Hybrid Ministry - Episodes Tagged with “Youth Pastor Resources”

Episode 199: 25 Youth Group Game Prize Ideas (Cheap & Fun) | FREE DOWNLOAD

Nick Clason — Thu, 30 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0500

I’ve given away every one of these prizes for youth group game winners over my last 15 years of youth ministry.

I’m going to share 7 full-proof ideas.
Then to round out the 25 claim, I’m going to live react on how to fill this bookshelf prize idea using ChatGPT. Which, in fairness, I’m 100% stealing the shelf idea from my friend over at DYM, Josh Boldman.

👇👇FREE FILES DOWNLOAD 👇👇
🏆 25 PRIZE IDEAS [Free Downloads]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/25-easy-cheap-153825671

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/199

[FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE
https://www.patreon.com/posts/complete-guide-142500019?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

🌸 SPRING SEASONAL SOCIAL PACK
https://www.patreon.com/posts/spring-seasonal-151263940?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=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

//HYBRID MINISTRY MEGA GUIDE
Everything I've ever learned in one blog post [FOR FREE!]
https://www.patreon.com/posts/hybrid-ministry-151264417?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Youth Ministry Prize Game Ideas
00:38 Prize Idea #1
01:24 Prize Idea #2
02:04 Your Creative Programming Hacks
03:10 Prize Idea #3
04:55 Prize Idea #4
05:46 Prize Idea #5
06:59 Prize Idea #6
07:21 Prize Idea #7
07:39 Box of Prizes (#8-25)

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00;00;00;04 - 00;00;25;00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I've given away every single one of these prizes over my 15 years of youth ministry, during youth ministry and student ministry game time. And I'm going to share with you seven of my favorite and foolproof ideas. And then to round out the claim that the video, which says 25 youth Group Game Ideas. I am going to fill a bookshelf, which is, full disclosure 100%.

00;00;25;00 - 00;00;48;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
My friend Josh Bowman over at I Am His Idea. We're going to actually start doing this in our student ministry this fall. You get an opportunity to use the well, let me share how that works. All of this on this week's episode of the Hybrid Ministry show. And the first game idea that is foolproof is whichever team, whichever group, whichever table we set around tables in our context, whichever one of those wins, give them pizza.

00;00;48;12 - 00;01;09;14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The pro. It is always clutch, right? Nobody has ever said about winning pizza for the group of people that just that just won. The kind of pizza for the group is that it's expensive. And so over time, if you give away pizza every single week to every single game winner, it's not always the most sustainable strategy for your budget.

00;01;09;14 - 00;01;33;18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so while it's an amazing thing to win, nobody, as you pastors maybe have the margin in their budget to give away pizza every single week, but as a one off for an elevated game, for something kind of fun, different pizza is always clutch. People who win are always pumped for it. Number two, foolproof idea that you can give away is a signed photo of one of your staff members, or yourself as the youth pastor.

00;01;33;18 - 00;01;50;25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The pro is free. It cost you nothing besides ink, which if you work in a church, you know printing things off the printer is basically the one perk of getting to work as a youth pastor with in office type perks. And so use that church ink, print it off, and then sign it and give it away. That's the pro.

00;01;50;25 - 00;02;15;19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's completely free. The con well, I literally had a student one time say, I wish I would have one pizza like they did last week instead of this picture that you just gave me. So you do definitely run that risk. Hey, don't go anywhere. This is actually the type of stuff that I talk about over on my bonus podcast that drops every single Monday, every single week on my Patreon.

00;02;15;19 - 00;02;33;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Because what I'm trying to do is I'm trying to make programing more fun and more creative. I'm trying to break it every single week in a way that's different, though. We don't run the exact same service order time after time, and sometimes you just need someone else giving you ideas that you can hear, listen, and filter through into your own context.

00;02;33;14 - 00;02;58;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so for only $4 a month, a month, literally less than the cost of this cup of coffee, you can become a member of my hybrid Hero Patreon tier, which also gives you access to my three months Done for You seasonal social media pack, which will help you show up on social media. Because 95% of our teenagers 13 to 17 years of age are on social media, and so you get the opportunity to show up.

00;02;58;12 - 00;03;19;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We're 1 in 3 of those teenagers say that they're on social media constantly to make an impact and make a difference in their lives. So head on over link in the description to my Patreon. Check it out today because that makes it the third full proof idea is a game winner card. So think like credit card. Like plastic credit card material.

00;03;19;05 - 00;03;43;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You print those out and so you pay for that through like a printing agency. And actually, I have designed five different designs. And then I've put a bat so they're either like completely white or I've put them on a background. And so link down below. I have an entire guide to this episode, and included in that guide for free is a download with these ten different card, options and ideas.

00;03;43;16 - 00;03;59;27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Grab them, print them. And then here's what we did. Anytime someone won, they got one of these cards. And then we created a little, currency. And so we said, if you have five of these, you get a free item at your cafe. Now, if you have if you don't have a cafe, you may have to figure out what the exchange rate is for something like that.

00;03;59;29 - 00;04;18;02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But they were a great motivator, right? Like they could hang onto those cards, they could collect them. They could save them. So the pro is it's like a one time costs. Right. But the other pro is that if you do use them, it's like a cafe redemption token sort of thing is that they're completely recyclable, like you'll get them back.

00;04;18;02 - 00;04;37;26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so once you get them back in the cafe, then you turn around, you give them to your next game winner, you know, and then there's also like a hidden cost moment. So like you pay for them once and then out of the cafe proceeds is where the true like money exchange happens, but you don't feel it quite as much if you're giving it away as a member of your cafe.

00;04;38;01 - 00;04;57;13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The kind. Of course, if you spam this and you only ever do this, it can grow a little bit old. So, like, it might be something to keep in your back pocket as a go to when you don't have an idea. But then still, we've in some of these other, maybe more big ticket items like pizza for the entire group, or this fourth idea, which is the best seats in the house.

00;04;57;18 - 00;05;16;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The pro this is it's incredibly easy and also pretty cheap. What you do is if you have normal rows, you create a couch and a VIP type section in your, ministry and you make more comfortable seats. And so the winning person gets to bring their friends, or the winning group gets to all go sit in best seats in the house.

00;05;16;10 - 00;05;35;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you have a way to, like, get a mini fridge or stocked with some snacks, or even give them pizza in that that best seats in the house. It's a really great way to make those people feel like VIPs for winning the night. The only con really is, just requires like a weekly setup. And so we don't do this every week, but we do reserve it every once in a while, occasionally for winners.

00;05;35;12 - 00;05;51;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that way if you have those, like cards, for example, you give those three weeks out of the month and then the fourth week out of the month, you do like, let's say like a best seat in the house or something like that. The fifth option I have is give some sort of like money currency. Okay. The pro is similar to the card thing.

00;05;51;15 - 00;06;08;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's easy and it's cheap for us. We use a thing called a platypus book. The reason being that was the mascot voted on by our students over three years ago when I started here at this church. And so we put it on a dollar bill and the. You know, it's funny, I actually went to Canva to try and find a dollar template, and they won't even let you do it.

00;06;08;21 - 00;06;26;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's probably some, like, federal regulations. So I created a template. It looks like this. You can go get it over on my guide along with those cards as well. And then you can put whatever you want here in the middle for us, our mascot is a platypus. Maybe you, have like, a different mascot. Use whatever mascot you have.

00;06;26;09 - 00;06;42;08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maybe you want to put yourself in there. Go ahead, put yourself and you know, you could make it kind of like an office reference, like a Schrute book. And once again, you can figure out the currency. In our current context, a platypus book equals one free item from the cafe. So it's a worse exchange rate than those cards.

00;06;42;10 - 00;07;02;04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But again, it's just another like, another way, another idea. The con. Similar to the card game, it can grow tired. However, I will say students are motivated because they can win those and then they can redeem them instantly at the cafe that exact night or the exact time when they win the platypus book. The six idea is you can give away leftover merch or leftover swag that you have.

00;07;02;04 - 00;07;19;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maybe from a camp, maybe from a retreat. The pro is. It's probably the most real prize if someone wins a genuine good t shirt. Like that's the best real prize that we've given away so far on this episode, the con is again, it might become a little bit expensive over time, and so you do have to make sure that you can kind of manage the budget.

00;07;19;23 - 00;07;39;05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then the seventh foolproof idea that has never failed me is a crisp high five or the satisfaction of winning once again, the pro, it's free. It's actually so cheap it doesn't cost your budget any money. The cons is that students might, over time, if they know that that's all they're going to win, might lose their drive to.

00;07;39;08 - 00;08;04;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, for those of you who are like incredible like payers of attention, you'll know that this episode said 25 prize ideas. And so what I want to do is I want to let you know that this idea came to me from my friend Josh Boardman, who got a cube storage sort of thing. And so I, I'm thinking maybe next fall to grab this one that you'll see linked here on screen.

00;08;04;16 - 00;08;23;22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Also, the link is available in my guide to this episode where you can get all these different freebies. And, he said that what they did was they filled this, 18 cube. Maybe he had less, but we're going to try 18 cubes. And so over the course of like a semester or whatever, there's a different number of prize.

00;08;23;22 - 00;08;42;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So the winner gets one of the items from this cube box. And he said they just got like shoes or whatever. They numbered it. They labeled it. So the kid wins. And then either they get to pick numbers, say one through 18, or they, get to spin the wheel and then whatever the wheel ends on, they win.

00;08;42;09 - 00;09;01;10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You can either let it deplete over time so that by the end you only have one box left, or you can, replace it every single week. And so he said there were times where he'd forget and he'd throw something random that he found in the church to give away. And so it's a great way to add some mystique and some mystery, but also not blow your budget.

00;09;01;10 - 00;09;25;25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, what I want to do is I want to react to this here in live time, because I'm going to say here in ChatGPT you can see the prompt if you're watching here on screen, help me come up with 18 hidden shoebox game price ideas that cost less than $5. Either it's laying around the church already or it's a cheap prize to put in a shoe box that goes in these 18 cube storage box shelves.

00;09;25;25 - 00;09;43;03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like, for example, here's a pro tip and this might be your 26th idea, Bollman said. Sometimes he would put a can of beans in there. So let's see what ChatGPT says. And then I'm going to literally these are spitting out right here in live time. I didn't rehearse this. I never put this in ChatGPT before. You're just gonna have to trust me.

00;09;43;09 - 00;10;05;25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But here we go. They said in the actually worth it. Anker wins. Give a $5 Chick-Fil-A gift card. Of course. Who doesn't love Chick-Fil-A Christian chicken? You can give full size candy bar bundles. So I said make it less than $5 so that this cost you less than $5. So these are your $5 actually worth it. $5 Chick-Fil-A gift card, full sized candy bar, a cold soda plus candy combo.

00;10;05;25 - 00;10;23;20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's a great idea. Takis hot Cheeto bags. Our kids go crazy for this stuff. Energy drink, if that's appropriate for your group, ChatGPT says it's appropriate for ours. We sell Celsius in our cafe or a mini snack pack box. Now keep in mind of the seven options I already said they could win a platypus book. They could win a game card.

00;10;23;20 - 00;10;44;17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
They could win a piece of paper that says best seats in the House, so you can recycle some of the seven ideas that we have in the shoe box. Ideas. Also, here's some like funny, right? Here's some trolls. According to I, one single mint, one ramen packet. A banana bonus is slightly brown. Now imagine we created these for 18 weeks of game winners.

00;10;44;19 - 00;11;03;12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We put a banana in at the beginning and it was the last one taken 18 weeks later. Months into the semester that would be discussing and hilarious old same time, a single slice of bread in a bag, a rock labeled pet Rock or a church fire, or old Bulletin that's laying around as a prize. Once again, this is where it comes in clutch.

00;11;03;12 - 00;11;21;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Sometimes they can be troll gifs, sometimes they can be actually good ones like Chick-Fil-A gift cards. We got mystery drink. So random soda flavor, weird dollar store toy off brand candy that no one recognizes, or a coupon that says trade this for a better prize. That's pretty funny. And then last 17 to 18. Skip the next game.

00;11;21;07 - 00;11;48;16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So they automatically win the next round or 18. They get to control the room for the next 60s they get to sing a song or make a rule that's actually pretty funny. So these are 18 AI ideas. And what you could do is you can put them in, right, print them off, or go buy them or go obtain them somehow one time at the beginning of like a semester or like a certain session of time, and then put them in this 18 boxing or go nine box or whatever you want to do.

00;11;48;18 - 00;12;12;15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So once again, like I said, this entire list is going to be included down in the link on Patreon. There'll be a link to the 18 bookshelf. There'll be a link to the nine, bookshelf or recycle one that you have at home or laying around the office that you don't need anymore. Wrap these up, put numbers on them, and either choose for the student to pick them and replace it every week, or let them spin a wheel and let the wheel decide which item they get.

00;12;12;15 - 00;12;37;07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But these are 25 amazing, foolproof, youth ministry game winner ideas that don't break the bank and are actually good and actually fun. I hope you guys found this episode helpful. If you did, what would be amazing is actually if you go check out the guide over on my Patreon, that really helps more than you can imagine. Or if you don't want to leave YouTube, click the like and click the subscribe button so that you don't miss the next video.

00;12;37;07 - 00;12;46;21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In the next episode, which is episode 200, it's going to be amazing. But until next time my friends. And as always, don't forget. Stay hybrid.

Episode 198: I Planned Your Entire Youth Group Summer… You Don’t Have to Think

Nick Clason — Thu, 23 Apr 2026 05:00:00 -0500

Steal this brilliant idea - kick your feet back this summer in your youth ministry.

I’m giving you this calendar, plus ALL these graphics away in this episode. FREE!

Welcome to the Summer Edition of the Hybrid Ministry Show!

👇👇FREE GRAPHICS & CALENDAR DOWNLOAD 👇👇
https://www.patreon.com/posts/6-summer-155909228?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/198

[FREE] HYBRID STRATEGY GUIDE
https://www.patreon.com/posts/complete-guide-142500019?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

🌸 SPRING SEASONAL SOCIAL PACK
https://www.patreon.com/posts/spring-seasonal-151263940?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

//BEST DYM RESOURCES
https://www.patreon.com/posts/9-amazing-dym-142425755

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

--------------
🕰️TIMECODES
00:00 Summer Youth Ministry Ideas
00:20 The Context
02:53 The Calendar
04:21 The Gameplan (Relax, Youth Pastor, I've got your summer plan mapped out!)
07:28 Summer Theme Youth Group Nights
08:16 How to Unlock These Deals

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:17 - 00:00:05:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Steal this brilliant idea this summer and then

00:00:05:03 - 00:00:08:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
kick your feet back. You deserve it.

00:00:08:02 - 00:00:21:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm giving away this calendar, along with all of these graphics that you see right here on screen. For those of you watching on YouTube, welcome to the Summer calendar edition of the Hybrid Ministry Show.

00:00:21:11 - 00:00:25:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Well, hey everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. If you and I haven't had chance to meet yet.

00:00:25:10 - 00:00:45:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
My name is Nick Klassen. I'm a youth pastor in DFW, Dallas-Fort worth area. And, you know, 15 or so years ago when I started in youth ministry, I wouldn't have dreamed about doing youth ministry in the summer. However, summer midweek has actually become a staple, and I remember the first year where I became a believer in doing youth ministry.

00:00:45:10 - 00:01:02:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Over the summer I was up. It was like a Sunday night for our youth ministry, and I was teaching, and I looked out in the crowd and I saw a girl who I hadn't seen all year long, but she was able to show up in the summer because her, competitive dance, you know, practice took a break for the summer.

00:01:02:10 - 00:01:22:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so ever since that point, I've been a huge believer in summer youth ministry. Not to mention, like, we go to camp right at the beginning of our summer, May 20th 9th to June 2nd. And then to not have anything throughout the entire course of the summer just feels like such a wasted opportunity to capitalize and continue on some of that summer momentum.

00:01:22:19 - 00:01:46:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So whether you have summer youth ministry or not, these are going to be some different theme ideas. And if you do have summer youth ministry in particular Wednesday nights, I've done the heavy lifting because over the last several years, in our particular context of our church, similar to other places, have been the rest of the the church shuts down so kids ministry shuts down, adult groups shut down.

00:01:46:15 - 00:02:04:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All happen on Wednesday night in a normal, cycle. On Wednesday night, like throughout the school year. But we we come back for 5 or 6 weeks from about mid-June once, like our, camp recap night is over until the end of July. Take a couple weeks off, the first few Wednesdays in August, and then we're back,

00:02:04:11 - 00:02:06:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
that third Wednesday in August.

00:02:06:10 - 00:02:22:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's like our back to school bash or whatever. So if you want to meet and do something over the summer, I have mapped out six amazing events. And what happened was a couple of years ago, we were kind of coming back and realizing that we needed to drum up some momentum because the rest of the church wasn't going to be meeting.

00:02:22:23 - 00:02:39:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so we looked at the National day calendar, which, if you've never done that before, there's just wild amounts of national days. There's like 8 or 10 different options on some days of, of the month. And so since the dates change every single year, for the most part, we, can kind of do a different

00:02:39:05 - 00:02:41:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
like theme throughout the summer.

00:02:41:04 - 00:02:58:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So we don't do themes throughout the regular year. But but during the summer will lean into different national days. And, and I've done the heavy lifting. I have found them for you. And so I'm giving away this calendar right here and and, you know, like on this calendar, right up here at the top is where we put like our summer camp.

00:02:58:07 - 00:03:17:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then right here is where we do like our, our fifth grade VBS spot. You can like right in on top of this and any sort of design thing, Canva or Photoshop or PowerPoint or keynote. And then I send a transparent version after sticker mule to get a magnet printed. So. So go grab this. It's free over on my Patreon.

00:03:18:01 - 00:03:33:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But in this section right here, these are the summer Wednesday nights. And if you don't meet on Wednesday nights or you're not going to be leaning into these, this is where you can put something different, that, you know, down here is where I have like our our back to school time and then our Sunday morning, right down here at the very bottom.

00:03:33:18 - 00:03:54:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But, this is where I would put and where I did put our Summer Wednesday themes. Now, if you do have ones and you want to just like, adopt what I have to to give literally, I'm giving this to you. Steal these for the summer and they are yours. And if you have Wednesday nights, we start on the 24th of June, and then we skip the first for the 4th of July.

00:03:54:08 - 00:04:10:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then we go through the rest of, of July, the eighth through the 29th. If you do want to meet on the first, I've added an option in there as well. And so, what's going to happen is I'm going to give you this episode now because some of you are planners and you need to get, you know, things printed and you need to get the ball rolling on some of this.

00:04:10:28 - 00:04:29:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Most so giving away every single graphic. And I'm going to rattle through what these different nights are. But on July or I'm sorry, on June 19th, I would encourage you to subscribe and turn the bell on on this YouTube channel because, you know, we drop an episode every single Thursday, whether it's, in your podcast catcher or on YouTube.

00:04:29:12 - 00:04:51:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So turn on notifications. I'm going to send you a reminder about the upcoming Wednesday night so that you can start getting working on, you can start planning, and then on the following Monday, over on my Patreon, my bonus show, I'm going to detail recap and outline how the entire night went. And I'm going to give you the service flow for the next upcoming night.

00:04:51:04 - 00:05:13:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So for example, you'll get the upcoming service flow over on Patreon, the Monday before the Wednesday night starts. So for the first one, world UFO day, I'm going to give you our entire service order. And what I always do on Patreon this summer, I'm going to, kind of like, lean harder into Patreon. So the Thursday shows are going to be quick hitters and just reminders about what's coming up.

00:05:13:23 - 00:05:17:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then on Monday, we're really going to take a deep dive where we're going to answer what we did,

00:05:17:18 - 00:05:24:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
what worked, what flopped, what I would change, and then give you the next week's assets. And here's my promise. I'm going to give

00:05:24:03 - 00:05:28:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
you the entire service flow, everything I have planned for the upcoming Wednesday.

00:05:28:23 - 00:05:35:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So I'm going to give it to you with enough time for you to actually implement the ideas that we've already come up with in our youth ministry.

00:05:36:00 - 00:05:45:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
All you got to do set the notifications, set the reminders, make sure you're subscribed, and you'll get these every single week. So I'll give you the service flow. I'll give you any

00:05:45:12 - 00:05:52:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
of our plus up programmatic elements. For example, on one of the days being, National White

00:05:53:03 - 00:05:56:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Elephant Day, actually, it's not National Elephant Day. It's actually National Give Something Away Day.

00:05:56:26 - 00:06:11:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we kind of branded it around White Elephant. We're going to do like a white elephant gift exchange thing in the middle of July. But I'm going to tell you exactly what we did, how we did it, and what other elements kind of went along with it, along with the service flow and also any other kind of plus up ideas.

00:06:11:24 - 00:06:22:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then some are just going to be simple, like, yo order chicken wings on National chicken wing and National Lasagna Day. I'm also going to give you, any games, videos and elements. And here's my promise. Okay? I'm not

00:06:22:22 - 00:06:28:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
going to create a custom or brand new, game every single week. I might for some, I might not.

00:06:28:00 - 00:06:49:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
For others, it's pretty far out. I don't know exactly what I do. I'm not promising to make something custom and new for every single episode, but my promise is, if I created, a resource in any way, shape or form, I will link it in the podcast description for free for those in the Hybrid Hero Patreon tier. If it's newly created by me, I will give it to you.

00:06:49:17 - 00:07:03:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And whether it's released on dime or not, that's going to obviously be up to them as the gatekeepers. But I will give you early access. I'll just put drop box links and then if I am using something over on D, I am I will give you the link so that you can go grab it from them. I can't give that away.

00:07:03:26 - 00:07:07:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's theirs. Go give them the royalties. But I will link every single thing we

00:07:07:05 - 00:07:24:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
do. I'm planning my youth services and I'm putting them out one week ahead of time on Monday, so I'll lay out the entire service flow. On Monday you'll have, Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday to implement that and then, operate on the same National Day schedule that I'm going to be operating on.

00:07:24:05 - 00:07:42:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So, like I said, the National Day calendar, if you so choose to participate, the 24th of June is World UFO day. I've got a graphic for it. You can use it. You can, use everything that we're going to do in our ministry. Then on the first is Canada Day. So hey, why not celebrate our neighbors up north, do some Canada themed stuff?

00:07:42:26 - 00:08:08:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Maple sirup. And, you know, was poutine and then do, like, a Canada themed game. It'd be super fun. National ice cream. Sunday is the eighth. The white Elephant day is, national give something away day. Pie approximation day is 22 divided by seven, which is, 3.14. That is, July 22nd. And then finally on the 29th is both National Chicken Wing and National Lasagna Day Stew.

00:08:08:20 - 00:08:32:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
These ideas have been incredibly successful for us. I'm literally handing them over to you. The best way for you to access that is my $4 per month Patreon tier, where I drop my bonus podcast. It also gives you access to all of our social media packs. It also gives you access to my carousel engine. $4 per month for all of that is $8 for the summer months of June and July.

00:08:32:14 - 00:08:53:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Worth having everything in your programing from games to service orders and all of the creative elements. Is it worth it? You have to decide. I think it is less than $10 over the course of two months. I think it's a radically insane idea. Who says radical? I don't think I've ever said radical on this podcast before, but hey, it's episode 199.

00:08:53:14 - 00:09:18:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I do wanna let you know I'm dropping this a little bit out of cycle and order. And so, next week and next episode is going to be the 200th episode, and then make sure that you set your notifications for the 19th of June, where we'll start rolling these out, and we'll start continuing to push all of these events and reminding you what's coming up on Wednesday and how you can grab the graphics and how you can lean in, and how you can celebrate these different national days on the Wednesdays.

00:09:18:20 - 00:09:30:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Of those of you doing youth ministry this summer, but until next time, my friends. And as always, I hope you found this episode helpful. If you did give it a like, give us a subscribe, share it with a friend, but don't forget to stay hybrid.

Episode 167: Top 5 Youth Ministry Books Every New Youth Pastor Must Read

Nick Clason — Thu, 18 Sep 2025 05:00:00 -0500

Welcome to Nick Clason Theological Seminary—or as my new resident called it, NCTS. I’m not actually starting a seminary, but if you’re brand new to youth ministry and wondering, "What books should I read?" You’re in the right place. Today I’m breaking down 5 must-read youth ministry books and 3 video courses that will give you a solid foundation for preaching, programming, and discipling students in today’s world.

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/167

Fall Masterclass Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLngXlSr64YaLfP12NPWmpBzXoCcEsAyBF

🍂 FALL SOCIAL MEDIA PACK
https://www.patreon.com/posts/fall-seasonal-137477671?utm_medium=clipboard_copy&utm_source=copyLink&utm_campaign=postshare_creator&utm_content=join_link

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

Communicating for a Change
https://walmrt.us/4fPAYze

Lead Small
https://www.amazon.com/Lead-Small-Ideas-Every-Leader/dp/0985411627

Sticky Church:
https://walmrt.us/4mZu252

4 Chair Discipling
https://walmrt.us/4lHUgbc

//📽️ VIDEO COURSES
Access to Youth Ministry University:
https://www.ymuniversity.com/

-Programming Like a Pro
-Purpose Driven Youth Ministry
-Family Ministry

Or go Platinum:
https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/platinum-membership---annual/membership-shop-10009.html

USE CODE HYBRIDMINISTRY10 FOR COLEADER:
https://www.coleader.co

//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 Nick Clason Theological Seminary
01:12 Brunch & Learn
04:25 Knowing Him
06:47 Communicating for a Change
08:09 VIDEO: Programming Like a Pro
10:24 Lead Small
12:18 VIDEO: Family Ministry
12:59 Sticky Church
14:19 VIDEO: PDYM - Purpose Driven Youth Ministry
15:24 4 Chair Discipling
15:51 HONORABLE MENTION: Your First 2 Years in Youth Ministry
16:09 Biblical Ministry is Timeless

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:03 - 00:00:27:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Welcome to the Nicholas's Theological Seminary, or as my new resident recently called it, the n c t s. Now, listen, I'm not actually starting to sing you, but if you are brand new to youth ministry and you're wondering, like this person and this youth pastor Facebook group who said, hey, I am new to youth ministry and I've been out of the youth ministry position for 11 years.

00:00:27:26 - 00:00:59:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So anyone have any new books or resources that will help me with today's youth, ages 9 to 18 at this new position? They've had trouble the last year with getting volunteers, kids showing up and committing to events. If anyone has any advice on these things that would help. Thank you and good luck with your ministry. If that's you, or if you're asking a question like that, well then today you're in the right place because what I'm actually going to be doing is I'm going to be breaking down five must-read youth ministry books paired with three video courses.

00:00:59:07 - 00:01:30:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And those two things paired together are going to give you a solid foundation for preaching, programing, and discipling students in today's world. Welcome, everyone to the hybrid ministry Show. What's up everyone? Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry Show. For a quick bit of context. Just as a reminder, there are always chapters listed down below. In this episode, I'm breaking down what you should be reading and what you can be using as prep as a new or, building a foundation in youth ministry.

00:01:30:18 - 00:01:54:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And this really came to light in, recent days. My boss, Darren, who was, a and still is a 30 plus year youth ministry veteran, moved on to a different role, and I stepped into his seat and I inherited a team, with a combined less than one year of paid professional, full time youth ministry experience.

00:01:54:22 - 00:02:16:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There are four of them, but every single one of them has less than a year, and in some cases, less than six months of paid professional, full time youth ministry experience. They're eager. They're awesome. I love our team. But they're all very young. And so I started kind of thinking through, like, what are some of the things that we should be, that they should know?

00:02:16:08 - 00:02:41:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And what are some of the things that have been foundational to me that I have known? And so, in previous, years when, you know, Dan was on the team and I was his right hand man, him and I kind of in tandem led these, lunch and learn kind of like workshops. And so I went back through and I looked at what we did last year, and then I looked ahead and, I started, like, thinking, like, what was some of the most core or, like, foundational things for me growing up.

00:02:41:24 - 00:03:02:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so this is essentially like my, like, must have go to like types of things, for youth pastors and frankly, for people in ministry because some of these things are not actually only like ministry specific. So, there are going to be links to every single one of these listed down below in the description. Make sure that you go check those out.

00:03:02:10 - 00:03:21:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
There may be a small affiliate commission. Won't change the price for you. Some might not have it. Like, I don't know exactly. Which ones are which, but you can go ahead and check those out. But the first thing and so like in our what I'll do is I'll share, here on screen, if you're watching on YouTube, I'll share are like brunch and learn schedule.

00:03:21:13 - 00:03:51:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so we meet once a month, for discussion around some of these topics. And now, I'm, I'm building it and setting it up in this particular way, to try and space out some of the obligation and some of the reading that I'm requiring of them. However. So, like, you need to understand, like I'm putting, like, shorter books, after longer books, and then I'm doing a video class in between some books and stuff like that so that it's not only reading and there's like videos in there.

00:03:51:14 - 00:04:07:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's why I'm breaking it up, kind of the way that I'm breaking it up. But like, you can kind of go in any, any direction and like, depending on the appetite that you may or may not have for learning, that may or may not be better for you. So go ahead and try and kind of like take, take this with a grain of salt.

00:04:07:29 - 00:04:31:03
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm not saying you have to go in any particular order. I may recommend like a particular order, but you can go in, in whatever or you want. And I'll explain what each of the books kind of focus on. And so depending on your context, you can kind of, grab it, in that way. But for us, starting off, we're doing a 50 day devotional study from Sun Life called Knowing Him.

00:04:31:07 - 00:05:01:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And now what is awesome about this book is a it's a devotional, so you can, like, add it and make it a part of just like your daily morning, like quiet time reading. And what it is, is it's an exploration through the life of Christ in 50 days, in chronological order. My senior pastor and then also like the founder of Sun Life, Dan Spader, and many of the guys kind of in that arena have sort of found the value in looking at the harmony of the Gospels in the chronological order life of Jesus.

00:05:01:23 - 00:05:31:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's what this 50 day study is, kind of built around. And I kid you not like, I'm not saying this hyperbolically this is perhaps the most beneficial, like devotional study that I have ever been through in my life. It's so impactful. So several videos back linked right up here talked about my, event strategy, the, the spiritual CPR and that kind of came, from the roots in the foundation of like, a sun life kind of strategy.

00:05:31:23 - 00:05:49:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And this knowing him, is really like the core, kind of like foundation. Or like the, the chronological ness of, of it all. And so was really been cool is, my team right now they're working through this. And, one of the guys, he goes, you know, I just kind of assumed, like, I've been through a million Bible studies.

00:05:49:05 - 00:06:12:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I just kind of assumed the questions would be kind of lame and kind of basic. He's like, the study's fantastic. And the questions are really, really making me think so it's really, really good. And, we at a as our church, we try to position our church and thus our ministry after the chronological nature of Jesus and, and follow his blueprint and disciple making pathway for making leaders.

00:06:12:15 - 00:06:32:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, this devotional really helps, get our, our team into that headspace of, doing ministry like Jesus and exploring it through kind of a chronological lens. There's not a great way to buy this, honestly. They have kind of like a print on demand sort of deal, and our church, doesn't, want to pay tax because we're tax exempt.

00:06:32:14 - 00:06:47:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And there wasn't a very easy way for me to figure out how to not do tax. But they do have a completely free e-book version of it. And so if you don't mind the e-book version and then maybe write down your answers in, like, a journal, then you can totally go that way and it's completely free.

00:06:47:26 - 00:07:09:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The next book that I recommend to all of our team as they're communicating is, in my opinion, the best communication resource out there from one Andy Stanley. Now, listen, I know that recently some of his, comments and some of his thinking have become a little bit polarizing in the church subculture. But you can't argue that he's not one of the best communicators out there.

00:07:09:20 - 00:07:42:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so he has a book on communicating for a change that I absolutely love. And so, some of our team has already been through that. And so for this, for our brunch and learn, I'm taking through, two people who have not yet been through that. And we're not only going to read it and discuss it, but we're also going to workshop like a future message for them, in this sort of way that Andy, builds out his, his messages, which is in his, his kind of famed and patented outline of me, then we, then God, then you, then we, and the the sort of thesis for his whole book is drive towards

00:07:42:16 - 00:07:59:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
one main point and then tell a story you know about you, that's the me. And then broaden it so that it includes everyone. And, you know, create this tension like, this is not only a new problem, but it's a we problem. But here's how God solves it. And here's one thing that you can do as a result of that.

00:07:59:23 - 00:08:20:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then finally, if we all did this, imagine how the world could be different or the world could change to really, really good framework. And I basically use it every single time I preach. Next. After that, we are moving into our youth ministry university, which we are platinum members at our church. If you're not, you should go check it out on Download Youth Ministry.

00:08:20:06 - 00:08:42:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
At least check out Collider, which is an amazing, you know, scope and sequence curriculum. You can use code Hybrid Ministry ten, if you want to get 10% off co-leader for the year. But we're using a, we're using the programing like a pro, which is Justin Knowles and Josh Griffin, and they're sort of like a programing course that they have on WAMU.

00:08:42:06 - 00:09:02:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, I wanted to get our, our team thinking and talking about creative programing and, you know, that's actually a really, really high value for me, something that I care a lot about. In fact, that's one of the things that I talk about on my bonus, Patreon hybrid heroes podcast every single week. Hey, quick break.

00:09:02:22 - 00:09:19:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Let me ask you a question. Are you still waking up every day as a youth pastor, scrambling to figure out what you need to post on your social media? 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.

00:09:19:06 - 00:09:42:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
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. So here's the thing you can grab my pack right now over on Patreon.

00:09:42:16 - 00:10:02:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
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. Either way, it is a steal for you and it will take away the stress of posting.

00:10:02:28 - 00:10:22:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
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. So in addition to social media, in addition to programing like a pro, that is one of the things we're taking our team through.

00:10:23:01 - 00:10:46:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We are also then, after that, we're going to take them through the book Lead Small, which lead Small is actually sort of like written as a job description for small group leaders. It's kind of meant to hand to small group leaders. It's a really quick and fun read. And so, in the middle of sort of like our year, I dropped lead Small on them because I think it's probably going to be the quickest of all the reads that they're going to have to do.

00:10:46:22 - 00:11:10:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so we'll have a discussion and that'll be, really us thinking and strategizing as staff about how we can equip our small group leaders to continue to lean into some of the core, kind of like five lead small principles. My friend Carrie Rae, who's, over on staff at y, AM3 60, he's famous for saying, like, any youth pastor could have written this book.

00:11:10:18 - 00:11:50:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Orange just went ahead and did it. And once again, I know that there's some, you know, stuff going on around with orange, but the core principles of Lead Small, which are taken from Scripture, are also, not, you know, they haven't, ceased to, to be relevant. And so they're still very useful to creating a good culture of relationships and connection and small group and most youth ministries, I would argue that are greater than 25 to 30, which is probably most of us are going to need to have a pretty strong lead, small culture, because, you as a youth pastor can't provide care for greater than 30 students.

00:11:50:01 - 00:12:16:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so you need to, enlist small group leaders to help continue on in that care. It's a biblical principle. We see, Jethro challenged Moses to do that when Moses doing too much. And Jethro says you need to delegate. And and that's what we as youth pastors also need to do. Not because we don't care about students, not because we don't want to be in students lives, but because we want to equip our small group leaders to be kind of the torch bearers for some of that shepherding and pastoral care.

00:12:16:19 - 00:12:38:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so that's what the lead small principle is all about. The next thing we're going back to, why I'm university and we're looking at family ministry, just basically thinking like, how do we partner with parents? That's a core kind of like principle that all of us in youth ministry, should care about. That's what orange is kind of built off of, you know, like, the church and the churches.

00:12:38:07 - 00:12:56:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What is I think the church is red. No, the family is red because it's their heart and their love, and the church is yellow because like the light of God. But together they should make orange. Right? And so it's partnering with families in your student and in your youth ministry. And so, youth minister University has a whole family ministry course.

00:12:56:27 - 00:13:19:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So we're going to watch that and then we're going to discuss that as a team. This book right here is essentially my, small group, curriculum strategy guide. It is Sticky Church, written by Larry Osborne. And I read this book all the way back when I was an intern myself. And his whole premise is your church will grow when you're small.

00:13:19:15 - 00:13:43:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Groups are sticky. So it's but it's more than just lead small culture. It's what's the curriculum and what's the driving force within your small groups. And his premise is essentially you should do a sermon or whatever your main messages, sermon based small groups. And some of you, totally agree, which, you know, if if you are like a subscriber to co-leader, you understand that that's exactly like what it is like.

00:13:43:19 - 00:14:06:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You listen to the message and then you break into small groups to discuss it. In our context. We teach on one night and then our small group curriculum is taught on a whole nother day and a whole nother calendar time of the week. Which is similar to like a big church model where if you go to church and then you have small groups that meet decentralized host homes throughout the community, and they're discussing the pastor's sermon.

00:14:06:12 - 00:14:25:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's a similar sort of mindset. So this comes from, I'm sure other people have this this idea in this mindset. But, I remember at first from Larry Osborne and I found this book to be incredibly helpful and incredibly impactful. Towards the end of the year, we're finally going to get into the why I'm university purpose driven youth ministry discussion.

00:14:25:09 - 00:14:45:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The only reason that this isn't higher, and the only reason that I don't recommend this sooner, is because, we kind of did like the knowing him, which is going to be a, a ministry philosophy and a ministry purpose, conversation and discussion. And so what I'm doing is I'm bringing this back around, bookending it at the end of the year.

00:14:45:07 - 00:15:04:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the book dug this book. Phenomenal. I love this book. I was just trying to cut down on the reading, and I saw that there was a video course. And so we're going to go ahead and have take our team through the video course and just kind of explore the five different purposes of the church, which again, we are already kind of like our team.

00:15:04:24 - 00:15:23:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Our team has a good understanding of that as it pertains to like Jesus's disciple making pathway, like those sections on the pathway often are tied to different purposes of the church. So this will, be reiterating it and meshing into that way of thinking just from like a slightly different angle. So I'm really excited to bring this one back around.

00:15:23:28 - 00:15:47:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then finally, the ultimate bookend for church discipling by Dan Spader, one of my all time favorite books as well. It's he's the founder of Sun Life. And so just like we have four steps on our church's pathway, he has four chairs. And that it's going to pair really well with that knowing him and then that purpose driven youth ministry discussion I will give and I will give a nod.

00:15:47:26 - 00:16:06:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And the only other reason I didn't include this book for all youth pastors is, this is like the goat of all youth ministry books. Is your first two years in youth ministry? The only reason I didn't include it for our team is because, as interns, they've already gone through it and read it. And so, I recommend that one as well.

00:16:06:18 - 00:16:24:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Written by Doug Fields as well. Phenomenal and fantastic book. And so if you're in youth ministry and if you're wondering, like, what do I do? How do I connect? Now, listen, you might be thinking, if you wrote that question like, how do I connect with teens in like this new world that you're like, these aren't that new of resources?

00:16:24:24 - 00:16:48:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you're right. And maybe it's because I'm an old fuddy duddy. Or I think that some of these things are tied to the Great Commission and are key to like some, some youth ministry like purpose, which, you know, purpose driven youth ministry for church discipling and knowing him are all like youth ministry strategy and church ministry strategy, doing and running church and making disciples like Jesus.

00:16:48:18 - 00:17:08:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then within that you got teaching and programing. So those are in there. And then finally, leading small group. So you got lead small and you got sticky church. And then the last piece is how do we partner with parents? And that's why we included that family ministry piece. All these things really help hopefully give a good holistic view of of good youth ministry.

00:17:08:05 - 00:17:25:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And, you know, I've been youth ministry for 15 years. These are some of the core things that have helped shape my thinking and some of what I do as well. And let me just say kind of one final piece, like, if you're not a platinum member, you should become one because they give you a conference registration ticket and some of those do.

00:17:25:22 - 00:17:47:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I am 100 roundtables conferences, have been some of the most formative things to my youth ministry thinking and, my, my honestly, my health and my longevity in being a youth pastor for more than 15 years. So, hey, hope you found this episode helpful. We're going to be answering some questions in the subsequent episodes. It'll be linked in a playlist, or you can tap the video that you see right here on screen.

00:17:47:29 - 00:17:56:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Hey, subscribe or like or a share would really mean the world to us if you found this episode helpful. But until next time. And as always, my friends, don't forget stay hybrid.

Episode 162: 10 Free Time Stations for Youth Ministry - Fun, Easy & FREE!

Nick Clason — Thu, 14 Aug 2025 05:00:00 -0500

Looking for fun, easy, and totally free youth ministry ideas that actually engage students? In this episode of The Hybrid Ministry Show, Nick Clason shares 10 high-energy, low-prep free time station ideas—from donut decorating to Mario Kart tournaments, 9 Square, Gaga Ball, social challenges, and more—all designed to boost student engagement and connection. If you're a youth pastor craving creative youth group games, fall event strategy, or hybrid ministry tips that work, this episode is packed with stealable ideas and a bonus resource you don’t want to miss!

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut
DYM: https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/world%27s-greatest-donut/games/food-8745.html

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/162

☀️ 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 THE PACK FOR FREE! *
https://www.patreon.com/hybridministry

USE CODE: “HYBRIDMINISTRY” FOR 10% OFF
COLEADER.CO

GAGA BALL vs 9 SQUARE RECOMMENDATIONS!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zZuiyBdjX6c
SOCIAL CHALLENGE 4-PART FRAMEWORK
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0B6Qeaa_hPA&list=PLngXlSr64YaKLwZqOkQe7NzOqSVR0-P1s

✅ 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

//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 This Strategy Make Him say what?!
00:36 The Freetime Strategy Explained
06:25 Donut Tattoos
06:39 Scavenger Hunt - Hybridized!
09:19 Board Games
09:36 Decorating
09:52 Steal The (Fill in the Blank)
10:29 Kajabi Can Can
11:14 Big Screen Mario Kart Tourney
11:37 9-Square
11:44 Gaga Ball
12:09 The Social Challenge

--------------
TRANSCRIPT

00:00:00:03 - 00:00:19:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Your students don't want to sit through another 90 minute program. Can we be honest? Do you? In this episode, I'm going to break down my outreach event strategy, which when I shared it with my friend Eric with the kids, he had this to say about it. I love that thank you notes. That's something I'm gonna steal for future videos.

00:00:19:27 - 00:00:52:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In this episode, I'm going to hit you with ten ideas that you are definitely going to want to head over to my YouTube channel so that you can screenshot these and use them for your upcoming fall outreach event. Welcome, my friends, to the Hybrid Ministry Show! Well, hey everyone, welcome to episode 162 of the Hybrid Ministry Show. I am your host, Nick Claussen, and I'm going to be talking about one of the, strategies that we have for our outreach events that we've sort of stumbled into, and it's a little bit unique.

00:00:52:26 - 00:01:14:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, you heard what my friend Eric had to say about it, but essentially what it is, is it's creating moments of free time for your students. And so what I mean by that is we're not taking the full 90 minute block, or we're not taking the full 120 minute block of programing time that you have for your youth ministry and scheduling every single minute and making every single student do every single thing the entire time.

00:01:15:00 - 00:01:35:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But instead, what we're doing is we're opening up a window of time within our night, within our program to allow your students to kind of, like, choose their own adventure and do what they want to do. Now, if you're going to be using linked right here, the, download from the World's Greatest Donut Event Guide that we've been talking about, like, that's what, we've done before.

00:01:35:19 - 00:01:54:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And I want, you know, if you're looking for something to do, I want you to consider maybe doing that event and you can incorporate these ideas, this strategy, into your upcoming fall outreach event. And so, go ahead and go grab that download. It's completely free. It's going to point you to a resource over On demand that you can use and implement.

00:01:54:07 - 00:02:22:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And these ideas are things that you can use, borrow, steal, and include in your upcoming fall outreach event. But the the philosophy behind it is, as we talked about a couple episodes ago, this is a cultivate in the spiritual CPR. This is a cultivate night. We're we're inviting friends were hanging out. We're just, kind of letting our hair down, kicking our feet up and hanging out with students and helping them see that church doesn't have to be confusing.

00:02:22:00 - 00:02:44:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Church doesn't have to be weird. But the other reason that this is advantageous is very simply, when you have a message included in your night, you don't have as much time to program. When you don't include your message, you have more time to program. And here's what we do. Oftentimes, we're still like plugging through our scope and sequence like we use Collider.

00:02:44:04 - 00:03:07:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
In fact, if you use Code hybrid ministry, I'll give you 10% off Collider for a year. So go check that out. They just dropped roadmaps. The first part of roadmaps year three. Really excited about the the judges series included in that. But, we'll just kind of keep plugging along in what we, you know, for a message that we should have taught on the night our outreach event is Worcester, upload it to YouTube.

00:03:08:01 - 00:03:30:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then our Sunday morning curriculum is derived off of our Wednesday night curriculum. And so we'll still have that conversation on Sunday morning, even though we didn't have the message on Wednesday night. And it's just on YouTube. And so at the end of the night, a lot of times we'll just show a little teaser clip and say, hey, this is over on YouTube, go check it out, scan this QR code if you want to subscribe to our YouTube channel.

00:03:30:08 - 00:03:55:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And they're off to the races. And I mean the whole the whole good news right about these, this donut event is that it's getting students onto your social media, which at the end of this completely free fall masterclass playlist, I'm going to teach you how to build a social media team run completely by students that helps them create content not only for other students in your ministry, but create content with other students in your ministry.

00:03:55:28 - 00:04:15:18
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so having this free time event opens up all of these things, opens up more options. And, you know, one of the things that we'll do is we'll, offer anywhere from like four or 5 or 6 different, like, things, little stations. And they have anywhere from 30 to maybe 45 minutes on the longer end to do whatever them that they want.

00:04:15:18 - 00:04:36:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But one of the things that we've done to kind of encourage them or highlight what's available is we'll create a little passport or like a punch card, or if they go to a station and complete it, they'll get a little sticker for it. And what that does is it just helps them. First of all, give gives your students, and anyone who's new like a little map of your area, what's included where what's going on?

00:04:36:06 - 00:04:53:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What can we do right now? And then we'll say, hey, if you, complete if you go to all six stations, come and submit this card back in and we will give you a candy bar. And then we'll also put your, you know, name or your passport in, a drawing for the grand prize at the end of the night or something like that.

00:04:53:27 - 00:05:11:25
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, you know, if students are maybe not interested in all six of the things, and that's one of the reasons why we do it is because we know, like, not every single student is going to want to do every single type of game that you do. And so we'll include like some artsy and crafty type things. But then we'll also include some really, really active type things.

00:05:11:27 - 00:05:30:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so some students may be like, I'm more artsy. I don't want to do that active thing at all. And they're going to opt out of doing every single thing on the passport. But other kids, they might want to try to do all of it. And so they're going to try to run to every single station. So it just it it communicates what's available and it gives students an option to just win something.

00:05:30:13 - 00:05:47:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And that's just a fun way to kind of program it. I try to program the amount of time, like if we got 5 or 6 stations, I want to give them 30 to 35 minutes. I want there to be nearly not enough time for them to do everything, because when they leave, I want them to have in their mind like, oh my word, that event was so fun.

00:05:47:14 - 00:06:03:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I didn't even get to everything. And that's kind of like the vibe I want them to get in the car with with their parents, right? And when they're parents, like, how was it there? Like it was awesome. There is so much to do, you know what I'm saying? Like, that's kind of the vibe that we're going for. So if you're here on YouTube, these are going to flash up here on the screen.

00:06:04:01 - 00:06:24:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
These are free time stations that are high fun, but they're low prep. And some of these we've done before, others of them are ideas that I have for future ones. And if you're doing the World's Greatest Donut Event launch guide, you can use some of these. These are ones that we actually have pulled together, for the donut event starting with.

00:06:24:29 - 00:06:50:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
The first one is we had a donut temporary tattoo parlor. And so we can have students come in and just get a temporary donut tattoo. Right. And it's like you're doing the scavenger hunt. Like, one of the things I've done is, a future idea is like, we've done a scavenger hunt is one of the clues on the scavenger hunt was to have to go and prove that you got a donut tattoo, so it's like you kind of kill two birds with one stone.

00:06:50:00 - 00:07:10:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
They come to the scavenger hunt, which is a second idea, by the way. Come to the scavenger hunt. One of the one of the clues is you know, go to the donut tattoo thing and they prove that they've done it. And so in addition to it, we like I try to hybridize my scavenger hunt, which, if you didn't know by the way, I have a weekly bonus podcast over on Patreon.

00:07:10:00 - 00:07:36:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's only $4 a month, and I want you to think about that. Investment of $4 is like your creative programing assistant. Like, here's my question is $50 per year worth it for you to have? Almost like a programing and social media consultant and coach? Because that's essentially what this $4 tier would do. It's going to give you, for $48 for you, 12 times four.

00:07:36:07 - 00:07:57:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It's going to give you, someone who's just doing this on the front lines and is evaluating everything that I'm doing and boots on the ground. I'm not just like some, you know, youth ministry content guy. Like, these are things I'm actually doing. And I'll, I'll coach you through just by the evaluation of my own strategy, how it's going, what's going well, what's not going as well.

00:07:57:00 - 00:08:15:27
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And you can just steal all that I'm doing and bonus points, at the end of this episode, I'm going to be dropping a product that's $17. That's going to be incredibly valuable to you as you continue to lean in on social media. That's going to be free if you're already a $4 tier member of the Hybrid Heroes podcast.

00:08:15:27 - 00:08:33:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But I try to hybridize, and this is an example of thing I'll talk about on my podcast, The Scavenger Hunt. So, for example, we say, hey, prove to us that you voted on the first round of the donuts, because remember, at this event we're launching the bracket. And so we're doing donuts, seed number one versus donuts. Seed number 16.

00:08:33:28 - 00:08:53:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Donuts number eight versus donut seed number nine. Prove to us that you voted. And so, they can either vote with paper printouts which is the most boring, or they go on Instagram or YouTube and cast a poll style vote. Another one I'll do is I'll say, like in our most recent uploaded YouTube video, what was on so-and-so's shirt?

00:08:53:10 - 00:09:15:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
What color was so-and-so's hat, who's teaching like or whatever? And so that'll also encourage them to pull their phones out. If they don't have a phone, go find someone who does have a phone and look at our YouTube channel. And then, you know, bonus points if you subscribe, like all those types of things, like, I'm trying to kind of lean into not only the other stations like the donut tattoo station, but also some of our hybrid ideas.

00:09:15:26 - 00:09:32:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so Scavenger Hunt is one of my all time favorite stations. Another one is just simple, right? Like create a board game station. Like we already have a bunch of board games in our cafe. In our game room. We'll just lay those on a table and say, you can go do board games. And here's the thing so low prep on your part.

00:09:32:22 - 00:09:53:19
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You don't have to do anything with it. We in this donut event, we've done donut decorating for like a couple nights ago in our youth ministry, it was National Sugar Cookie Day. We did sugar cookie decorating like you could do some sort of food decorating or craft decorating of sorts. One of the one of my all time favorite active games is steal the Bacon.

00:09:53:19 - 00:10:10:26
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so in this event, we just do steal the donut. You can buy a big donut plush on Amazon, or you can just very simply like throw anything out there, like a piece of, like we've done, like I've done like a duck tape night before. And I took a piece of cardboard and I duct taped all around the cardboard, and we played steal the duct Tape.

00:10:11:03 - 00:10:27:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like, whatever theme event you're doing, like, steal that thing for, like, a steal the bacon style game where you have ten people on one side, ten people on the other, or however many. Right. And you can number them off. So this is one, this is one, this is two. This is two. When you call that number, they run on into the middle.

00:10:27:22 - 00:10:45:14
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Another one of our all time favorite active games is we call it One of our volunteers labeled it here called poison, but I've grown up calling it Kajabi can can just with the big trash can in the middle. And you try to not touch the trash can by holding someone's, you know, hands and dragging them into the trash can.

00:10:45:14 - 00:11:08:21
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You want to be the last person standing. Here's a pro tip grab dog rope. Chew toys so that you're not holding someone's like, wrist and like, crushing their knuckles because inevitably you're going to have like a senior guy football player next to like, a seventh grade girl. And he's going to destroy her hand. So give them both, like, dog rope, chew toys to hang onto with, like the ropes on the end.

00:11:08:23 - 00:11:29:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
She's got a rope here. He's got rope here. And of course, if you break the chain, you're also out. Another thing that we've done before, and I'm just going to be honest, I don't know how well it worked, but we did like, big screen Mario Kart video game, tournament video games, and Mario Kart always a hit. The part that I'm not sure that worked was the tournament aspect.

00:11:29:24 - 00:11:45:17
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Like it was kind of chaotic and didn't really know who's next and who's in line and, you know, whatever. But it was still fun. Overall, we have in our space, we have like a nine square, so we'll just say eight. You can you know, play nine square if you want. So that's an option. Gaga ball. That's an option.

00:11:45:17 - 00:12:04:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And if you don't know like I recommend two portable versions. And so maybe you're in like a shared space. But for an event like this, you can drag those out and set them up. Link down. Below is my, recommended nine square option and my recommended Gaga ball option. So those are things you make a little financial investment here on the front side, but then you can use this whenever you have a big event like this.

00:12:04:29 - 00:12:23:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And those can be a part of your station, some of the things that you offer. And then finally the social challenge. So social challenge I'm going to teach you how to do that here in a couple episodes. So make sure that you're subscribed. But the social challenge is we some social media content with our students, by our students every single Wednesday night.

00:12:24:01 - 00:12:43:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And in the link below, I am going to share with you exactly how you can, build your own social media team and the exact strategy that we use. And like I said in a couple episodes, I'm going to flesh out a full class on how to build out a social media team based on student ministry volunteers and what that does.

00:12:43:13 - 00:13:03:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That just helps kind of continue to create those hybrid connections. You're doing it via social media. And like I said on August 28th, we're dropping something big that is going to help you get that social media team up and off the ground. So you're definitely going to want to make sure that you're subscribed. But for the next video here, we are going to now talk about we've done this donut event.

00:13:03:09 - 00:13:25:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
We've welcome new students. We've included free time stations. Now let's look at event evaluation. How do we know whether or not we hit the mark? How do we know whether or not this event was successful? How do we know whether or not the budget money that we spent with, whether the juice there was worth the squeeze? We're going to answer all of those questions on the video that's linked right here on screen.

00:13:25:05 - 00:13:31:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
So make sure that you tap into that and until next time, and as always my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid.

Episode 160: My #1 Fall Outreach Event for Youth Ministry + Free Donut Game Download!

Nick Clason — Thu, 31 Jul 2025 05:00:00 -0500

The ultimate fall youth ministry outreach event that actually gets students to show up—plus grab a free donut event download to boost your next youth group outreach. Whether you're planning fall events, student ministry games, or looking for fresh youth group outreach ideas, this episode breaks down how to win students with Sonlife's classic CPR strategy: Win, Build, Equip. Don’t miss this youth pastor resource that combines social media, donuts, and brackets into one unforgettable church outreach event!

🍩 "FREE World's Greatest Donut Event Guide"
GUIDE: https://hybrid-ministry-40060036.hubspotpagebuilder.com/worlds-greatest-donut
DYM: https://www.downloadyouthministry.com/p/world%27s-greatest-donut/games/food-8745.html

SHOW NOTES
Shownotes & Transcripts
https://www.hybridministry.xyz/160

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

✅ 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

//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 Best Event Ever?
00:20 Youth Ministry CPR?
05:16 Why I use this Event Type Constantly!

--------------
TRANSCRIPT
00:00:00:07 - 00:00:26:13
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Planning a fall youth ministry kickoff event. Don't get lost in the pumpkin patch. Instead, plan an event that students actually show up for and one that returns dividends down the road. How? Glad you asked. Welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. Well, hey, everybody, welcome to the Hybrid Ministry show. If you and I haven't had a chance to meet yet.

00:00:26:15 - 00:00:50:06
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
My name is Nick Klassen, a 15 year youth ministry veteran. And in this episode, I want to share with you my all time favorite event archetype for youth ministry fall kickoffs. In fact, included in the link down below is everything that you're going to need, including shopping lists, graphics, and, the rundown in order to execute and pull this entire event off.

00:00:50:06 - 00:01:11:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
But before we dive into that, I do want to talk just a little bit of youth ministry, philosophy and strategy. So if you're only here for the event guide, hit the chapter mark down below and jump to that part of the episode. But for the rest of us, like I want to ask this question like, is doing an event like, what is the purpose of doing an event in youth ministry?

00:01:11:14 - 00:01:32:22
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You know, I grew up under the tutelage of a ministry philosophy called Sun Life. Shout out to Sun Life. And they're still around. But, they are not as predominant or as prevalent as I remember them being when I was in middle school or high school. You know, my dad was a youth pastor, and he was closely associated and affiliated with them.

00:01:32:24 - 00:02:10:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so thus I went to like student based trainings and conferences. And they have a ministry philosophy called, spiritual CPR. And each of the letters in that are like an acronym for different things. So the C in spiritual CPR is like cultivate this idea of building and investing in a relationship. Like think about a friendship. And probably one of the things I remember the most from this was like, if you had a neighbor and like every single time you're outside, like gardening or getting the mail and you like bumped into your neighbor, and you're trying to, like, share your faith with them and share the gospel with them, like you probably wouldn't every

00:02:10:24 - 00:02:28:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
single time you talk to them, like, hey, if you died tonight, would you know exactly where you're going to be? And the sun life kind of strategy then implemented that back over into student ministry and is like, hey, every time you have an event, every time you especially have like an outreach event, like you don't have to necessarily share the gospel.

00:02:28:16 - 00:02:46:08
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Part of it is trust building and cultivating that ongoing relationship. And that might be a polarizing opinion, but that's sort of like the strategy and the philosophy that I've, you know, seen my youth ministries kind of thrive under and that I've sort of like adopted as a youth pastor, and also one that I grew up in as like a teenager.

00:02:46:11 - 00:03:09:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, like, this event is a cultivate style event. It's one where the goal is to like, cultivate and build relationships. Meanwhile, the P then stands for plant and that's like a regular like youth night. That's one where like you will, you know, obviously like teach a Bible lesson from Scripture and you're going to kind of be planting the seeds of like faith in about Jesus and like about what people understand.

00:03:09:04 - 00:03:25:23
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then finally, the R stands for reap. And so CPR, cultivate, plant reap. It's going to kind of have that like gardening kind of metaphor. But the reap right is like a farmer when it's time to harvest like they go out and they actually like take the dividends, take the yield from the harvest of what they cultivated the soil with.

00:03:26:00 - 00:03:53:20
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Of what, like they planted and then how that grew and then what was officially time for them to take that. And so this style of event that I'm about to share with you is a like a classic cultivate type of event, an event where the goal is to like just build a relationship and earn trust. And I especially think like a lot of times, I don't know about you, a lot of times I feel like youth pastors think the goal is to like earn trust with like the first time guest and like, well, we want to do that.

00:03:53:22 - 00:04:23:04
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I think more than that, the goal is to build trust with the student who's bringing their friend who already calls your church home. It's like that student wants to know, like, can I bring my friend to something at the church? And it not be weird and it not backfire on me and my church, not do something that makes me or my friend feel a little bit uncomfortable or like, because what you're asking someone a student to do is you're asking them to lay down a pretty amazing amount of social capital in order to bring their friend to this event.

00:04:23:10 - 00:04:40:11
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And we say it all the time as youth pastors, right? Bring your friends, bring your friends, bring your friends. It's like a common youth ministry sort of moniker. And so one of the things I like to do, and I only do these probably 3 or 4 times per year, is a strictly cultivate event. And now you might be thinking like you don't have curriculum, you don't have content.

00:04:40:13 - 00:05:04:05
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
That's one of the reasons why I link down below my hybrid strategy. Like recommends filming your messages. And so we've done before where like we didn't have the message, but we still had like a message for that week. It's still tied to our Sunday morning curriculum. And so like as students were leaving, we'd share like just a little clip and say, hey, this is on YouTube, scan this QR code, just go subscribe to our YouTube.

00:05:04:07 - 00:05:28:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And it's a great way to kind of accomplish both of the things that you're looking for. So with all that being said, with that philosophy sort of late as a groundwork, what's the best fall outreach event idea for youth ministries? Let's check it out. So some of my favorite Cultivate Event style of outreach events are centered around and, predicated on this idea of a bracket.

00:05:28:13 - 00:05:46:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now, if you've, you know, been new to my channel at any length of time, you can go back and look at some of these former episodes linked here on screen or down in the show notes. But I've detailed an outline these bracket ideas several different times. In fact, I have an episode strictly dedicated to this exact event that I'm going to kind of like rehash here.

00:05:46:29 - 00:06:10:09
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Again, it's this, world's greatest donut bracket. In fact, there's an entire a product centered around this on Download Youth Ministry. And here's a couple of the reasons why I like this style of of that. First and foremost, when I feel like when youth ministries get larger than 30 to 40, you basically have to just create like a themed gathering or a themed party of sorts.

00:06:10:09 - 00:06:29:00
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And so, like, whatever that party is like, you just kind of like chop that check in and like rehash it and like reuse it in different ways. But like, we do all sorts of different things. And actually this is the start of a master class like fall, fall youth Ministry Masterclass playlist. This is episode number one here on YouTube.

00:06:29:00 - 00:06:47:10
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
I'm going to be giving you a A completely for free. But like step number one is having an a, an amazing kickoff event. And so at these kickoff events, this particular one is going to be donut themed. And so as we take this donut themed event, what are the ways that we utilize it and use it throughout this this night.

00:06:47:11 - 00:07:02:29
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Now here's again, here's the reasons I like these bracket style events. Number one, it's a voting style event. And so, it's like a winner advances and the loser is out. But you can use it for multiple weeks in a row. I love things that like, can carry on throughout. So like this might be a great like launch night.

00:07:02:29 - 00:07:22:01
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You're going to launch all 16 of the different like donut options. But in the coming weeks you're going to vote them out. And so that has and promotes a carryover effect for students who may want to like bring their friends to this event. But then the friends come back and then again in the weeks that follow. Those events are those nights, I'm sorry are going to be more like standard youth ministry night.

00:07:22:02 - 00:07:49:28
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
You're going to be teaching a message, you're going to be having a small group. You're going to be having discussion around what the Bible has to say. Meanwhile, this kind of donut themed thing is going on in the background. The other reason I like it is because it promotes social media. And again, you're going to want to subscribe because at the end of this five part masterclass, we are going to be talking about how to continue not only with this spark of social media, but how to then carry that on into a more regular rhythm, and one that you as a youth pastor, you may have to get up off the ground, but then you

00:07:49:28 - 00:08:11:15
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
fully hand it off to students because, you see, this world's greatest donut event is all meant to and aimed at pushing students to go check out your social channels, whether it's YouTube, TikTok, or over there on Instagram. So in the event guide, you're going to get a full service order. So we have a five minute countdown timer. It's a world's greatest donut themed countdown timer.

00:08:11:15 - 00:08:30:16
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
It is available in the Download Youth Ministry link, again included in the show. Notes down below. And then at the beginning we like welcomed people. We told them that it was time to like, start voting, and we gave away some door prizes and some giveaways. We did some worship songs, and then we played a game called Guess That Donut.

00:08:30:19 - 00:08:48:02
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then we gave the winner like a big box of, like a dozen of, like, custom craft, like, you know, special curated donuts. And then we played the donut on a string game. That's where, like, you have a friend up above, like on a chair or on the stage with, like, a donut on a string.

00:08:48:02 - 00:09:09:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And then the person down below has to be the first one to eat it. That's a super fun game. And then we and we're going to detail this fully in a future episode. Again, make sure you're subscribed. But we give our students like open kind of like rec free time in the middle of our event. So we have all sorts of different things in there like donut decorating, find the donut, steal the donut, donut tattoo stations again.

00:09:09:07 - 00:09:30:07
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Subscribe. We're going to go over that in the future episode. Then we called everybody back in and we gave away a grand prize of sorts. And so as you're looking ahead and as you're thinking about planning, I have like links, I have downloads, I have what you need in order to take this event to the next level that is downloaded and available for you completely for free.

00:09:30:12 - 00:09:54:24
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
Go check out my free donut event guide. Go grab the World's Greatest Donut Guide, over on Download Youth Ministry and start planning your fall kickoff and your fall calendar, so that you have an event that is going to not only be amazing and fun and sweet, obviously, because donuts are amazing, but also you're going to start creating and building the groundwork for a strong hybrid and a strong social media presence.

00:09:54:24 - 00:10:10:12
Nick Clason | Hybrid Ministry
And this is the perfect way to kick off your school year with this. And again, reminder at the end of this playlist, I'm going to be dropping something huge that you are not going to want to miss out on. So make sure that you're subscribed. And until next time. And as always, my friends, don't forget to stay hybrid.