Episode 051 — Community, Calling, and the Story of ProjectYM (Part 2) with Michael Marchand

In Part 2, the conversation shifts to sustainability and leadership multiplication. Christopher and Michael dive into volunteer recruitment, formation, and support—naming the most common mistakes youth ministers make and offering practical solutions to build healthy, long-term teams.

Michael also explores how leaders move from “doing everything themselves” to multiplying impact through others. The episode concludes with a forward-looking conversation about the future of youth ministry, including shifts away from large-scale programming and the growing role of artificial intelligence in ministry leadership.

In This Episode:

• Why desperation recruiting rarely works
  
  
• How to build a volunteer pipeline before you need it
  
  
• The importance of repeatable, consistent volunteer training
  
  
• Supporting volunteers as people—not just ministry helpers
  
  
• Identifying and activating hidden gifts in adults
  
  
• Why multiplication—not performance—should define your ministry model
  
  
• Trends to watch: smaller relational models and the rise of AI
  
  

Resources Mentioned in This Episode

• Plaud AI Note-Taking Device (voice-to-text productivity tool)
  
  
• Future-Focused Church by Kara Powell, Jake Mulder, and Raymond Chang
  
  
• ProjectYM: projectym.com
  
  

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Recorded on Riverside - HERE

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