Homegrown Youth Ministry: Why Sustainable Ministry Beats Hype with Jonathan Kornelsen

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Want a youth ministry that outlasts the hype cycle and survives staff turnover without losing momentum? Oh for sure, eh! 

This week's conversation with Canadian veteran youth pastor Jonathan Kornelsen dives into the shift from big events to spiritual formation, equipping teens to lead, and building a ministry that actually gets healthier over time.

Jonathan outlines nine core convictions from his Youth Ministry Blueprint—clarifying mission and priorities before any program, crafting a discipleship strategy with measurable wins, protecting leader health as the true foundation, building a volunteer pipeline with strong onboarding, and designing gatherings that are excellent without becoming the point. We connect those principles to biblical models: Nehemiah’s prayerful planning, Moses’ detailed tabernacle instructions, Paul’s leadership structures, and Jesus’ focus on disciples over crowds. The result is a practical path for ministries of any size to create belonging, sustain growth, and hand off a stronger system to the next leader.

The takeaway is direct: stop chasing attendance as the primary metric and measure formation, ownership, and calling.

Jon shares a nine-conviction blueprint for building healthy, transferable structures that outlast any one leader.

• defining mission, vision, and priorities before programming
• building a discipleship strategy with clear wins
• prioritising leader health as the true foundation
• equipping students to lead worship, teach, and serve
• onboarding and aligning volunteers with clear expectations
• designing programs that form disciples, not consumers
• creating belonging through small groups and culture
• assessing health with simple tools beyond headcount
• applying biblical models for structured, durable ministry
• resourcing and connecting with Youth Ministry Blueprint

Order Youth Ministry Blueprint on Amazon and follow us on Jonathan at Youth Ministry Blueprint
https://www.youthministryblueprint.com/

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