YPT Teaching Workshop

a one day workshop to help you teach God’s Word to teenagers

Do you wish that you and your volunteer leaders were better equipped to

  • Understand the Bible’s role in discipleship

  • Intentionally plan what to teach at youth group

  • Move from studying the biblical text to a simple teaching outline

  • Communicate so that teenagers will hear and understand God’s Word

YPT’s Teaching Workshop is a daylong training event that your church can apply to host for your team and for the youth ministries in your area. Taught by our experienced YPT Trainers, you and your team will receive:

  1. STRATEGY to plan your TEACHING CALENDAR
    Many youth ministries focus on teaching doctrine, or Christian living, or spiritual formation. We will help you develop a long-range teaching strategy that incorporates all of those components as you make disciples.

  2. METHODS for how to STUDY and TEACH THE BIBLE
    We will teach you time-tested methods for developing effective lesson outlines that clearly flow from the biblical text to the head, heart, and hands of your teens.

  3. Effective COMMUNICATION SKILLS
    This workshop will sharpen your communication skills so you can deliver theologically sound and biblically focused lessons to teenagers with clarity and depth.

The YPT Teaching Workshop will strengthen your whole team to have a unified vision for teaching the Bible to youth. So whether or not you’re the lead teacher of a large youth ministry or a volunteer small group leader or Sunday school teacher for a handful of teenagers, this day will train you to study and communicate God’s Word to teenagers with clarity and confidence.

 FAQs

  • We want youth ministry teams to come to this workshop... together.

    This workshop will strengthen everyone who serves in youth ministry and wants to help teenagers understand the Bible.

    When a whole team is united in why your ministry approaches teaching the way you do then it'll only strengthen your youth ministry's effectiveness.

  • Every youth pastor knows their volunteers are the backbone of a healthy youth ministry.

    Imagine your whole team sharing the same vision for teaching God's Word to students! They will be better small group leaders, Sunday School teachers, and have more confidence in discipling students because of this workshop.

  • No! There are important principles and commitments that will help every youth leader strengthen their teaching ministry.

    Whether you preach to 100 teenagers, facilitate discussion in a small group, or meet personally with just one or two teens, this workshop will help you gain clarity about why you do what you do and will give you confidence to draw students into God's Word.

  • YES! Please do not keep this training session only for your youth leaders. This is a great way to support other churches and ministries in your community.

    Take this as an opportunity to reach beyond the same people you normally partner with. If you don't already have a youth pastors network in your region then maybe this could be a great way to start one.

  • Attending this workshop will cost $50/person, or $400/team.

    Staff of the host church are given free registration. Since we keep hosting costs as low as possible, we do need registration fees to keep these workshops financially viable.

    If this expense may keep you from registering then please contact Mike to work out a scholarship for you or your team to participate.

  • 9am-4pm

    If you come late or leave early, you'll be missing out on some really valuable training, so please make this a priority for your day.

  • Here's a short summary of the three parts of our day together. As you can see, we cover a lot of ground, so please prioritize the full day.

    Part One: Planning Your Teaching Calendar

    • Teaching in order to make whole disciples

    • Identifying your ministry's teaching emphases and gaps

    • Why teaching is still relevant for teenagers

    Part Two: Preparing Your Message

    • How to study the Bible

    • Approaches to Christ-centered teaching

    • Basics of "Big Idea" preaching and teaching

    Part Three: Delivering Your Message

    • Using and developing your own voice

    • Minimizing distractions while you teach

    • Crafting discussion questions people will answer

Hosting a Workshop

Upcoming Workshops:

Other dates are available upon mutual agreement, fill out the application form to begin the process. Although many dates are listed, we generally host one workshop per quarter.

Upcoming Sites:

November 1, 2025: Southpointe Community Church (Nolensville, TN)

Available Dates:

  • July 26, 2025

  • August 9, 2025

  • September 20, 2025

  • December 13, 2025

  • January 10, 2026

  • January 24, 2026

  • February 7, 2026

  • March 14, 2026

  • March 28, 2026

YPT is committed to serving the local church. If your church would like to partner with us by hosting a workshop, please evaluate the following requests before contacting Mike about availability:

  • Meeting space with tables that is sufficient with the anticipated group side.

  • Audio/Visual: Microphone and a display screen with HDMI connection

  • Lunch for workshop attendees, and a coffee/snack station throughout the day to provide a warm and welcoming atmosphere. Please keep it simple and affordable.

  • Commitment to clear and consistent promotion among churches in your region.

  • Reimbursement for travel expenses for two YPT trainers (airfare and hotel). This is typically around $1000.

  • Speaking honorarium of $1200 if your workshop receives fewer than 25 paying registrations; $600 for 26-50; no honorarium requested for over 50 registrations (due to higher cost of feeding a large group and more registration to cover YPT’s costs). Group registrations will count as 8 paying registrations, even if the group brings more than that number of people.

Meet the Team

Rev. Dr. John Gardner

John is the Pastor of Youth Ministries at Grace Church in Longmont, CO. He has served in youth ministry since 2009 and earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from SBTS with an emphasis in Expository Preaching to Youth.

Rev. Dr. Mike McGarry

Mike is the Founder/Director of YPT and served as an ordained youth pastor for nearly twenty years in Massachusetts. He earned his Doctor of Ministry degree from GCTS with an emphasis in Ministry to Emerging Generations and has published multiple youth ministry books.