Youth Ministry: I didn’t know that

By Doug Franklin November 13, 2012

There are a few little known facts about youth ministry that can relieve stress and lower frustration. When you know these truths you may sleep a little better and think a little differently about your ministry.

1. Senior pastors and youth workers have a different value system. Senior pastors are working on the idea that they deserve respect because of the time they have served the church. Most youth workers think people who have impact deserve respect. This slight difference can explain why we don’t always get along.

2. The focus of some adult volunteers is the youth worker, not students. They come every week to help the youth worker do his or her job. They will happily serve students but they are not there to build a relationship with them. Most youth workers think all of their volunteers are there to build transformational relationships with students. The disconnect can explain why the adults don’t talk to students unless students are breaking a rule.

3. Churches hire youth workers to disciple students; they fire them for not leading the youth ministry. They give you a very complete job description about the youth ministry and they sometimes use the word leadership but they lead you to believe that it’s about spiritually leading students. In the end they fire you for not recruting and training enough volunteers, misusing the budget, not having a clear vision or not attaining results.