The Forum 2025

Join Us For A Free Strategic Roundtables for Student Ministry Leaders! It's the perfect opportunity to connect with fellow youth ministry leaders and explore the latest ideas for leading student ministry this season.

Let's spend a day to evaluate and talk about how we lead and how we grow!

Strategy Sessions: Learn from our team and gain insights designed to help you evaluate your current ministry plan, understand the key elements of healthy student ministry, and develop a solid, effective vision and plan that's ready to implement and easy to communicate. Your student ministry's relational strategy is more important now than ever before.

Flexible Framework For Every Size of Youth Ministry: Our 3 Essentials of Student Ministry framework is versatile and applicable to ministries of any size and context. Whether you're leading a small group of students or a larger ministry the 3 Essentials is flexible for you!

A Range of Topics: This year at Essentials we are covering crucial topics: parent ministry, relational discipleship, creative programming, engaging small groups, Gen Z research, and the elevating the importance of prayer.

Join us for a day that will elevate your ministry, foster new connections, and inspire fresh ideas. Essentials is a must attend for strategy, collaboration, and peer relationships in student ministry.

The cost is $10, which includes materials and lunch.

For more info, email [email protected]

Amanda Mejias
Amanda Mejias serves at Lifeway as the Specialist for girls ministry and women who lead in student ministry. She is passionate about equipping church leaders as they minister to and disciple students. She is living the dream, especially with her husband and two small kids by their side. Amanda is always down to hear a cheesy joke, grab coffee, and talk about golden retrievers.
Chad Higgins
Chad Higgins serves as the Parent Ministry Specialist for Lifeway. He has served in the local church since 2004. He is the co-founder of Youth Ministry Booster and is passionate about seeing spiritually healthy ministers lead families that point their children to Jesus. He lives in Stillwater, OK with his wife Martha and their daughter Malia. He loves chess, the Red Sox and sushi.
Zac Workun
Zac Workun currently serves as the Student Ministry Specialist for Lifeway Students. Zac is also the co-founder and network lead for Youth Ministry Booster. Zac is a voracious reader, avid gamer, car-camper, folk musician, black coffee-drinker, beard aficionado. Enneagram 7 & ENFP. He loves to eat breakfast food at new places with his wife Karen and two wild boys Isaiah & Gideon.

For 15+ years, Zac has served on staff at local churches in Oklahoma and North Carolina to oversee the middle school, high school, and college-aged ministries. Zac received his undergraduate education from Oklahoma Baptist University and his Master’s of Divinity from Duke University.

Event Venue & Nearby Stays

Temple Baptist Church, 1515 South Service Rd W, Ruston, United States