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We explore why Trevor Sill at The Bridge Christian Church combines junior high and high school and how they rebuilt midweek around one big night and weekly small groups. Trevor shares wins, missteps, and the practices that turned constraints into a discipleship advantage.

• Reasons for combining ages including space, staffing, family rhythm
• One big night monthly plus weekly small groups structure
• High schoolers as culture carriers and mentors
• Onboarding fifth graders and the move-up pathway
• MIX as a relational fast-forward for incoming sixth graders
• Teaching at a shared level with age-specific application in groups
• Handling pushback and aligning leaders to the vision
• Stories of student-led impact including a new sixth grade FCS
• Electives on Sundays for deeper age-targeted study
• Whole-church Wednesday ecosystem that connects parents and students

If you like what you heard, be sure to subscribe to Beyond the Event wherever you listen to podcasts.

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A cupcake caper, an Unreal-powered mansion, and a question every youth leader wrestles with: should we separate junior high and high school? We sit down with student pastor Michelle Kruse from Summit Christian Church to unpack how age-intentional programming can transform engagement without requiring a bigger building or a bigger budget. Michelle walks us through their midweek system that alternates middle school and high school in the same space, why the teaching style shifts for each group, and how small groups, worship, and pace change when you design for real developmental stages.

We also explore the hidden engine of healthy transitions: a purposeful preteen ministry. Michelle shares how she launched a fourth and fifth grade service, then empowered a part-time couple—both teachers—to lead with Orange curriculum, accessible teaching, and consistent small groups. The result is a smoother handoff into student ministry, monthly fifth-grade previews of midweek, and camp experiences that ease anxiety. One of our favorite moments: why the car ride home with a parent might be the most important discipleship moment for preteens.

If you’re navigating limited space, limited volunteers, or mixed-age expectations, this conversation offers practical tactics you can try tomorrow: teaching twice in one night, swapping spaces, recruiting part-time leaders, and inviting high schoolers to serve in preteen or middle school to keep mentorship alive. We also get honest about quality tradeoffs, leader health, and how to read your context so you can separate where it matters most and still sustain a life-giving pace.

Subscribe, share this episode with a fellow youth leader, and leave a review with one change you’re considering for your next gathering—we’d love to hear what you’ll try first.

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What if the fastest way to deeper impact isn’t writing more, but freeing leaders to be with people? We pull back the curtain on our content process and share why we’ve built a central writing model that serves multiple campuses while giving local teams room to adapt. Our north star this summer is Ephesians and the identity of a “kingdom worker”—loved, rescued, changed, and sent. That sending isn’t theoretical: we’re equipping students to share their faith after the event and inviting youth pastors to collect stories that spark courage across their ministries.

We also introduce our mission partner, Con Mis Manos in Matamoros, Mexico, a ministry serving deaf students who often face social isolation and limited access to sign language and education. Their story—told through a new film centered on founder Michelle Zúñiga—threads through the week. Students will see Spanish Sign Language woven into gatherings, even joining prayers led by deaf students. It’s a living picture of global kingdom work and a powerful way to practice generosity that honors dignity and presence over programs.

Why write your own curriculum instead of buying it? We make the case for a blended approach: a central writer crafts clear, biblically grounded outlines, campuses contextualize, and volunteers and students share the teaching load. Video teaches some moments, but we always land live. We also set firm guardrails for AI—useful for brainstorming and visuals, off-limits for theology and spiritual direction. Smaller churches can run the same play by equipping a small content team, elevating student communicators, and keeping every talk simple enough to reproduce. When identity begins in Christ and every message points back to Jesus, students don’t just learn; they move.

If this resonates, subscribe, share with a friend, and leave a review to help more leaders find these conversations. Then tell us: how are you sending your students this week?