Helping your leadership team be more effective in youth and children’s ministry

Training Papers are a resource for church leadership teams created by the Youthworks Ministry Support team. They will help leaders serving young people to develop effective ministry principles and practice. Each paper draws on a variety of sources including:

Recent research from Australia and abroad.

  • Personal experience and observations of ministry in a range of settings.

  • Wide reading of both academic and popular texts.

Designed for community learning

The training papers are designed to be used in community such as a team of voluntary leaders or staff team. Each paper includes content to read through, discussion questions and opportunities to consider ideas for your ministry context. Our prayer is that this resource will help you grow effective youth and children’s ministry in your church.

How you can get them

Training papers are available for purchase through through the Youthworks media’s online store. Each training paper costs $15 for individual use or $30 for use with a group of people.

Foundation Training Papers

7 Principles of Effective Youth Discipleship
Rev Matt Bartlett and Rev Ed Springer

This paper is designed to guide you through seven key principles of youth ministry and offers more than 50 helpful ideas and questions to help you to consider how to apply these principles to your ministry context. You can enter your reflections straight into this document, and revisit in six months or a year’s time to evaluate how these are bearing fruit, or what needs to change.

7 Principles of Effective Discipleship of Children
Annemarie Rivers

A great ‘big picture’ resource to use with new leaders or to clarify the vision for a new season of effective ministry to children.

This paper is designed to guide you through the seven key principles of effective ministry to children.  The biblical foundation for each principle is outlined alongside examples of what it looks like in practice. There are also diagnostic questions for you to ask as you reflect on your own ministry context.

Team Training Papers

Building a culture of Welcome
Rev Matt Bartlett

As Christians we want people to be welcome within our communities. Despite this intention, churches can become places where many young people do not feel a sense welcome or belonging. Often this is due to cultural difference.

This paper explores some of the factors leading to young people feeling unwelcome in our Christian communities and suggests practical ways to enable a culture of open acceptance toward those who are different.

Finding space for doubt and questions in ministry to youth and children
Annemarie Rivers

Recent research into why young people who’ve grown up in the church are leaving their faith behind as they move into adulthood has identified unaddressed doubts as a vital reason.

This paper will help you have a conversation with your youth and children’s teams about how your church deals with young peoples’ doubts and questions.

Why? Because when churches and individuals invest in the spiritual growth of young people it leads to a flourishing church.

Increasing Active Participation in Youth Ministry
Rev Al James

Biblical discipleship is an active call to follow Jesus Christ. It is possible, however, to run youth ministry programs that tend towards passive consumption in youth discipleship. How can we encourage our youth to express their faith by contributing to the life and faith of those around them?

This paper explores the relationship between discipleship and youth participation, what youth participation might look like in a healthy youth ministry, and how you might implement a plan to move further along the line from passive consumption to active participation in your youth ministry.

Building Resilient Faith in Young People: A Review of Recent Literature
Rev Al James

The world in which young people are growing up is increasingly complex, fast paced and anxious. To remain in Christian faith is to swim against the cultural tide. Under God, what practices have been demonstrated to lead to lasting and thriving faith in young people after adolescence?

This paper reviews and summarises four recent contributions to the question of lasting faith in young people. In the publications reviewed, the research uncovers church practices that lead to resilient discipleship and common characteristics and experiences of those that have remained in thriving faith into adulthood.

Beginning in Church
Rev Kate Haggar and Annemarie Rivers

In many churches, children begin in the service with their families before heading out to age-specific programs. How can we make the most of this?

This paper explores the purpose of our church services, where children fit in and different ways which the beginning of our time together in church can be meaningful and effective in growing disciples of all ages.