In this episode of The YDisciple Podcast, Pete Burds and Annie Grandell continue their conversation following last week’s episode with Anna Carter, reflecting more deeply on what it means to honor the dignity and unique story of every person we encounter in ministry. Together, they unpack the temptation to reduce young people to categories, issues, or ministry outcomes—and why real discipleship begins by receiving each person as unique, unrepeatable, and deeply loved by God.

Pete and Annie explore how easy it can be to minister from a distance through programs, strategies, and generalizations, rather than drawing near to the actual person in front of us. They discuss the importance of curiosity, the danger of seeing people as projects, and the need to remember that every young person is already in conversation with the Holy Spirit long before we enter the picture.

Along the way, they reflect on how this vision of reverence applies not only to teens, but also to coworkers, pastors, staff members, and anyone we serve alongside in ministry. This conversation is a powerful reminder that discipleship is never a conveyor belt, and people are never a means to an end.

Whether you’re a youth minister, volunteer, parent, or parish leader, this episode will challenge you to slow down, listen more deeply, and approach each person with greater wonder, humility, and love.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Ask yourself:

• Where am I tempted to approach people as issues, outcomes, or projects instead of persons?
• How can I grow in curiosity toward the young people and coworkers in front of me?
• What would it look like to reverence someone’s dignity more intentionally this week?

Pray for the grace to see others as God sees them—unique, beloved, and worthy of reverence—and to accompany them with humility, patience, and love.

In this episode of The YDisciple Podcast, Pete Burds and Annie Grandell sit down with Anna Carter, co-founder of Eden Invitation, to talk about what it means to listen well when someone shares something vulnerable. Drawing from Anna’s work accompanying people with LGBTQ experiences who are seeking to follow Jesus and His Church, this conversation explores the difference between reacting to someone’s story and truly receiving it.

Together, they unpack how easy it is to fill in the gaps with assumptions, explanations, or quick answers—especially in ministry—and why a better first response is often simple gratitude and genuine curiosity. Anna shares how Eden Invitation builds a culture of listening by helping people move from vulnerability to empowerment, and why receiving someone’s story is not just a one-time moment, but an ongoing posture of accompaniment.

Pete, Annie, and Anna also reflect on the challenges that come with this kind of listening: compassion fatigue, over-functioning, numbness, and the temptation to fix what is not ours to fix. Along the way, they offer practical wisdom for ministry leaders, parents, and mentors who want to become safer, more attentive people for others.

Whether you’re walking with a young person, leading in parish ministry, or simply trying to become a better listener, this episode offers a thoughtful and deeply human vision for how to honor the holy ground of another person’s story.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Ask yourself:

• Where am I tempted to make assumptions instead of asking another question?
• How do I typically respond when someone shares something vulnerable with me?
• What would it look like for me to receive another person’s story as holy ground this week?

Pray for the grace to listen with compassion, humility, and patience—and to become someone who helps others feel seen, honored, and safe in the presence of Christ.

In this episode of The YDisciple Podcast, Pete Burds and Annie Grandell pull back the curtain on one of NET Ministries’ most formative experiences: missionary training. What begins as preparation for ministry quickly reveals itself to be something much deeper—a powerful season of human, spiritual, and relational formation that has shaped generations of young adults.

Pete and Annie reflect on what makes NET training so transformative, from the deep identity work of learning to pray and receive God’s love, to the small group discipleship that helps missionaries open up, heal, and grow in authentic community. They share why this kind of formation matters not only for missionaries, but for anyone walking with young people in faith.

The conversation also explores why a season of mission can be such a pivotal next step for young adults—especially those who are hungry for more, discerning their future, or ready to move from receiving the faith to sharing it. Pete and Annie talk about the long-term fruit of this kind of experience: greater maturity, stronger relational skills, deeper faith, and a clearer sense of identity and vocation.

Whether you’re mentoring teens, leading a parish, or walking with young adults who are asking what comes next, this episode offers a compelling vision for why intentional formation and missionary challenge can be life-changing.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Ask yourself:

• Where do I see a young person who may be ready for a deeper challenge or missionary step?
• How can I offer encouragement that calls out their gifts and potential?
• Am I creating spaces in my ministry that form young people spiritually, relationally, and humanly—not just practically?

Pray for the young people in your life to hear God’s voice clearly, respond with courage, and trust that He is leading them into something beautiful.

In this episode of The YDisciple Podcast, Pete Burds and Annie Grande sit down with Andy Baker from the Diocese of Palm Beach for a rich conversation on relational ministry, diocesan leadership, and the slow, faithful work of culture change. Drawing from more than two decades in ministry, Andy shares how his own journey led him from program-centered ministry to a deeper conviction: discipleship is not primarily about the product you use, but the process you build.

Together, they explore what it means to foster discipleship by walking closely with ministry leaders, building trust over time, and helping parishes shift from maintenance to mission. Andy offers a compelling vision for diocesan ministry that starts not with policies or programs, but with friendship, accompaniment, and a genuine investment in the people doing the work on the ground.

The conversation also dives into one of the biggest challenges facing parish ministry today: finding adult mentors. Andy shares how parishes in Palm Beach are building strong mentorship cultures by inviting people personally, discerning leaders prayerfully, and drawing adults from across the life of the parish into the mission of discipleship. The result is not just stronger ministry structures, but visible fruit—young people showing up hungry for Jesus, adults stepping into spiritual mentorship, and parish communities beginning to move together on mission.

Whether you serve at the diocesan level, lead in a parish, or are simply longing to see a more relational and fruitful vision of ministry take root, this episode offers both inspiration and practical wisdom. It is a conversation about trust, patience, and the kind of ministry that changes lives because it begins with people, not programs.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Ask yourself:

• Where in my ministry am I relying too heavily on programs instead of investing in people?
• Who are the ministry leaders, parents, or mentors I am being called to walk with more intentionally?
• What would it look like for me to lead less like a manager of systems and more like a builder of trust?
• Am I creating space to listen deeply before trying to fix, teach, or direct?

Pray for the grace to embrace the slower, relational work of discipleship—and for the courage to trust that real fruit often grows through conversation, accompaniment, and fidelity over time.

They discuss the common ministry shift from maintenance to mission, and why healthy ministry cannot stop at simply managing buildings, budgets, policies, or attendance. Instead, real mission calls leaders to become more relational, more intentional, and more responsive to the work God is already stirring in their communities.

Pete also unpacks Stephen Covey’s idea of the circle of concern and the circle of influence, encouraging listeners to stop fixating on everything they cannot control and instead ask a better question: What does this make possible? The episode offers practical encouragement for leaders who want to build trust, cast vision, cultivate community, invest intentionally, and model the kind of mission they hope to see in others.

Mentioned in This Episode

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey
• Man’s Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
• How to Lead When You’re Not in Charge by Clay Scroggins
• Divine Renovation by Fr. James Mallon

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Take a few minutes this week to reflect on the difference between your circle of concern and your circle of influence.

• Where is God inviting you to lead more intentionally right now?
• What is one area of ministry, one relationship, or one next step where you may be tempted to stay passive instead of responding with courage?

Rather than offering easy answers, this conversation dives into the real tensions, objections, and assumptions behind the question. Together, they unpack:

• The claim that “youth ministry has failed”
• Whether declining Church engagement proves anything about ministry models
• If youth ministry isolates teens from parish life
• How peer community fits into Christian maturity
• The truth behind “parents are the primary educators”
• Whether youth ministry competes with family ministry
• The role of emotions in faith formation
• If the Church is just “one more demand” on teens’ time

Father Chad offers a grounded pastoral perspective, reframing many objections by asking deeper questions:
“How should the Church love, form, and accompany young people today?”

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Reflection for This Week

Take a moment to reflect:

• Which objections to youth ministry resonate with me most?
• Do my frustrations come from youth ministry itself — or how it’s been implemented?
• How integrated is youth ministry within the broader parish community?
• Am I forming disciples… or just running programs?
• How am I helping young people reorder their time around Christ?

Ask the Holy Spirit to renew your vision for ministry —
not as maintenance, but as mission.

Drawing from years of research on young people, trust, and religious engagement, Dr. Packard challenges common assumptions about discipleship, formation, and what actually builds credibility with today’s generation.

Together, they explore:

• Why traditional ministry models aren’t “bad” — just less effective in a changed world
• The growing trust gap between individuals and institutions
• How relationships, not programs, are forming faith today
• Why listening is not passive — but profoundly formative
• The pressure ministry leaders feel to “say everything”
• How accompaniment reframes formation as a long-haul journey

Dr. Packard offers a powerful insight from his research:
When young people are truly listened to, something formative is already happening.

Rather than treating listening as a technique or strategy, this episode reframes it as a posture — one rooted in curiosity, reliability, and authentic human presence.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Learn more about Dr. Packard’s work:

• futureoffaith.org
• faithfulfuturesbook.com

Reflection for This Week

Take time to prayerfully consider:

• Do I approach listening as essential to ministry — or optional?
• When young people speak, am I truly curious or waiting for my turn to respond?
• Where do I feel pressure to “cover everything” instead of accompanying patiently?
• How reliable am I in following up on what others share with me?

Ask the Holy Spirit to deepen your capacity to listen —
not as a skill to master, but as a way to love.

This episode marks the beginning of a new recurring series — Coaches of the Round Table — where conversations are grounded not just in theory, but in real stories from the field.

Together, they tackle one of the most universal challenges in youth ministry:
Finding and inviting faithful adult volunteers to mentor young people.

From the pain of repeated rejection to the mindset shift required to build an “army of adults,” this conversation names the obstacles ministry leaders face with honesty and compassion. The coaches share what they’re hearing from parishes across the country — including the discouragement of “there is nobody,” the fear of awkward invitations, and the difficulty of surrendering control of the process.

Connect with Us

• Have questions? Email us at ydpodcast@netusa.org
• Book your free call with a YDisciple Coach at ydisciple.com/coaching
• Please take a moment to rate & review on Apple Podcasts
• Visit https://theydisciplepodcast.fireside.fm/ to learn more about the podcast

Dr. Kara Powell's Podcast:
https://a.co/d/0hatWJrY

Reflection for This Week

Take a few moments to reflect:

• Where have I experienced discouragement or rejection in inviting others into ministry?
• Do I approach recruitment prayerfully — or primarily strategically?
• Who might the Holy Spirit be inviting me to notice differently?
• How comfortable am I being vulnerable when making an invitation?

Ask the Lord for renewed courage and trust, remembering that He is the one who calls, equips, and sends.