THE 10 BEST PODCASTS FOR YOUTH MINISTRY
Over the last couple of years we’ve seen the number (and quality) of youth ministry related podcasts sky rocket, and so we decided to create this list to help you find what’s available. We’ve researched every youth ministry podcast we could find and formatted them for easy consumption.
We plan on updating this list on a regular basis, and our rankings are determined by this criteria and not our opinion:
- Has published an episode in the last 18 months
- Number of episodes in the top 50 on iTunes
- Number of reviews on iTunes
- iTunes search results
If you’d like a more detailed explanation of how we calculate our rankings, you can read more at the bottom of this post by clicking here.
1. YOUTH MINISTRY ANSWERS PODCAST
A bi-weekly podcast hosted by Kenny and Elle Campbell from StuffYouCanUse.org. Every episode of Youth Ministry Answers features a question about youth ministry and student ministry submitted by youth workers, youth pastors, and volunteers just like you! You ask the youth ministry questions, we search for the answers. Submit yours at YMAnswers.com!
2. AFTER 9 YOUTH MINISTRY PODCAST
Welcome to After 9, the most honest podcast in youth ministry. Hosted by Zac Workun, Chad Higgins, and Kristen Lascola. Enjoy weekly episodes as the team asks the toughest questions related to student ministry and youth pastor health, success, and expectations. We hope that this weekly dose of honesty and humor help you fellow youth worker or youth pastor. New episodes drop every Wednesday. Find out more @ after9ministry.com
3. THE LONGER HAUL YOUTH MINISTRY PODCAST
The Longer Haul’s Jody Livingston and Chris Trent help you survive and thrive in your Youth Ministry or Student Ministry by giving you practical helps, tips, resources, and how-to’s. Get help through interviews and training to be more effective in your preaching, teaching, leading, partnering with families, building Youth Ministry teams, Youth Ministry events, managing your Youth Ministry and more. Whether you are a veteran, rookie, paid, or volunteer Youth Pastor, Youth Minister or Youth Worker, you will find encouragement and practical, scalable tools to have a greater influence on teens with the gospel. Find show notes at youthministrypodcast.com
4. LIFEWAY STUDENT MINISTRY PODCAST
The LifeWay Student Ministry Podcast is designed to encourage and inform student ministry leaders at every level. Each episode Ben Trueblood will join with student ministry leaders and guests to talk about issues, both practical and philosophical, relating to student ministry and leadership. Our goal is to encourage student ministry leaders serving in the local church and to share insights learned from the student ministry community at large.
5. THE DOWNLOAD YOUTH MINISTRY WEBSHOW
Join Doug Fields, Josh Griffin, Katie Edwards & Jason Carson for another weekly “team meeting.” They will dive into your youth ministry questions, take time to encourage you, discuss ministry, and laugh together. It is just enough youth ministry so you don’t feel guilty for listening.
6. RETHINKING YOUTH MINISTRY
The Rethinking Youth Ministry Podcast is for youth ministry leaders, pastors, volunteers, workers, and anyone who cares about middle school and high school students. Each episode, we hope to raise the bar for youth ministry by asking questions, interviewing thinkers, and having real honest conversations about what it looks like to lead the next generation. Featured guests include Reggie Joiner, Jon Acuff, Carlos Whittaker, Tom Shefchunas, Ashley Bohinc, Louie Lovoy, Jamey Dickens, Crystal Chiang, and more.
7. WHEN YOU GONNA BE A REAL PASTOR?
A podcast focused on Youth Ministry at all levels. From Pastors to Parents, from Vocational to Volunteer, from the church of 50 to the church of 5,000 we are all about the Youth Worker. Our vision is uplift and encourage the Youth Pastors and Youth Workers. To help them see their work as a calling, a profession to which they have been uniquely equipped, and to grow as experts in their field.
8. NICK BLEVINS FAMILY MINISTRY PODCAST
The Nick Blevins Family Ministry Podcast is where you can hear from top leaders in children’s ministry, student ministry and family ministry. You’ll learn the principles and practices they use to lead families with the goal of helping you maximize the potential in your ministry.
9. FIFTEEN MINUTES WITH FRANK
Want to grow as a Youth Worker but don’t have a ton of time? Spend 15 minutes with Frank each week as he talks about what he is doing in his youth group and sharing what is on his mind regarding student ministry.
10. THE ELLE CAMPBELL YOUTH MINISTRY PODCAST
Hi, friends! I’m Elle and I blog about youth ministry and student ministry at ElleCampbell.org. Each episode of this podcast is the audio version of one of my blog posts. We’ll talk about stuff like training volunteers, partnering with parents, creating environments that students love, and building a healthy small groups culture. Hope it’s helpful!
HOW WE CALCULATE OUR RANKINGS:
Like we mentioned at the top, we’re ranking these podcasts solely on iTunes’ statistics. It’s not a perfect system but they’re the only public numbers we have to go on. By importance, the criteria is: the number of episodes in the top 25 of plays for the searches “youth ministry” and “student ministry”, the number of positive reviews the show has on iTunes, the show ranking of search results for “youth ministry” in iTunes.
Here’s our data from our last search. We plan on updating this list on a regular basis…
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