Building a Volunteer Team that Loves Students Well
To build a volunteer team that loves students well, we must encourage our volunteers toward faithfulness, because in God’s kingdom, faithfulness leads to fruitfulness.
The best messages come from an intense struggle with the text in the heart, where the teacher is as convicted by the Word as his or her hearers. Merely memorizing words conjured up by an algorithm won’t produce the same result.

To build a volunteer team that loves students well, we must encourage our volunteers toward faithfulness, because in God’s kingdom, faithfulness leads to fruitfulness.
Whatever the outcome, it’s important that we follow up. This might look like a time for testimonies and rejoicing over the Lord’s provision or lament and continued prayer. Either way, good or bad, we need to help students see that God is still in control and is at work.
The most valuable thing you bring into your youth room this week is not your budget. It is your presence, your honesty, and the gospel of Jesus Christ proclaimed by people who love students enough to know their names.
Whether you’re accompanying teenagers to camp for fun and spiritual growth or taking them to serve and learn from the local church in another part of the world, these weeks away can be equally fruitful and exhausting.
We asked our Rooted writers a simple question: How do you get your students to talk in a small group setting? What do you do to earn their trust and respect so that engagement with you in front of other students feels less scary?
As youth pastors, we desire to help shepherd students’ hearts to love the Lord and believe in Jesus. Spiritual highs are not our enemy, but a means by which we can disciple our students.