Youth Ministry Resources- A Tool Not A Replacement

Youth ministry resources are a tool to better help you to do ministry, they are not a replacement for you in your ministry. What do I mean? I feel like a lot of people are looking for ways to be absentee student pastors. They want to be able to throw a project or a Bible study at a student and say, "Here, go figure it out."  There is a time for this because some students do need to learn to pull away a little bit and stand on their own.  But for the most part our students need us and our leaders as well as the resources.  So make sure that as you find the resources you need that you carefully plan how you will implement them as well. Consider how they can be incorporated in to the relationships that you and your leaders are building with your students so that those relationships can have a greater impact, instead of trying to use the materials you find to replace those relationships.  Because while our students need to be empowered to go out and grow and serve on their own, they still need us a long the way to pour into their lives.