Steve Cullum Podcasts

Are you struggling to connect with others doing student ministry in your community? On this "quick-hit" episode, we'll share a couple tips on how to find other youth leaders in your area to get connected and begin collaborating for a more impactful ministry. Links referenced in this episode: Find a network or start one at http://nnym.org Learn more…

Middle schoolers can be an interesting bunch, can’t they? One moment, they are bouncing off the walls; and the next, you can have a really meaningful conversation with them about their purpose in the world. And sometimes, those are happening at the exact same time. On this episode of Student Ministry Connection, we talk with Heather Mahoney about h…

Steve has recently answered God's call to be a full-time missionary with National Network of Youth Ministries. So today on the podcast, he'll explain what led to this decision, why this mission is so important within the world of student ministry, what he will be doing as a missionary, and share some ways you can support and partner with the minist…

Would you like to recruit more volunteers and build a thriving team to reach even more teenagers for Jesus? On this episode of Student Ministry Connection, Steve is joined by Nick Blevins, author of The Volunteer Playbook, co-founder of Ministry Boost, and NextGen Pastor at Community Christian Church in Baltimore, MD, to discuss how to better recru…

How do you define success in ministry? Are you always striving for higher attendance and bigger programs? Or is ministry success something different? On this episode, we’ll talk with Dan Istvanik about what success should look like in student ministry and how you can begin to measure the right things to know whether you are succeeding or not. Links…

How do we get our students to have faith that so contagious for those they are around? And what kind of an impact could they make if they lived out that type of faith? On this episode of Student Ministry Connection, we talk with Dr. Dave Rahn, who has served for over 50 years, including 41 years with Youth for Christ and 30 years as a youth ministr…

With all of the revival talk recently, many Christians are left wondering if it’s real; and if it is, how can we get the same thing to happen in our communities. Maybe you’re wondering the same thing about your youth group or church? On this episode, we talk about one key element of revivals throughout history and why it’s so important. Links menti…

Welcome to episode 100 of Student Ministry Connection, a podcast for those who serve in student ministry, want to connect, and desire to grow. On this very special episode, we talk with Kevin Miles, a veteran youth worker about the importance of networking within student ministry; celebrate by giving a bunch of prizes; and announce some ways you ca…

Back in the 1970’s, a movement began that led to a revolution, a Jesus Revolution. Time Magazine wrote about it, several books have been written about it, and now we have a movie depicting it. On this episode of Student Ministry Connection, we talk with Brent McCorkle, the co-director of Jesus Revolution, to hear his story, learn why you should see…

Video games have been a growing influence our culture for a while now. Ever since the 1970s, kids have been jumping into virtual worlds to compete with others, go on adventures, solve puzzles, and more. And while there are many positives about games, there are also many negatives. So how do we navigate that with the students in our youth group and …

Isn’t it awesome when we see God use students to answer longtime prayers? On this episode we share a story about how God did just that through a 9 Month Mission Trip in a high school, and He wants to do the same through your students as well. Links mentioned during this episode: Read more about 9 Month Mission Trip at https://www.9monthmissiontrip.…

What would it be like to at the same church for a really long time, getting to know those students and families in that community, partnering with schools and other local organizations, and impacting generation upon generation? Whether you are just starting out and have dreams of longevity or if you’ve been in it for a while, this episode will prov…

How do we get it all done? There are always so many things to do in student ministry and some of us are left asking that question on a regular basis. While we cannot control everything, there are a couple things that we can begin to take control of that will help us significantly in the area of time management. And when we begin to see results in t…

We all know our student ministries shouldn’t be solely run by adults. We need to raise up student leaders. But how do we do that? What does it look like? How do we start it, how do we tweak it, and what things do we need to have in place for it to succeed? In this episode of Student Ministry Connection, we share 5 ideas around student leadership th…

What happens when you fail, when things aren’t going so well--whether it’s your fault or your unfortunate situation? When you start to feel like you’re a failure, you may also begin questioning your call to ministry. But what if God was still in control and still had plans for you? On this episode, we talk about failure, because we’ve all been ther…

How can we use social media in a way to really advance our ministry to students without it becoming an overwhelming beast that always demands our attention? In other words, how can we use it as a tool to advance our mission rather than it taking over? On this solo episode of Student Ministry Connection, Steve shares 10 social media tips for those i…

How do we move students from participating to contributing? On this episode, Christen Clark of the Collide Kids Podcast joins us to discuss why it's so important for students to serve and how you can get them moving in that direction. Links mentioned during this episode: Follow Christen on Instagram: @christenclark Follow Christen's podcast on Inst…

How do we avoid burnout in ministry? Many of us are used to going at 90 miles an hour, firing on all cylinders 24/7, and rarely looking out for ourselves. But if we’re honest, most of us know we can’t keep that up. So how do we continue to do good student ministry for the long haul? On this episode, we brought back James Sabin, the youth and family…

What is one thing that can take your ministry to the next level? While there are a lot of ideas you might have, today we share one simple step that can immediately change your ministry, your team, and more! On this solo episode of Student Ministry Connection, Steve shares about the importance of celebrating wins in our ministry and gives examples i…

How do we effectively communicate to middle schoolers? They have so much potential, but sometimes it's difficult to speak to them from the stage, in groups, and individually. Ashley Bohinc, author of Communicating to Middle Schoolers and director of middle school strategy at Orange, will speak directly to that question, talk about the importance of…

How can we get our students to actively share their faith? We all desire that, but how do we make it happen? On this episode, Travis Deans, the northeast regional director for National Network of Youth Ministries, talks about 9 Month Mission Trip, a strategy that will help students see every day as a an opportunity to be a missionary. Links mention…

How can we leverage digital ministry to reach more students for the Gospel and connect way beyond our church walls? Dave Adamson, who is known to most people as Aussie Dave, is currently the Director of Orange Australia and New Zealand and recently released his book, MetaChurch: How to Use Digital Ministry to Reach People and Make Disciples. And on…

Welcome to this very special episode of the podcast! As many of you know, we have been around as a podcast since February 2016. Over that time, we’ve had 85 episodes with over 70 guests. This started out as a huge experiment. I knew I wanted to have these conversations with others in student ministry, and I thought maybe others would want to listen…

Episode 84 of podcast features a conversation with Tyler Smith, who is a longtime student pastor, sports journalist, coach, and author of a book named Searching for Seven. In this episode, we will hear Tyler's story, what it is like to be a Christian in the sports world, and hear him share some wisdom around following Jesus all seven days a week. L…

Episode 83 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Tommy Woodard and Eddie James of The Skit Guys. We discuss their stories, but we also spend time talking about their upcoming movie, Family Camp, which releases on May 13, 2022. Tommy and Eddie will tell you exactly why you should watch the movie and also how you can use it in …

Episode 82 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Jeremey Veal, the pastor of student ministries at GFN Church in South Carolina. As Jeremey currently leads out in a number of areas in his church, he has had to shift his focus to empower his volunteers and students, simplify the student ministry calendar, and more. If you wear…

Episode 81 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Josh Griffin of Mariners Church and Download Youth Ministry. Josh is a veteran youth worker with over 25 years of experience who not only loves ministry to teenagers, but he absolutely loves equipping and empowering other youth workers. Before coming in staff with Mariners, Jos…

Episode 80 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dan Navarra around youth pastor compensation. For the last 5 years, Dan has been providing amazing research around salary, benefits, and all things compensation within the world of student ministry. Dan does ministry coaching through Chemistry Staffing and has also recently beg…

Episode 79 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with P.T. Smith, who is on staff with Young Life in the Denver, Colorado, area. Not only does P.T. share some of his incredible story, he also explains the ministry of Young Life and some ways you can partner with them in your area, and he provides some encouragement around what we …

Episode 78 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Tom Bump, founder of Restoring Leaders. Tom has many years of ministry experience within kids ministry, student ministry, and more. His organization is designed to help and restore ministry leaders who find themselves in especially hard seasons. In fact, that is also the topic …

Episode 77 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Marc Therrien of workcampNE. Much of Marc's growth is connected to faith in action, which is why he now serves as one of workcampNE's directors. Through environments focused on home repair and the Bible, their team allows you, the youth leaders, to focus on the students, grow i…

Episode 76 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with John Decker of Every Student Sent, a unique community-based platform with vision of connecting students to existing ministries, churches, and each other in order to propel them towards Gospel-centered mission as they navigate and engage culture during college. In this episode, …

Episode 75 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dr. Josh Packard, the Executive Director at Springtide Research Institute. He and his team conduct qualitative and quantitative research on the inner and outer lives of young people, ages 13-25. Recently, they released The State of Religion and Young People 2021: Navigating Unc…

Episode 74 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Todd Rhoades around what many are calling The Great Resignation, the phenomena in our current culture consisting of many people resigning from their jobs. And the church is not immune to it. We discuss the implications for the church as a whole and for those of us in student mi…

Episode 73 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Brett Talley. As a pastor’s kid, Brett grew up in the church world and felt called to full-time ministry at a young age. After jumping into the local church as a youth pastor and next gen pastor for over 11 years, he moved into his current role with Orange and Orange Students. …

Episode 72 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a programming update from Steve. He shares how last year's programming changes went along with sharing some insights from his summer experiences, and plans for the 2021-2022 school year. He also shares a couple stories about how God has used video games to connect with teenagers. Links mentioned d…

Episode 71 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Zack Ryer. Not only is Zack one of Steve's former students, but he has recently started a music career (under the stage name, Dante Nazarro) focused on songs that he has written through his anxiety, depression, and grief. Zack and Steve talk about some things that helped him du…

Episode 70 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Todd Pearage. Partnering with Standing Stone, Todd and his wife, Lynda, run a ministry called Youth Leader Oasis, where they care for other youth workers and their spouses. In this episode, he not only shares his story, but talks about what his ministry looks like, how you can …

Episode 69 of The Student Ministry Podcast features some tips around recruiting. If you are going to make a difference in student ministry, you need a great team around you. Maybe you have questions, though. Like... How do I build a team? How do I get more people to join our team? How to I get the right people on our team? How do I raise awareness …

Episode 68 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Chris Talbot. Not only does Chris serve in youth and family ministry at his local church, he also teaches youth ministry at Welch College and is the author of Remodeling Youth Ministry. In this episode, you'll get to hear Chris' story but also hear about how we can remodel our …

Episode 67 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Emily Chapman Richards and Olivia Stanton from Show Hope, an organization started by Steven Curtis and Mary Beth Chapman to care for orphans by engaging the church and reducing barriers to adoption. Not only do Emily and Olivia share their stories, but they also share some amaz…

Episode 66 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Aaron Stetson. Longtime listeners of the podcast will remember Aaron from our very first episode. Since then, God has redirected him to serve in a new role in the area of disaster relief. Listen in as Aaron talks about the transition from youth ministry into his work with Hope …

Episode 65 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Dan Navarra and Matt Steen of Chemistry Staffing. Not only do Dan and Matt share some of their stories, but they also share some great tips and hacks for those just getting started in student ministry and those thinking about transitioning to another church or another ministry.…

Episode 64 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a brief message of encouragement from Steve Cullum to you, the youth worker. As we head into a new year, we know that many of you have experienced some rough patches and have even thought about giving up at least once or twice, or maybe you know someone who has really struggled recently. In this e…

Episode 63 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a conversation with Greg Stier of Dare2Share Ministries. Greg has a reputation for knowing and relating to teens in unique and effective ways. Over the course of the last 20 years, Greg has spoken to over 1,000,000 teens in major venues across the nation and heard countless stories of their strugg…

Episode 62 of The Student Ministry Podcast features a discussion and recap of Youth Ministry Exchange 2020 with fellow ministry podcasters, Tom Bump and Tom Palmer. Subscribe to Tom Bump's podcast: Kids Ministry Collective Podcast Subscribe to Tom Pounder's podcast: YM Sidekick Podcast Follow Steve on Twitter: @stevecullum Check out Steve's blog: h…

Episode 61 of The Student Ministry Podcast features Billy McMahan, who is currently the student pastor at Rocky Mountain Christian Church in Niwot, CO. Billy shares his story of God's redemption and how God continues to use that to help him connect with his students and leaders. He also talks about their struggles surrounding the Covid pandemic and…

On episode 60 of The Student Ministry Podcast, Steve provides an update on how his student ministry programming has changed since last year and since the Covid-19 quarantine. He shares their church's experiences and what they learned that led to these recent changes. Register for Youth Ministry Exchange: www.bit.ly/ymx-2020 And be sure to use the o…

Episode 59 of The Student Ministry Podcast features Crystal Chiang, who is the Executive Director of Student Strategy at Orange. Not only does she have a ton of experience as a small group leader, but she was also in public education for a while. She brings all of that expertise to the team at Orange, which is especially helpful this year, as they …

Episode 58 of The Student Ministry Podcast features Cooper Miller, the brand new Online Youth Pastor at Mariners Church (Irvine, CA). Cooper has a great story, and it was really cool to hear what God has taught him over the years and set him up for this new role. And as one of the first people to ever have this title, we had to chat about it. Not o…