Student Ministry Resources

This is list I have put together of some resources that have helped me in ministry recently! Check them out and share them with others!

Student Ministry Resources
Web Resources
http://www.dare2share.org/ - Dare 2 Share Soul Fuel – Free Small Group or devotional material
http://www.wingclips.com/ – Free movie sermon illustrations – movies that are currently in theaters
http://www.thesource4ym.com/ – free resources
http://www.youthpastor.com/ – free resources
http://www.simplyyouthministry.com/ – total ministry resources – subscribe to Simply Insider for email updates
http://www.uthstuph.com/ – t shirts and apparel
http://www.268gneration.com/ – Passion talk series with Louie Giglio
http://www.catalystspace.com/ – leadership resources
http://www.teameffort.org/ – mission trips
http://www.bluefishtv.com/ – small group, media resources
http://www.pwarchive.com/ – praise and worship chords
http://www.1christian.net/ – praise and worship chords
Spin360 – total praise and worship resource

backstagepassministries.com – Elevator discipleship resource
www.indiecommunity.com – bands, speakers for events
www.syatp,com – resources for See You At the Pole
www.studentlife.org – small group, Sunday school, and teaching resources
www.nooma.com – Nooma videos by Rob Bell – small groups
www.youthworker.com – ministry news letters, resources, articles, etc…
Relevant Magazine – Current pop culture resource with Christian perspective
www.collidemagazine.com – church media resource
www.netprint24.com – bulk publishing
www.clubflyers.com – resource for free bulk publishing
www.istockphoto.com – resource for graphic art
Simply Text – simplyyouthministry.com – text your entire student ministry at once
www.nspiresoftware.com – tracking software for your student ministry

Enjoy the City (Birmingham, AL area) – Fundraiser coupon books - (205) 215-0750
Central Screen Printing – t shirts and apparel 1-800-693-3299

Books
Touch Points for Students – topical Scripture references
Promises for Students – topical Scripture references
Every Teenagers Little Black Book – Blaine Bartel – small group discussion
Would You Rather and More Would You Rather – Simply Youth Ministry – funny discussion starters
A Young Woman After God’s Own Heart – Elizabeth George - young teen study
A Young Man After God’s Own Heart – Jim George - young teen study
The Unquenchable Worshipper – Matt Redman – personal growth, worship teaching resource
Velvet Elvis – Rob Bell – personal growth
Next Generation Leader – Andy Stanley – personal growth, leadership building
Catalyst Groupzine – personal growth, group leadership study
Visioneering – Andy Stanley – personal growth
7 practices of Effective Ministry – Andy Stanley, Lane Jones, Reggie Joiner – personal growth
Barbarian Way – Erwin McManus – personal growth
Quick Scripture Reference for Counseling Youth – Patricia A. Miller/Keith R. Miller – scripture reference on tough subjects
Group’s Youth Leader’s Emergency Response Handbook – scripture reference on tough subjects, staff resource
Crazy Love – Francis Chan – personal growth
Fasting – Jentzen Franklin – personal growth
Wide Awake – Erwin McManus – personal growth

Event Ideas

Underground Church Simulation
Have a service simulating what it would be like to be a Christian in a part of the world where faith is persecuted. How we did it:
No chairs, candle lit room
Students met and gave a password to a guide to lead them to the meeting place
Once everyone was there we read stories of current Christians persecuted worldwide: voiceofthemartyrs.com. Spoke about our “comfortable” American Christianity.
In the middle of the talk, we had guys dressed in black, ski masks, etc… bust into the meeting – it drove the point home that Christianity is persecuted in other countries.
Closed out event with prayer stations – each station represented countries where Christianity is persecuted. We ended by praying for believers in those countries.

Edify
Have an evening that revolves around building the students up concerning their past, present and future. Find encouraging scriptures that deal with each area. Take them through a progression dealing with each area of their life: we split the students into groups and moved them through rooms representing the past, present, and future.
Read scripture in each room that has to do with the room represents (past, present, or future)
Have times of prayer in each room (past issues, present tough times, future worries, etc…)
We had leaders designated to lead in each room. The atmosphere was set with the lighting, candles, and worship music in the background.
Provide each student with the list of scriptures that you read in each room to take home with them.

2 Week Sacrifice
· challenge students to drink only water for 2 weeks and the take money they would spend other drinks to go to a missions organization. We are doing this for the Blood:Water organization – they are committed to build 1000 wells of clean water in 1000 African communities.

Reach Day
· We are taking each of our small groups and challenging them to come up with their own service project within the community. We are taking a Saturday to all go and complete our projects. Each small group will be spread out through the city working on their project. The projects will be thought up by and planned by the students.

See You At the Pole Community Prayer Gathering
Gather in a local park for a community wide, pre See You at the Pole prayer rally. Invite other youth groups, get the word out to campus clubs, and advertise through out the community. Last year we had a worship band lead in worship and involved students from area High Schools leading in prayer.

Party with a Purpose
Check out http://www.tomsshoes.com/. Every pair of shoes bought from the company also buys a pair of shoes for a child in the world with out shoes. The shoes are sent overseas frequently. Website promotes throwing a party where students purchase white Tom’s and decorate the shoes themselves, and celebrate the fact that the shoes they are wearing also provided shoes for a child overseas.

Month Long Emphasis
Octoberfast – month focused on prayer and fasting. Make a fasting calendar for students to use and encourage them to fast something different each week of the month.

30 days of prayer – challenge students to spend time in prayer everyday for the month and keep a prayer journal – focus messages on prayer for the month

31 days of proverbs – students commit to read a chapter of proverbs a day, preach on wisdom and the importance of Godly choices throughout the month