Blowing Up Your Youth Ministry

So, you want to wreck your youth ministry? No? Are you sure? Because sometimes, even with good intentions, we’re doing things that are actually tearing it down. If you want to ensure your ministry falls apart, here are a few foolproof ways to make it happen. But if you want to build something strong, take this as a wake-up call.

1. Make It All About You

Your students should know who the real star of the ministry is—you. Make sure every sermon includes a personal story (preferably one where you’re the hero), and don’t bother raising up student leaders or volunteers because you can do it all better anyway. Keep the focus on your charisma, your vision, your voice. If you ever start to think, Wait, isn’t this supposed to be about Jesus?, push that thought away fast.

✅ Fix It: Kill your ego. Point students to Jesus, not yourself. Raise up leaders. Hand off responsibilities. Ministry is not a one-man show.

2. Ignore the Hard Conversations

Keep things fun. Always fun. Don’t talk about sin, identity, purpose, or obedience—those might make students uncomfortable. Dodge tough topics like purity, identity crisis, or real faith struggles because, you know, they might not come back next week. Just stick to hype, games, and a five-minute devo that’s about as deep as a kiddie pool.

✅ Fix It: Be bold. Speak the truth in love. Give students something real to hold onto in a world full of empty noise. They crave authenticity more than entertainment.

3. Overlook Your Leaders

Who needs a strong adult leadership team when you can do it all yourself? Treat your volunteers like babysitters instead of mentors. Never invest in them, never pray with them, and definitely never let them lead. Assume that because they’re adults, they should just “get it” and not need any guidance from you.

✅ Fix It: Train, equip, and love your leaders. Meet with them. Pray for them. Make sure they’re growing so they can invest in students effectively.

4. Chase Numbers Over Discipleship

It’s all about attendance. If you have a packed room, you’re winning. Who cares if most of them don’t know Jesus? Just keep the lights, music, and giveaways coming. Spiritual growth? Eh, that’s optional. As long as your Instagram stories look hype, you’re doing great.

✅ Fix It: Numbers matter, but life change matters more. Measure success by transformed lives, not just attendance.

5. Neglect Your Own Spiritual Life

You’re in ministry, so that counts as your time with God, right? Who has time for personal prayer and Bible study when you’re running a whole youth group? Just wing your sermons, pray on stage, and assume that’s enough to stay spiritually healthy. Meanwhile, let burnout, bitterness, and exhaustion creep in.

✅ Fix It: Guard your time with Jesus. Your personal walk impacts everything you do in ministry. Stay grounded in Him or you’ll have nothing real to offer your students.

6. Ignore Parents

You’re the youth pastor, so you know best, right? Parents? They’re just in the way. No need to partner with them, communicate with them, or equip them to disciple their own kids. After all, youth ministry is where real faith happens, not at home.

✅ Fix It: Partner with parents. Keep them in the loop. Help them lead their students spiritually because they have way more influence than you do.

7. Refuse to Adapt

You’ve been doing things this way for years, and it worked back then, so why change? Culture is shifting, students are struggling in new ways, but you refuse to tweak your approach. Just keep using the same outdated strategies and pretend like it’s still 2005.

✅ Fix It: Stay anchored in Scripture but flexible in strategy. Know your students. Meet them where they are while pointing them to the never-changing truth of God’s Word.

Time to Rebuild

If any of these hit home, it’s not too late. The goal isn’t just to have a youth ministry—it’s to build one that actually changes lives. Let’s stop wrecking it and start leading it well.

Your students need a leader who’s real, who’s growing, and who’s pointing them to Jesus. Be that leader. And whatever you do—don’t blow it up. Let’s set up a time to talk through some of the ways we blow up our ministry unintentionally. Leave a comment below or shoot me an email.