Beyond the Event: A Youth Ministry Podcast
Bringing together influential voices from the CIY community to walk alongside you in your journey to maintain momentum between the mountaintop experiences of youth ministry.
Beyond the Event: A Youth Ministry Podcast
BTE4.01: Creating a Welcoming Environment for Unchurched Students with Joel Firebaugh and Caleb DeRoin
Mailbag questions or topic suggestions? Text us!
What does it take to spark a revival among junior high students? Join us as we kick off Season 4 of "Beyond the Event" and introduce our exciting new video format! We promise you'll laugh along with us as we share on-camera bloopers and reflect on an unforgettable summer filled with God's surprises. Our special guest, Joel Firebaugh, Next Gen Pastor at Crossroads Church in Cincinnati, shares his firsthand experiences of a low-key revival and the astounding number of baptisms from their CIY summer events. Caleb and Brad also discuss the thrill of registration for the upcoming 2025 events and the joy of witnessing so many transformations.
Curious about what makes a junior high small group successful? Chandler Key’s humorous question sets the stage as we tackle the concept of "wins" in youth ministry. Michael emphasizes the importance of celebrating small victories and simply being a presence in the lives of students. Joel adds his perspective from overseeing kids and student ministries, including a recent milestone of nearly 300 baptisms. Together, we highlight the creation of inclusive spaces for unchurched students at youth camps, sharing powerful stories of transformation and offering practical strategies to make church activities welcoming for all attendees.
Finally, we explore how to engage diverse groups within church settings and celebrate the success of camp events that welcomed unchurched participants without any issues. Caleb provides insights on fostering inclusive environments, and Joel talks about the collaborative efforts between Crossroads and CIY in creating impactful camp experiences. We delve into the significance of camps in the church’s ministry and share strategies to make these transformative experiences accessible to everyone. Wrapping up, we express our heartfelt appreciation to Joel for his invaluable contributions and Caleb for his co-hosting, reminding listeners to stay tuned for more exciting episodes.
Be sure to check out the new video version of this podcast on YouTube!
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All right, do you need to clap? Probably.
Speaker 2:Beyond the Event, season 4, episode 1, take 1. Hi, I'm Brad Warren. This is Beyond the Event, a youth ministry podcast presented by Christ in Youth, where we help you maintain momentum between the mountaintops changing things up in season four. This is crazy. I know you already noticed those of you who are avid listeners that the intro was a little different. I can't say you're listening to Beyond the Event anymore because we now exist in video land. I don't know anything about that, but the magic people are making it happen. So, anyway, that's a thing you can do If you want to watch me and realize how awkward my body movements are at times.
Speaker 2:You can do that on the YouTube. The YouTube. There will be links in the show notes where that can happen. Anyway, caleb Deroyne is with me.
Speaker 1:Hello, caleb, you've talked a lot about and I wish I could make some jokes about your weird body movements.
Speaker 2:Well, I'm just so much more conscious about like I talk with my hands a lot. That'd be great. I don't know what I'm going to do. Talk with your hands, I don. That'd be great. I don't know what I'm gonna do talk with you.
Speaker 1:I don't I don't have any idea um just so badly want to hold it like an influencer. Let's talk about our marriage. I'm not what. That's just okay.
Speaker 2:I don't know those um yeah, those are the things that they talk about while they're holding the mic. Anyway, that's not what we're gonna talk about today. As a matter of fact, we are gonna going to talk about youth ministry. We're back for the first time since the summer. By the way, caleb, before we jump into what we're talking about today, registration is getting ready to open for events in 2025, which doesn't feel like a real year.
Speaker 1:I think that we say that every year. I know, but 2025 is not real. It's getting more with 24 or 23, like 2025. I don't know it's, it just feels wild to me question for you did you think in 2020 we would see 2025?
Speaker 2:no, no, I'm kidding, of course I. I I knew we would be here. We're back from covid and better than ever. Why would you bring that up?
Speaker 1:I don't know.
Speaker 2:Know we're having a good time, you're like remember that trauma we all suffered together.
Speaker 1:I think that's why I liked it, because we all got to do it together. I'm a galvanizer man.
Speaker 2:You are a galvanizer, and we all did it. We all did the thing, okay, anyway, how was your summer, dude? It was so good.
Speaker 1:This summer was unbelievable in a number of different ways, but I think the thing that keeps coming back is God is just unfathomable, unfathomable, unfathomable I can't say it fast, unfathomable, I can't say it fast. Uh, and every, every moment I try to figure out well, this is what he's gonna do. He just like one ups it and so it's. It's very cool, and I think that's kind of the stories of the summer and yeah, it was, it was great how was yours?
Speaker 2:it was, it was really good. Um, put a pin in that. For a second words that you can't say oh, no, unfathomable, like. See that one's pretty easy for me, hard for you. One that I can't say is the word I've been out to slow way down Intricate.
Speaker 1:Intricate.
Speaker 2:Intricate. I always like if I use that word in a sentence, I will say intricate.
Speaker 1:And I don't know A, I will say intricate, and I don't know A word that's hard for everyone to say is Worcestershire sauce, except for people who live in Worcester, worcestershire, yeah.
Speaker 2:Anyway, my summer was great. I did a lot of things, but one of my favorites is I got to direct two mixes. Yeah, you did, baby. For those of you who don't know Caleb Deroyan, by the way, he's the director of Mix, he's the guy for Mix. So got to go to Florida hang out with my people in Florida. I got to go to Tennessee hang out with my people in Tennessee. Mix was incredible this year.
Speaker 2:It was amazing, I found myself being constantly challenged by the content myself Like the whole time I was there both weeks. I was just like oh my goodness, this is so for me and I need to just slow down. I need to take a beat the wilderness experience unbelievable.
Speaker 1:It was so cool it was very cool.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, it was a different thing different.
Speaker 1:yeah, and I think, coming into the summer we had a little bit of anxiety about it, but again, I'm fathomable.
Speaker 2:I mean anytime you try something new, it's like are we doing the right? Thing, but the Lord went up there. Yeah, Like I don't know how this is going to work.
Speaker 1:And then it turned into some people's favorite part of their week, which is just astounding.
Speaker 3:Yeah.
Speaker 2:He's so good Won't he do it, won't he do it? Won't he do it? Well, I mean, we're getting ready to talk to a guy today I'm not gonna not gonna give too much away here, but talking to a guy today who had their week of of mix baptized. How many people?
Speaker 1:like 170 170 people. We are bringing in billy graham. He's coming back, no but like very like low key revival, yeah, and it's like yeah For junior high students For junior high students Sixth, seventh and eighth graders.
Speaker 2:That's amazing. It's so cool. I'm so excited for us to get to talk to Joel a little bit later. Joel Fireball, next gen pastor at Crossroads Church in Cincinnati. I'm from that area my grandpa, no, no my grandpa legit says cincinnata, cincinnata ohio.
Speaker 1:I don't know I think that's where they lied and they're like I could be ie, or like all the pronunciations and, phonetically speaking, I. It's because of people from cincinnata and because of people from Missouri.
Speaker 2:Missouri, miami, oklahoma, miami.
Speaker 1:It is Miami, it's not Miami.
Speaker 2:Oklahoma. It's spelled exactly like Miami Florida, but it's Miami Oklahoma.
Speaker 1:And it's the premier Miami of the United States. It definitely is Buffalo Run Casino. Can we talk about casinos, here? Nope, okay, cut it.
Speaker 2:Time for you know what a lot's changed around here. We're on video um. Caleb's gonna be in the interview with me, which is like a first. He's gonna help me interview joel, which is so fun excited for that conversation but one time-honored tradition, caleb, that we are not going to give up is the mailbag. Yes, because I love the mailbag. I love youth pastors' questions. They're the best. So, for the first time in season four of Beyond the Event, michael Hester, how are you doing? Hey guys, how was your?
Speaker 3:summer, my summer. It was good and probably the longest summer I think I've had. Okay In terms of number of events, how many did you do? I think I did nine.
Speaker 2:Nine, that's nine, nine, nine nine.
Speaker 3:But you know what Highlight for this summer for me. In the middle of the summer I got called to fill in emergency for one of our audio guys who got sick, so you just got to mix I got to go run sound at a mix event. Oh, that's pretty cool and I haven't run sound at a CIY event in a couple of years.
Speaker 1:That's amazing, it was a blast. You said emergency. You know what it makes me think of? No, that TikTok sound Emergency emergency.
Speaker 4:Paging Dr Pete.
Speaker 1:Emergency emergency. Look at my fit Emergency.
Speaker 3:All right, man, look at those weird body movements.
Speaker 1:We gonna cut so much of this? Nope, no, we are not. Uh, here's what I'll say. Um, we can cut that. I type with my index fingers here's what I'll say.
Speaker 2:It's time for the mailbag.
Speaker 3:Michael, take it away, okay uh, we're gonna start off pretty light. We have a question from tim gray oh my gosh and tim wants to know what is your favorite type of sauce to put on food?
Speaker 1:oh, spicy ketchup from whataburger.
Speaker 2:Spicy ketchup from whataburger yeah so I think the whataburger spicy ketchup is so good, I think that it's the only good thing like if I could get whataburger spicy ketchup and put it on mcdonald's fries. Guess what?
Speaker 1:you can they sell it at Walmart okay great old tubs of it I love it. We always have to in our fridge. I love it, eat it on everything spaghetti, spicy ketchup, that's not true, that's really gross mine is.
Speaker 2:I've just discovered this sauce. First of all, I love cane sauce. I think that cane sauce is like so good. I don't like it's fine, but it's just like thousand island. It's okay, all right, uh. However, I will say that chick-fil-a has a underutilized sauce. Not trickful, I'm not talking about chick-fil-a sauce, calm down. It is their sweet and spicy sriracha sauce and it is so good, what do you put it on? Though literally anything salad. Yeah, put it on my eggs in the morning do you really?
Speaker 2:no, but I do put it on their nuggets and their fries and it's very good.
Speaker 1:I think we have to weigh what sauce is the best by the amount of foods that you put it on I would put it on salad.
Speaker 2:I'm gonna be honest, I would put it on salad. So like'm going to be honest, I would put it on salad, so like, that's what like is a tier.
Speaker 1:Is that how you would do it? Would I put spicy ketchup on salad? Probably Okay. Name a food, Michael.
Speaker 3:But you're saying that a sauce is considered the best sauce because of how many different things you can put it on.
Speaker 1:I think that's how we should, because this is subjective. Let's make it objective. How many would you put it on? Would you put what's your favorite sauce?
Speaker 3:Well, the sauce that I was going to talk about was, um uh, the secret sauce that we just had at our staff retreat.
Speaker 1:That's really inside ball language.
Speaker 3:there it was um, you're right, but like I loved it. I'm not a salad guy. I like almost never get salads, but I had a salad at every meal at our staff retreat that we just came back from.
Speaker 1:Full of secret sauce.
Speaker 3:And there and there was a secret sauce. It just said Tom's secret sauce and I was like what is this? And somebody said I think it's like a vinaigrette and I said nah, I'll try it. It did not taste like a vinaigrette, it was good, it was very good.
Speaker 1:And it was sweet.
Speaker 3:I don't know how many things I would put it on. It's not like I had very many opportunities to put it on a lot of different things. That's true.
Speaker 2:What do you think Tim Gray would say to this question? Probably ketchup or ranch, just Heinz ketchup.
Speaker 1:So Tim Gray is one of those people Cookout sauce, he would say cookout.
Speaker 2:He would 100% say cookout sauce.
Speaker 1:That I was going to come up with this big thing of like Tim Gray is holy, which he is. I love you, tim, but it's like something Chick-fil-A, because they love Jesus too. You got the doggone Whataburger.
Speaker 2:Can I doggone Chick-fil-A for?
Speaker 1:a second. You have 20 seconds, five out of 10. It is just a fast food restaurant, but us Christians really love it.
Speaker 2:One time Caleb and I went into a chick-fil-a and ordered food and we were getting it to go because we were on our way back from an event and it started pouring down rain while we were in there and our van was parked pretty far away. And so we get our food and we're like all right, gotta get home, let run, let's make a break for it. We get within 12 feet of the van and both of the bottoms of our bags just fall out from being wet and everything goes all over the parking lot. And you know what we did.
Speaker 1:We went through the drive-thru. Baby, we went through the drive-thru.
Speaker 2:Got more Chick-fil-A, so that was a lot of work for five out of 10 food. All right. What's the next question, michael?
Speaker 3:Okay, next question we have from Chandler key, and Chandler wants to know what do you consider a win in a junior high small group setting?
Speaker 1:That's a great question. I think I commented on that one. That man this is a great question.
Speaker 2:I have a group of eighth grade guys that I lead Yep, so I do this. I have small groups of junior high boys and I consider it a win if I go the entire small group and I don't have to smell a fart.
Speaker 1:That's a win.
Speaker 2:That's like that's a win. I'm being dead serious and I yeah, oh my gosh.
Speaker 1:So here's the deal. I think that's a win because that's middle school ministry, junior high ministry.
Speaker 2:Oh my gosh, You're not kidding.
Speaker 1:Of, we get to see some of these students for a while, right Fifth through 12th. However, your church breaks it down and sometimes a sixth, seventh and eighth grade years are all about planting seeds and creating trust. And so, yeah, if your win is you didn't smell a fart, that's great, because the biggest win in a middle school, junior high small group setting is that you're there.
Speaker 2:Yeah, a hundred percent Is that you're setting? Is that you're there? Yeah, 100%, is that you're?
Speaker 1:present that you're there, that they know your name and you know theirs and you know what it could be tough sledding for years.
Speaker 2:You're putting money in the bank, but you're putting money in the bank.
Speaker 1:And that's the way I see it. Personally, I get to see the mountaintop experiences during the summer, but the honest truth is cool. We get to see that people put in real work, leave their real works to come to middle school ministry on Wednesday nights and hoping they just don't smell a fart. They still did it Like they still left.
Speaker 2:I'm going to tell you right now I don't have a lot of wins.
Speaker 1:That's great.
Speaker 2:There's not a lot of small groups where I don't smell a fart.
Speaker 1:You gotta, but I'm there. So you're telling me that they are wins, which is great, and Christchurch has got to stop selling those taquitos. They really do.
Speaker 3:That is so true.
Speaker 2:On that note, you want to talk to Joel.
Speaker 1:Oh dude, I love this guy so much.
Speaker 2:He's so cute. Let's make it happen. Joel Firebaugh, how are you doing today, today?
Speaker 4:8.5. Where do we?
Speaker 2:find you Because. I know that you are literally pigeonholing this recording into just an insane week for you, geographically. Where am I? Schedule-wise, you know, mentally?
Speaker 4:where am?
Speaker 2:I Mentally? Where are you Spiritually?
Speaker 4:where am I? Yeah, but even though you didn't ask geographically, Cincinnati, Ohio yeah who day Mentally.
Speaker 2:Who day For those not watching the video Joel rocking the Bengals gear.
Speaker 4:That's right, that's right, so wait, what do you think?
Speaker 2:I'm going to interrupt you. Actually, I love it. Already Is Water Bottle Gate. Where are we at on this?
Speaker 4:Yeah, For those listening, this is very important to student ministry. It really is Joe Burrow. He cost us a lot of money, the entire city. We don't have running water anymore because of his paycheck.
Speaker 2:Your electricity is rationed, yes, rolling blackouts.
Speaker 4:He hurt his hand last year and this first game he picked up a water bottle.
Speaker 2:weird and everyone thinks his wrist is hurt and he's like I just can't drink no water, so where are you at on that? Yeah, I think his wrist is hurt and he's like I was just getting a drink of water, so where are you at on that?
Speaker 4:Yeah, I think his wrist was hurting there. Do I think it's broken or going to be a big deal? No, I think we'd know, but I think it was hurting a little bit.
Speaker 2:Yeah, which is a bummer, but he always starts slow is what I've been telling people. Every year he's been with the team.
Speaker 4:He's a slow starter. He's been with the team. He's a slow starter and everyone listening. We've had ministry years like that.
Speaker 2:And we're back. Anyway so what have you been up to this week? What have you been doing?
Speaker 4:Yeah, so I am over 0 through 18 at our church, which is a blast just kids and students. So we were with our kids team this week on a retreat and then yesterday evening it was fantastic. We've got people who've been on staff a week. One guy who's on staff negative three weeks. He didn't even start for three weeks. That's amazing and some people that have been on staff 22 years, so you bring that together and it was needed and it was awesome.
Speaker 2:So, yeah, that's incredible. That's where you, that's where you find me. So I'm like rejuvenated and tired at the same time. Yes, yep, yes, that's where I am. So get that. Um, caleb and I actually were talking behind your back before you were here a little bit about people do that a lot. The fact that you, your church, uh, crossroads at mix baptized like 170 people or something crazy like that.
Speaker 4:It was 296, but I don't know who's counting. Actually, that was between the two. That's move and mix.
Speaker 2:Move and mix. Baptizing 300 people is wild. So all that to say, I'm taking that off the table. We have already discussed that a little bit. Praise God for that. That is unbelievable. What happened? Oh, he did it. Those weeks of move and mix. What are your highlights from from your CIY summer?
Speaker 4:Well, I do have to address that. First Cause it is awesome and a God thing and I take no credit in it. I did not do one of those, not one. Not one of the 296 baptisms did I do. It's God thing and it's what we'll talk about later.
Speaker 4:But it's because the people who come to our camps which isn't always true, but as far as they're, they're non-believers most of them are non-Christians coming in, and so the gospels what did that? Many of them's first time hearing it and they're like I'm, I'm in, and so ciy had a huge part in the behind the scenes of that, um, entire week. So if we do take that out of it because that was my favorite part, was baptisms um, I would say the moments up until then that were still walls being broken down. So I mean the kid who you know, the night before started like a hypothetically a fight night in his thing, put tape over the cameras and you know like the next day raising a hand in worship like a slow, you know like wall broken down, and just those were, those were sprinkled throughout the entire week, is fantastic. So those are my favorite moments, for sure, and there's lots of other good stuff, but that's, that's what brings it home.
Speaker 1:I should say I really wanted to start a fight night at middle school.
Speaker 2:With children. I just think it's a confidence booster.
Speaker 1:I'd feel really strong, get a couple easy dubs. That's actually not true. There are some big middle schoolers at Crossroads. I think I could get worked by a few of them.
Speaker 4:I wouldn't be in a fight nightroads. I think I could get worked by a few of them. I wouldn't be in a fight night.
Speaker 2:Yeah, I would get demolished Well that's a thing that I wasn't expecting to talk about.
Speaker 4:But thankfully they got baptized and hopefully you know no more fight nights, no more fight nights, but against darkness Like they're fighting against darkness.
Speaker 1:Amen, we're always going to bring it back.
Speaker 3:This is the gospel Fight nights, yeah oh, but against darkness, like they're fighting against darkness, amen.
Speaker 4:Amen. We're always going to bring it back. This is the gospel. I love it. Different kind of fight nights this is great.
Speaker 2:So part of the reason that Caleb Deroyne is here really quick is because he has a huge man crush on you.
Speaker 4:And it's mutual Um.
Speaker 2:I know Good good neutral.
Speaker 1:Um, I know, good, good, it's great.
Speaker 2:Well then, yeah, I do but, like we, caleb was on like an editorial team with our group and we were talking about like, oh, what should we be talking about on the podcast this upcoming season? And wanting to talk about something that you mentioned. So caleb's here. This is actually our first time doing this. Typically, it would just be like me interviewing you, but caleb is here. He's gonna jump in absolutely whenever he wants. He can interrupt me, he can interrupt you, he can do whatever. He's a co-host. So he's here, he's along for the ride, um, but I want for the three of us to have a conversation about something that you just mentioned, which is the fact that so so many of the students that you bring to move and mix, and so many of the students that end up being involved in your ministry on a weekly basis are unchurched people. Is that well? Is that a fair characterization? Is that like what you? Is that the verbiage you used?
Speaker 4:yeah, yeah, uh. One of our taglines at our church is we want to be a church for people who have um given up on church but not given up on god. So yeah, unchurched is fair. I wouldn't say all are necessarily completely non-believers or maybe even don't believe in God, but pretty much all of them have not either been in church ever or for years, or met Jesus here and are now grown up in this church.
Speaker 2:There's some like moved people who've moved here and stuff, but in, yeah, unchurched I'd agree okay, so we want to talk about how to create spaces where people like that don't feel super uncomfortable and super threatened. Uh, walking into a situation that could be really intimidating, whether that's walking into a church, or whether that's walking into a week of camp um, or that may be because I know that you dedicate a lot of intentionality to that exact thing. So Can I interrupt? Can I interrupt, carl?
Speaker 1:Yeah, so one of the highlights from when I was with you guys from middle school was obviously baptisms. But right after baptisms there was one of your sites, one of your bigger sites, was meeting out in the lawn right by where the baptism pools were, right, hot tubs, same thing, where the clean water was, and it was celebration and it was great and you guys were saying numbers and you, your your student pastor, who was at that site, was hooping and hollering and having a great time. Um, and then at the very end of the time, um, cause I was just like sketchily listening in the back- I guess, like I, wasn't a part of it, but I was just like it's kind of your thing.
Speaker 3:Yeah, it's what I do.
Speaker 4:I.
Speaker 1:It's what I do I sulk in the shadows. He said we brought X number of people to camp this year, which everyone cheered and everyone went crazy. And then he also said but the coolest part of that number is we have sent zero people home this week and everyone lost their minds, everyone lost their minds, but knowing
Speaker 1:you guys and knowing the students that you bring, and knowing some of the stories coming in, I thought that was massive because I think you and I can connect on this. Anytime you have to send a student home, it is one of the more heartbreaking things.
Speaker 4:It's the worst.
Speaker 1:Dude, you're so close.
Speaker 4:I don't want to send you home.
Speaker 1:Actually, you're so close, like this is I don't want to send you home. I actually you're the person I want here the most, right, but like, whatever happens, you got to do what you got to do. Uh, but the fact that they brought so many people, so many people who are from inner city Cincinnati and didn't have to send anyone home, is just like wild. I thought that was so cool. It is cool how.
Speaker 2:So before we talk too too much about events, because I do feel like these are kind of I mean culturally they're not, but logistically kind of separate conversations, like how do we make trips engaging for these people? But also just like how do you make crossroads students engaging for these people, like if they walk in the door for some of your regular programming, like what are they experiencing? Yeah, yeah that is maybe less threatening than what they might experience somewhere else yeah, what a great question.
Speaker 4:I I want to say this first, just to kind of set underline the conversation. People are built differently Ephesians 4 talks about. There's apostles, there's prophets, there's evangelists, there's shepherds, there's teachers, and so there are different churches going after different things. Our church, our lead pastor, is evangelist just to his core and so his heart has broken for lost people. The church I grew up in and was am who I am today. It was a shepherding pastor and so he spent a ton of time shepherding people and that's why I am here today, now able to be a part of an evangelist church and anyway.
Speaker 4:So just because your church maybe isn't doing this one doesn't mean it's wrong. Maybe your church, in the heartbeat behind it, is going after something different, and I would actually always say try to align with your church's vision and leadership. But two, that still doesn't mean you won't have non-church kids walk through your doors, and definitely not non-Christian. You definitely have non-Christian. Some of the staff kids will be non-Christian. So to any youth pastor, volunteer, youth volunteer listening, I think this is a good conversation as we talk through it. But also don't feel like you've got to go shift your entire mission. I mean, align with where your church is going and this just happens to be where ours is.
Speaker 4:So you asked how do we make it safe for this type of community? Right, it is great we have all these systems in place for, like, when we are going to do a talk and we'll do feedback sessions and worship and all that stuff going to do a talk, and we'll do feedback sessions and worship, and all that stuff Everything we do is filtered through this lens. So before last week I was speaking and we did a run through. I gave my talk and afterwards one of the people said you used the word disciples and didn't say who the disciples are. And I was like yeah, but didn't everybody know who the disciples are? And they were like no, yeah, no, yeah, and I'm like but it's yeah, but doesn't everybody know who the disciples are, and they were like no, yeah, no, yeah, and I'm like it's, but it's like my message, yeah
Speaker 4:yeah, and they were like but joel, you have to like, so we call it our group, c group. So like, just just say you know this is jesus. C group is what? You're kind of disciples like me. That quick. But there's nothing assumed, there's no. You know, if you're going to use language that might be from the Bible or or quote unquote churchy, that's okay, just explain it. And I love the line If you stop talking to non-Christians, they're going to stop coming, and so one of the simplest ways is knowing they're there and talking to them as if they're there and in the room. So that's, that's as bare bones as it gets, and we can go into stuff as much or as little as you want.
Speaker 2:Much the much part.
Speaker 4:Much I want to dive into so much.
Speaker 2:I mean like so aside from, how does that culture like bleed into other aspects of the ministry? Like aside from, yeah, like I'm imagining, okay. So like I grew up going to church and I think that if I went, if I was unchurched and I went to church, like by far the weirdest thing would be worship, like everyone's standing and singing and some people are like raising their hands and interacting in different ways. Yeah, this all feels like we're singing to someone who's not here, like I don't know. That to me feels like that would be the weirdest part. I'm interested in how this makes its way into other parts besides your sermon and the way that you talk from stage.
Speaker 3:Yeah, a couple things can do it. It does make sense. I want to go off on a tangent, though.
Speaker 1:That's the problem.
Speaker 2:Do it.
Speaker 1:What's the weirdest thing about church? For a non-church person who's coming in, what would be the weirdest thing? The weirdest thing is that we eat people's bodies and drink their blood. You can't be like, hey, man, you want to drink this blood.
Speaker 4:I mean it's like I'll try anything once, but I mean after that, you know. So it is weird. After that, if I like it, then I'm a blood guy. And then all of a sudden, we're on the Santa Clarita diet.
Speaker 2:Here we are.
Speaker 4:To get back on track right up front, in every single. There's so much more to student ministry than the service, but we're talking the service. So right up front, we explain what they're about to go through every service, no matter what. Hey, here's what the next hour is going to look like. You know there's going to be. I'm going to be up here for a couple more minutes. Someone's going to come up and do a game. There is going to be a band coming on.
Speaker 4:If you like live music, you might like this next part. Unlike live music, you know we are going to ask you not to just be talking to your friends or hanging out, because this has a purpose and it's a time of service. We call worship and these are basically poems written to God and if you want to believe this, or do believe this, we would ask you to sing along with it. If you don't feel free to sit and just read and observe, you know, but respect other people doing it. You might see people raising their hands. It's just simple sign of surrender and we're not asking you to unless you're ready to do that.
Speaker 4:And after that you're going to hear a speaker come out and we'll never use the word, sermon or homily or you know. He didn't talk for a little bit and hopefully when you go to groups after that it'll spark some questions for you to be able to dig in. You know, welcome out, love that you're here. You know whatever we're doing for that day, we'll just explain up front. It also makes it not choppy from then on out, so then when the band does come out they might read, but then they don't have to like re-spend 10 minutes. Also, whoever's in that moment usually is your most gifted. Summarizing of communicator. So, uh, instead of the person who is unbelievable voice but loves to talk for 25 minutes, on a tangent, and you know it's just like oh yeah, Sermon after the sermon, baby.
Speaker 4:Yeah, that's right.
Speaker 4:That's right, and those do still happen, but it's just, that's just some of the stuff, some of the stuff we do and that's service-wise. The other stuff, though, is it still happens. We do that my favorite story to tell is during the talk. During the talk, and we do broadcast messages out to all of our locations, so you can't really you can do some crowd stuff, but it has to land with everyone. Like any other broadcast, like during the talk, kid front row answers his phone Hello, you know, and everyone's like hey, you know, and he goes no, no, no, yeah, I can talk, I can talk. I'm at a concert right now and like, right now, and like that's just what he said, you know, and it's such a weird thing.
Speaker 4:Thankfully we have volunteers, okay, you know, but like you don't want to recommend him because that's what he like he wasn't being insubordinate no, no that he was doing yeah, yeah and at a concert you can open, you can answer your phone, you know, like during this, and he must have missed the part where someone explained what the heck that was, you know, or or what's going on. But still, and so culturally too, it just you need to be. Everyone needs to be in for what you're going after, and it's okay to treat believers to a higher approach. It is You're bought in students, you're bought in people like it really is. And when? So when new students, when it's their first time, they're going to get something on their name tag.
Speaker 4:We do like colored stickers. So we all, internally any first time person we know they're there, like they're around there, and and it's going to be pretty hard for them to do anything to get kicked out or do anything to get you know, because we're just assuming not only is it their first week with us, it's probably their first week in a church, and so we love that. So we're going to work extra hard to make sure it feels safe for them. The last three weeks we've had huge fights at our student ministry.
Speaker 1:Have you for real.
Speaker 4:Yeah, yeah, this last one and ours is. So Thursday night is an adult service, and then we have high school students going on at the same time and again they're thinking this like school. So I mean, there's, we're a bus stops right out front, you know. So apparently two kids were going at it and so they weren't going to fight right there. We didn't even know it was all chill or whatever, but they were like hey, afterwards. So we're just started spreading that there was a fight right after service, you know.
Speaker 4:And they were like we're meeting in the parking lot, like again, just like you would do at school and and so as soon as it was over, literally like 150 kids just like like over there, not everybody, but like a ton and like and two they start circling up into and thankfully it's because it's our whole certain, you know cops are there like breaking people up and whatever, but like bro, they didn't even really understand.
Speaker 4:Like we're doing the parking lot, like they didn't understand and every single one of those kids is invited back next week, you know. Like, yeah, 100, they didn't even really understand. They're like we're doing it in the parking lot, they didn't even understand.
Speaker 2:And every single one of those kids is invited back next week. Yeah, 100% yeah, those are the ones you want.
Speaker 1:So that's interesting. You bring up some of your more brought-in students or bought-in students. What does that look like? I guess that can be a little thing, and that's sometimes what we find, even at our events. I don't want to call our events a church, because it's certainly not the same thing at all, but how do you guys work so well to create messages and flows or even games outside of the room that are not just programming, that both are welcoming, safe and loving to those who have no idea what on earth this thing is, and those who've been walking the faith for a few years and are like all right, yeah, I got this. You know, does that question make sense? Yeah?
Speaker 4:Yeah, it does. Yeah, our technical, our church's technical mission statement is to connect a seeker, which is someone it's actually not an atheist, it's someone seek, searching that can be spirituality or they're searching for something but connect a secret to a uh, christlike body of believers who then can change the world. And so you do need both. Um, you do. It would be a mess if we were. Only everything is filtered through the lens of the new person, but it's not necessarily even designed for them.
Speaker 2:Um, if it was, we wouldn't do worship you know, yeah, but it's like you have to do the hard work of getting all the people who are bought in, not like, bought in like they have to be on mission with you and be willing to accept the like, the high level and, unfortunately, those kinds of things you're dead on.
Speaker 4:And here's the level of maturity that, at least I see it goes. You know, spiritual maturity, Not believer at all. And you know, says it the believer who then accepts Christ and thinks they know everything and they are better than everyone else.
Speaker 4:And they're judging the people, yeah. And then the group that finally gets to like oh, I understand, there's nonbelievers in the room and I'm here to serve. That's the highest tier, you know. And so we do get people who go through this middle thing, and we understand when they come to us or say, hey, it wasn't deep enough today. You know, whatever we understand that they're just also still on their journey, growing and seeking, and we need to love them as well, and that they're probably in Bible college no for us, for us I'm talking even students.
Speaker 2:I'm kidding. I'm kidding, I was like that in.
Speaker 1:Bible college, oh same 100% 100%.
Speaker 4:I call myself a recovering legalist, like I was that same in Bible college.
Speaker 2:Well, actually, like I was hoping to get to this a little bit later in the conversation, but we're there. So I want in the conversation, but we're, we're there, so I want to kind of hit on it. I can see somebody listening to you talk or watching this podcast, which is the thing that we do now and, um, like the criticism being, oh well, that sounds like just another church that's a mile wide and an inch deep, and you know, like I do feel like that is a thing that people wrestle with and I don't want to even really criticize the motive of that. You know what I mean, like, I think, wanting a depth of spirituality is a great question yeah but, how do you like reconcile all of that?
Speaker 4:in your context to anyone who may be thinking that, like I said when I was about college, that probably would have been my exact same thought for the exact return I'm a part of. If you were to come to Cincinnati, ohio, drive or fly, you were to come to our church and you were to come on a Sunday morning and you were to leave, I think you'd still have that exact same thought. And if your idea of what we do for church is just our Sunday morning or our Sunday service for students, then you'd be right. However, we work really hard to make sure we are the church seven days a week, and this is everything from groups to serving, to camps, to go trips, to discipleship, to leadership programs I mean, the list is long that we are being the church consistently, and what would differentiate us and I'm not even that we are being in the church consistently, and what would differentiate us and I'm not even saying we're right in this Then a lot of churches that would maybe have a different mindset would be our Sunday service is, primarily at least, filtered through those far from God, and the rest of the week is for the people ready to take next steps in their faith.
Speaker 4:And so, and there's still parts on the Sunday that I would even contradict myself, like worship is very, you know, intentionally deep and the message is absolutely still Bible-centered, gospel-centered, but instead of an hour it might be 30 minutes, you know. Or instead of for students, honestly, for our middle school messages are 12 minutes and our high school messages are 17. And you don't go over Because, and you don't go over because never, yeah, I go over, but we, we tell everyone do not go over ever. But it is rare, it is rare that we would, and that takes way more work. It's way more work to have a show, yeah, and that said, we do it all because we know the attention span of most people who haven't spent.
Speaker 4:It's a muscle you can grow and you should grow as you're there longer, and it's why we do these other things. You know, in our camp sessions are longer, etc. But for the people coming in, we want to at least filter it through their lens. You know that, hey, they might only listen for six of those 12. And so let's put in the work to to make it happen. But but, yeah, I would argue, the second half of our mission statement, the Christ-like body of believers, is really solid and really strong and is the church, and our church is so much more deeper than a Sunday morning, is what I would say.
Speaker 2:I love that, that's super good. And I wanna let you lead out on this part of the conversation a little bit, caleb, because I know that you've gotten to interact with Joel at MIX at events and have been a part of their MIX events.
Speaker 1:So I want you to kind of just lead us into a conversation about what this looks like in those like mountaintop experience moments, the kind of special occasion, I don't know what all you guys do, but for the sake of our conversation, like camp, yeah, yeah, I don't know what all you guys do, but for the sake of our conversation, like camp, yeah, I think to preface this, I think it, I don't know if I can say this, and if it's not good, we'll cut it right, yeah, whatever.
Speaker 4:I didn't know. We had an option of wildcards, thoughts that we can cut later. We don't.
Speaker 1:It'll be great.
Speaker 2:This is live television. Baby, Correct me if I'm wrong.
Speaker 1:That's right Because I think a lot of it was prior to you coming into your role now and me coming into my role now. Yeah, and that it took a little bit for Crossroads and COI to partner together to do camps. I don't think I'm wrong in that.
Speaker 4:No, you're dead on in that.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think a little bit of that has to do with you guys protect what you do so so well that it's just like we can do this, for like we can do this and like we can, we we feel really called to this specific thing and, um, and I think we started this, what was our first summer, 21. Was that our first time to do it together? Um, and I think even there that that year um was a little bit of a on our end. Do we trust them?
Speaker 1:And on your end, do you trust us? And so even like the precipice, like for even those who are watching it that have whatever, like yes, I love you, joel, and I love Crossroads dearly, with all of my heart. I love you, joel, and I love Crossroads dearly with all of my heart. But even then, it has taken a few years for us to really come together as partners, symbiotically, to understand what that looks like.
Speaker 4:Yeah, and the journey before I was here too, I think Crossroads learned hey, we probably need to be at our own camp, because if we're with other churches, we're now distracting their mission If we're bringing, you know, a ton of non-churched kids who are acting like non-Christians you know who are living by a different ethic than the Christian kids.
Speaker 4:Yeah, then that's not okay. It's not okay if you know, like so, if there's other churches that they're getting away like so. It really is a culture thing. And what made CIY such a great partner is I'll never forget the line I don't know if it's written down on y'all's walls somewhere or something but one of you said we are the bridesmaids to the bride, the church is the bride and you guys are the bridesmaids and we're here to serve you.
Speaker 4:And CIY has had such a humble, giving, willing spirit to say, hey, we serve churches of all different, like spectrums. You know, we want them to teach jesus and believe, but, like we like all different sizes and all different backgrounds and some inner city and some suburbs, and you know, and when we meet with them, we want to be the bridesmaids for this, this bride of christ, this beautiful bride who you know. And so we've loved that and honestly, I I don't. The only reason it has been such a good partnership is because CIY has taken the humble approach and been so amazing, like in giving um in so many moments, which has been awesome. So we are now, we're now team.
Speaker 4:I always was. Church I was at before we did go to CY with tons of different churches and it was awesome and we weren't necessarily the church wasn't necessarily as driven towards the unchurched kid, and it was fantastic. Well, there's some. It still worked great. I've always loved CY, but it was new to Crossroads is what we were talking about? All that aside, and so it still worked great. I've always loved CY, but it was new to Crossroads is what we were talking about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah. So all that aside, love CY, love Crossroads Just explain a little bit of what events look like for you guys. I know that you guys have even shifted a little bit of what regular school year programming looks like and what you guys do in the summer. You mentioned GoTrips. I would love to hear about GoTrips and how that works into your ministry as well. Yeah, so I'll just give you the time and I'll probably ask a few more questions. But what do events look like to you guys? Because you guys are big into camp, Like Crossroads is into camp correct.
Speaker 4:Camp starts our year, camp pushes our momentum into the year. Camp grows our ministry year to year. We love camp, and that's not true just in students. Our church actually owns 700 acres and we do. There's not, but it's just base land. There's no housing, so they do tents but we do father-son camp, mother-daughter camp, family camp, woman camp, man camp, couples camp, I mean camp is Every camp.
Speaker 2:We love camp, all the camp.
Speaker 4:That's a church.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah, yeah, and I'm not going to bring my son and kids tent camping. A lot of people call their CIO experiences a lot of different things. You also use that word camp to refer to move and mix, so I just want to make that clear for all the people listening into our conversation, but go ahead.
Speaker 4:Yes, yes, yes, we love it and it starts our year church wide and in the student ministry. Other events is that what you're asking out beyond that, or do you want me to lean into camp?
Speaker 1:Yeah, I think camp, I think go trips, I think even a little bit of how you guys make some of your student gatherings and event in and of themselves.
Speaker 4:So student ministry is students doing ministry and so our discipleship in many ways is students pouring into other students. Sometimes that's high scores in the middle scores, sometimes it's high scores doing announcements more choppily or on stage. Sometimes it is them praying before service, being our prayer team, after a message, et cetera. Like student ministries, students doing ministry, and we love to be a place for them to be able to do that and events and the rest of the year back that. So I'll start with the smallest and we'll kind of be a place for them to be able to do that and events and the rest of the year back that. So I'll start with the smallest thing and we'll kind of go out. So we do something called influencers. It's actually a horrible name because their point is to serve. It is our student leadership program. Their point is to serve and have influence on our student ministry, but not like blue check mark influencers, you know. So it kind of. But now we're too far in deep, it's got like culture to it, so we're staying with the name.
Speaker 4:If you have a student leadership program, don't call it. It's been very confusing to explain to people um, something better and, uh, this is. This is kind of our behind the scenes serve team. So they are high schoolers and you can be a ninth grader, but they're high schoolers. You have to apply for it. It's 10 to 15 hours a week, um that you come in, it's you're an intern, basically you know and you're, you are serving Um and it's awesome. And so it starts there. There are over teams of adults, teams about everything, and then we have C groups. C groups are just our um groups. Maybe your church has a groups. Our church's name is Crossroads, so no, everyone thinks that's why we call them C groups. We've never, ever written down and we'll never say what the C is for. It's because we've never really picked. Some people call them community groups at camp. They think they're camp groups because they're C groups. They're just, they're C groups, all right, and you as a leader can make it whatever you want.
Speaker 4:You can make it carrot groups that's right, and c groups have their own culture as well.
Speaker 2:So that's the first word that I thought of that starts with the letter c.
Speaker 4:I don't know why carrot groups or, but some people do call them care groups.
Speaker 4:So uh, not as cool is is doing events all year long you know as well, and, uh, high scores can't are sometimes secret leaders for middle school, you know, and so you might be. Go to 100 events. You haven't even done one as a whole church, yeah, you're just in this group that is continually moving and going, and we do rooted, we do alpha, we do. So these are just like more of the like options of like the buffet, of like discipleship. And then there's top of the funnel events, which is like, hey, you've probably never stepped in our building. We hope you come to this and then maybe it could get you to this, and then maybe it could get you into a C group and maybe it could get you going to Rooted and maybe even you could begin being on our serve team from behind the scenes. So that's kind of how it goes.
Speaker 4:Our top of the funnel events could be anything and everything. The very top for us would be camp. So a lot of people would put camp you know it's like a next tier. Yeah, like, after you've done all this stuff, you go to camp. We want to make camp as easy as possible. Uh, we will do. We will cut other things throughout the year so we have more scholarship dollars for camps for people who can't afford to go. Um, we're not gonna scholarship. The kid who just is, you know, wants to get a scholarship for his fourth year in a row, to like. But if you've never been to camp and you're saying money is the one thing holding you back, and I know this can't be true everywhere. But like we're going to, we're going to be knocking on doors throughout our church to figure out a way to get you there. That's not be the barrier, you know, because this is top of the funnel event.
Speaker 2:We had girls at camp like they were pregnant while there and like did they get pregnant there cause?
Speaker 4:no, that was about 20, so yeah, but two but two. Two were already pregnant yes, which again the student ministry I grew up in, I just wouldn't have been allowed, just wouldn't have been allowed. You know, it was just bad influence, it was bad, like there's been plenty of reasons, but oh yeah, there's no way. Yeah, so, but what a great time.
Speaker 1:Golly, can't handle it, because what like a better place for these two teenage? Girls who are about to go through the hardest thing that they've ever gone through and you now have this whole community. That's like come with us, yeah, take a breath.
Speaker 4:And now I'm not gonna make you cry, so I'm not gonna do the whole thing, but yeah like their group no, do the whole thing.
Speaker 1:I gotta hear it got together well they just they're like they.
Speaker 4:They threw her a diaper shower like. So afterwards it's high school high schoolers. Oh, her group, her c group, so like 10 of them like, and the lead like they're bringing her diaper. So she's set up like that's the best thing I've ever heard.
Speaker 2:Can we really quick and like we've taken up a lot of your time? So I want to be respectful, um, but I do want to make sure that we hit on one thing.
Speaker 4:So these top of the funnel.
Speaker 2:Stop talking, joel no, no, no, no, that was me. That was me saying, brad, pick your next question wisely, because this might be it. So top of the funnel events, right? Yeah, I know a lot of churches that like, because of the point that you made earlier, because of the overall like mission and philosophy of the church, they're geared a little bit differently than the way the Crossroads is, and that's OK and that's good in their regular programming. But a lot of churches like bring kids that aren't part of their ministry to camp, um, like just not on the scale that that you guys do, where it's like as large of a percentage probably. But most youth pastors, uh, have a handful, two, three, ten kids in their group who came with a friend whose parents wanted to go on a European river cruise.
Speaker 2:And this is how we get rid of them.
Speaker 1:For a week or whatever those types of things. I don't think you can go on a cruise in the Thames. There's just too much stuff in there.
Speaker 2:I don't know, there are other rivers in Europe.
Speaker 1:I don't know what's the one in Paris that people think did the Rhine is the one I want to get.
Speaker 2:Gross.
Speaker 4:The Rhine in Germany.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and over the Rhine Cincinnati.
Speaker 2:Anyway. So what was I saying?
Speaker 1:Yes, that's all on me how?
Speaker 2:No, I wasn't saying we got to wrap up. I'm saying we gotta talk about this before we wrap up. Stop trying to leave me. I would never is like how I can see a trip being extremely intimidating to somebody who has never done something like this before. So, aside from like money and the logistics of making it easy for students to go, which I think is wildly important and I'm glad that you do it how do you make it easy for them, like mentally and psychologically, to make that what might feel like a big jump.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 4:I'm going to answer that and I'm going to say it's why we have to do other stuff too. Like you're right, some kids just won't ever go to campus their first thing. It will be their 10th thing, you know, and that's why we're. We have other top of the funnel stuff. And hear me to go back to the other question. If we stopped at top of the funnel we would be a mile wide and an inch deep.
Speaker 4:You know, church it is it is just a tool to then go through the process of discipleship and looking more like Jesus. So one thing we do is we do an event that is in February, that is, I'll call it a gift to our community. Again, I understand that everyone can do this, but we're gonna spend a lot of money on this because of the purpose and we are gonna, you know, bring people in and I'll talk a little bit more about what it is and what it's called. But our internal purpose of the entire event is to get kids signed up for camp, to introduce kids to camp.
Speaker 4:So, um, so you, we might bring in bangles players and we might, you know, call it a white out and have and have white, like we want it to be where you're like, yeah, I don't freaking go to this, you know, and they come and they hang out and we spend, we do really fun things and we throw toilet paper across the whole toilet paper fight and whatever. That goes wide out and we just keep talking about camp. It was just a little and like, if you went, to know where they have toilet paper at camp it is that bad.
Speaker 1:And if they don't have toilet paper, your EC at CIY will go get you a whole new role.
Speaker 2:Amen.
Speaker 4:We start most of them off after like the opener with like hey, we are going to unapologetically going to try to convince you to go to camp for the night.
Speaker 4:You know when they leave turns out, when you get thousands of middle schoolers together and you talk about camp the whole time, they leave like, oh, let's go to camp, like I think we could have done anything, we could have been like boot camp arm, like you need to go to the marines, like you know, and they could leave and like like it's, it's horrible, but uh, but we believe our purpose is correct and so that is one of the things we we do in that event is incredibly expensive for that, that purpose and we do like, we do share the gospel at it and we do other stuff. But like the, the internal purpose is, uh, to introduce kids to camp. And so there's a church called ccv, who is, I love, uh, jake is their student guy. They do something also on the other side, called camp encore, which we may have to steal in a future year, which then is also like hey, you missed camp this year, bring friends to camp encore.
Speaker 4:It's like camp here, you know, and then just seating for the next year, you know of, oh, I went to camp encore. That's their top, top of the funnel, and then camp is the next one. So, um, there's other stuff. I mean that, that same church. If we're talking about making it easy, their church-wide campaign was all for camp high school camp and they wanted to make it 50 because that's the price it was 25 years ago. And so they raised all this money as a church, not to get a new auditorium, not to make camp cheaper.
Speaker 1:Affordable.
Speaker 3:It's wild yes.
Speaker 4:And don't hear this and get jealous, because I am when I hear that that's not my heart in sharing it. It's, what can you do with?
Speaker 2:what you have. Yeah, there's ways to be creative.
Speaker 4:Yeah, there's ways to be creative, yeah, yeah, yeah, exactly To figure out a way to just like to to make camp easy. Sometimes this is through stories. In fact, see how I resources the heck out of churches with this. Just like, hey, here's some different stories and tools and you guys, I might be out in you guys, but there's been awesome games played at camp that I've just emailed you guys. You probably would do this too, and I'm like, can you just send me that? Like you know, send me and you've sent it over and I and like now that's on the effect store but like, sent it over and then I, I use it and they're like I love that game and everyone's like we played it at camp and like I want to go to camp. So, yeah, there's all all sorts of stuff there, but I would say it doesn't happen on accident at all. Like tons of intentionality has to go in.
Speaker 2:And I mean what fruit? You know what I mean, even if this year. Take this year alone and look at it and it's it's overwhelming to think about it. It's so incredible what God did through your ministry at camp and it's it's really encouraging for me and I know Caleb as well to hear all of the ways that that is being like compounded throughout your funnel. You know, um, as kids come home and get plugged into all these other different things. It's really really cool.
Speaker 4:So yeah, so good. And what I love about move and mix for a commercial for anyone listening if, in case, you listen to this podcast and aren't already there is, you know, when we have unchurched kids for an hour, it's great and we're glad they're there and we have them for an hour, when you really have four, five days with them to continuously show up, for a leader to just continually pour out love, to let them hear the gospel, I mean between morning and evening sessions, five, six, seven, eight times, you know, over and over, like for a group to start to form, for a group chat to start to form, like, like. It's life-changing what can happen there, and so it's why we want to use it to start our year and get as many to it as possible yeah, and I say, I say all the time that their relational capital is worth the price of admission yeah, 100 oh, dude, especially if it's 50 bucks yeah, 50 bucks, yeah it's
Speaker 2:like uh jake, if are listening, can you help us all figure that out?
Speaker 1:Thank you.
Speaker 2:Anyway, joel, you are a treasure. Truly, you are just a fountain of wisdom, and I thank you so much I'm going to give you 20 minutes to stop that, Michael. Negative you stop, I'm Brad.
Speaker 4:That's Brad, michael is the whole thing. I negative stuff. I'm brad, that's my goal. My goal is thing I do know your name is brad, I know you do.
Speaker 2:We've met, yeah, and I'm gonna take 19 minutes and 30 seconds and I'm gonna really wax poetic about how much I love joel fireball. No, I'm kidding um.
Speaker 1:People know, they know they know, they know they know, caleb, this was a treat.
Speaker 4:You guys are the best, caleb, you already knew my man crush was, you know, reciprocated. Is it reciprocated?
Speaker 2:Reciprocated.
Speaker 4:Oh, that's his word.
Speaker 1:That's his word. He can't say All right. We said yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, Okay, let me at least finish my thought I was going to say new man crush of brad so there it is, and michael is not here.
Speaker 4:He's got a beautiful beard, him as well he does have a great beard yes, now back to the word thing. Yeah, so you can't say reciprocal, I can't say an unfathomable.
Speaker 1:Unfathomable. It's a hard one, that's really good and I cannot say the word intricate that one seems like the easiest one.
Speaker 2:I know, but I say I speak fast sometimes and when I say in the middle of a sentence, I say intricate and I sound like an idiot.
Speaker 4:COVID, which is said a lot, and he would just be like they got covered.
Speaker 2:And you're like my grandma, who will never listen to this, is a sweet, sweet, sweet old lady from Madison County, kentucky, and has you know she's higher educated than I am, so like I'm not trying to make her sound dumb, but she says this, she talks about. You heard all this news about the COVID.
Speaker 4:That's it. That's what I'm saying. Covid, everyone's got their word. C-o-v-e-d Everyone's got their word. C-o-v-e-d. Everyone's got their word.
Speaker 2:On that note, joel thank you for being here. We appreciate you.
Speaker 4:We love you so much. I loved every second of it. Who day, hey, who do they think is going to beat them? Bengals, apparently the Patriots.
Speaker 1:They did, they sure did.
Speaker 2:Alright, that's enough. Bye.
Speaker 4:Alright, bye guys. Guys, no thank you for real.
Speaker 2:I think it was really good stuff. Thanks guys, it was a lot of fun. Joel fireball is a legend, bro, that was so good man yeah that was really good.
Speaker 1:Uh, very selfishly, wore my crossroads shirt today you did, I did.
Speaker 2:Caleb will shamelessly sport church merch.
Speaker 1:Oh dude XX, 2201 North Main Street. If you want me to wear your church's shirt, please send it to me. I'll wear it every week. I love free t-shirts. He wears this one every day and I just wash it every night.
Speaker 2:But anyway, that was a really cool conversation and you know what I love. I love how he goes to a huge church but as he was talking. I think it's so scalable what he was talking about like to do an event where the whole point of the event is to drive people to sign up for camp yeah any size church with any budget 100.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, I think it just takes intentionality, um, and and I understand sometimes we don't want to be intentional or don't have the bandwidth to be intentional and so some of those things I think is just really like hey, just thinking about it, yeah, just doing it in a February when it's like spring semester has kicked off, we're not getting into the camp push yet. Just do one night where it's pizza and camp, whatever it is. I think that's so good.
Speaker 2:I agree 10,000%, and I hope that Joel's conversation has sparked a little bit of creativity in the minds of those who are watching and or listening. So we're about done. Can you close us out for the first time on? Season four for the first time on video. Yes, direct to camera. Uh with uh praying our blessing over our lovely youth pastor. Friends, direct to camera. You can read it. Great, I was like I haven't memorized it yet.
Speaker 1:Uh, okay, yeah, let's do this. Uh, I was like I haven't memorized it yet. Okay, yeah, let's do this. Wherever you are, wherever you're watching or listening but watching because you wanted to see Brad's face. Could you just hold out your hands? Is that weird? Can we do that? It's not weird?
Speaker 2:Just hold out your hands, unless you're driving.
Speaker 1:If you're driving, keep them on the steering wheel, hold up a finger. Would love to just pray over you guys, whoever is listening to this, and if you work with youth, I truly believe that you are changing the world. So let's get in a space where we can say this, and I would love to pray this for you May God show you his grace and bless you. May make his face shine on you. May you experience the love of Christ, through whom God gives you fullness of life. May you be strengthened by his power. May Christ himself make his home in your heart, that you would be full of his love and grace and that those you serve would see Jesus today's episode was produced by Michael Hester, Lauren Brian and myself.
Speaker 2:I want to give a huge shout out and thank you to Joel. I really, really love every single word that he said on this episode. So thank you, Joel, for being here. Thank you, Caleb, for co-hosting with me. If you liked what you heard, be sure to subscribe wherever you listen or watch podcasts. We'll see you again in two weeks. Until then, we love you, Take care. See you next time, Thank you.