This past Saturday, we had the joy of meeting with over 80 individuals who care about students and ministry to them. It was another great Student Ministry Workers Retreat (SMWR). I am always excited to connect with these men and women who will take a Saturday out of their busy schedule to learn things that will help them as they seek to impact the next generation for Jesus. I am also thankful for the volunteers, speakers, worship leaders and donors who help make the day something special.
This year, we talked about Student Ministry & Technology. It was a pretty broad subject, but it allowed us to get into the good, bad and ugly of technology. Our featured speaker, Stephen Castleberry, did an outstanding job giving us both a “black pill” and “white pill” message on the subject. If you want to hear the messages, you can find them on this week’s and next week’s podcasts at StudentMinistryMatters.podbean.com.
Every time I attend or lead an event, I try to sit afterwards and formulate my takeaways. What is it that God has taught or shown me by attending this event? Was it worth my time? What do I need to do differently when I return home? What needs to be better for next year? Let me take this opportunity to share some of my insights from this year’s Student Ministry Workers Retreat:
• We need one another. As student ministry workers, it is important to find your people. They share the same crazy dream, shaping the next generation with the gospel of Jesus Christ. It isn’t an easy job, so we need to know that there are others out there with the same passion. It was evident this year as we wrapped up our retreat, and I asked for the names of students who needed prayer. With the mention of a first name, these men and women felt the weight of struggle within that student’s life. I was overwhelmed with emotion as I thought about the common heart in the room. We need that camaraderie. We need one another.
• Technology is a tool. Stephen shared with us that a brick is a tool. It can be used to build up, or it can be used as a projectile through a window. It is hard to think of it as being morally neutral, but it is. We love the printing press because it can create copies of the Bible or books in which knowledge can be shared. However, the printing press can also create adult magazines that spread pornography.
• We must help shape the user of technology. Our role as parents, grandparents, pastors and student ministry workers is to work on the user of technology. We can’t ban phones or eliminate the internet, but we can teach and lead the next generation in their use of such things. Our job is to pass on the principles found in God’s Word so that our children and teenagers will handle the power of technology responsibly.
• Student ministry workers must always be learning. Technology is constantly changing. We must continue to grow in our understanding of how God’s Word applies to our students’ unique challenges and in the constantly changing world around us.
If you had a student ministry worker attend the retreat, spend some time talking to them about what they learned. And, let me challenge you to mark your calendars and plan to attend next year’s Student Ministry Workers Retreat on Sept. 19, 2026. It will again be held at Central Baptist College in Conway. Registration will open Nov. 1 at SMWR2026.eventbrite.com.
Join the conversation at Facebook.com/groups/StudentMinistryMattersCommunity or follow us on Substack at StudentMinistryMatters.substack.com.
