Welcome to Season 2, Episode 4 of The Shaping Student Ministry Podcast — where we believe every student pastor should get better, not just busier.

In this episode, Ian and John unpack what it means to be a tone-setting leader. What kind of atmosphere do you create when you walk into a room? How do you influence your team’s energy, your students’ sense of belonging, and your ministry’s culture over time?

Whether you lead with boldness or quiet strength, this episode is for you. We’ll help you shift from reactive leadership to intentional influence—because student ministry doesn’t just need good vibes, it needs godly leaders who lead on purpose.

🔔 Subscribe for more student ministry conversations 📲 Join our community: https://shapingstudentministry.com

Your lesson is prepped, your leaders are ready, the snacks are out… but the students? Scattered. Travel ball, AP homework, rehearsals—and let’s be real, some just don’t show.

In this episode, John and Ian dive into one of the most relatable challenges in student ministry: how to disciple students in a culture of inconsistent attendance. You’ll walk away with ideas to shift your mindset, refocus your strategy, and stop equating faithfulness with full rooms.

Topics include:

• Why showing up isn’t the only metric for success

• What it looks like to redefine the win

• How to disciple students when schedules get in the way

• Building intentional rhythms and micro-connections

• Why Jesus wouldn’t panic about your numbers (and neither should you)

Grab your 2-week free trial of the SSM Community and get access to exclusive content, Touchpoints, and leadership cohorts:

https://g6allies.com/product-details/product/touchpoints

Also, check out our curriculum at: https://shapingstudentministry.com/lines

Not every hard boss is toxic, but not every hard boss is healthy either. In this episode of The Shaping Student Ministry Podcast, John and Ian dive into the complicated world of church leadership dynamics. What do you do when your pastor is hard to work with? How do you know if the issue is them… or you? From micromanagers and ghost leaders to trust issues and toxic patterns, this conversation is real, raw, and practical.

If you’re a student pastor or ministry leader trying to navigate difficult relationships on your church staff, this episode is for you.

What we cover:

• The difference between difficult and untrustworthy leaders

• Why many pastors struggle to disciple their teams

• How to build trust when it’s been broken

• The 6 types of trust every ministry needs

• Why some leaders become toxic—and how not to become one

Subscribe, share, and check out the full resources and behind-the-wall content at

👉 https://www.shapingstudentministry.com

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Welcome to Season 2 of the Shaping Student Ministry Podcast! We’re kicking things off with a game-changing conversation featuring Dave Coryell, President of Christian Endeavor and author of Less Like Hippos, More Like Honeybees. (WE ENCOUNTERED SOME RECORDING ISSUES... POWER THROUGH!)

In this episode, we dive deep into:

- Why your discipleship strategy needs more than just curriculum

- The danger of treating content as the end goal instead of a means to a greater mission

- How to move students from spiritual consumers to active contributors

- What hippos and honeybees can teach us about youth ministry

- The history and global vision of Christian Endeavor—and why we’re excited to partner

This isn’t about burning down what you’ve built. It’s about building better—on purpose, with purpose.

Links to Christian Endeavor, Dave’s books, and our brand-new partnership page are below!

CE WEBSITE: https://www.ceworks.faith/

DAVE'S BOOK: https://a.co/d/9yDnsc8

PARTNERSHIP: https://www.shapingstudentministry.com/ce

You poured time, energy, and resources into your big event… now what? In this episode, John and Ian unpack why what happens after the event may be more important than the event itself. Drawing from years of student ministry experience, they tackle questions like:

• How do you capture spiritual momentum without overloading the calendar?

• Why are relational follow-ups better than reactionary ones?

• What does it look like to follow up without fizzling out?

• How do you develop rhythms that lead students from a moment to maturity?

This isn’t a teardown of events—it’s a call to maximize their impact by being just as intentional after the final session as you were before the doors opened.

You’ll walk away with real follow-up strategies for your students, volunteers, and even yourself.

👇Click the Link for your free trial of Touchpoints and The SSM Community! https://g6allies.com/product-details/product/touchpoints

In this episode, we sit down with Jordan Francis of Reframe Youth Ministry—licensed clinician, former youth pastor, and curriculum creator—for a conversation that will shift how you think about student ministry.

We talk about: • What technology is really doing to students’ minds and bodies • Why presence, not performance, is the secret sauce of ministry • How to build trust by letting students say the “wild stuff” • Why compassion, vulnerability, and presence must define our pastoral posture • Practical strategies to reframe how we talk, listen, and disciple

Join The SSM Community: CLICK HERE

Learn More About ReFrame: CLICK HERE

Are you really burnt out… or are you just deeply discouraged?

In this episode of The Shaping Student Ministry Podcast, John and Ian tackle the confusion between burnout and discouragement — and why understanding the difference could keep you from walking away from something God has actually called you to do.

🔍 In this episode, we cover:

• The signs and symptoms of discouragement vs. burnout

• Why burnout has become a “badge of honor” in ministry culture

• What Barna says about the crisis in pastoral health

• How isolation fuels helplessness (learned helplessness theory)

• The emotional, spiritual, and relational differences between the two

• Why community is the cure

• What Marshawn Lynch and septic tanks have to do with your ministry mindset

🤯 💬 “If you mislabel discouragement as burnout, you might quit something you were called to endure. But if you mislabel burnout as discouragement, you’ll keep grinding until you collapse.”

🎧 Want Part 2 of the conversation?

In the subscriber-only bonus episode, we walk through:

✅ Practical rhythms to recover from burnout

✅ How to know when it’s time to take a break

✅ Why a sabbatical might not fix what you’re feeling

✅ How to lead yourself well so you can keep leading others

✅ The burnout quiz to help assess where you stand

👇 Join the community for bonus episodes, cohorts, and exclusive tools: shapingstudentministry.com/community