Student Ministry Essentials: Reaching. Leading. Nurturing.

You have a brief time to make a big impact

As a youth worker, you have the unique opportunity to walk alongside students in their critical adolescent life experiences. These years are some of the most formative in a person’s life. With your help, each teenager can feel believed in, loved, and challenged to be like Christ.

But how do you make that happen? This book shows you where to start.

Within are critical elements—the essentials—to effectively equip you to reach today’s students, including:

• Practical disciple-making tools
• Leadership recommendations
• How to partner with the rest of your church
• How to equip parents to disciple their teens
• What ministry looks like outside of your comfort zone

Learn from two veteran youth pastors-turned college professors about how to better know your students, understand their culture, and do important ministry.

STEVE VANDEGRIFF (Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) is a professor of youth ministries at Liberty University in Virginia. A former youth pastor, Steve enjoys ministering and speaking to young people and their parents. He previously spent thirteen years as the executive director of Youth for Christ in Alberta, Canada. He is co-author of Timeless Youth Ministry, Disturbing Behavior, and Protecting Your Teen from Disturbing Behaviors. The parents of three children, Steve and his wife, Pamela Jo, reside in Lynchburg, Virginia.

RICH BROWN Rich and his wife Janet have served together in churches in the Midwest and the Seattle area. He and Janet have three adult children; Rich III, Jenna, and Ryan. In 2003, Rich transitioned from serving as Pastor of Student Ministries to become Associate Professor within the Department of Church Ministries at his alma-mater, Liberty University. It is in this context of mentoring, equipping, and teaching the next generation of youth ministry leaders where he ministers to the college students God has placed in his life. Along with his residential teaching load, he also teaches online to adult learners. He has developed a number of youth ministry courses, including published work texts.

LEE VUKICH (M.A., D.Min, Liberty Baptist Theological Seminary) has spent the past twenty years working with adolescents and their families. Most recently, Dr. Vukich served at Liberty University as a professor of contemporary youth culture. A sought-after speaker, Dr. Vukich addresses the challenges teens face in today's world and coaches teens and families through difficult situations. He has co-authored Timeless Youth Ministry, Protecting Your Teen from Disturbing Behaviors, and Disturbing Behavior: 53 Alarming Trends of Teens and How to Spot Them. He has also appeared as a guest on Focus on Your Child, the weekend radio magazine of Focus on the Family. He lives in Lynchburg, Virginia, with his wife, Beth, and their two children.