you've done these three or four things, then you are in this phase and you've moved on to the next phase. So we can pull that data on our students as well, but this is just them classifying themselves. I now lead a group of four other guys on a Sunday morning in our grow phase, we have a book that we go through a curriculum, and we just got done with the first book. There's three totals. So we just got done with the first book. It's seven weeks. It's daily reading. I mean it's a high bar. Every single one of them. At the beginning of this time, they said, I read the Bible, I pray I do all this stuff. Now that we've actually been in it, now that the rubber has met the road.

Nick Clason (09:49):
At the end of this, all of their summarization of it was like, man, this was a lot more than I'm used to. And one of the kids said back to this, teens are just as, they may go to service, but they may not practice religious expression. Part of the problem is they've gone to church so much, and so they know what the right answers are and they know what they should be doing. And so even when you ask them, how do you grow in your faith? What are you doing to grow in your faith? They would answer with the right answers. Well, I pray, read the Bible, but they all admitted at the end of it, you always said that, but we weren't really actually doing it, at least not at this level. So that just bears it out in that key finding. Key finding.

Nick Clason (10:29):
Number three, most teens report attending religious services with either both at 40% or one 25% of their parents. Again, meaning your attendance is again highly derived from your adult attendance. Again, in my own context, our own experience or Wednesday night, we would mostly say that that's classified under the explore classification. So let's bring outsiders and we probably, we average somewhere south of 45 to 40% of our Sunday morning attendance, which is our second step in our pathway, our connect phase. So I would not say that we have more students in connect than in the explore phase. What I would actually say is that Sunday morning is more convenient and that's when parents, and that's when students are also naturally making Sunday morning or just any church attendance a priority. And so that's the reason why I believe that our attendance is a little bit out of balance between Wednesday night and Sunday morning, and that's not a problem to be solved.

Nick Clason (11:29):
It's more attention to lean into and be managed, but it really just underscores this point that most teens attend church with either a parent or a single parent, meaning once again, like I said, your students are attending church either with both parents at 40% or one parent at 25%. Again, as much as we think that our programming is so relevant, captivating, so much better than the rest of the church, the reality is our success as youth pastors is often tied to the overall success of the church. However, I do think that there is something that matters and that there is something that we need to focus our mindset to shift a little bit on. So let's dive into that into the next section. All right, so the shift that I believe all of us should consider if 57% of born again claim Christians, self-proclaimed Christians are not attending church online or in person at least one time per month, I think that you and I should consider finding a way to go hybrid.

Nick Clason (12:26):
And I know you said, Hey, hey, hey, that last stat that said they weren't going online or in person. When I say hybrid, I don't just mean streaming your services. That can be an element of it, but I really believe that's a small portion of a good digital strategy. And again, I hear you. You're like, dude, I don't have time for it, and I get it. It is a lot of work and it's going to require a little bit of time management, thankfully, linked down below, I have this playlist where the last video I talked about good time management, but a good digital hybrid integrated strategy is more than just putting a camera in the back of the room and letting someone watch what's going on in the room. You're not interested in that, frankly, and neither am I. We want something that's made for the internet, something like this, something that's more relational, something that's more direct to camera, maybe something that's a little bit more interactive, but find a way to make it more hybrid.

Nick Clason (13:18):
Find a way to make it more integrated. I also hear you on the other side, but churches of family church should be about one-on-one relationships, and I agree with that. Full fledge, a hundred percent church about relationships. The best, most dynamic experiences I ever have is when I'm rubbing shoulders or sitting knee to knee with somebody. However, I'll also make the argument that churches are in the content creation and content production business. Think about it. What do you spend the majority of your time on? Programming, message prep, planning, worship services, small group, all things that are content based, and especially pastors, senior pastors, no offense to you, but Sunday morning services are some of the least relational moments in the entire week in the lifecycle of a church. Here's my deal. I'm a youth pastor, so I get in early, I get set up. Sometimes I'm a little bit late because of my setup into church.

Nick Clason (14:12):
I walk in, I sit down, I sing some songs, I sit down, I stare at the back of someone's head, I listen to a sermon for 30 something minutes. I get up early because I have stuff to do as a youth pastor, to get ready for the student ministry that meets during the last two services of our three service Sunday morning set. I'm not talking to a single human being in that entire service, but what I could do is I could consume all of that digitally. I could listen to it, my headphones on a run. I could listen to that honestly, while I'm across the way in the student building, getting things ready, having the Facebook live stream on in my ears while I'm getting things set up. I'm not saying that I should do that. I'm not saying that that's a recommended strategy, but I am saying the content consumption side, so much of what we're producing content-wise, can be done digitally.

Nick Clason (14:57):
So as youth pastors, as we're trying to reach Gen Z, as we're trying to reach Gen Alpha, a completely different generation, I wonder if it's worth considering a shift from focusing only on to finding a way to be a little bit more hybrid, which is why I've created this 100% completely free ebook right here on the screen, linked down below in the description. Also, you're going to see that as I bring about this bonus question. This is really the crux of this entire kind of argument. The question is this, are we as youth pastors, are we as youth ministry leaders? Are we in the event business or are we in the disciple making business? And you know what the fact of the matter is, we're actually going to dive even deeper into that question on the screen linked right here. So go ahead and take a look at that. If you're interested in exploring more about my hybrid strategy, that ebook, as well as that episode is linked right here on the screen as well. Hey, check you on the other side. Continue to enjoy this free masterclass, and as always, stay hybrid.

]]> Episode 071: 🧑‍🚀 New Frontiers in Digital Discipleship for the Church: Youth Ministry Games 🎮 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/071 a0215907-29bd-46db-838a-50f2ccc0ebee Thu, 16 Nov 2023 04:00:00 -0600 Nick Clason 071 🧑‍🚀 New Frontiers in Digital Discipleship for the Church: Youth Ministry Games 🎮 full Nick Clason 🎮 Games and Youth Ministry. They go together like peanut butter and jelly Macaroni and Cheese Batman and Robin 🧑‍🚀 But how can we, as youth pastors, readjust the way we do games to lean more into the digital space we find ourselves in? 17:35 no 🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCES TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book ☝️ONE-CLICK SOLUTION FOR REELS &amp; SHORTS OPUS FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 🧑‍🚀 EXPLORING NEW FRONTIERS PLAYLIST Exploring The New Way to Approach Ministry, Full Playlist https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLQ3UpL1HRb3FFtEu-7S1XZ ======================================== DESCRIPTION 👋 Welcome to our YouTube channel &amp; podcast! 🧑‍🚀 In this playlist, we are exploring the 3 new digital frontiers for churches and youth ministry pastors and leaders. 🎮 And in this video we're exploring the world of Youth Ministry Games and Fun! What is different? Where did games even come from in the first place? And how should we adjust as we move forward into this new digital frontier? In the subsequent videos we'll talk about 💬 Message Enhancement 🐑 Shepherding So be sure to subscribe, so you don't miss a thing! churchattendance #hiddentruth #unveiling #2023 #church #truth #revelation #faith #spirituality #religion #worship #community #christianity #belief #sunday #sacred #divine #belief #sermon #christian ======================================== 🆓 FREEBIES 🆓 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool" https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book 😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?" https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook 📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers" https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis ======================================== 🛠️TOOLS Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products //YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit AUTO POD https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS &amp; REELS https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361 👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz 📓SHOWNOTES //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS http://www.hybridministry.xyz/071 //View all the Charts and Graphs via YouTube https://youtu.be/OiBjI9dMxu8 //Rank 'Em https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/rank-%27em---fall-edition/fall-8962.html //Visual Variance Voyage https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/visual-variance-voyage%3A-fall-edition/holiday-or-seasonal/fall-9043.html //Adobe Photoshop &amp; Premiere Crash Course https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaKVpQBDSQV6Q9hFeXCptHSu //Budget Friendly Design Options https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIdZ-RLm5uVVlHj46FKrMYw //Emoji Phraseology Vol 1 https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology/social-media/instagram-6801.html //Emoji Phraseology Camp Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---camp-edition/games/sequels-8122.html //Emoji Phraseology: Summer Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---summer-edition/games/bundles-and-sequels-8088.html //Emoji Phraseology: Easter Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-easter-edition/games/pop-culture-6957.html //Emoji Phraseology: Vol 2 https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---vol-2/games/sequels-8640.html //Emoji Phraseology: Halloween Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---halloween-edition/fall/halloween-8320.html //Emoji Phraseology: March Madness https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---madness-edition/spring/march-madness-8594.html //Emoji Phraseology: 4th of July https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---patriotic-edition/summer/4th-of-july-8780.html //Emoji Phraseology: St. Patrick's Day https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-shamrock-edition/games-6929.html //Emoji Phraseology: Christmas Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-christmas-edition/christmas-games-8426.html //Emoji Phraseology: Superhero Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---superhero-edition/games/pop-culture-8827.html //Emoji Phraseology: SuperBowl https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---big-game-edition/sports/football-8520.html //Emoji Phraseology: Bible Story Edition https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---bible-story-edition/games/bible-based-8687.html //Emoji Phraseology: Back 2 School https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---back-2-school-edition/fall/back-to-school-8900.html //Emoji Phraseology: Valentine's Day https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-love-edition---game-%26-social-media/games/humor-6855.html 🕰️TIMECODES 00:00-02:08 Exploring New Digital Frontiers in Youth Ministry 02:08-04:10 What is Hybrid Ministry? 04:10-08:20 Why do we play games in Youth Ministry? 08:20-17:35 3 Hybrid Game Ideas you can use this week! ✍️TRANSCRIPT Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa Nick Clason (00:00): Games and youth ministry, they go together like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, Batman and Robin. But how can we as youth pastors or ministry leaders readjust the way in which we approach games and lean more into this digital space that we found ourselves in? Should we ignore it or should we find a way to capitalize on it? My approach and my mission for this podcast is to turn your ministry hybrid. How do we make your ministry hybrid, not just in person, not just digital, but a melding of the two. Does that mean that we should play more like cell phone based games, Kahoot games, zoom screen games? In this three part playlist, I want to give you the three new frontiers that we should be exploring as youth pastors, as youth ministry leaders into the digital space and frontier number one. Today. In this episode, we are going to be exploring the world of youth ministry and youth ministry games. Nick Clason (01:02): We're going to delve into the why and the philosophy of youth ministry and give you three games that you can adopt and take into your student ministry immediately today. All of this in effort as we are in this new digital frontier, this new digital space to effectively reach the students that God has placed in our trust with the message of hope and the mission of the gospel. We're also going to be exploring in this playlist how you can bring up your message enhancement in the hybrid world, and finally, how you can implement ongoing care, shepherding and relationships to the students that God has entrusted into you and your care in your student ministry. But let's dive further into this new frontier of digital discipleship through the means and avenues of games. Make sure also that you stick around to the very end because at the end I'm going to leave with you a one surefire resource that you can implement with multiple done for you game ideas and ways that you can hybridize your ministry. Nick Clason (01:58): And I have the ultimate hack that you can bring just about any game and turn it into a hybrid game. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. I am Nick Clason, a 13 year youth ministry veteran, currently serving in the great state of Texas. And I want to let you know that I am on a mission, as I said in the intro, to help youth pastors usher themselves more and more into this digital age. And I want to make sure that we are keeping the integrity of our in-person gatherings while also offering more and more of an opportunity for our students to engage with us from a digital mindset and digital framework. And so what I actually have for you as a surefire link in the description, I have a ebook. I have created 40 a whole month's worth of posting strategy for you as a youth pastor implement the strategy that I'm currently using, the one that I've used to grow our YouTube account and our followership in our social media from zero to around 300 up to this point and just under a calendar year. Nick Clason (03:03): And it will give you ideas and games that you can use and implement that are turnkey right now that you can use. But they're custom. You and your students and your volunteers get to be the heroes on your youth ministry. It's not just a bunch of static on account of foreign kind of boring graphics. It's real faces, real human beings. If you put a little bit of work in, you can totally revolutionize your student ministry. And I also want to let you know that links right here at the top of this video is a link to a video, what I believe every youth ministry needs and why this is also important. It's basically the thesis for this entire podcast. Hey, and finally, I want to make sure that you like and subscribe to this episode because here's why we are going to be dropping more and more episodes, especially this one as we're exploring new frontiers of hybrid ministry in the next episodes to come. Nick Clason (03:49): And I want to make sure that you don't miss it and likes, honestly, they're free and they really, really help us out and they help us get this mission to more and more people. But let's explore before we dive into the actual nitty gritty of games and youth ministry, let's talk about the philosophy and even the history of youth ministry and youth ministry games. Where did games come from? Why do we do them? It seems like it's the rite of passage. Every single youth ministry needs games. You look at resources like YM 360, download, youth ministry, even old school back in the day group. They're all trying to help solve this problem of how can you have games and what do games look like and where can you best take care of supplying games for you and your students? And we have screen-based games and active games and digital games and hybrid games, and we're going to get into all of that. Nick Clason (04:43): But I wanted to take a step back and be like, where did this even come from? So back in the 18 hundreds when students were not going to school on a regular basis, they were working six days a week, they invented this idea of Sunday School to bring about an age graded focus for students and an age graded Bible study, one that was a little bit more relevant to them in their timeframe, a little bit more relevant to them in their age group. And so what they did was they created this breakdown by age and grade and gender even. And they started to create this school vibe where they would teach the Bible. Well then fast forward to the 1940s, churches were maybe not super relevant to reaching young people. And so these two organizations popped up right around the same time, young Life and youth for Christ. Nick Clason (05:34): And so they both came with the mindset with the entire goal is to reach young people, reach 'em for Christ, and help change them from the inside out and revolutionize them with the power of the gospel. And then finally in the 1970s, churches began to start to see a void of that because what they were doing was in Sunday school mode, they're having volunteers and parents kind of lead these groups, but they started to identify this need for pastors, for people who could come in and who could be specialists in this area for teenagers and for the young people in their churches because they saw what was going on with Youth for Christ and Young Life. And they wanted to also bring that and usher that into the local church. And so since about the 1970s and the Jesus Revolution time, shout out to that movie if you haven't seen it yet, but they're bringing about this young people, this place for young people to come and find belonging, meaning, and purpose. Nick Clason (06:28): So that's the history of youth ministry. But why games? So if you look over time, there's always an element of fun and something that will bring about a draw of a crowd. And so to get the maximum amount of people you might feed people, you might offer fun, you might offer warmth, you might offer a great environment or a good vibe. And the truth of matter is, is that games have always sort of been a staple in what we've done in youth ministry, so much so that I do think at some point we've gotten a little bit rote with them and they're benign, and we just do them without even thinking like, well, what's the game going to be? Well, why are we even doing games? What's the purpose? And so what I've seen in my 13 years of student ministry experience is that if you just do games for game's sake, it doesn't have much to offer. Nick Clason (07:17): But in my mind, the purpose of a game is to help speak the language of teenagers, which by the way is the entire reason why I have this ebook linked in the description below for you to become more hybrid and for you to become more digitally focused. Because I believe it's a way for us to speak the language better of our teenagers and teenagers, whether they want to admit it or not, they love fun. Fun is the currency of teenagers. Fun helps break down the walls of people who may or may not know why they're at your church or who God is, or they're exploring this faith thing for the very first time. And fun helps alleviate and reduce the tension out of the room why we do what we do. And so with that in mind, I want to give you three game ideas, three hybrid game ideas that you can take use and even download immediately with links in the description of this episode that you can use both on your social media in person, and better yet, maybe you can find a way to meld the two together. Nick Clason (08:17): So let's explore that in the next section. All right, so link below in the description are three games that I have in my Download Youth Ministry store right now, and they are fun ones that I like to use. But I also just want to let you know that in all of this, many of the things that I'm going to be suggesting to you are also linked in my completely free ebook. So if you don't want to go pay for it, you can come up with some of these ideas on your very own by just looking at my completely free ebook, which is 40 done for You Ideas to help you and your students and your volunteers become the heroes on your church's social media and in your church's digital presence. And listen, in my ebook, I'm going to give you just a little bit of a sneak peek and a little bit of a hack. Nick Clason (09:01): I recommend that you sit just like this direct to camera and present and preach your message ahead of time before you deliver it live into the room. You then use that to clip up, make short sermon clips. But if you aren't willing and don't have the time to do that, I do recommend the remainder of my strategy, which is having fun with your students and having fun with your leaders and having fun with maybe even other staff on camera and posting that to your social media because it's a way that you can interact and engage with something that's live and happening real and in the room, but you can also show that content out to the rest of the world, and if not the rest of the world, at least the rest of your church, the rest of your youth ministry, the parents that are connected to the students in your ministry. Nick Clason (09:45): And so three of these ideas are ideas that I have either detailed or outlined before, or ones that I've come up with since I released the ebook. So the first one is a game called Rank 'em, and there's two different ways to do it. I believe right now I have the fall version online on DYM and coming up soon, I should be having the Christmas version drop onto Download Youth Ministry. But Rank 'em is basically a, Hey, let your students take these five things and rank them one through five. Now, one of my favorite variations to that is what's called, and maybe you've seen it if you've been on TikTok or Reels, is the blind ranking thing, which is where different categories of things come in. So let's say you're doing Nick Clason (10:24): A blind ranking of a TV show, and I say The Office, and then you have to put it in one through five list. And so for me, if I got the office, I'd be like, well, that's one. But then if someone was like, fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, I'd be like, man, I like that show a lot. Probably put it at three. I'm afraid to give away two. And then if someone's like, okay, Ted Lasso, I'll be like, oh, Ted Lasso so good. I want to put it at one, but I can't start putting the office there. So I guess I'll put it in at two. And then if someone was like the ugliest houses in America, I'd be like, okay, I can put that at five. I like it, but I want to reserve four for something. And then they said, the Mandalorian, I'd be like, all right, four. Nick Clason (11:00): And I'd be like, you know what? I don't hate that list. What do you think Office, Ted Lasso Fixer Upper Mandalorian houses in America. I'm okay with that list, right? But the point is, I didn't know what was coming next. That's the idea of a blind ranking. And so I have two versions in this actual game. Rank 'em where you can play live in the room with five things. You can do the one by one where they come in one at a time and you have to choose to rank 'em. I also have a social media version where you can take it and you can post it on your reels tos, YouTube shorts, and you can let students interact with it there and give their rankings. You can post it on YouTube story, or I'm sorry, Instagram stories if you don't have any of the other short kind of form platforms. Nick Clason (11:39): But you can use this. And again, if you get this game, I played this game in my context, live in the room a couple of weeks ago, and we only got to three questions. So what I did was, the way that I played it was I had myself and a co-host. And so the first one was me. They had to guess my rankings of these certain things at their tables together. And then how they did. Then we went to my co-host, they had to guess his rankings of the certain things, and then finally we switched that and they could rank them themselves. But the game has 10 questions, and so we only used three. So that leaves me seven more that I can use kind of sprinkled throughout on my socials throughout the rest of the week. Game idea number two is the visual variance voyage. Nick Clason (12:20): And because I'm a good Baptist, I like a good alliteration, but essentially it's a spot the difference game. And so if you get the widescreen version on DYM, I should have a fall version as well as a Christmas version coming out here soon. You have two graphics come in side by side, and you have to spot the difference. And listen, the best thing right now is that Adobe Photoshop, generative AI is letting you just add things to pictures kind of here and there. And it is a game changer for a game like this. By the way, if you want to level up your Photoshop skills, I have a link in the playlist to my Adobe editing and Photoshop. If that's something that you're interested, go check that out if you want a cheaper version. I also have link down there below Budget graphics for people who are looking to save time and money going through PowerPoint, Canva, Adobe Express and Instagram. Nick Clason (13:04): But in the visual variance voyage, you have two different pictures and you're just trying to identify what is different. But there's a timer on the screen and it's counting down. So you can play that live in your room, you can get contestants, you can play it in groups, you can play it at tables. But I also like that I have created a vertical based graphic that you can use, and you can then take those, and you can post those on Instagram stories or on shorts, whatever. And again, in both of these, rank 'em and in the visual variance voyage, if you don't want to use my canned graphics with a canned background, you can take the concept, right? You can take the two pictures and you can show them to somebody on a camera walking around your youth space like, Hey, spot the difference in less than 10 seconds. Nick Clason (13:45): Go. And then have them try to guess it, but you film them and you post that to your TikTok or to your YouTube short or whatever, and you can do just a simple picture and picture. Take my graphic that I've created and do a picture and picture with the video that you take of the person trying to guess. And so that's taking it to the next level where you take a game that you could just post a game in and of itself. But if you take that game and you film somebody trying to play it, then that's a whole nother level to it. Which leads me to my third option, which is my favorite option is emoji phraseology. I have just about any variant of season and game that you can think of. And basically what it is is you're trying to guess the emoji phrase, whether it's Christmas, whether it's fall, whether it's New Year's, whether it's February for Valentine's Day, whether it's St. Nick Clason (14:28): Patrick's. I mean, I literally have just about every season on download youth ministry, every single variation is linked down below in the show notes. But one of the favorite ways that I've done with this is I've just done one question by one question where we've gone up to people and we've asked them to guess, and then we've taken that graphic and they looked at it, and then I did a little picture and picture, or I actually put the actual icons on. I've done it where I did full editing and Adobe Premiere Pro with animations and sounds. And I've also done it where I just, in the TikTok editor, I just put the emojis on the screen and people had to try and guess and see what was playing. And so in all of those are games that you could play physically. Those are also games that you can play only digitally. Nick Clason (15:10): And my favorite is film other people playing those games and then post those out to your socials. One of the ones that was the biggest hit for the emoji was we went around and we did bible story emojis, and we asked different members of our staff and those, those were a massive hit, seeing other pastors and staff and senior pastors out there trying to guess those things on our socials. So here's the thing. The last way, the Ultimate Hack, I told you I was going to give you this ultimate hack. You can play just about any game, any game on download, youth ministry. It doesn't have to be one of my games. It can be any game that you find on there. It doesn't even have to have a phone-based formatting for it, but play any game. And then at the end of it, if it's a subjective based game where people are creating something, making a song, doing a lip sync, decorating a donut, whatever the case might be, take pictures of those things and then post them to social media and tell them that the vote is going to be what determines the winner. Nick Clason (16:09): And the voting is done on Instagram that does two things. It promotes your social media and it allows the students to be the judge, not just some random celebrity judge, not just you trying to pull something out of your hat at the last minute, right? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha love to be publishers, they love to contribute to publishing the content, not just simply basic consumers being told what has happened to them. That is an older school, older industrial minded way of doing things. They want to know that their voice matters and that they actually even have a voice that you care about and that you want to listen to. And so that, I believe, is way number one, that you can wade into this exploring of a new frontier of how you can implement fun and games, not just in your room, not just online, but also in a hybrid way to help give students an opportunity to lean in and have their voice be heard in this hybrid way of doing things. Nick Clason (16:59): Which reminder is why I said in my ebook, I outline all the ways that you can flesh this out with posts twice a day for five days a week. You can scale it back if you don't have the bandwidth to do that, but whatever the case might be, I have millions of ideas in there from spiritual practice to fun, to your message content and ways that you can get that message out to spread the message of hope. So click the link for that down below in the description, and in the next video, we're going to be exploring how you can enhance your message and your ministry live in the room with hybrid versions. You're not going to want to miss it. Click that on the screen and we'll catch you on that side. Hybrid Ministry, Youth Ministry, Online Church,Youth Group Games, Youth Group Games for Large Groups indoor, Youth Group games for large groups, Youth Group Games indoor, Youth Ministry Games, Youth Ministry Games for Large Groups, Youth Group Games for Church, Youth Group Games for Church indoor, Youth Ministry Games Indoor, Student Ministry Games, Student Ministry Games indoor, Youth Group, Student Ministry, Youth Pastor, Church Games for Youth, digital discipleship 🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCES TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥

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OPUS FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

🧑‍🚀 EXPLORING NEW FRONTIERS PLAYLIST
Exploring The New Way to Approach Ministry, Full Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLQ3UpL1HRb3FFtEu-7S1XZ

========================================

DESCRIPTION
👋 Welcome to our YouTube channel & podcast!

🧑‍🚀 In this playlist, we are exploring the 3 new digital frontiers for churches and youth ministry pastors and leaders.

🎮 And in this video we're exploring the world of Youth Ministry Games and Fun!
What is different?
Where did games even come from in the first place?
And how should we adjust as we move forward into this new digital frontier?

In the subsequent videos we'll talk about
💬 Message Enhancement
🐑 Shepherding

So be sure to subscribe, so you don't miss a thing!

churchattendance #hiddentruth #unveiling #2023 #church #truth #revelation #faith #spirituality #religion #worship #community #christianity #belief #sunday #sacred #divine #belief #sermon #christian

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

========================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS

https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry

Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/071

//View all the Charts and Graphs via YouTube
https://youtu.be/OiBjI9dMxu8

//Rank 'Em
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/rank-%27em---fall-edition/fall-8962.html

//Visual Variance Voyage
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/visual-variance-voyage%3A-fall-edition/holiday-or-seasonal/fall-9043.html

//Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Crash Course
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaKVpQBDSQV6Q9hFeXCptHSu

//Budget Friendly Design Options
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIdZ-RLm5uVVlHj46FKrMYw

//Emoji Phraseology Vol 1
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology/social-media/instagram-6801.html

//Emoji Phraseology Camp Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---camp-edition/games/sequels-8122.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Summer Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---summer-edition/games/bundles-and-sequels-8088.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Easter Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-easter-edition/games/pop-culture-6957.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Vol 2
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---vol-2/games/sequels-8640.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Halloween Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---halloween-edition/fall/halloween-8320.html

//Emoji Phraseology: March Madness
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---madness-edition/spring/march-madness-8594.html

//Emoji Phraseology: 4th of July
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---patriotic-edition/summer/4th-of-july-8780.html

//Emoji Phraseology: St. Patrick's Day
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-shamrock-edition/games-6929.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Christmas Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-christmas-edition/christmas-games-8426.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Superhero Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---superhero-edition/games/pop-culture-8827.html

//Emoji Phraseology: SuperBowl
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---big-game-edition/sports/football-8520.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Bible Story Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---bible-story-edition/games/bible-based-8687.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Back 2 School
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---back-2-school-edition/fall/back-to-school-8900.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Valentine's Day
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-love-edition---game-%26-social-media/games/humor-6855.html

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-02:08 Exploring New Digital Frontiers in Youth Ministry
02:08-04:10 What is Hybrid Ministry?
04:10-08:20 Why do we play games in Youth Ministry?

08:20-17:35 3 Hybrid Game Ideas you can use this week!

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Games and youth ministry, they go together like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, Batman and Robin. But how can we as youth pastors or ministry leaders readjust the way in which we approach games and lean more into this digital space that we found ourselves in? Should we ignore it or should we find a way to capitalize on it? My approach and my mission for this podcast is to turn your ministry hybrid. How do we make your ministry hybrid, not just in person, not just digital, but a melding of the two. Does that mean that we should play more like cell phone based games, Kahoot games, zoom screen games? In this three part playlist, I want to give you the three new frontiers that we should be exploring as youth pastors, as youth ministry leaders into the digital space and frontier number one. Today. In this episode, we are going to be exploring the world of youth ministry and youth ministry games.

Nick Clason (01:02):
We're going to delve into the why and the philosophy of youth ministry and give you three games that you can adopt and take into your student ministry immediately today. All of this in effort as we are in this new digital frontier, this new digital space to effectively reach the students that God has placed in our trust with the message of hope and the mission of the gospel. We're also going to be exploring in this playlist how you can bring up your message enhancement in the hybrid world, and finally, how you can implement ongoing care, shepherding and relationships to the students that God has entrusted into you and your care in your student ministry. But let's dive further into this new frontier of digital discipleship through the means and avenues of games. Make sure also that you stick around to the very end because at the end I'm going to leave with you a one surefire resource that you can implement with multiple done for you game ideas and ways that you can hybridize your ministry.

Nick Clason (01:58):
And I have the ultimate hack that you can bring just about any game and turn it into a hybrid game. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. I am Nick Clason, a 13 year youth ministry veteran, currently serving in the great state of Texas. And I want to let you know that I am on a mission, as I said in the intro, to help youth pastors usher themselves more and more into this digital age. And I want to make sure that we are keeping the integrity of our in-person gatherings while also offering more and more of an opportunity for our students to engage with us from a digital mindset and digital framework. And so what I actually have for you as a surefire link in the description, I have a ebook. I have created 40 a whole month's worth of posting strategy for you as a youth pastor implement the strategy that I'm currently using, the one that I've used to grow our YouTube account and our followership in our social media from zero to around 300 up to this point and just under a calendar year.

Nick Clason (03:03):
And it will give you ideas and games that you can use and implement that are turnkey right now that you can use. But they're custom. You and your students and your volunteers get to be the heroes on your youth ministry. It's not just a bunch of static on account of foreign kind of boring graphics. It's real faces, real human beings. If you put a little bit of work in, you can totally revolutionize your student ministry. And I also want to let you know that links right here at the top of this video is a link to a video, what I believe every youth ministry needs and why this is also important. It's basically the thesis for this entire podcast. Hey, and finally, I want to make sure that you like and subscribe to this episode because here's why we are going to be dropping more and more episodes, especially this one as we're exploring new frontiers of hybrid ministry in the next episodes to come.

Nick Clason (03:49):
And I want to make sure that you don't miss it and likes, honestly, they're free and they really, really help us out and they help us get this mission to more and more people. But let's explore before we dive into the actual nitty gritty of games and youth ministry, let's talk about the philosophy and even the history of youth ministry and youth ministry games. Where did games come from? Why do we do them? It seems like it's the rite of passage. Every single youth ministry needs games. You look at resources like YM 360, download, youth ministry, even old school back in the day group. They're all trying to help solve this problem of how can you have games and what do games look like and where can you best take care of supplying games for you and your students? And we have screen-based games and active games and digital games and hybrid games, and we're going to get into all of that.

Nick Clason (04:43):
But I wanted to take a step back and be like, where did this even come from? So back in the 18 hundreds when students were not going to school on a regular basis, they were working six days a week, they invented this idea of Sunday School to bring about an age graded focus for students and an age graded Bible study, one that was a little bit more relevant to them in their timeframe, a little bit more relevant to them in their age group. And so what they did was they created this breakdown by age and grade and gender even. And they started to create this school vibe where they would teach the Bible. Well then fast forward to the 1940s, churches were maybe not super relevant to reaching young people. And so these two organizations popped up right around the same time, young Life and youth for Christ.

Nick Clason (05:34):
And so they both came with the mindset with the entire goal is to reach young people, reach 'em for Christ, and help change them from the inside out and revolutionize them with the power of the gospel. And then finally in the 1970s, churches began to start to see a void of that because what they were doing was in Sunday school mode, they're having volunteers and parents kind of lead these groups, but they started to identify this need for pastors, for people who could come in and who could be specialists in this area for teenagers and for the young people in their churches because they saw what was going on with Youth for Christ and Young Life. And they wanted to also bring that and usher that into the local church. And so since about the 1970s and the Jesus Revolution time, shout out to that movie if you haven't seen it yet, but they're bringing about this young people, this place for young people to come and find belonging, meaning, and purpose.

Nick Clason (06:28):
So that's the history of youth ministry. But why games? So if you look over time, there's always an element of fun and something that will bring about a draw of a crowd. And so to get the maximum amount of people you might feed people, you might offer fun, you might offer warmth, you might offer a great environment or a good vibe. And the truth of matter is, is that games have always sort of been a staple in what we've done in youth ministry, so much so that I do think at some point we've gotten a little bit rote with them and they're benign, and we just do them without even thinking like, well, what's the game going to be? Well, why are we even doing games? What's the purpose? And so what I've seen in my 13 years of student ministry experience is that if you just do games for game's sake, it doesn't have much to offer.

Nick Clason (07:17):
But in my mind, the purpose of a game is to help speak the language of teenagers, which by the way is the entire reason why I have this ebook linked in the description below for you to become more hybrid and for you to become more digitally focused. Because I believe it's a way for us to speak the language better of our teenagers and teenagers, whether they want to admit it or not, they love fun. Fun is the currency of teenagers. Fun helps break down the walls of people who may or may not know why they're at your church or who God is, or they're exploring this faith thing for the very first time. And fun helps alleviate and reduce the tension out of the room why we do what we do. And so with that in mind, I want to give you three game ideas, three hybrid game ideas that you can take use and even download immediately with links in the description of this episode that you can use both on your social media in person, and better yet, maybe you can find a way to meld the two together.

Nick Clason (08:17):
So let's explore that in the next section. All right, so link below in the description are three games that I have in my Download Youth Ministry store right now, and they are fun ones that I like to use. But I also just want to let you know that in all of this, many of the things that I'm going to be suggesting to you are also linked in my completely free ebook. So if you don't want to go pay for it, you can come up with some of these ideas on your very own by just looking at my completely free ebook, which is 40 done for You Ideas to help you and your students and your volunteers become the heroes on your church's social media and in your church's digital presence. And listen, in my ebook, I'm going to give you just a little bit of a sneak peek and a little bit of a hack.

Nick Clason (09:01):
I recommend that you sit just like this direct to camera and present and preach your message ahead of time before you deliver it live into the room. You then use that to clip up, make short sermon clips. But if you aren't willing and don't have the time to do that, I do recommend the remainder of my strategy, which is having fun with your students and having fun with your leaders and having fun with maybe even other staff on camera and posting that to your social media because it's a way that you can interact and engage with something that's live and happening real and in the room, but you can also show that content out to the rest of the world, and if not the rest of the world, at least the rest of your church, the rest of your youth ministry, the parents that are connected to the students in your ministry.

Nick Clason (09:45):
And so three of these ideas are ideas that I have either detailed or outlined before, or ones that I've come up with since I released the ebook. So the first one is a game called Rank 'em, and there's two different ways to do it. I believe right now I have the fall version online on DYM and coming up soon, I should be having the Christmas version drop onto Download Youth Ministry. But Rank 'em is basically a, Hey, let your students take these five things and rank them one through five. Now, one of my favorite variations to that is what's called, and maybe you've seen it if you've been on TikTok or Reels, is the blind ranking thing, which is where different categories of things come in. So let's say you're doing

Nick Clason (10:24):
A blind ranking of a TV show, and I say The Office, and then you have to put it in one through five list. And so for me, if I got the office, I'd be like, well, that's one. But then if someone was like, fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, I'd be like, man, I like that show a lot. Probably put it at three. I'm afraid to give away two. And then if someone's like, okay, Ted Lasso, I'll be like, oh, Ted Lasso so good. I want to put it at one, but I can't start putting the office there. So I guess I'll put it in at two. And then if someone was like the ugliest houses in America, I'd be like, okay, I can put that at five. I like it, but I want to reserve four for something. And then they said, the Mandalorian, I'd be like, all right, four.

Nick Clason (11:00):
And I'd be like, you know what? I don't hate that list. What do you think Office, Ted Lasso Fixer Upper Mandalorian houses in America. I'm okay with that list, right? But the point is, I didn't know what was coming next. That's the idea of a blind ranking. And so I have two versions in this actual game. Rank 'em where you can play live in the room with five things. You can do the one by one where they come in one at a time and you have to choose to rank 'em. I also have a social media version where you can take it and you can post it on your reels tos, YouTube shorts, and you can let students interact with it there and give their rankings. You can post it on YouTube story, or I'm sorry, Instagram stories if you don't have any of the other short kind of form platforms.

Nick Clason (11:39):
But you can use this. And again, if you get this game, I played this game in my context, live in the room a couple of weeks ago, and we only got to three questions. So what I did was, the way that I played it was I had myself and a co-host. And so the first one was me. They had to guess my rankings of these certain things at their tables together. And then how they did. Then we went to my co-host, they had to guess his rankings of the certain things, and then finally we switched that and they could rank them themselves. But the game has 10 questions, and so we only used three. So that leaves me seven more that I can use kind of sprinkled throughout on my socials throughout the rest of the week. Game idea number two is the visual variance voyage.

Nick Clason (12:20):
And because I'm a good Baptist, I like a good alliteration, but essentially it's a spot the difference game. And so if you get the widescreen version on DYM, I should have a fall version as well as a Christmas version coming out here soon. You have two graphics come in side by side, and you have to spot the difference. And listen, the best thing right now is that Adobe Photoshop, generative AI is letting you just add things to pictures kind of here and there. And it is a game changer for a game like this. By the way, if you want to level up your Photoshop skills, I have a link in the playlist to my Adobe editing and Photoshop. If that's something that you're interested, go check that out if you want a cheaper version. I also have link down there below Budget graphics for people who are looking to save time and money going through PowerPoint, Canva, Adobe Express and Instagram.

Nick Clason (13:04):
But in the visual variance voyage, you have two different pictures and you're just trying to identify what is different. But there's a timer on the screen and it's counting down. So you can play that live in your room, you can get contestants, you can play it in groups, you can play it at tables. But I also like that I have created a vertical based graphic that you can use, and you can then take those, and you can post those on Instagram stories or on shorts, whatever. And again, in both of these, rank 'em and in the visual variance voyage, if you don't want to use my canned graphics with a canned background, you can take the concept, right? You can take the two pictures and you can show them to somebody on a camera walking around your youth space like, Hey, spot the difference in less than 10 seconds.

Nick Clason (13:45):
Go. And then have them try to guess it, but you film them and you post that to your TikTok or to your YouTube short or whatever, and you can do just a simple picture and picture. Take my graphic that I've created and do a picture and picture with the video that you take of the person trying to guess. And so that's taking it to the next level where you take a game that you could just post a game in and of itself. But if you take that game and you film somebody trying to play it, then that's a whole nother level to it. Which leads me to my third option, which is my favorite option is emoji phraseology. I have just about any variant of season and game that you can think of. And basically what it is is you're trying to guess the emoji phrase, whether it's Christmas, whether it's fall, whether it's New Year's, whether it's February for Valentine's Day, whether it's St.

Nick Clason (14:28):
Patrick's. I mean, I literally have just about every season on download youth ministry, every single variation is linked down below in the show notes. But one of the favorite ways that I've done with this is I've just done one question by one question where we've gone up to people and we've asked them to guess, and then we've taken that graphic and they looked at it, and then I did a little picture and picture, or I actually put the actual icons on. I've done it where I did full editing and Adobe Premiere Pro with animations and sounds. And I've also done it where I just, in the TikTok editor, I just put the emojis on the screen and people had to try and guess and see what was playing. And so in all of those are games that you could play physically. Those are also games that you can play only digitally.

Nick Clason (15:10):
And my favorite is film other people playing those games and then post those out to your socials. One of the ones that was the biggest hit for the emoji was we went around and we did bible story emojis, and we asked different members of our staff and those, those were a massive hit, seeing other pastors and staff and senior pastors out there trying to guess those things on our socials. So here's the thing. The last way, the Ultimate Hack, I told you I was going to give you this ultimate hack. You can play just about any game, any game on download, youth ministry. It doesn't have to be one of my games. It can be any game that you find on there. It doesn't even have to have a phone-based formatting for it, but play any game. And then at the end of it, if it's a subjective based game where people are creating something, making a song, doing a lip sync, decorating a donut, whatever the case might be, take pictures of those things and then post them to social media and tell them that the vote is going to be what determines the winner.

Nick Clason (16:09):
And the voting is done on Instagram that does two things. It promotes your social media and it allows the students to be the judge, not just some random celebrity judge, not just you trying to pull something out of your hat at the last minute, right? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha love to be publishers, they love to contribute to publishing the content, not just simply basic consumers being told what has happened to them. That is an older school, older industrial minded way of doing things. They want to know that their voice matters and that they actually even have a voice that you care about and that you want to listen to. And so that, I believe, is way number one, that you can wade into this exploring of a new frontier of how you can implement fun and games, not just in your room, not just online, but also in a hybrid way to help give students an opportunity to lean in and have their voice be heard in this hybrid way of doing things.

Nick Clason (16:59):
Which reminder is why I said in my ebook, I outline all the ways that you can flesh this out with posts twice a day for five days a week. You can scale it back if you don't have the bandwidth to do that, but whatever the case might be, I have millions of ideas in there from spiritual practice to fun, to your message content and ways that you can get that message out to spread the message of hope. So click the link for that down below in the description, and in the next video, we're going to be exploring how you can enhance your message and your ministry live in the room with hybrid versions. You're not going to want to miss it. Click that on the screen and we'll catch you on that side.

]]> 🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCES TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥

📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

☝️ONE-CLICK SOLUTION FOR REELS & SHORTS
OPUS FOR AI SHORTS & REELS
https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

🧑‍🚀 EXPLORING NEW FRONTIERS PLAYLIST
Exploring The New Way to Approach Ministry, Full Playlist
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLQ3UpL1HRb3FFtEu-7S1XZ

========================================

DESCRIPTION
👋 Welcome to our YouTube channel & podcast!

🧑‍🚀 In this playlist, we are exploring the 3 new digital frontiers for churches and youth ministry pastors and leaders.

🎮 And in this video we're exploring the world of Youth Ministry Games and Fun!
What is different?
Where did games even come from in the first place?
And how should we adjust as we move forward into this new digital frontier?

In the subsequent videos we'll talk about
💬 Message Enhancement
🐑 Shepherding

So be sure to subscribe, so you don't miss a thing!

churchattendance #hiddentruth #unveiling #2023 #church #truth #revelation #faith #spirituality #religion #worship #community #christianity #belief #sunday #sacred #divine #belief #sermon #christian

========================================

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

========================================
🛠️TOOLS
Some of the below links are affilate links in which we do recieve a small commission based on your purchase or use of products
//YOUTUBE STARTER KIT FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

AUTO POD
https://autopod.lemonsqueezy.com?aff=MX7Vv

TRY REV.COM FOR TRANSCRIBING
https://rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

OPUS.PRO FOR AI SHORTS & REELS

https://www.opus.pro/?via=a5d361

👉 STAY CONNECTED WITH NICK
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/HybridMinistry

Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/071

//View all the Charts and Graphs via YouTube
https://youtu.be/OiBjI9dMxu8

//Rank 'Em
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/rank-%27em---fall-edition/fall-8962.html

//Visual Variance Voyage
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/visual-variance-voyage%3A-fall-edition/holiday-or-seasonal/fall-9043.html

//Adobe Photoshop & Premiere Crash Course
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaKVpQBDSQV6Q9hFeXCptHSu

//Budget Friendly Design Options
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIdZ-RLm5uVVlHj46FKrMYw

//Emoji Phraseology Vol 1
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology/social-media/instagram-6801.html

//Emoji Phraseology Camp Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---camp-edition/games/sequels-8122.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Summer Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---summer-edition/games/bundles-and-sequels-8088.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Easter Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-easter-edition/games/pop-culture-6957.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Vol 2
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---vol-2/games/sequels-8640.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Halloween Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---halloween-edition/fall/halloween-8320.html

//Emoji Phraseology: March Madness
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---madness-edition/spring/march-madness-8594.html

//Emoji Phraseology: 4th of July
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---patriotic-edition/summer/4th-of-july-8780.html

//Emoji Phraseology: St. Patrick's Day
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology-shamrock-edition/games-6929.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Christmas Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-christmas-edition/christmas-games-8426.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Superhero Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---superhero-edition/games/pop-culture-8827.html

//Emoji Phraseology: SuperBowl
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---big-game-edition/sports/football-8520.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Bible Story Edition
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---bible-story-edition/games/bible-based-8687.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Back 2 School
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology---back-2-school-edition/fall/back-to-school-8900.html

//Emoji Phraseology: Valentine's Day
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/emoji-phraseology%3A-love-edition---game-%26-social-media/games/humor-6855.html

🕰️TIMECODES
00:00-02:08 Exploring New Digital Frontiers in Youth Ministry
02:08-04:10 What is Hybrid Ministry?
04:10-08:20 Why do we play games in Youth Ministry?

08:20-17:35 3 Hybrid Game Ideas you can use this week!

✍️TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Games and youth ministry, they go together like peanut butter and jelly, macaroni and cheese, Batman and Robin. But how can we as youth pastors or ministry leaders readjust the way in which we approach games and lean more into this digital space that we found ourselves in? Should we ignore it or should we find a way to capitalize on it? My approach and my mission for this podcast is to turn your ministry hybrid. How do we make your ministry hybrid, not just in person, not just digital, but a melding of the two. Does that mean that we should play more like cell phone based games, Kahoot games, zoom screen games? In this three part playlist, I want to give you the three new frontiers that we should be exploring as youth pastors, as youth ministry leaders into the digital space and frontier number one. Today. In this episode, we are going to be exploring the world of youth ministry and youth ministry games.

Nick Clason (01:02):
We're going to delve into the why and the philosophy of youth ministry and give you three games that you can adopt and take into your student ministry immediately today. All of this in effort as we are in this new digital frontier, this new digital space to effectively reach the students that God has placed in our trust with the message of hope and the mission of the gospel. We're also going to be exploring in this playlist how you can bring up your message enhancement in the hybrid world, and finally, how you can implement ongoing care, shepherding and relationships to the students that God has entrusted into you and your care in your student ministry. But let's dive further into this new frontier of digital discipleship through the means and avenues of games. Make sure also that you stick around to the very end because at the end I'm going to leave with you a one surefire resource that you can implement with multiple done for you game ideas and ways that you can hybridize your ministry.

Nick Clason (01:58):
And I have the ultimate hack that you can bring just about any game and turn it into a hybrid game. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. Well, hey everyone. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. I am Nick Clason, a 13 year youth ministry veteran, currently serving in the great state of Texas. And I want to let you know that I am on a mission, as I said in the intro, to help youth pastors usher themselves more and more into this digital age. And I want to make sure that we are keeping the integrity of our in-person gatherings while also offering more and more of an opportunity for our students to engage with us from a digital mindset and digital framework. And so what I actually have for you as a surefire link in the description, I have a ebook. I have created 40 a whole month's worth of posting strategy for you as a youth pastor implement the strategy that I'm currently using, the one that I've used to grow our YouTube account and our followership in our social media from zero to around 300 up to this point and just under a calendar year.

Nick Clason (03:03):
And it will give you ideas and games that you can use and implement that are turnkey right now that you can use. But they're custom. You and your students and your volunteers get to be the heroes on your youth ministry. It's not just a bunch of static on account of foreign kind of boring graphics. It's real faces, real human beings. If you put a little bit of work in, you can totally revolutionize your student ministry. And I also want to let you know that links right here at the top of this video is a link to a video, what I believe every youth ministry needs and why this is also important. It's basically the thesis for this entire podcast. Hey, and finally, I want to make sure that you like and subscribe to this episode because here's why we are going to be dropping more and more episodes, especially this one as we're exploring new frontiers of hybrid ministry in the next episodes to come.

Nick Clason (03:49):
And I want to make sure that you don't miss it and likes, honestly, they're free and they really, really help us out and they help us get this mission to more and more people. But let's explore before we dive into the actual nitty gritty of games and youth ministry, let's talk about the philosophy and even the history of youth ministry and youth ministry games. Where did games come from? Why do we do them? It seems like it's the rite of passage. Every single youth ministry needs games. You look at resources like YM 360, download, youth ministry, even old school back in the day group. They're all trying to help solve this problem of how can you have games and what do games look like and where can you best take care of supplying games for you and your students? And we have screen-based games and active games and digital games and hybrid games, and we're going to get into all of that.

Nick Clason (04:43):
But I wanted to take a step back and be like, where did this even come from? So back in the 18 hundreds when students were not going to school on a regular basis, they were working six days a week, they invented this idea of Sunday School to bring about an age graded focus for students and an age graded Bible study, one that was a little bit more relevant to them in their timeframe, a little bit more relevant to them in their age group. And so what they did was they created this breakdown by age and grade and gender even. And they started to create this school vibe where they would teach the Bible. Well then fast forward to the 1940s, churches were maybe not super relevant to reaching young people. And so these two organizations popped up right around the same time, young Life and youth for Christ.

Nick Clason (05:34):
And so they both came with the mindset with the entire goal is to reach young people, reach 'em for Christ, and help change them from the inside out and revolutionize them with the power of the gospel. And then finally in the 1970s, churches began to start to see a void of that because what they were doing was in Sunday school mode, they're having volunteers and parents kind of lead these groups, but they started to identify this need for pastors, for people who could come in and who could be specialists in this area for teenagers and for the young people in their churches because they saw what was going on with Youth for Christ and Young Life. And they wanted to also bring that and usher that into the local church. And so since about the 1970s and the Jesus Revolution time, shout out to that movie if you haven't seen it yet, but they're bringing about this young people, this place for young people to come and find belonging, meaning, and purpose.

Nick Clason (06:28):
So that's the history of youth ministry. But why games? So if you look over time, there's always an element of fun and something that will bring about a draw of a crowd. And so to get the maximum amount of people you might feed people, you might offer fun, you might offer warmth, you might offer a great environment or a good vibe. And the truth of matter is, is that games have always sort of been a staple in what we've done in youth ministry, so much so that I do think at some point we've gotten a little bit rote with them and they're benign, and we just do them without even thinking like, well, what's the game going to be? Well, why are we even doing games? What's the purpose? And so what I've seen in my 13 years of student ministry experience is that if you just do games for game's sake, it doesn't have much to offer.

Nick Clason (07:17):
But in my mind, the purpose of a game is to help speak the language of teenagers, which by the way is the entire reason why I have this ebook linked in the description below for you to become more hybrid and for you to become more digitally focused. Because I believe it's a way for us to speak the language better of our teenagers and teenagers, whether they want to admit it or not, they love fun. Fun is the currency of teenagers. Fun helps break down the walls of people who may or may not know why they're at your church or who God is, or they're exploring this faith thing for the very first time. And fun helps alleviate and reduce the tension out of the room why we do what we do. And so with that in mind, I want to give you three game ideas, three hybrid game ideas that you can take use and even download immediately with links in the description of this episode that you can use both on your social media in person, and better yet, maybe you can find a way to meld the two together.

Nick Clason (08:17):
So let's explore that in the next section. All right, so link below in the description are three games that I have in my Download Youth Ministry store right now, and they are fun ones that I like to use. But I also just want to let you know that in all of this, many of the things that I'm going to be suggesting to you are also linked in my completely free ebook. So if you don't want to go pay for it, you can come up with some of these ideas on your very own by just looking at my completely free ebook, which is 40 done for You Ideas to help you and your students and your volunteers become the heroes on your church's social media and in your church's digital presence. And listen, in my ebook, I'm going to give you just a little bit of a sneak peek and a little bit of a hack.

Nick Clason (09:01):
I recommend that you sit just like this direct to camera and present and preach your message ahead of time before you deliver it live into the room. You then use that to clip up, make short sermon clips. But if you aren't willing and don't have the time to do that, I do recommend the remainder of my strategy, which is having fun with your students and having fun with your leaders and having fun with maybe even other staff on camera and posting that to your social media because it's a way that you can interact and engage with something that's live and happening real and in the room, but you can also show that content out to the rest of the world, and if not the rest of the world, at least the rest of your church, the rest of your youth ministry, the parents that are connected to the students in your ministry.

Nick Clason (09:45):
And so three of these ideas are ideas that I have either detailed or outlined before, or ones that I've come up with since I released the ebook. So the first one is a game called Rank 'em, and there's two different ways to do it. I believe right now I have the fall version online on DYM and coming up soon, I should be having the Christmas version drop onto Download Youth Ministry. But Rank 'em is basically a, Hey, let your students take these five things and rank them one through five. Now, one of my favorite variations to that is what's called, and maybe you've seen it if you've been on TikTok or Reels, is the blind ranking thing, which is where different categories of things come in. So let's say you're doing

Nick Clason (10:24):
A blind ranking of a TV show, and I say The Office, and then you have to put it in one through five list. And so for me, if I got the office, I'd be like, well, that's one. But then if someone was like, fixer Upper with Chip and Joanna Gaines, I'd be like, man, I like that show a lot. Probably put it at three. I'm afraid to give away two. And then if someone's like, okay, Ted Lasso, I'll be like, oh, Ted Lasso so good. I want to put it at one, but I can't start putting the office there. So I guess I'll put it in at two. And then if someone was like the ugliest houses in America, I'd be like, okay, I can put that at five. I like it, but I want to reserve four for something. And then they said, the Mandalorian, I'd be like, all right, four.

Nick Clason (11:00):
And I'd be like, you know what? I don't hate that list. What do you think Office, Ted Lasso Fixer Upper Mandalorian houses in America. I'm okay with that list, right? But the point is, I didn't know what was coming next. That's the idea of a blind ranking. And so I have two versions in this actual game. Rank 'em where you can play live in the room with five things. You can do the one by one where they come in one at a time and you have to choose to rank 'em. I also have a social media version where you can take it and you can post it on your reels tos, YouTube shorts, and you can let students interact with it there and give their rankings. You can post it on YouTube story, or I'm sorry, Instagram stories if you don't have any of the other short kind of form platforms.

Nick Clason (11:39):
But you can use this. And again, if you get this game, I played this game in my context, live in the room a couple of weeks ago, and we only got to three questions. So what I did was, the way that I played it was I had myself and a co-host. And so the first one was me. They had to guess my rankings of these certain things at their tables together. And then how they did. Then we went to my co-host, they had to guess his rankings of the certain things, and then finally we switched that and they could rank them themselves. But the game has 10 questions, and so we only used three. So that leaves me seven more that I can use kind of sprinkled throughout on my socials throughout the rest of the week. Game idea number two is the visual variance voyage.

Nick Clason (12:20):
And because I'm a good Baptist, I like a good alliteration, but essentially it's a spot the difference game. And so if you get the widescreen version on DYM, I should have a fall version as well as a Christmas version coming out here soon. You have two graphics come in side by side, and you have to spot the difference. And listen, the best thing right now is that Adobe Photoshop, generative AI is letting you just add things to pictures kind of here and there. And it is a game changer for a game like this. By the way, if you want to level up your Photoshop skills, I have a link in the playlist to my Adobe editing and Photoshop. If that's something that you're interested, go check that out if you want a cheaper version. I also have link down there below Budget graphics for people who are looking to save time and money going through PowerPoint, Canva, Adobe Express and Instagram.

Nick Clason (13:04):
But in the visual variance voyage, you have two different pictures and you're just trying to identify what is different. But there's a timer on the screen and it's counting down. So you can play that live in your room, you can get contestants, you can play it in groups, you can play it at tables. But I also like that I have created a vertical based graphic that you can use, and you can then take those, and you can post those on Instagram stories or on shorts, whatever. And again, in both of these, rank 'em and in the visual variance voyage, if you don't want to use my canned graphics with a canned background, you can take the concept, right? You can take the two pictures and you can show them to somebody on a camera walking around your youth space like, Hey, spot the difference in less than 10 seconds.

Nick Clason (13:45):
Go. And then have them try to guess it, but you film them and you post that to your TikTok or to your YouTube short or whatever, and you can do just a simple picture and picture. Take my graphic that I've created and do a picture and picture with the video that you take of the person trying to guess. And so that's taking it to the next level where you take a game that you could just post a game in and of itself. But if you take that game and you film somebody trying to play it, then that's a whole nother level to it. Which leads me to my third option, which is my favorite option is emoji phraseology. I have just about any variant of season and game that you can think of. And basically what it is is you're trying to guess the emoji phrase, whether it's Christmas, whether it's fall, whether it's New Year's, whether it's February for Valentine's Day, whether it's St.

Nick Clason (14:28):
Patrick's. I mean, I literally have just about every season on download youth ministry, every single variation is linked down below in the show notes. But one of the favorite ways that I've done with this is I've just done one question by one question where we've gone up to people and we've asked them to guess, and then we've taken that graphic and they looked at it, and then I did a little picture and picture, or I actually put the actual icons on. I've done it where I did full editing and Adobe Premiere Pro with animations and sounds. And I've also done it where I just, in the TikTok editor, I just put the emojis on the screen and people had to try and guess and see what was playing. And so in all of those are games that you could play physically. Those are also games that you can play only digitally.

Nick Clason (15:10):
And my favorite is film other people playing those games and then post those out to your socials. One of the ones that was the biggest hit for the emoji was we went around and we did bible story emojis, and we asked different members of our staff and those, those were a massive hit, seeing other pastors and staff and senior pastors out there trying to guess those things on our socials. So here's the thing. The last way, the Ultimate Hack, I told you I was going to give you this ultimate hack. You can play just about any game, any game on download, youth ministry. It doesn't have to be one of my games. It can be any game that you find on there. It doesn't even have to have a phone-based formatting for it, but play any game. And then at the end of it, if it's a subjective based game where people are creating something, making a song, doing a lip sync, decorating a donut, whatever the case might be, take pictures of those things and then post them to social media and tell them that the vote is going to be what determines the winner.

Nick Clason (16:09):
And the voting is done on Instagram that does two things. It promotes your social media and it allows the students to be the judge, not just some random celebrity judge, not just you trying to pull something out of your hat at the last minute, right? Because Gen Z and Gen Alpha love to be publishers, they love to contribute to publishing the content, not just simply basic consumers being told what has happened to them. That is an older school, older industrial minded way of doing things. They want to know that their voice matters and that they actually even have a voice that you care about and that you want to listen to. And so that, I believe, is way number one, that you can wade into this exploring of a new frontier of how you can implement fun and games, not just in your room, not just online, but also in a hybrid way to help give students an opportunity to lean in and have their voice be heard in this hybrid way of doing things.

Nick Clason (16:59):
Which reminder is why I said in my ebook, I outline all the ways that you can flesh this out with posts twice a day for five days a week. You can scale it back if you don't have the bandwidth to do that, but whatever the case might be, I have millions of ideas in there from spiritual practice to fun, to your message content and ways that you can get that message out to spread the message of hope. So click the link for that down below in the description, and in the next video, we're going to be exploring how you can enhance your message and your ministry live in the room with hybrid versions. You're not going to want to miss it. Click that on the screen and we'll catch you on that side.

]]> Episode 061: 📲 Instagram vs. TikTok vs. YouTube. The Most Effective Social Platform for your Church's Youth Ministry 📲 https://www.hybridministry.xyz/061 78fdd28c-eafe-43dd-bd79-ed23ec90488a Thu, 07 Sep 2023 04:00:00 -0500 Nick Clason 061 📲 Instagram vs. TikTok vs. YouTube. The Most Effective Social Platform for your Church's Youth Ministry 📲 full Nick Clason In this episode, join us as we delve into the exciting world of social media platforms and discover which one holds the key to maximizing your church's youth ministry outreach. We'll be breaking down the pros and cons of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping you navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Whether you're a youth pastor, a church leader, or simply interested in harnessing the power of social media for positive impact, this episode is tailor-made for you. Get ready to uncover the secrets of engagement, connection, and inspiration as we unveil the most effective platform to elevate your church's youth ministry to new heights. 20:05 no <h3>🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCE TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥</h3> <p>📅 <strong>"1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"</strong><br> <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p>🎥<strong>LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100</strong><br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit</a></p> <p><strong>DESCRIPTION</strong><br> In this episode, join us as we delve into the exciting world of social media platforms and discover which one holds the key to maximizing your church's youth ministry outreach. We'll be breaking down the pros and cons of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping you navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Whether you're a youth pastor, a church leader, or simply interested in harnessing the power of social media for positive impact, this episode is tailor-made for you. Get ready to uncover the secrets of engagement, connection, and inspiration as we unveil the most effective platform to elevate your church's youth ministry to new heights.</p> <p><strong>🆓 FREEBIES 🆓</strong><br> 📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"<br> <a href="https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book</a></p> <p>😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"<br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook</a></p> <p>📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"<br> <a href="https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis</a></p> <p>📓<strong>SHOWNOTES</strong><br> //SHOWNOTES &amp; TRANSCRIPTS<br> <a href="http://www.hybridministry.xyz/061" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">http://www.hybridministry.xyz/061</a></p> <p>//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLE<br> <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/</a></p> <p>//6 PART SOCIAL MEDIA FRAMEWORK<br> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIbzg_DNJrTrCtBHQnxcOVo" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIbzg_DNJrTrCtBHQnxcOVo</a></p> <p>//WHY EVER YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE<br> <a href="https://youtu.be/SDxepdu4iiM" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://youtu.be/SDxepdu4iiM</a></p> <p>//MOTION ARRAY<br> <a href="https://motionarray.com/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://motionarray.com/</a></p> <p><em>🕺 TikTok: 🎵</em></p> <p>Get ready to dance into the world of TikTok! 🕺 We'll discuss the power of short-form videos in grabbing attention, sparking trends, and spreading your message like wildfire. Learn how to harness the creative energy of TikTok to connect with the youth in ways you never thought possible.</p> <p><em>📸 Instagram: 📱</em></p> <p>Discover the world of visual storytelling as we explore how Instagram can capture the hearts and minds of the youth. From captivating visuals to real-time interaction, we'll uncover the strategies that can turn your Instagram feed into an inspiration hub for your young audience.</p> <p><em>📹 YouTube: 🎥</em></p> <p>The long-form champion! 📹 We'll explore how YouTube provides a platform for in-depth content, tutorials, discussions, and live engagement. Join us as we unravel the potential of YouTube to create a library of resources that empowers and educates your young audience.</p> <p><strong>LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100</strong><br> <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit</a></p> <p>So, whether you're an #InstaLover, a #TikTokEnthusiast, or a #YouTubeAficionado, this video is your guide to selecting the social platform that aligns perfectly with your church's youth ministry goals. 🌐 Let's make an impact together!</p> <p>Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated on all things Hybrid Ministry. Let's transform the digital space for good! 💙🙌</p> <p>👉 <strong>STAY CONNECTED</strong><br> YouTube: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Instagram: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/</a><br> TikTok: <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick</a><br> Website: <a href="https://www.hybridministry.xyz" target="_blank" rel="nofollow noopener">https://www.hybridministry.xyz</a></p> <p><strong>TIMECODES</strong><br> 00:00-02:34 Why Every Youth Ministry Should be Using Social Media<br> 02:34-05:47 Every Youth Ministry Context is a little different<br> 05:47-10:48 The Rise of TikTok<br> 10:48-13:25 Instagram: The Curse of Legacy Followers<br> 13:25-17:25 YouTube: How to Level up your YouTube Game in Youth Ministry<br> 17:25-20:05 The Verdict is in: Which Platform should Youth Ministries be Using</p> <p><strong>TRANSCRIPT</strong><br> Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com<br> rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa</p> <p>Nick Clason (00:00):<br> Hey, in this video we want to answer what is the best social media platform for your youth ministry in 2023? So it's gonna be TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah. Go ahead and hang out in this video because recently Pew Research dropped some stuff that said that 42% of Americans use TikTok. Meanwhile, 71% of Americans use Instagram, and furthermore, 81% of Americans use YouTube. And so in this video, we are going to inspect all three of them, give you the pros and the cons, and then ultimately answer which platform is best for you to dial into in your student ministry in 2023 and beyond. But make sure that you stick around to the very end of this video, because I have a surefire resource that is going to help you win in your social media, in youth ministry. We have a free download to at the very end of the video, so make sure you hang out with that. </p> <p>Nick Clason (00:51):<br> Now, you might be asking like, is that research for Americans or is that research for teenagers? And that's a great question because the teenage data is actually a little bit different. And so Pew Research dropped an article about a year ago, in fact, almost a year ago from the date of this recording, uh, where it compared 2014 to 2015 stats all the way to now, uh, the most recent trends and most recent stats. And so interestingly, at the time, uh, YouTube wasn't originally captured as a social media. YouTube as a platform has been around, but it wasn't like converted in people's ideology to social until recently. Meanwhile, Facebook usage in teenagers went down, went from 71% down to 32%. TikTok was on the rise. It's up to 67%, and Instagram's on the rise from 52% up to 60, uh, from 52 up to 62%. Snapchat also was up on the rise along with Instagram. </p> <p>Nick Clason (01:47):<br> And so 67% of teens say that they use TikTok ever. Meanwhile, 16% of teens say that they use it, get ready for this. Almost constantly YouTube though, however, does Chop top the charts as, uh, the usage for teenagers at get this, 95% of teenagers say that they are using YouTube. And then now, uh, Instagram and Snapchat, both are next and both used, both are used by about six in 10 teenagers. So that data is quite a bit different, quite frankly, than the original data. And so I'll drop the link to this article so that you can see it, you can read it for yourself. The link is in the show notes, but that's what we're gonna do is we're going to dive into TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah, let's go. Well, everyone, my name is Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in the DFW Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I've actually been in youth ministry for believe it or not, 12 and a half years. And I've been managing social media accounts at each of those youth ministry stops in all sorts of various levels of intentionality and all sorts of various levels of, uh, like just know-how. And so what's interesting is when I first started, I viewed </p> <p>Nick Clason (02:58):<br> Social media as a way to just get out more information. Like I had an email list and also I had an Instagram following. So Instagram wasn't even around when I started. I launched, uh, my very first Instagram student ministry Instagram page, uh, at the first church that I worked at. But every single church after that, I actually inherited an Instagram account and actually a fairly large Instagram account. However, in most cases, I helped launch a YouTube channel and I also helped create and start a TikTok from scratch. And so that's what I've done within the last year of starting here at the church I'm at now. We launched from scratch a TikTok account and a YouTube account. Instagram of course has been around and you're inheriting all of those followers. And so at just about every single church, I've had some measure of growing, uh, uh, social media ministry, a hybrid ministry and social media and and social networks, right, in all of my context. </p> <p>Nick Clason (03:52):<br> And so I'm just curious for you, I would love to know both where you're watching from and what social media network seems to be working best for you. You know what's interesting, drop that in the comments below. But what's interesting is I just moved from Chicago down here to Dallas-Fort Worth and in Chicago, uh, they wouldn't text each other via text message or like standard ss m s messaging. They would really only text people each other, their friends through Snapchat, which was a really interesting phenomenon. And so down here it's not as much the same. Snapchat usage is still happening, but it's not the primary vehicle with which people communicate. And so it just goes to show that wherever you are regionally, it does truly matter and it's a little bit different and the culture and the climate are just a little bit different. So as you're letting us know in the comments below which social media platform seems to be working most in your youth ministry and in your context, you might be asking what does working even really mean? </p> <p>Nick Clason (04:48):<br> I mean, are we talking views? Are we talking impressions? Are we talking like engagement? Are we talking reach? Like what is it? And I actually have a lot of answers to that and how to get started in our six part social media framework for churches. I'll link it right here if that's something that you're interested. But go ahead and take a look at that. If you are trying to get this up, up, up off the ground, get started in your social media, I would love to have you do that. If you are not watching on YouTube, that link will be in the show notes of your podcast catcher. But I just wanna know that as we break down in that six part context, we break down which of these social media, uh, channels, you can watch through each of the different platforms, and then you can be, uh, a decision maker as far as which is the best to implement in your current climate and in your current context. </p> <p>Nick Clason (05:35):<br> But TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube, let's dive in and let's look at each of the platforms, the pros, the cons, where they came from and why they are where they are today. So let's go. Some say it started as early as 2019. Others say it started closer to the beginning of 2020. And you know me, like I tried to play my part as much as I could, but it seemed like no matter what, everybody around me was getting it and I kept distancing myself from it. I tried to stay away from it, but finally it was around Christmas time of 2020, I finally just broke down and I decided I was going to get it. Now, you know what I'm talking about, right? Put it in the comments. 3, 2, 1. I'm talking about TikTok. Oh, you thought I was talking about Covid? No, I'm talking about TikTok, right? </p> <p>Nick Clason (06:23):<br> TikTok burst on the scene during the pandemic, actually. And what's fascinating is like there's all sorts of toss out there now, but like I would never download that. And it's like me now just like doom scrolling, like just consuming it at like mass crazy levels. Here's the thing that you need to know about TikTok is they invented a brand new way to do social media. And the way that they burst on the scene and the popularity with which they burst on the scene is now causing all other platforms to change their method and their approach to social media. And so TikTok, uh, brought to us what we now use, and you may not call it this or may not think of it this way, but essentially it's the discovery algorithm. It's the algorithm with which you consume the majority of your content from people that you don't even know you're discovering them, right? </p> <p>Nick Clason (07:11):<br> A way that I've used this in my own life is last, uh, last spring, my family and I, we went to Disney. We visited the mouse. And if you've ever been to Disney, one of the best places to go to Disney is Epcot. All right? And so we went to Epcot on the very first day of our trip. My brother, uh, my sister and my brother-in-law came and they joined us. They live in Florida a few hours away. So they drove over. I mean, it was a blast. We hung out on Epcot. But in order to know the best, like if you've never been to Epcot, they have this thing called the World Showcase. And you walk around this giant lake and there are 11 different pavilions. You got like Mexico and Japan and China and Norway, and you got France, and you got Germany, and you got, uh, United Kingdom. </p> <p>Nick Clason (07:51):<br> You got United States, you got Canada. I might've named all 11. I don't know, I might, I might've missed one. Let me know in the comments if you're a Disney person and if I missed one. But what we did was I built a map and I talked, I looked at the best food, the best drink, the best places to stop, the best carts to get stuff from at each of these different pavilions. And the way that I did that, the way that I did the majority of my research was through TikTok. It's amazing. And now TikTok is converting to not just scrolling and hoping to find a good next video, but now TikTok is actually trying to convert into more of a discovery, uh, or like search-based, uh, type of platform where you can go and you can get answers to certain questions. And you might be thinking as a youth pastor, that's an amazing concept. </p> <p>Nick Clason (08:35):<br> And you're right, it is. You can answer very specific questions on TikTok. But here's the thing. In my Epcot experience, I got a lot of great answers. I went to the France Pavilion, I got the croquet glosser, I'm probably saying that wrong 'cause I'm not French, but I was told, Hey, this brioche bun with ice in the middle, and they flip it over in like a waffle, iron type thing. I found out about that completely and exclusively on TikTok. I would've never found that little, like, kind of like off the beaten path little restaurant to find that thing in my normal meandering. And walking around Epcot, TikTok came in clutch for me on that. However, I have no idea who posted it. I'm not following them. I don't have a relationship with them, and it's not a continued ongoing one. And so the relationships on TikTok, especially with those who follow you, are far less, uh, substantial than some of the other ones because of this kind of discovery based algorithm. </p> <p>Nick Clason (09:33):<br> And I think TikTok might be trying to change that a little bit, but you just need to know that as a youth ministry, if you put your content out there and you do get a lot of subscribers, or you do get a lot of views, or you do get a lot of followers, like that doesn't necessarily equal more people that you're having like good influence with because I think it's something like 85% of the content that any one of us consume on TikTok are from people that we don't know. And so for you, a really good thing to do would be to create a meaningful call to action that pushes them to some sort of thing, to a link in the bio if you do have enough followers on there to your YouTube channel, to a digital connect card online, so that you can get to know the people that are watching your videos and that are getting answers from the, uh, big questions that you are trying to answer on TikTok. </p> <p>Nick Clason (10:21):<br> So with that being said, hey, listen, if you are getting value out of this video, if this has been helpful so far, I would love it if you would hit that like button, if you would give us a rating if you're listening to a, a podcast or if you would subscribe on YouTube and maybe even consider this sharing it with a friend. But after this, we're gonna move on to not just TikTok, but now we wanna look at Instagram. So coming up next, let's take a look at Instagram, the pros, the cons, and what you need to know about that platform. All right, so Instagram, one of the things I call it, I don't know if this is really what it's called, but if you come into youth ministry, you're probably going to, at this point in, in the lifecycle of youth ministry and the lifecycle of Instagram, you're probably going to inherit what I call legacy users. </p> <p>Nick Clason (11:04):<br> So that's people who have in the past been associated affiliated or connected with your youth ministry in some sort of way. But in the last couple of places that I've, I've shown up and I've, uh, jumped onto the Instagram, what I've realized is that there are college students, majority of college students as our follower base. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing for general social media marketing, it may not also be a great thing for youth ministry, social media marketing, because those are not the people that you're trying to reach anymore. And so, uh, on Instagram, you probably have some sort of an older audience as a result of just like the history of it and the way in which we've done things. So even in a church I went to, we went and we just did a follower and following like audit, and we just, anyone we didn't know we took out because if, if we don't know 'em, and we've been there for a few years, like obviously it's time to, to sort of cut ties with this relationship here. </p> <p>Nick Clason (11:59):<br> And we're not trying to be jerks, we're not trying to cut people off, but, uh, that was not our target that we were like going towards, you know? And so if you go to a business account and Instagram and you look at the analytics and it's all skews older, like that's as a youth pastor, you're like, that's not, that's not what you're trying to do. That's not who you're trying to reach. You can still minister to those people and, and you should, but you just kind of gotta know that there's going to be legacy users on Instagram. You just gotta figure out what you wanna do and what your personal philosophy to managing that is. The other piece of Instagram that you need to know is that it started out as a photo sharing app, and then it stole stories from Snapchat, and then it stole reels from TikTok. </p> <p>Nick Clason (12:37):<br> And so honestly, right now on Instagram, there are three very distinct different experiences for Instagram users. There's the feed and there's stories and there's reels. And so for me, because, uh, short form vertical video content is king right now, I am able to just do all of my focus on reels and use reels to share stuff to the feed and use reels to share stuff out to stories. And so by using reels, I'm able to kill literally three birds with one stone. But if you don't know that and you don't have some sort of like thought through strategy, Instagram can eat your lunch because it is busy and there's a lot going on there on Instagram. Now, let's dive into the third and final versus TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Let's check it out. YouTube, according to a 2022 study, we looked at it earlier, 95% of teenagers are using YouTube. </p> <p>Nick Clason (13:34):<br> 95%, nine and a half out of 10 people in your demographic that you're trying to reach are using YouTube. Now, not all YouTube users are built the same, right? Some are on there as adults, right, to like repair their faucet. Others like my kids, they're on there to watch Roblox and they're on there to watch Rainbow Friends and people get killed by these scary monster things. Teenagers are on there for a probably, uh, a hybrid of those two reasons, along with answers to specific questions along with entertainment, along with watching Mr. Beast videos, like whatever the case might be. Teenagers are on there for a variety of reasons. 'cause YouTube has a variety of content. I mean, for crying out loud, this video right now is on YouTube, but 95% of teenagers use it. In addition, it is the second largest search engine in the world powered by the first largest search engine in the world. </p> <p>Nick Clason (14:26):<br> So it is a great place to be discovered and to be found. And when people are going to YouTube, they're often asking specific questions, right? Like the other day, I got onto YouTube and I was asking how to fix smoke coming out of my lawnmower. Very specific question. So I want you to reverse engineer, and I want you to kinda retrofit that idea into your ministry as a youth pastor. What are some of the specific questions that teenagers are asking you in day to day? Why does a loving God send good people to hell? If we're always forgiven for our sins, then why do we need to obey him? Now, what's the purpose of obedience? Does God need you or require you to vote Republican? Right? Whatever the the questions are that you are fielding as a youth pastor, think about it. You have an opportunity on YouTube to go on there and answer very specific questions that your kids are asking. </p> <p>Nick Clason (15:21):<br> And furthermore, it is the second largest search engine in the world. So take those specific questions and help give them some specific answers. During C O V I D I moved to a church, started a church the very first day of C O V I, and then I got immediately locked down. And so I was working out on my master bedroom with boxes all around me trying to figure out how to be a youth pastor in this brand new context. And I, quite frankly, I did not have enough to do. During that time. I kept asking my boss, what more do you want from me? What more do you want from me? And he was like, just keep doing what you're doing. And I wasn't doing much. But so what I did with my time, even as I was at home, is I taught myself Adobe after effects. </p> <p>Nick Clason (16:03):<br> I taught myself how to do it step by step, key frame by key frame agonizingly, and I was building things completely from scratch. And then once we broke free from the pandemic, I found out that all the creative people at my church were using a thing called motion array. I'll link that down below in the show notes if that's something that you wanna check out. It's an amazing tool for After Effects Premier Pro, uh, stock footage, stock audio. But guess what? I could take a motion or a template and I could very easily use After Effects because I now had an ability and a skill set that I didn't have before. I completely used YouTube to teach myself a brand new skill. Speaking of which, if you are interested in our completely free Adobe Premier Pro, uh, effects and plugins, they're easy bounce ins and bounce outs and rotates in and rotates out and drop in from the top and drop in from the bottom, and a smooth effect and a bounce effect, then I wanna encourage you to go to the link down below, order the link in the show notes and grab that. </p> <p>Nick Clason (17:01):<br> If you're a video editor, if you use Adobe Premier Pro, this is my number one go-to tool. And I would love to encourage you, if you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing some of the effects right now, I would like to encourage you to download that and use it in your ministry if this is something that you are doing as a video editor. So now let's dive in to the conclusion, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Finally, the verdict. Here we go. Let's look at it. So the verdict, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. What is it? If you asked me if I were to rank them in importance, here's how I would rank them as a youth pastor in 2023. In order of importance, in order of usage, in order of opportunity, I would rank them YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, in that order. Now, here's the good news. </p> <p>Nick Clason (17:46):<br> I have a way for you to knock all three of them completely out of the park. And here's why. Because of TikTok and them introducing the discovery algorithm, Instagram has adopted reels and YouTube has adopted shorts. And so by adopting one centralized strategy on your social media, i e short form vertical video-based content, I have a completely free ebook that I am giving away in the link to the show notes. And it's called this, it's called The One Month Done For You Posting Tool. And it will give you 40 different video ideas that you can film on your smartphone or on a camera and post with very little editing, uh, need or ability. You can do all of it from your smartphone. Uh, the, the good news is when you download that ebook, you're also gonna get a link to our ha Have I Ruined My TikTok account? </p> <p>Nick Clason (18:35):<br> A Complete Guide to Posting a TikTok from Start to Finish all via your phone. And so both of those are going to be paired well together so that you, if you have no video editing ability, if I'm talking about Adobe Premier Pro plugins and you're like, what in the world are you talking about? This is your way as a youth pastor with minimal, uh, experience, minimal, uh, know-how in any of these areas to completely revolutionize your social media experience. Because if you go all in on short form vertical video-based content, you can do fun stuff. You can do challenges and games with your students. You can get students on your social media and you can overhear, you can get, you can answer specific questions to big and specific problems. You can do recaps to your messages so that your messages don't just happen on a Wednesday night and then die there. </p> <p>Nick Clason (19:21):<br> You can use a fully faceted, fully integrated social media posting thing. And I have all of that completely for you for free. All I need you to do is click that link and download that, um, and just start using it today. And I would love to know if you do and if you find it helpful, because I think that it's an amazing resource and an amazing tool. So go grab that download, and if you actually wanna put that completely to the, to the fullest extent, if you wanna use that to the best of its abilities, then you need to go check out episode number 60, linked right here answering the question why every single youth ministry needs a strong digital presence. Because here's the deal, we are here to make digital discipleship easy and we wanna encourage you to stay hybrid. </p> Using Social Media for Youth Ministry, Youth Ministry, Student Ministry, Youth Group, Youth Ministry Podcast, Youth Ministry Coach, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, The Best Social Media for Youth Ministry, Church Social Media 🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCE TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥

📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🎥LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

DESCRIPTION
In this episode, join us as we delve into the exciting world of social media platforms and discover which one holds the key to maximizing your church's youth ministry outreach. We'll be breaking down the pros and cons of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping you navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Whether you're a youth pastor, a church leader, or simply interested in harnessing the power of social media for positive impact, this episode is tailor-made for you. Get ready to uncover the secrets of engagement, connection, and inspiration as we unveil the most effective platform to elevate your church's youth ministry to new heights.

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/061

//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLE
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/

//6 PART SOCIAL MEDIA FRAMEWORK
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIbzg_DNJrTrCtBHQnxcOVo

//WHY EVER YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
https://youtu.be/SDxepdu4iiM

//MOTION ARRAY
https://motionarray.com/

🕺 TikTok: 🎵

Get ready to dance into the world of TikTok! 🕺 We'll discuss the power of short-form videos in grabbing attention, sparking trends, and spreading your message like wildfire. Learn how to harness the creative energy of TikTok to connect with the youth in ways you never thought possible.

📸 Instagram: 📱

Discover the world of visual storytelling as we explore how Instagram can capture the hearts and minds of the youth. From captivating visuals to real-time interaction, we'll uncover the strategies that can turn your Instagram feed into an inspiration hub for your young audience.

📹 YouTube: 🎥

The long-form champion! 📹 We'll explore how YouTube provides a platform for in-depth content, tutorials, discussions, and live engagement. Join us as we unravel the potential of YouTube to create a library of resources that empowers and educates your young audience.

LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

So, whether you're an #InstaLover, a #TikTokEnthusiast, or a #YouTubeAficionado, this video is your guide to selecting the social platform that aligns perfectly with your church's youth ministry goals. 🌐 Let's make an impact together!

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated on all things Hybrid Ministry. Let's transform the digital space for good! 💙🙌

👉 STAY CONNECTED
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

TIMECODES
00:00-02:34 Why Every Youth Ministry Should be Using Social Media
02:34-05:47 Every Youth Ministry Context is a little different
05:47-10:48 The Rise of TikTok
10:48-13:25 Instagram: The Curse of Legacy Followers
13:25-17:25 YouTube: How to Level up your YouTube Game in Youth Ministry
17:25-20:05 The Verdict is in: Which Platform should Youth Ministries be Using

TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Hey, in this video we want to answer what is the best social media platform for your youth ministry in 2023? So it's gonna be TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah. Go ahead and hang out in this video because recently Pew Research dropped some stuff that said that 42% of Americans use TikTok. Meanwhile, 71% of Americans use Instagram, and furthermore, 81% of Americans use YouTube. And so in this video, we are going to inspect all three of them, give you the pros and the cons, and then ultimately answer which platform is best for you to dial into in your student ministry in 2023 and beyond. But make sure that you stick around to the very end of this video, because I have a surefire resource that is going to help you win in your social media, in youth ministry. We have a free download to at the very end of the video, so make sure you hang out with that.

Nick Clason (00:51):
Now, you might be asking like, is that research for Americans or is that research for teenagers? And that's a great question because the teenage data is actually a little bit different. And so Pew Research dropped an article about a year ago, in fact, almost a year ago from the date of this recording, uh, where it compared 2014 to 2015 stats all the way to now, uh, the most recent trends and most recent stats. And so interestingly, at the time, uh, YouTube wasn't originally captured as a social media. YouTube as a platform has been around, but it wasn't like converted in people's ideology to social until recently. Meanwhile, Facebook usage in teenagers went down, went from 71% down to 32%. TikTok was on the rise. It's up to 67%, and Instagram's on the rise from 52% up to 60, uh, from 52 up to 62%. Snapchat also was up on the rise along with Instagram.

Nick Clason (01:47):
And so 67% of teens say that they use TikTok ever. Meanwhile, 16% of teens say that they use it, get ready for this. Almost constantly YouTube though, however, does Chop top the charts as, uh, the usage for teenagers at get this, 95% of teenagers say that they are using YouTube. And then now, uh, Instagram and Snapchat, both are next and both used, both are used by about six in 10 teenagers. So that data is quite a bit different, quite frankly, than the original data. And so I'll drop the link to this article so that you can see it, you can read it for yourself. The link is in the show notes, but that's what we're gonna do is we're going to dive into TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah, let's go. Well, everyone, my name is Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in the DFW Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I've actually been in youth ministry for believe it or not, 12 and a half years. And I've been managing social media accounts at each of those youth ministry stops in all sorts of various levels of intentionality and all sorts of various levels of, uh, like just know-how. And so what's interesting is when I first started, I viewed

Nick Clason (02:58):
Social media as a way to just get out more information. Like I had an email list and also I had an Instagram following. So Instagram wasn't even around when I started. I launched, uh, my very first Instagram student ministry Instagram page, uh, at the first church that I worked at. But every single church after that, I actually inherited an Instagram account and actually a fairly large Instagram account. However, in most cases, I helped launch a YouTube channel and I also helped create and start a TikTok from scratch. And so that's what I've done within the last year of starting here at the church I'm at now. We launched from scratch a TikTok account and a YouTube account. Instagram of course has been around and you're inheriting all of those followers. And so at just about every single church, I've had some measure of growing, uh, uh, social media ministry, a hybrid ministry and social media and and social networks, right, in all of my context.

Nick Clason (03:52):
And so I'm just curious for you, I would love to know both where you're watching from and what social media network seems to be working best for you. You know what's interesting, drop that in the comments below. But what's interesting is I just moved from Chicago down here to Dallas-Fort Worth and in Chicago, uh, they wouldn't text each other via text message or like standard ss m s messaging. They would really only text people each other, their friends through Snapchat, which was a really interesting phenomenon. And so down here it's not as much the same. Snapchat usage is still happening, but it's not the primary vehicle with which people communicate. And so it just goes to show that wherever you are regionally, it does truly matter and it's a little bit different and the culture and the climate are just a little bit different. So as you're letting us know in the comments below which social media platform seems to be working most in your youth ministry and in your context, you might be asking what does working even really mean?

Nick Clason (04:48):
I mean, are we talking views? Are we talking impressions? Are we talking like engagement? Are we talking reach? Like what is it? And I actually have a lot of answers to that and how to get started in our six part social media framework for churches. I'll link it right here if that's something that you're interested. But go ahead and take a look at that. If you are trying to get this up, up, up off the ground, get started in your social media, I would love to have you do that. If you are not watching on YouTube, that link will be in the show notes of your podcast catcher. But I just wanna know that as we break down in that six part context, we break down which of these social media, uh, channels, you can watch through each of the different platforms, and then you can be, uh, a decision maker as far as which is the best to implement in your current climate and in your current context.

Nick Clason (05:35):
But TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube, let's dive in and let's look at each of the platforms, the pros, the cons, where they came from and why they are where they are today. So let's go. Some say it started as early as 2019. Others say it started closer to the beginning of 2020. And you know me, like I tried to play my part as much as I could, but it seemed like no matter what, everybody around me was getting it and I kept distancing myself from it. I tried to stay away from it, but finally it was around Christmas time of 2020, I finally just broke down and I decided I was going to get it. Now, you know what I'm talking about, right? Put it in the comments. 3, 2, 1. I'm talking about TikTok. Oh, you thought I was talking about Covid? No, I'm talking about TikTok, right?

Nick Clason (06:23):
TikTok burst on the scene during the pandemic, actually. And what's fascinating is like there's all sorts of toss out there now, but like I would never download that. And it's like me now just like doom scrolling, like just consuming it at like mass crazy levels. Here's the thing that you need to know about TikTok is they invented a brand new way to do social media. And the way that they burst on the scene and the popularity with which they burst on the scene is now causing all other platforms to change their method and their approach to social media. And so TikTok, uh, brought to us what we now use, and you may not call it this or may not think of it this way, but essentially it's the discovery algorithm. It's the algorithm with which you consume the majority of your content from people that you don't even know you're discovering them, right?

Nick Clason (07:11):
A way that I've used this in my own life is last, uh, last spring, my family and I, we went to Disney. We visited the mouse. And if you've ever been to Disney, one of the best places to go to Disney is Epcot. All right? And so we went to Epcot on the very first day of our trip. My brother, uh, my sister and my brother-in-law came and they joined us. They live in Florida a few hours away. So they drove over. I mean, it was a blast. We hung out on Epcot. But in order to know the best, like if you've never been to Epcot, they have this thing called the World Showcase. And you walk around this giant lake and there are 11 different pavilions. You got like Mexico and Japan and China and Norway, and you got France, and you got Germany, and you got, uh, United Kingdom.

Nick Clason (07:51):
You got United States, you got Canada. I might've named all 11. I don't know, I might, I might've missed one. Let me know in the comments if you're a Disney person and if I missed one. But what we did was I built a map and I talked, I looked at the best food, the best drink, the best places to stop, the best carts to get stuff from at each of these different pavilions. And the way that I did that, the way that I did the majority of my research was through TikTok. It's amazing. And now TikTok is converting to not just scrolling and hoping to find a good next video, but now TikTok is actually trying to convert into more of a discovery, uh, or like search-based, uh, type of platform where you can go and you can get answers to certain questions. And you might be thinking as a youth pastor, that's an amazing concept.

Nick Clason (08:35):
And you're right, it is. You can answer very specific questions on TikTok. But here's the thing. In my Epcot experience, I got a lot of great answers. I went to the France Pavilion, I got the croquet glosser, I'm probably saying that wrong 'cause I'm not French, but I was told, Hey, this brioche bun with ice in the middle, and they flip it over in like a waffle, iron type thing. I found out about that completely and exclusively on TikTok. I would've never found that little, like, kind of like off the beaten path little restaurant to find that thing in my normal meandering. And walking around Epcot, TikTok came in clutch for me on that. However, I have no idea who posted it. I'm not following them. I don't have a relationship with them, and it's not a continued ongoing one. And so the relationships on TikTok, especially with those who follow you, are far less, uh, substantial than some of the other ones because of this kind of discovery based algorithm.

Nick Clason (09:33):
And I think TikTok might be trying to change that a little bit, but you just need to know that as a youth ministry, if you put your content out there and you do get a lot of subscribers, or you do get a lot of views, or you do get a lot of followers, like that doesn't necessarily equal more people that you're having like good influence with because I think it's something like 85% of the content that any one of us consume on TikTok are from people that we don't know. And so for you, a really good thing to do would be to create a meaningful call to action that pushes them to some sort of thing, to a link in the bio if you do have enough followers on there to your YouTube channel, to a digital connect card online, so that you can get to know the people that are watching your videos and that are getting answers from the, uh, big questions that you are trying to answer on TikTok.

Nick Clason (10:21):
So with that being said, hey, listen, if you are getting value out of this video, if this has been helpful so far, I would love it if you would hit that like button, if you would give us a rating if you're listening to a, a podcast or if you would subscribe on YouTube and maybe even consider this sharing it with a friend. But after this, we're gonna move on to not just TikTok, but now we wanna look at Instagram. So coming up next, let's take a look at Instagram, the pros, the cons, and what you need to know about that platform. All right, so Instagram, one of the things I call it, I don't know if this is really what it's called, but if you come into youth ministry, you're probably going to, at this point in, in the lifecycle of youth ministry and the lifecycle of Instagram, you're probably going to inherit what I call legacy users.

Nick Clason (11:04):
So that's people who have in the past been associated affiliated or connected with your youth ministry in some sort of way. But in the last couple of places that I've, I've shown up and I've, uh, jumped onto the Instagram, what I've realized is that there are college students, majority of college students as our follower base. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing for general social media marketing, it may not also be a great thing for youth ministry, social media marketing, because those are not the people that you're trying to reach anymore. And so, uh, on Instagram, you probably have some sort of an older audience as a result of just like the history of it and the way in which we've done things. So even in a church I went to, we went and we just did a follower and following like audit, and we just, anyone we didn't know we took out because if, if we don't know 'em, and we've been there for a few years, like obviously it's time to, to sort of cut ties with this relationship here.

Nick Clason (11:59):
And we're not trying to be jerks, we're not trying to cut people off, but, uh, that was not our target that we were like going towards, you know? And so if you go to a business account and Instagram and you look at the analytics and it's all skews older, like that's as a youth pastor, you're like, that's not, that's not what you're trying to do. That's not who you're trying to reach. You can still minister to those people and, and you should, but you just kind of gotta know that there's going to be legacy users on Instagram. You just gotta figure out what you wanna do and what your personal philosophy to managing that is. The other piece of Instagram that you need to know is that it started out as a photo sharing app, and then it stole stories from Snapchat, and then it stole reels from TikTok.

Nick Clason (12:37):
And so honestly, right now on Instagram, there are three very distinct different experiences for Instagram users. There's the feed and there's stories and there's reels. And so for me, because, uh, short form vertical video content is king right now, I am able to just do all of my focus on reels and use reels to share stuff to the feed and use reels to share stuff out to stories. And so by using reels, I'm able to kill literally three birds with one stone. But if you don't know that and you don't have some sort of like thought through strategy, Instagram can eat your lunch because it is busy and there's a lot going on there on Instagram. Now, let's dive into the third and final versus TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Let's check it out. YouTube, according to a 2022 study, we looked at it earlier, 95% of teenagers are using YouTube.

Nick Clason (13:34):
95%, nine and a half out of 10 people in your demographic that you're trying to reach are using YouTube. Now, not all YouTube users are built the same, right? Some are on there as adults, right, to like repair their faucet. Others like my kids, they're on there to watch Roblox and they're on there to watch Rainbow Friends and people get killed by these scary monster things. Teenagers are on there for a probably, uh, a hybrid of those two reasons, along with answers to specific questions along with entertainment, along with watching Mr. Beast videos, like whatever the case might be. Teenagers are on there for a variety of reasons. 'cause YouTube has a variety of content. I mean, for crying out loud, this video right now is on YouTube, but 95% of teenagers use it. In addition, it is the second largest search engine in the world powered by the first largest search engine in the world.

Nick Clason (14:26):
So it is a great place to be discovered and to be found. And when people are going to YouTube, they're often asking specific questions, right? Like the other day, I got onto YouTube and I was asking how to fix smoke coming out of my lawnmower. Very specific question. So I want you to reverse engineer, and I want you to kinda retrofit that idea into your ministry as a youth pastor. What are some of the specific questions that teenagers are asking you in day to day? Why does a loving God send good people to hell? If we're always forgiven for our sins, then why do we need to obey him? Now, what's the purpose of obedience? Does God need you or require you to vote Republican? Right? Whatever the the questions are that you are fielding as a youth pastor, think about it. You have an opportunity on YouTube to go on there and answer very specific questions that your kids are asking.

Nick Clason (15:21):
And furthermore, it is the second largest search engine in the world. So take those specific questions and help give them some specific answers. During C O V I D I moved to a church, started a church the very first day of C O V I, and then I got immediately locked down. And so I was working out on my master bedroom with boxes all around me trying to figure out how to be a youth pastor in this brand new context. And I, quite frankly, I did not have enough to do. During that time. I kept asking my boss, what more do you want from me? What more do you want from me? And he was like, just keep doing what you're doing. And I wasn't doing much. But so what I did with my time, even as I was at home, is I taught myself Adobe after effects.

Nick Clason (16:03):
I taught myself how to do it step by step, key frame by key frame agonizingly, and I was building things completely from scratch. And then once we broke free from the pandemic, I found out that all the creative people at my church were using a thing called motion array. I'll link that down below in the show notes if that's something that you wanna check out. It's an amazing tool for After Effects Premier Pro, uh, stock footage, stock audio. But guess what? I could take a motion or a template and I could very easily use After Effects because I now had an ability and a skill set that I didn't have before. I completely used YouTube to teach myself a brand new skill. Speaking of which, if you are interested in our completely free Adobe Premier Pro, uh, effects and plugins, they're easy bounce ins and bounce outs and rotates in and rotates out and drop in from the top and drop in from the bottom, and a smooth effect and a bounce effect, then I wanna encourage you to go to the link down below, order the link in the show notes and grab that.

Nick Clason (17:01):
If you're a video editor, if you use Adobe Premier Pro, this is my number one go-to tool. And I would love to encourage you, if you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing some of the effects right now, I would like to encourage you to download that and use it in your ministry if this is something that you are doing as a video editor. So now let's dive in to the conclusion, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Finally, the verdict. Here we go. Let's look at it. So the verdict, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. What is it? If you asked me if I were to rank them in importance, here's how I would rank them as a youth pastor in 2023. In order of importance, in order of usage, in order of opportunity, I would rank them YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, in that order. Now, here's the good news.

Nick Clason (17:46):
I have a way for you to knock all three of them completely out of the park. And here's why. Because of TikTok and them introducing the discovery algorithm, Instagram has adopted reels and YouTube has adopted shorts. And so by adopting one centralized strategy on your social media, i e short form vertical video-based content, I have a completely free ebook that I am giving away in the link to the show notes. And it's called this, it's called The One Month Done For You Posting Tool. And it will give you 40 different video ideas that you can film on your smartphone or on a camera and post with very little editing, uh, need or ability. You can do all of it from your smartphone. Uh, the, the good news is when you download that ebook, you're also gonna get a link to our ha Have I Ruined My TikTok account?

Nick Clason (18:35):
A Complete Guide to Posting a TikTok from Start to Finish all via your phone. And so both of those are going to be paired well together so that you, if you have no video editing ability, if I'm talking about Adobe Premier Pro plugins and you're like, what in the world are you talking about? This is your way as a youth pastor with minimal, uh, experience, minimal, uh, know-how in any of these areas to completely revolutionize your social media experience. Because if you go all in on short form vertical video-based content, you can do fun stuff. You can do challenges and games with your students. You can get students on your social media and you can overhear, you can get, you can answer specific questions to big and specific problems. You can do recaps to your messages so that your messages don't just happen on a Wednesday night and then die there.

Nick Clason (19:21):
You can use a fully faceted, fully integrated social media posting thing. And I have all of that completely for you for free. All I need you to do is click that link and download that, um, and just start using it today. And I would love to know if you do and if you find it helpful, because I think that it's an amazing resource and an amazing tool. So go grab that download, and if you actually wanna put that completely to the, to the fullest extent, if you wanna use that to the best of its abilities, then you need to go check out episode number 60, linked right here answering the question why every single youth ministry needs a strong digital presence. Because here's the deal, we are here to make digital discipleship easy and we wanna encourage you to stay hybrid.

]]> 🔥SURE FIRE RESOURCE TO LEVEL UP YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA GAME 🔥

📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

🎥LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

DESCRIPTION
In this episode, join us as we delve into the exciting world of social media platforms and discover which one holds the key to maximizing your church's youth ministry outreach. We'll be breaking down the pros and cons of Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube, helping you navigate the digital landscape with confidence. Whether you're a youth pastor, a church leader, or simply interested in harnessing the power of social media for positive impact, this episode is tailor-made for you. Get ready to uncover the secrets of engagement, connection, and inspiration as we unveil the most effective platform to elevate your church's youth ministry to new heights.

🆓 FREEBIES 🆓
📅 "1 Month Done for You Social Media Posting Tool"
https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/free-hybrid-ministry-e-book

😨 "Have I already Ruined my TikTok Account?"
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/ebook

📹 "Adobe Premiere Pro Presets for Animating Layers"
https://share.hsforms.com/1VL1oWwWwQ82PLwsPFkPITgnumis

📓SHOWNOTES
//SHOWNOTES & TRANSCRIPTS
http://www.hybridministry.xyz/061

//PEW RESEARCH ARTICLE
https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2022/08/10/teens-social-media-and-technology-2022/

//6 PART SOCIAL MEDIA FRAMEWORK
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaIbzg_DNJrTrCtBHQnxcOVo

//WHY EVER YOUTH MINISTRY NEEDS A STRONG SOCIAL MEDIA PRESENCE
https://youtu.be/SDxepdu4iiM

//MOTION ARRAY
https://motionarray.com/

🕺 TikTok: 🎵

Get ready to dance into the world of TikTok! 🕺 We'll discuss the power of short-form videos in grabbing attention, sparking trends, and spreading your message like wildfire. Learn how to harness the creative energy of TikTok to connect with the youth in ways you never thought possible.

📸 Instagram: 📱

Discover the world of visual storytelling as we explore how Instagram can capture the hearts and minds of the youth. From captivating visuals to real-time interaction, we'll uncover the strategies that can turn your Instagram feed into an inspiration hub for your young audience.

📹 YouTube: 🎥

The long-form champion! 📹 We'll explore how YouTube provides a platform for in-depth content, tutorials, discussions, and live engagement. Join us as we unravel the potential of YouTube to create a library of resources that empowers and educates your young audience.

LEVEL UP YOUR YOUTUBE GEAR FOR UNDER $100
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/articles/youtubestarterkit

So, whether you're an #InstaLover, a #TikTokEnthusiast, or a #YouTubeAficionado, this video is your guide to selecting the social platform that aligns perfectly with your church's youth ministry goals. 🌐 Let's make an impact together!

Don't forget to like, subscribe, and hit the notification bell to stay updated on all things Hybrid Ministry. Let's transform the digital space for good! 💙🙌

👉 STAY CONNECTED
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@clasonnick
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hybridministry/
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@clasonnick
Website: https://www.hybridministry.xyz

TIMECODES
00:00-02:34 Why Every Youth Ministry Should be Using Social Media
02:34-05:47 Every Youth Ministry Context is a little different
05:47-10:48 The Rise of TikTok
10:48-13:25 Instagram: The Curse of Legacy Followers
13:25-17:25 YouTube: How to Level up your YouTube Game in Youth Ministry
17:25-20:05 The Verdict is in: Which Platform should Youth Ministries be Using

TRANSCRIPT
Try Transcribing for Yourself at Rev.Com
rev.pxf.io/R5nDOa

Nick Clason (00:00):
Hey, in this video we want to answer what is the best social media platform for your youth ministry in 2023? So it's gonna be TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah. Go ahead and hang out in this video because recently Pew Research dropped some stuff that said that 42% of Americans use TikTok. Meanwhile, 71% of Americans use Instagram, and furthermore, 81% of Americans use YouTube. And so in this video, we are going to inspect all three of them, give you the pros and the cons, and then ultimately answer which platform is best for you to dial into in your student ministry in 2023 and beyond. But make sure that you stick around to the very end of this video, because I have a surefire resource that is going to help you win in your social media, in youth ministry. We have a free download to at the very end of the video, so make sure you hang out with that.

Nick Clason (00:51):
Now, you might be asking like, is that research for Americans or is that research for teenagers? And that's a great question because the teenage data is actually a little bit different. And so Pew Research dropped an article about a year ago, in fact, almost a year ago from the date of this recording, uh, where it compared 2014 to 2015 stats all the way to now, uh, the most recent trends and most recent stats. And so interestingly, at the time, uh, YouTube wasn't originally captured as a social media. YouTube as a platform has been around, but it wasn't like converted in people's ideology to social until recently. Meanwhile, Facebook usage in teenagers went down, went from 71% down to 32%. TikTok was on the rise. It's up to 67%, and Instagram's on the rise from 52% up to 60, uh, from 52 up to 62%. Snapchat also was up on the rise along with Instagram.

Nick Clason (01:47):
And so 67% of teens say that they use TikTok ever. Meanwhile, 16% of teens say that they use it, get ready for this. Almost constantly YouTube though, however, does Chop top the charts as, uh, the usage for teenagers at get this, 95% of teenagers say that they are using YouTube. And then now, uh, Instagram and Snapchat, both are next and both used, both are used by about six in 10 teenagers. So that data is quite a bit different, quite frankly, than the original data. And so I'll drop the link to this article so that you can see it, you can read it for yourself. The link is in the show notes, but that's what we're gonna do is we're going to dive into TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Yeah, let's go. Well, everyone, my name is Nick Clason. I'm a youth pastor in the DFW Dallas-Fort Worth area, and I've actually been in youth ministry for believe it or not, 12 and a half years. And I've been managing social media accounts at each of those youth ministry stops in all sorts of various levels of intentionality and all sorts of various levels of, uh, like just know-how. And so what's interesting is when I first started, I viewed

Nick Clason (02:58):
Social media as a way to just get out more information. Like I had an email list and also I had an Instagram following. So Instagram wasn't even around when I started. I launched, uh, my very first Instagram student ministry Instagram page, uh, at the first church that I worked at. But every single church after that, I actually inherited an Instagram account and actually a fairly large Instagram account. However, in most cases, I helped launch a YouTube channel and I also helped create and start a TikTok from scratch. And so that's what I've done within the last year of starting here at the church I'm at now. We launched from scratch a TikTok account and a YouTube account. Instagram of course has been around and you're inheriting all of those followers. And so at just about every single church, I've had some measure of growing, uh, uh, social media ministry, a hybrid ministry and social media and and social networks, right, in all of my context.

Nick Clason (03:52):
And so I'm just curious for you, I would love to know both where you're watching from and what social media network seems to be working best for you. You know what's interesting, drop that in the comments below. But what's interesting is I just moved from Chicago down here to Dallas-Fort Worth and in Chicago, uh, they wouldn't text each other via text message or like standard ss m s messaging. They would really only text people each other, their friends through Snapchat, which was a really interesting phenomenon. And so down here it's not as much the same. Snapchat usage is still happening, but it's not the primary vehicle with which people communicate. And so it just goes to show that wherever you are regionally, it does truly matter and it's a little bit different and the culture and the climate are just a little bit different. So as you're letting us know in the comments below which social media platform seems to be working most in your youth ministry and in your context, you might be asking what does working even really mean?

Nick Clason (04:48):
I mean, are we talking views? Are we talking impressions? Are we talking like engagement? Are we talking reach? Like what is it? And I actually have a lot of answers to that and how to get started in our six part social media framework for churches. I'll link it right here if that's something that you're interested. But go ahead and take a look at that. If you are trying to get this up, up, up off the ground, get started in your social media, I would love to have you do that. If you are not watching on YouTube, that link will be in the show notes of your podcast catcher. But I just wanna know that as we break down in that six part context, we break down which of these social media, uh, channels, you can watch through each of the different platforms, and then you can be, uh, a decision maker as far as which is the best to implement in your current climate and in your current context.

Nick Clason (05:35):
But TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube, let's dive in and let's look at each of the platforms, the pros, the cons, where they came from and why they are where they are today. So let's go. Some say it started as early as 2019. Others say it started closer to the beginning of 2020. And you know me, like I tried to play my part as much as I could, but it seemed like no matter what, everybody around me was getting it and I kept distancing myself from it. I tried to stay away from it, but finally it was around Christmas time of 2020, I finally just broke down and I decided I was going to get it. Now, you know what I'm talking about, right? Put it in the comments. 3, 2, 1. I'm talking about TikTok. Oh, you thought I was talking about Covid? No, I'm talking about TikTok, right?

Nick Clason (06:23):
TikTok burst on the scene during the pandemic, actually. And what's fascinating is like there's all sorts of toss out there now, but like I would never download that. And it's like me now just like doom scrolling, like just consuming it at like mass crazy levels. Here's the thing that you need to know about TikTok is they invented a brand new way to do social media. And the way that they burst on the scene and the popularity with which they burst on the scene is now causing all other platforms to change their method and their approach to social media. And so TikTok, uh, brought to us what we now use, and you may not call it this or may not think of it this way, but essentially it's the discovery algorithm. It's the algorithm with which you consume the majority of your content from people that you don't even know you're discovering them, right?

Nick Clason (07:11):
A way that I've used this in my own life is last, uh, last spring, my family and I, we went to Disney. We visited the mouse. And if you've ever been to Disney, one of the best places to go to Disney is Epcot. All right? And so we went to Epcot on the very first day of our trip. My brother, uh, my sister and my brother-in-law came and they joined us. They live in Florida a few hours away. So they drove over. I mean, it was a blast. We hung out on Epcot. But in order to know the best, like if you've never been to Epcot, they have this thing called the World Showcase. And you walk around this giant lake and there are 11 different pavilions. You got like Mexico and Japan and China and Norway, and you got France, and you got Germany, and you got, uh, United Kingdom.

Nick Clason (07:51):
You got United States, you got Canada. I might've named all 11. I don't know, I might, I might've missed one. Let me know in the comments if you're a Disney person and if I missed one. But what we did was I built a map and I talked, I looked at the best food, the best drink, the best places to stop, the best carts to get stuff from at each of these different pavilions. And the way that I did that, the way that I did the majority of my research was through TikTok. It's amazing. And now TikTok is converting to not just scrolling and hoping to find a good next video, but now TikTok is actually trying to convert into more of a discovery, uh, or like search-based, uh, type of platform where you can go and you can get answers to certain questions. And you might be thinking as a youth pastor, that's an amazing concept.

Nick Clason (08:35):
And you're right, it is. You can answer very specific questions on TikTok. But here's the thing. In my Epcot experience, I got a lot of great answers. I went to the France Pavilion, I got the croquet glosser, I'm probably saying that wrong 'cause I'm not French, but I was told, Hey, this brioche bun with ice in the middle, and they flip it over in like a waffle, iron type thing. I found out about that completely and exclusively on TikTok. I would've never found that little, like, kind of like off the beaten path little restaurant to find that thing in my normal meandering. And walking around Epcot, TikTok came in clutch for me on that. However, I have no idea who posted it. I'm not following them. I don't have a relationship with them, and it's not a continued ongoing one. And so the relationships on TikTok, especially with those who follow you, are far less, uh, substantial than some of the other ones because of this kind of discovery based algorithm.

Nick Clason (09:33):
And I think TikTok might be trying to change that a little bit, but you just need to know that as a youth ministry, if you put your content out there and you do get a lot of subscribers, or you do get a lot of views, or you do get a lot of followers, like that doesn't necessarily equal more people that you're having like good influence with because I think it's something like 85% of the content that any one of us consume on TikTok are from people that we don't know. And so for you, a really good thing to do would be to create a meaningful call to action that pushes them to some sort of thing, to a link in the bio if you do have enough followers on there to your YouTube channel, to a digital connect card online, so that you can get to know the people that are watching your videos and that are getting answers from the, uh, big questions that you are trying to answer on TikTok.

Nick Clason (10:21):
So with that being said, hey, listen, if you are getting value out of this video, if this has been helpful so far, I would love it if you would hit that like button, if you would give us a rating if you're listening to a, a podcast or if you would subscribe on YouTube and maybe even consider this sharing it with a friend. But after this, we're gonna move on to not just TikTok, but now we wanna look at Instagram. So coming up next, let's take a look at Instagram, the pros, the cons, and what you need to know about that platform. All right, so Instagram, one of the things I call it, I don't know if this is really what it's called, but if you come into youth ministry, you're probably going to, at this point in, in the lifecycle of youth ministry and the lifecycle of Instagram, you're probably going to inherit what I call legacy users.

Nick Clason (11:04):
So that's people who have in the past been associated affiliated or connected with your youth ministry in some sort of way. But in the last couple of places that I've, I've shown up and I've, uh, jumped onto the Instagram, what I've realized is that there are college students, majority of college students as our follower base. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing for general social media marketing, it may not also be a great thing for youth ministry, social media marketing, because those are not the people that you're trying to reach anymore. And so, uh, on Instagram, you probably have some sort of an older audience as a result of just like the history of it and the way in which we've done things. So even in a church I went to, we went and we just did a follower and following like audit, and we just, anyone we didn't know we took out because if, if we don't know 'em, and we've been there for a few years, like obviously it's time to, to sort of cut ties with this relationship here.

Nick Clason (11:59):
And we're not trying to be jerks, we're not trying to cut people off, but, uh, that was not our target that we were like going towards, you know? And so if you go to a business account and Instagram and you look at the analytics and it's all skews older, like that's as a youth pastor, you're like, that's not, that's not what you're trying to do. That's not who you're trying to reach. You can still minister to those people and, and you should, but you just kind of gotta know that there's going to be legacy users on Instagram. You just gotta figure out what you wanna do and what your personal philosophy to managing that is. The other piece of Instagram that you need to know is that it started out as a photo sharing app, and then it stole stories from Snapchat, and then it stole reels from TikTok.

Nick Clason (12:37):
And so honestly, right now on Instagram, there are three very distinct different experiences for Instagram users. There's the feed and there's stories and there's reels. And so for me, because, uh, short form vertical video content is king right now, I am able to just do all of my focus on reels and use reels to share stuff to the feed and use reels to share stuff out to stories. And so by using reels, I'm able to kill literally three birds with one stone. But if you don't know that and you don't have some sort of like thought through strategy, Instagram can eat your lunch because it is busy and there's a lot going on there on Instagram. Now, let's dive into the third and final versus TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Let's check it out. YouTube, according to a 2022 study, we looked at it earlier, 95% of teenagers are using YouTube.

Nick Clason (13:34):
95%, nine and a half out of 10 people in your demographic that you're trying to reach are using YouTube. Now, not all YouTube users are built the same, right? Some are on there as adults, right, to like repair their faucet. Others like my kids, they're on there to watch Roblox and they're on there to watch Rainbow Friends and people get killed by these scary monster things. Teenagers are on there for a probably, uh, a hybrid of those two reasons, along with answers to specific questions along with entertainment, along with watching Mr. Beast videos, like whatever the case might be. Teenagers are on there for a variety of reasons. 'cause YouTube has a variety of content. I mean, for crying out loud, this video right now is on YouTube, but 95% of teenagers use it. In addition, it is the second largest search engine in the world powered by the first largest search engine in the world.

Nick Clason (14:26):
So it is a great place to be discovered and to be found. And when people are going to YouTube, they're often asking specific questions, right? Like the other day, I got onto YouTube and I was asking how to fix smoke coming out of my lawnmower. Very specific question. So I want you to reverse engineer, and I want you to kinda retrofit that idea into your ministry as a youth pastor. What are some of the specific questions that teenagers are asking you in day to day? Why does a loving God send good people to hell? If we're always forgiven for our sins, then why do we need to obey him? Now, what's the purpose of obedience? Does God need you or require you to vote Republican? Right? Whatever the the questions are that you are fielding as a youth pastor, think about it. You have an opportunity on YouTube to go on there and answer very specific questions that your kids are asking.

Nick Clason (15:21):
And furthermore, it is the second largest search engine in the world. So take those specific questions and help give them some specific answers. During C O V I D I moved to a church, started a church the very first day of C O V I, and then I got immediately locked down. And so I was working out on my master bedroom with boxes all around me trying to figure out how to be a youth pastor in this brand new context. And I, quite frankly, I did not have enough to do. During that time. I kept asking my boss, what more do you want from me? What more do you want from me? And he was like, just keep doing what you're doing. And I wasn't doing much. But so what I did with my time, even as I was at home, is I taught myself Adobe after effects.

Nick Clason (16:03):
I taught myself how to do it step by step, key frame by key frame agonizingly, and I was building things completely from scratch. And then once we broke free from the pandemic, I found out that all the creative people at my church were using a thing called motion array. I'll link that down below in the show notes if that's something that you wanna check out. It's an amazing tool for After Effects Premier Pro, uh, stock footage, stock audio. But guess what? I could take a motion or a template and I could very easily use After Effects because I now had an ability and a skill set that I didn't have before. I completely used YouTube to teach myself a brand new skill. Speaking of which, if you are interested in our completely free Adobe Premier Pro, uh, effects and plugins, they're easy bounce ins and bounce outs and rotates in and rotates out and drop in from the top and drop in from the bottom, and a smooth effect and a bounce effect, then I wanna encourage you to go to the link down below, order the link in the show notes and grab that.

Nick Clason (17:01):
If you're a video editor, if you use Adobe Premier Pro, this is my number one go-to tool. And I would love to encourage you, if you're watching on YouTube, you're seeing some of the effects right now, I would like to encourage you to download that and use it in your ministry if this is something that you are doing as a video editor. So now let's dive in to the conclusion, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. Finally, the verdict. Here we go. Let's look at it. So the verdict, TikTok versus Instagram versus YouTube. What is it? If you asked me if I were to rank them in importance, here's how I would rank them as a youth pastor in 2023. In order of importance, in order of usage, in order of opportunity, I would rank them YouTube, TikTok, Instagram, in that order. Now, here's the good news.

Nick Clason (17:46):
I have a way for you to knock all three of them completely out of the park. And here's why. Because of TikTok and them introducing the discovery algorithm, Instagram has adopted reels and YouTube has adopted shorts. And so by adopting one centralized strategy on your social media, i e short form vertical video-based content, I have a completely free ebook that I am giving away in the link to the show notes. And it's called this, it's called The One Month Done For You Posting Tool. And it will give you 40 different video ideas that you can film on your smartphone or on a camera and post with very little editing, uh, need or ability. You can do all of it from your smartphone. Uh, the, the good news is when you download that ebook, you're also gonna get a link to our ha Have I Ruined My TikTok account?

Nick Clason (18:35):
A Complete Guide to Posting a TikTok from Start to Finish all via your phone. And so both of those are going to be paired well together so that you, if you have no video editing ability, if I'm talking about Adobe Premier Pro plugins and you're like, what in the world are you talking about? This is your way as a youth pastor with minimal, uh, experience, minimal, uh, know-how in any of these areas to completely revolutionize your social media experience. Because if you go all in on short form vertical video-based content, you can do fun stuff. You can do challenges and games with your students. You can get students on your social media and you can overhear, you can get, you can answer specific questions to big and specific problems. You can do recaps to your messages so that your messages don't just happen on a Wednesday night and then die there.

Nick Clason (19:21):
You can use a fully faceted, fully integrated social media posting thing. And I have all of that completely for you for free. All I need you to do is click that link and download that, um, and just start using it today. And I would love to know if you do and if you find it helpful, because I think that it's an amazing resource and an amazing tool. So go grab that download, and if you actually wanna put that completely to the, to the fullest extent, if you wanna use that to the best of its abilities, then you need to go check out episode number 60, linked right here answering the question why every single youth ministry needs a strong digital presence. Because here's the deal, we are here to make digital discipleship easy and we wanna encourage you to stay hybrid.

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