Crystal Chiang

Executive Director of Student Strategy

Crystal Chiang is the Executive Director of Student Strategy at Orange. Before joining the team in Atlanta, she spent 10 years as a high school Spanish teacher and student ministry leader, doing everything from small groups to speaking to curriculum design. Crystal and her husband, Tom, live in Atlanta, GA with their embarrassingly ill-tempered chihuahua, Javier.

Making A Tough Call

Have you ever had a student tell you something that left you wondering what to do next? If not, the day is coming. Read More

How to Plan Your Year In Youth Ministry

Creating a strategy energizes an entire ministry. It gives purpose to every event, every gathering. It centers your ministry around an approach that makes the things that matter most, matter… Read More

4 Things That Are Better About Digital Ministry

In some ways, this pandemic and quarantine are a heartbreaking new normal, and yet somehow during the week after our first online small group, I couldn’t seem to shake a… Read More

The One Free Thing You Can Do for Your Graduates

We’ve started the countdown. In less than 12 months, my small group of teenage girls will have our last official, formal small group conversations. When I think about that, I can’t… Read More

How to Recruit Volunteers for Camp

It may still be freezing cold where you are right now, but as student pastors, we already have summer on the brain. Why? Because camp may be in the summer,… Read More

3 Ways Student Culture is Changing

Being a youth worker is hard. It’s kind of like being a missionary who changes countries every 2-3 years. Just when learn to zig in response to student culture, it… Read More

Movies, High School, And Studying “The Nature of the Beast”

One morning in college, I showed up to my 9am class to find the lights low and the opening credits of a movie already rolling (I was part of the… Read More

Thirty Challenge

Today I started the Thirty Challenge with my small group. If you haven’t heard of it, here’s the main idea: Spend 30 minutes with God for 30 days. This isn’t something… Read More
Episode 14

RYM 014: Overcoming Challenges Being A Female In Youth Ministry

Being a female in youth ministry presents a unique set of challenges that many women are navigating on a weekly basis. On this episode of Rethinking Youth Ministry, join ministry… Read More
Episode 13

RYM 013: How To Talk About Sex And Dating With MS And HS Students

Our students live in a world where sex and dating are talked about everywhere they turn—on the bus, in the school halls, on Netflix, and on social media. Because it’s… Read More
Episode 12

RYM 012: Navigating Mental Health and Suicide In Your Ministry

There's never been a time when mental health and suicide have been talked about more in culture than right now. And with teen suicide trends on the rise, it’s more… Read More
Episode 11

RYM 011: What To Do When A Student Self-Harms

What do you do when a student tells you they’re harming themselves? And why is self-harm an important topic to discuss in your ministry? Self-harm can be a difficult subject… Read More