Category: Resources

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Help Your Teens with Deeper Questions

Teenagers are smart and insightful, full of joy, doubts, worries, hope, great ideas, generosity, and questions. Their questions about the world and about God are as complex as they are, and they don’t settle for easy answers. That’s why we created this devotional and curriculum, which addresses the things teens often wonder about faith and life.

These will both be releasing August 1st, but we are running a pre-release special with extra savings. 

  • Deeper Questions Curriculum, Volume 1: The Bible
    Deeper Questions Curriculum, Volume 1: The Bible
    Product on sale
    $7.99
    Available on August 1, 2022.
    Pre-Order Now
  • What Do I Believe About What I Believe: A Deeper Questions Devotional
    What Do I Believe About What I Believe: A Deeper Questions Devotional
    Product on sale
    $9.99
    Available on August 1, 2022.
    Pre-Order Now
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Introducing: Stir

Help stir the faith imagination of your students. Stir is designed for youth workers to lead, not follow by using different elements centered around a common theme and the leader decides which elements to use to create their lesson. Stir can be used for sermons, bible studies, retreats, camps, and more.

Each volume contains three lessons. Each lesson has three sections: Head, Heart, and Hands. Teaching elements include videos, discussion questions, sermon helps, activities, and more.

Use code “stir” when you purchase both and save $10!

  • Stir: Humans
    Stir: Humans
    $25.00
    Add to cart
  • Stir: Creation
    Stir: Creation
    $25.00
    Add to cart
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Total Family Ministry

This huge collection of digital resources is designed to help strengthen the families in your church from David and Kathy Lynn.

The hundreds of resources included could be used in many ways. Here are some of the directions you could go:

Parenting Faith
Empower, equip, and encourage parents to be more intentional about passing on their Christian faith to their children, including teenagers, by practicing the Five Faith Promises.

• Grandparenting Faith
Implement an effective grandparenting faith ministry …get an initiative going and growing that helps grandparents pass on their Christian faith to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren.

• Faith Make-n-Takes
Six quick and easy cross†generational activities that families can create in the church building to use at home. Your youth lead these activities.

• MarriagEnergizers
A MarriagEnergizers ministry provides you with resources to strengthen marriages in Christ. Your youth can partner with a married couple as they encourage couples in their marriage.

• Families Together
A monthly gathering of families (excluding December and July), including singles and seniors, who play, pray, grow, and serve together. Youth lead all the family sessions.

Get Total Family Ministry today to make supporting the families in your church easier.

  • Total Family Ministry
    Total Family Ministry
    $199.00
    Add to cart
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Coming Soon: A Faith of Their Own

At this point, it goes without saying that the number of young people in the church is shrinking. Countless studies and books have examined this trend and proffered helpful theories and next steps. But have all of the contributing factors been identified?

Maybe not. In A Faith of Their Own, longtime youth worker Nathan Wheeler looks at an as-yet-unexplored possibility: theology. Wheeler examines what theology we commonly teach in our youth ministries, often by default more than intention, and how that theology can be inadvertently detrimental to the church participation of younger generations.

This helpful and challenging book will guide youth workers to think deeply and explore new strategies, all in the pursuit of helping the young people in our ministries grow a compelling, challenging, and robust faith they’ll choose to engage with throughout their entire lives.

Order today and save with our pre-release special. (Offer ends Jan 19, 2022)

A Faith of Their Own: A Theological Field Guide for Youth Ministry

A Faith of Their Own: A Theological Field Guide for Youth Ministry

By: Nathan Wheeler

At this point it goes without saying that the number of young people in the church is shrinking. Countless studies and books have examined this trend and proffered helpful theories and next steps. But have all of the contributing factors been identified?

Maybe not. In A Faith of Their Own, longtime youth worker Nathan Wheeler looks at an as-yet-unexplor…

$19.99
Shop now

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NEW Discipleship Tools From YouthScape

We are super excited about these new products from our friends at YouthScape. They have been innovating youth ministry in the UK for over 25 years and we are so happy to be their exclusive partner to make these available in the United States. These resources can help challenge your students to grow in the faith while becoming stronger as a group. 

  • Youthscape Shuffle
    Youthscape Shuffle
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Youthscape Dice
    Youthscape Dice
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Youthscape Bricks
    Youthscape Bricks
    $11.99
    Add to cart

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Why We Published “5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry”

Marko shares the genesis behind our new book “5 Views of the Future of Youth Ministry.”

Step into the future and get your copy today!

  • 5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry: Perspectives on What Could or Should Be
    5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry: Perspectives on What Could or Should Be
    $14.99
    Add to cart

More about the book:

Is youth ministry thriving? Stagnant? Evolving? Dying? What does any of that mean for us as youth workers, or, more critically, for the young people we care about?

In this edition of our “multi-views” series, the chapters are authored by a group of youth ministry thought leaders. We asked them two key questions: What are the problems youth ministry currently faces? And what is the pathway forward? Each chapter represents a thoughtful, practical, and challenging viewpoint. At the end of each chapter, there is a sidebar from an in-the-trenches youth worker whose ministry is currently living out the future the chapter’s writer foresees.

We expect that the words of this book will cause you to rethink, to dream, and to question. There are no easy answers and one-size-fits-all solutions here. But we also believe that along with the challenges they bring to the forefront, these chapters will leave you with a sense of hope-filled possibility the future of youth ministry and the teenagers God calls us to love and care for.

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NEW: 5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry

5 Views of the Future Promo

We are excited about our newest release 5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry: Perspectives on What Could or Should Be. It releases Aug 1st, so take advantage of the pre-release special price.

About the book:

Mark Oestreicher, General Editor. Contributors: Chris Curtis, Kenda Creasy Dean, Mark DeVries, Tommy Nixon, Virginia Ward

Is youth ministry thriving? Stagnant? Evolving? Dying? What does any of that mean for us as youth workers, or, more critically, for the young people we care about?

In this edition of our “multi-views” series, the chapters are authored by a group of youth ministry thought leaders. We asked them two key questions: What are the problems youth ministry currently faces? And what is the pathway forward? Each chapter represents a thoughtful, practical, and challenging viewpoint. At the end of each chapter, there is a sidebar from an in-the-trenches youth worker whose ministry is currently living out the future the chapter’s writer foresees.

We expect that the words of this book will cause you to rethink, to dream, and to question. There are no easy answers and one-size-fits-all solutions here. But we also believe that along with the challenges they bring to the forefront, these chapters will leave you with a sense of hope-filled possibility the future of youth ministry and the teenagers God calls us to love and care for.

  • 5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry: Perspectives on What Could or Should Be
    5 Views on the Future of Youth Ministry: Perspectives on What Could or Should Be
    $14.99
    Add to cart
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Learn Something New This Sumer

Summer can be a great time for some personal development. Maybe you want to learn more about the students you work with or some new skills you can put into practice this fall. These affordable courses or great for you or use them with your entire team. 

All Cartel Courses include videos and a discussion/application guide. 

  • Reframing Discipleship eCourse
    Reframing Discipleship eCourse
    $0.00
    Add to cart
  • Understanding Teenage Brains
    Understanding Teenage Brains
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Understanding Teenagers and Social Media
    Understanding Teenagers and Social Media
    $14.99
    Add to cart
  • Communicating with Students, Parents, and Volunteers
    Communicating with Students, Parents, and Volunteers
    $9.99
    Add to cart
  • Helping Teenagers in Crisis
    Helping Teenagers in Crisis
    $9.99
    Add to cart
  • Crafting a Youth Ministry Resume
    Crafting a Youth Ministry Resume
    $4.99
    Add to cart
  • Hiring 101
    Hiring 101
    $9.99
    Add to cart
  • Quick Tips for Talking to Teenagers
    Quick Tips for Talking to Teenagers
    $4.99
    Add to cart
  • Family and Ministry
    Family and Ministry
    $4.99
    Add to cart
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Permission in this Season of Disruption

Marko shares how youth workers have unique permission to take risks during this season of disruption.

To learn more about youth ministry during this season, check out Youth Ministry in this Season of Disruption.

  • Youth Ministry in This Season of Disruption
    Youth Ministry in This Season of Disruption
    $14.99
    Add to cart

What readers are saying:

“This collection of thoughts about youth ministry in the COVID era is insightful, encouraging, and thought-provoking. I am encouraged by the shared struggle and observations on how we are doing. 

This book has helped me sort through much of what I have been struggling through in this unique chapter of life and ministry. While there are no easy answers here, there are plenty of ways of framing the challenges we are facing in youth ministry in the church. 

The speed with which it was constructed and the way it gives hope for the future makes it DEFINITELY worth the read.” – Eric

“Incredibly encouraging and helpful as we attempt to move from iteration to innovation in these strange times. Grateful for other youth ministers who are doing good work.” – Holly

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2021 Youth Pastor Compensation Report

For a few years in a row, the Cartel has partnered with Dan Navarra of Chemistry Staffing to conduct the largest salary survey of youth workers, and make it available to you for free. Dan is great at digging into the data and identifying helpful info. This year’s report has some great news and some annoying news, as you’ll see. We’re excited to provide this service for our tribe. Click here to download the 2021 Youth Pastor Compensation Report.

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