Husband. Father. Christ follower. Youth Ministry professor at NOBTS. Student of youth culture and technology. Director of Youth Ministry Institute @yminobts
New Orleans, LA
Joined April 2008
- Tweets1.1K
- Following1.4K
- Followers635
- Likes942
Pinned Tweet
Traditional youth ministry is not enough to effectively build lifelong faith in teenagers - an expanded view of youth ministry is needed ymarenas.com @NOBTS #youthmin #youthministry #studentministry #familyministry #churchlife baptistpress.com/resource-li…
David Odom retweeted
Churchgoers at the smallest and the largest congregations have higher average discipleship scores than those attending mid-sized churches. research.lifeway.com/2026/08…
I talk about Deconstructing Youth Ministry with @zacworkun for three episodes of the @ministrybooster podcast. Watch or listen wherever you get your podcasts.
David Odom retweeted
“Discipleship cannot be reduced to content delivery, even when the content is helpful.” — @PJ_Dunn lfwy.co/gHey50Z9REO
David Odom retweeted
“Whether a church has 50 or 500 members, having a plan on how to disciple church members proves beneficial.” — Rachel Anderson lfwy.co/210K50YxJ9l
David Odom retweeted
The church doesn’t disciple teenagers alone. Scripture’s design is multigenerational: older saints passing down wisdom, younger believers seeking it out, and the whole church walking together in faith.
Read here: rootedministry.com/why-youth…
David Odom retweeted
If churchgoers received a grade for discipleship across eight key characteristics, the average churchgoer would earn a D (68.1), according to Lifeway Research's State of Discipleship. lfwy.co/u08Y50Y54Ba
Churchgoers scored an average of 68.1, with a score ranging from 0 to 100 across eight characteristics of discipleship, according to Lifeway Research's State of Discipleship. research.lifeway.com/2026/01… via @LifewayResearch
David Odom retweeted
4 in 5 pastors (80%) say they consistently put their family first when they have time conflicts, while 18% disagree and 2% aren’t sure. lfwy.co/NeAn50XWTSe
The majority of young people say they are religious or spiritual or both. 46% say they are “very” or “moderately” religious, and 27% say they are “slightly” religious.
@WeAreSpringtide
47% of Americans typically attend church during the Christmas season, including 21% of religiously unaffiliated Americans. research.lifeway.com/2025/12… via @LifewayResearch
Barna’s analysis of data from 2000 to 2025 shows that several core indicators of Christian conviction—the importance of religious faith, Christian identity, monthly church attendance and evangelism efforts—have weakened @barnaresearch
David Odom retweeted
Of course, it’s possible smaller changes are happening in some places that just aren’t widespread enough to show up in national surveys.
And, to be sure, there are some interesting things happening with religion among young people.
David Odom retweeted
Are young adults experiencing a religious revival? Our data says no. 🧵👇
Full analysis here: pewresearch.org/religion/202…
David Odom retweeted
3 in 4 Southern Baptist pastors say they provided an opportunity for people to respond to a gospel invitation within their weekly Sunday morning worship service every week in the past year. research.lifeway.com/2025/11…
