One of the privileges I have in working with Reign Ministries is to serve as a mentor/coach to a couple of our degree students. These are students who are with us for at least three years. Alongside of their degree work, they are placed in area churches or ministries as youth workers. Their days are extremely busy as they pour their time and energies into young people in their contexts as well as maintain their school work: reading and writing papers, and preparing presentations. We meet weekly as a place for them to find nurturing on a personal and spiritual level, process their ministry experiences, and grow toolbox of ministry skills.
Most weeks when Matt and Shannon arrive, I most want to offer them a bed to have a sleep for a few hours. I know that they work so hard and are often feeling tired emotionally and spiritually. I’m sure they wouldn’t take me up on my offer for a bed because these two have so much to share. Their constant stories of ministry challenges me on a deep level and makes me so proud to be a part of their lives. These guys are on the front lines as they disciple young believers in what it means to live for Jesus amongst their peers.
I am constantly reminded of God’s amazing plans to use human beings and our relationships to show the world what the He is like. As I serve as a mentor to these students, I have to prepare myself each week to spend time with them – I pray for them and about them and then seek to lead them in the ways that the Spirit shows me. This is no different than the ministry preparations that they do each week.
All ministry requires a dependence on God’s spirit to be working in us and in the lives of those we are serving. Recently, we’ve been reflecting on how important our own connection with the Father is, so that our ministry is coming from that place. John 15 promises us that our love, ministry and prayers will be fruitful, and that we can find true joy if we only learn to stay connected to Him. There are a lot of skills and tips that I hope my students can learn from our time together, but I most want them to remember that fruitful ministry is the result of the minister being truly connected with the Father. “I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you’re joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can’t produce a thing.” John 15:5, The Message
Categories: Youth Ministry Degree Course
Updated: 28 Mar 2024 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
Hi everyone! I am Jamie Gurling and I started studying at Reign this year. I am 19 and from Glasgow in Scotland. I left high school in 2022 and I thought the next step was obvious, to go straight into further education, just the same as everyone else. So, I followed the norm, moved city […]
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Updated: 18 May 2023 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
As a ministry we have been reviewing how we deliver the degree progamme in a way that fits both our vision and DNA, whilst still providing quality training for the next generation of disciple-making leaders. From September 2023 we implemented some changes and we are excited to see how God is going to lead us […]
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Updated: 26 Apr 2023 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
“Jesus went up on a mountainside and called to him those he wanted, and they came to him. He appointed twelve – designating them apostles – that they might be with him and that he might send them out…” (Mark 3.13-14) Where do I start? I had just started my first real ministry role in […]
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Updated: 29 Mar 2023 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
Is Bigger Better? The bigger your youth group, the better, right? We get a special energy from the buzz of a crowd. We believe that when we’re connected to more people we’re able to have more impact. But is this really the case in youth ministry? Most of us have the feeling that this approach […]
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Updated: 22 Feb 2023 | Posted by: kmckinnon
If you were to attend one of our Expand Training Experiences you will hear our team talk about discipleship. That’s because it is the foundational to who Reign Ministries is. During our Expand: Online training you will learn the tools to help you be effective in your discipleship of young people. Watch the video below […]
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Updated: 8 Feb 2023 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
Where Is God Calling Me? I have a calling to youth ministry. But 30 years ago – I had no idea! I remember sitting in a marquee at a Christian music festival as a teenager, listening to a speaker talking about ‘Hearing God’s Call’. This was something I was wrestling with, so I figured that […]
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Updated: 8 Apr 2025 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
Exciting news! Reign Ministries is excited to announce we have a new college we are linking with for an undergraduate degree! Moorlands College will be the new home for our degree students from September. For over 20 years, Reign Ministries has played a key role in the development of a youth pathway for an undergraduate […]
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Updated: 24 Mar 2025 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
Learning from those that have gone before you. “What has been will be again, what has been done will be done again; there is nothing new under the sun.” writes the wise King Solomon in Ecclesiastes. He saw that life can sometimes resemble a treadmill, where history simply repeats itself and continues in a loop. […]
Read moreUpdated: 16 Dec 2024 | Posted by: Charlie Morris
After a few years of considering this move, the trustees and leadership have decided the time is right to try and sell the building we affectionately know as “the moto” (in it’s former life it was a motorcycle sales and repair shop). This building has served the charity well over many years, as a base […]
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