Youth Culture Matters - A CPYU Podcast

If all goes as planned, our nation should continue to open up over the coming weeks and months. We’ve been removed from being physically present at our jobs, our schools, our churches, and our familiar social settings. We all are longing to return to a more normal coronavirus-free life. One big question mark remains regarding schooling when the summer is over and the fall begins, particularly for incoming college freshman and other returning college students. In an effort to gain some sense of what we need to be prepared for regarding higher education, we chat with the president of Geneva College, Dr. Calvin Troup, and a team of Geneva College administrators, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

I’m guessing that for all of us, these last few weeks have been filled with the hopeful expectation that we will soon be coming out of our quarantines and getting back to life as normal. For those of us in youth ministry, we can’t wait to once again meet face to face with our kids. As we get ready to head back, we can’t forget the many lessons we’ve learned about ourselves and our ministries during the pandemic. When we return to ministry, perhaps there are old ministry elements we should jettison, and new ministry strategies we should enlist. Stick with us as we chat with Mike McGarry about how a biblical theology of youth ministry can help us get back at it with a new youth ministry normal that focuses on leading students to a deepened faith in Jesus Christ. 

We’re all looking forward to the day when the stay at home order is lifted and the country is opened again. The Coronavirus pandemic has changed everything in our lives, including the way that we do youth ministry. As the pandemic has unfolded, more and more youth workers are dialoguing on what youth ministry will look like when this is all over. What changes should we make? And what changes should we avoid? Hopefully, our adjustments will reflect an increased focus on teaching the Bible and deep discipleship, while getting rid of ministry add-ons that really don’t matter. Join us for a lively and challenging  roundtable conversation  about post-pandemic youth ministry, as I chat with my friends Doug Franklin, Cameron Cole, Tony Souder, and John Perritt, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

The Coronavirus quarantine has changed just about everything in our lives. That’s certainly true for our kids as well. While they have already been spending several hours a day engaged with their smartphones, the stay-at-home order and school shut-downs have given them more time to fill with their eyes on their screens. One of the dangers is that this gives them more time to find pornography, and more time for pornography to find them. What can parents do to engage in constructive conversations about God’s design for His good gift of sexuality, and the dangers of pornography’s expression of broken sexuality? Stick with us as Jason Soucinek and I engage in a conversation with the author of the book Surfing for God, Michael John Cusick, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

Over the years I’ve learned that difficulty and suffering serve us in positive ways when they peel away the layers of distraction that keep us from thinking about the things that really matter. Suffering and difficulty are great teachers. Dr. Carl Trueman believes that our current pandemic is doing us a favor by offering us a window into realizing that very few of us have been prepared well to face our own mortality. How can families, youth groups, and churches equip young and old alike to grapple with that gnawing inevitable reality that we all work so hard to avoid? Stick with us for an encouraging, practical, and yes. . . winsome conversation with Carl Trueman and Duffy Robbins about the opportunity we now have to learn how to live in the shadow of our mortality, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

As we navigate the unfolding realities of the COVID-19 epidemic, many are raising legitimate concerns about how well our kids and their families are dealing with the associated fears and anxieties. Mental health experts are developing models regarding mental health curves once this crisis is over. Youth workers and parents are called and positioned to work together to guide kids through this crisis with knowledge of the truths of the Gospel and the hope that is ours in Christ. Join us as we chat with counselor Julie Lowe, about seizing this opportunity to lead our kids to mental and spiritual flourishing over the coming days and weeks, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

All of us find ourselves navigating some difficult and trying times. The current global health crisis has led to lots of soul-searching as we think about an uncertain future. No doubt, our anxiety levels are high. For the Christian, understanding and handling anxiety has to happen from the perspective of the biblical narrative as opposed to the cultural narrative. Youth worker and parents have been given unprecedented opportunity to address anxiety with our children and teens. After all, they’re worried. Dr. Ed Welch is a valuable resource to us all as we think about and address anxiety from a biblical perspective. Stick with us for this very practical, helpful, and timely discussion with Ed Welch, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

We would agree that the past few weeks have been like none we’ve ever experienced before. The Coronavirus pandemic is changing everything about how we live. And while the coronavirus is a problem, it has also created huge youth ministry opportunities that we can’t miss. The fact that our kids are living in fear, anxiety, and uncertainty means that we have an unprecedented opportunity to point them to the grace, mercy, and peace of our burden-bearing Savior, Jesus Christ. Stick with us as I engage in a timely and practical discussion with a group of very thoughtful youth workers, as we strategize on how to best navigate this landscape filled with spiritual hunger, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.

As youth workers, it is our high calling and high privilege to teach, speak, and preach God’s word to our students. With the Psalmist, we know that God’s Word is a lamp for the feet of our students and a light on their path as they navigate a difficult and confusing world. As teachers, speakers, and preachers who share God’s word from up front, in small groups, and in our one on one conversations with kids, we need to be responsible in the way we handle and communicate the bible. What practices are necessary to good preparation to teach God’s Word? And what do we need to know about our students and their cultures in order to lead them well? Join us as we talk to Matthew Kim, about teaching, speaking, and preaching best practices, on this very practical episode of Youth Culture Matters. 

Whether you find yourself out in public, or in the privacy of your own home, chances are that when you are in the presence of others, many of them have their eyes focused on their smartphone screens. Our lives are so focused on our phones that we are seeing the breakdown of relationships, attention spans, and critical thinking. What would happen if we locked our phones away for an entire week? College professor Donna Freitas recently conducted an experiment where she had her students untether for seven days. Join us for a lively and eye-opening conversation with Donna about what she and her students learned about our dependence on smartphones and what happens when we shut down, on this episode of Youth Culture Matters.Find full notes here: https://cpyu.org/resource/episode-98-no-phones-for-a-week-with-donna-freitas/