YPT in Action: Ericson Joubert
We like to talk about the importance of theological depth in youth ministry - but what does that actually look like? YPT isn’t promoting a one-size-fits-all approach to youth ministry. Instead, we want to encourage youth workers to be anchored in the biblical essentials while practicing wise contextualization in their particular setting. “YPT in Action” will be an ongoing series where youth workers in a variety of contexts answer the same questions.
Name: Ericson Joubert
Church/Ministry: East Cobb Presbyterian Church
Title: Director of Student Ministries
Location: Marietta, GA
Ministry Setting: Suburban
How long have you served in this ministry: 1 Year
How long have you served in vocational ministry overall: 10 years
Average Church Attendance: 250
Average Youth Group Attendance: 40-50
Age range of students in ministry: 7th-12th grade
Please describe what “Youth Group” looks like in your ministry?
Youth group looks like playing games, announcements, worship with a student lead, teaching, and small groups afterwards. For our high school students specifically, we go to Chick-fil-A from 9 PM to 10 PM and do some more fellowship after youth group.
What are your regularly-scheduled youth ministry programs?
Sunday night middle school program
Sunday morning high school discipleship
Wednesday night high school program
Are there any retreats/camps or other special events that are semi-regular or annual features of your ministry?
Middle school summer camp. We’re going to RUSH conference at Perimeter Church which is a conference for students, led by students. High school students give talks, worship, small group, and mission sites around Atlanta
Fall retreat we’re taking our high school students to snowbird wilderness outfitters in Andrews, NC.
We also do Murder in the dark three times a year which brings in a lot of students
How would you describe your teaching style in youth group?
My teacher style is a blend of small group focused and sermon focused. I’ll ask questions, ask students to read scripture, and teach for 20-25 minutes.
What are some recent series you’ve taught through, and how many weeks long were they?
Religion 101 (high school) where we discussed common disagreements with Christianity that professors in college may bring up.
Galatians (high school) where the main focus was establishing biblical doctrine to high schoolers surrounded by apathy towards theology.
Person of Christ talks (middle school)
Where the focus was introducing Christ to our middle school students as high school students are teaching them
YPT obviously values teaching theology and doctrine in our ministry to students. What does that look like for you?
This looks like forming our teaching calendar on books of the Bible, with the emphasis on spiritual formation. Our talks are geared towards addressing either the head, heart, and hands (or some combination) of it.
How do you seek to partner with parents?
We have 2 parent nights a year, one that we hire a guest speaker to speak on a topic relevant to families
We communicate partnership with parents in our mission/vision statements
We have parents who help lead d groups
How do you seek to integrate students into the life of the church?
We ask our high school leaders to serve middle school students in a program called CREW. They are required to be in discipleship groups with mentors (led by adult volunteers) as well as attend church on Sundays.
What are some of the books you think every youth worker would benefit from reading?
The End of Youth Ministry (Root)
Gospel-Centered Youth Ministry (eds, Cole & Nielsen)
The Freedom of Self-Forgetfulness (Keller)
Hurt 2.0 (Clark)
The Whole Christ (Ferguson)