By Alecia Bryant
Right now you’re probably somewhere between wrapping up the summer and planning for fall kickoff. You’re feeling both excited and exhausted. You’ve slept in sleeping bags, in stale college dorms, on buses and vans. You’ve taken your students to camp, hosted hangout nights, gone on a mission trip, counseled students and leaders, and reset more rows of chairs and stages than you can count.
Summer is a unique season in student ministry—your students have more freedom and energy, and you join in with the help of energy drinks and coffee. God does amazing work in the lives of students during this season. You pour your attention and your budget into maximizing summer ministry because it’s special.
And as a student pastor, you carry a unique load. You shoulder the spiritual and emotional weight of your students, your volunteers, your parents, your church members; you balance your family’s needs with the needs of your ministry; you work long nights and weekends. And it’s all worth it.
But as fall approaches, you may sense a nagging pressure: How do I sustain this? How do I maintain a passion for reaching students when life gets insanely busy? How do I balance it all? These questions are valid, but they emphasize what we need to do in our power.
The trajectory of our ministry year—and our lives—would change drastically if we asked different questions: How can I practice dependence on the Lord? How can I invest in my spiritual growth? How can I walk authentically with Jesus so the students watching me desire to do the same? These questions lead to different answers entirely, not just doing “better” this year or planning more events.
Because the truth is this: Our spiritual health determines our ministry’s health.
Your students need you to be healthy. If you aren’t healthy spiritually, physically,
mentally, and emotionally, you will struggle to steward well the ministry God has given you. You can’t sustain momentum, even with your best effort; trying to only leads to burnout, a symptom of a much deeper issue. Because burnout rarely happens from one explosive event but because of a thousand unhealthy, unsustainable behaviors.
If you’re going to create a healthy ministry for your students, leaders, and yourself, you’re going to need a plan for sustainable rhythms.
I’ve done ministry two ways: I’ve intentionally planned to abide in Jesus at the start of a new ministry year, and I’ve limped along—spiritually undisciplined, starved and gasping for air.
What I didn’t see clearly when I was in the thick of student ministry were harmful patterns of behavior that contributed to exhaustion on a deeply spiritual level. How many of these are you currently guilty of?
We’re always available.
We preach the need for rest, but we don’t practice it. We answer every call, every text. We’re always “on.” But in His perfect design, God created us with a need for rest. Ministers must schedule rest or rest doesn’t happen.
Set aside a day each week to disconnect from your phone and your email. Block it on your calendar and protect it. Unless an emergency arises, don’t budge. Set reasonable office hours and limit communication late at night. After big events, build time in to recover. These boundaries aren’t selfishness but obedience to God’s design, and they’ll allow you to be more present at home and in your ministry.
We lack accountability.
People look to you for accountability. Even your presence holds them accountable. You listen to people’s problems and are a sounding board for their pain and their struggles, offering godly advice and wisdom. You absorb your students’ pain and shoulder their battles. You preach the need for accountability and for carrying one another’s burdens. Are you taking your own advice? Are you sharing your problems, your pain, and your struggles with a trusted mentor?
Block an hour each week to meet with another minister or pastor who can help you carry the load of ministry—someone safe, who can minister to you and ask the hard questions.
We confuse busyness with success.
Along with student ministry is the need for frequent activity. Hangout nights, ballgames, D-Now weekends, camps, and retreats create opportunities for students to cultivate community outside of typical church meetings. But sometimes we overload the calendar for the sake of the calendar. We schedule events because we know we need to offer them. Take some time to assess if your ministry calendar is built on busyness or intentionality. Do your events have a purpose? Are they producing spiritual fruit and deepening community? A packed calendar isn’t always a sign of healthy ministry—or a healthy minister.
We neglect our personal walk with Jesus.
This one hurts. I saved it for last for this reason. I think back to the years and months I served and mentored and led while on the brink of utter spiritual starvation. I substituted ministry for close friendship with Jesus. I poured all my effort and time and identity into ministry and reserved nothing to offer the One who deserved my total devotion.
And it happened with good intentions.
What started as zeal and genuine passion for leading students toward Jesus drifted into complacency. Somewhere along the way I stopped drawing strength from spending time with the Lord. My time in the Word and in prayer was mainly for the purpose of preparing to teach or serve. Did I fall into deep sin? No. But I lost intimacy with Jesus—with the One I so desperately wanted students to know.
If we’re going to lead students to walk intimately with Jesus, we must remain close to Him. This is not negotiable. Sermon prep is necessary and beneficial, but it can’t —it doesn’t—replace personal time with the Lord. Block intentional time each day to meet with God; not to prepare a sermon but simply to experience His presence and to enjoy His friendship. Everything you do flows from this.
None of us will naturally drift into healthy patterns, but if we intentionally establish spiritual disciplines and nourishing rhythms each week, we’ll experience the fruit of stamina and longevity when ministry gets hard.
Look at your calendar. Notice what’s there. Notice what’s missing. Where are you making space for these four areas: rest, accountability, intentional events, and personal time with the Lord? Start with a blank week, and block five to seven non-negotiables:
1. Prayer and Personal Bible Study (daily)
2. Family (daily)
3. Rest (daily and one full day weekly)
4. Relational Ministry (1–2 events each week)
5. Sermon Prep (block 1–2 hours on weekdays as needed)
6. Administrative Responsibilities (block as needed)
7. Outreach/Volunteer Training (1–2 hours weekly)
Create a repetitive, weekly rhythm with the most important elements—your non-negotiables—then build around them. When you design a weekly rhythm that elevates Jesus over your own agenda and implements wisdom and intentionality, you teach your students and volunteers to do the same. You show them a better way. You point them back to the One who actually fuels ministry: Christ.
This is how we stay. For the long haul. For ministries that don’t end with us but bear fruit for generations. It starts with owning our spiritual health, prioritizing and cultivating it. If you haven’t been doing that up until now, give yourself grace and take the step to develop those rhythms now. It’s worth it.
“Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” John 15:4
Right now you’re probably somewhere between wrapping up the summer and planning for fall kickoff. You’re feeling both excited and exhausted. You’ve slept in sleeping bags, in stale college dorms, on buses and vans. You’ve taken your students to camp, hosted hangout nights, gone on a mission trip, counseled students and leaders, and reset more rows of chairs and stages than you can count.
Summer is a unique season in student ministry—your students have more freedom and energy, and you join in with the help of energy drinks and coffee. God does amazing work in the lives of students during this season. You pour your attention and your budget into maximizing summer ministry because it’s special.
And as a student pastor, you carry a unique load. You shoulder the spiritual and emotional weight of your students, your volunteers, your parents, your church members; you balance your family’s needs with the needs of your ministry; you work long nights and weekends. And it’s all worth it.
But as fall approaches, you may sense a nagging pressure: How do I sustain this? How do I maintain a passion for reaching students when life gets insanely busy? How do I balance it all? These questions are valid, but they emphasize what we need to do in our power.
The trajectory of our ministry year—and our lives—would change drastically if we asked different questions: How can I practice dependence on the Lord? How can I invest in my spiritual growth? How can I walk authentically with Jesus so the students watching me desire to do the same? These questions lead to different answers entirely, not just doing “better” this year or planning more events.
Because the truth is this: Our spiritual health determines our ministry’s health.
Your students need you to be healthy. If you aren’t healthy spiritually, physically,
mentally, and emotionally, you will struggle to steward well the ministry God has given you. You can’t sustain momentum, even with your best effort; trying to only leads to burnout, a symptom of a much deeper issue. Because burnout rarely happens from one explosive event but because of a thousand unhealthy, unsustainable behaviors.
If you’re going to create a healthy ministry for your students, leaders, and yourself, you’re going to need a plan for sustainable rhythms.
I’ve done ministry two ways: I’ve intentionally planned to abide in Jesus at the start of a new ministry year, and I’ve limped along—spiritually undisciplined, starved and gasping for air.
What I didn’t see clearly when I was in the thick of student ministry were harmful patterns of behavior that contributed to exhaustion on a deeply spiritual level. How many of these are you currently guilty of?
We’re always available.
We preach the need for rest, but we don’t practice it. We answer every call, every text. We’re always “on.” But in His perfect design, God created us with a need for rest. Ministers must schedule rest or rest doesn’t happen.
Set aside a day each week to disconnect from your phone and your email. Block it on your calendar and protect it. Unless an emergency arises, don’t budge. Set reasonable office hours and limit communication late at night. After big events, build time in to recover. These boundaries aren’t selfishness but obedience to God’s design, and they’ll allow you to be more present at home and in your ministry.
We lack accountability.
People look to you for accountability. Even your presence holds them accountable. You listen to people’s problems and are a sounding board for their pain and their struggles, offering godly advice and wisdom. You absorb your students’ pain and shoulder their battles. You preach the need for accountability and for carrying one another’s burdens. Are you taking your own advice? Are you sharing your problems, your pain, and your struggles with a trusted mentor?
Block an hour each week to meet with another minister or pastor who can help you carry the load of ministry—someone safe, who can minister to you and ask the hard questions.
We confuse busyness with success.
Along with student ministry is the need for frequent activity. Hangout nights, ballgames, D-Now weekends, camps, and retreats create opportunities for students to cultivate community outside of typical church meetings. But sometimes we overload the calendar for the sake of the calendar. We schedule events because we know we need to offer them. Take some time to assess if your ministry calendar is built on busyness or intentionality. Do your events have a purpose? Are they producing spiritual fruit and deepening community? A packed calendar isn’t always a sign of healthy ministry—or a healthy minister.
We neglect our personal walk with Jesus.
This one hurts. I saved it for last for this reason. I think back to the years and months I served and mentored and led while on the brink of utter spiritual starvation. I substituted ministry for close friendship with Jesus. I poured all my effort and time and identity into ministry and reserved nothing to offer the One who deserved my total devotion.
And it happened with good intentions.
What started as zeal and genuine passion for leading students toward Jesus drifted into complacency. Somewhere along the way I stopped drawing strength from spending time with the Lord. My time in the Word and in prayer was mainly for the purpose of preparing to teach or serve. Did I fall into deep sin? No. But I lost intimacy with Jesus—with the One I so desperately wanted students to know.
If we’re going to lead students to walk intimately with Jesus, we must remain close to Him. This is not negotiable. Sermon prep is necessary and beneficial, but it can’t —it doesn’t—replace personal time with the Lord. Block intentional time each day to meet with God; not to prepare a sermon but simply to experience His presence and to enjoy His friendship. Everything you do flows from this.
None of us will naturally drift into healthy patterns, but if we intentionally establish spiritual disciplines and nourishing rhythms each week, we’ll experience the fruit of stamina and longevity when ministry gets hard.
Look at your calendar. Notice what’s there. Notice what’s missing. Where are you making space for these four areas: rest, accountability, intentional events, and personal time with the Lord? Start with a blank week, and block five to seven non-negotiables:
1. Prayer and Personal Bible Study (daily)
2. Family (daily)
3. Rest (daily and one full day weekly)
4. Relational Ministry (1–2 events each week)
5. Sermon Prep (block 1–2 hours on weekdays as needed)
6. Administrative Responsibilities (block as needed)
7. Outreach/Volunteer Training (1–2 hours weekly)
Create a repetitive, weekly rhythm with the most important elements—your non-negotiables—then build around them. When you design a weekly rhythm that elevates Jesus over your own agenda and implements wisdom and intentionality, you teach your students and volunteers to do the same. You show them a better way. You point them back to the One who actually fuels ministry: Christ.
This is how we stay. For the long haul. For ministries that don’t end with us but bear fruit for generations. It starts with owning our spiritual health, prioritizing and cultivating it. If you haven’t been doing that up until now, give yourself grace and take the step to develop those rhythms now. It’s worth it.
“Remain in me, and I in you. Just as a branch is unable to produce fruit by itself unless it remains on the vine, neither can you unless you remain in me.” John 15:4
Alecia Bryant is the Brand Owner and Content Editor for The Gospel Project for Students. She has a Bachelor’s in English Education from University of Louisiana and is currently pursuing a Master’s of Theological Studies at New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Over the last 20 years, Alecia’s had the honor of working with students in both ministry and public education. Getting to support church leaders as they disciple students is a privilege she doesn’t take lightly. In her spare time, Alecia loves traveling, listening to podcasts (anything from theology to true crime), and serving in worship and women’s events at her local church. She lives in West Monroe, Louisiana with her husband, two children, and one goofy golden retriever.
For more resources like this, check out Youth Ministry Booster and lifeway.com/students.
