I have a rather large and growing file of churches looking for full-time youth ministers.
We now have many more paid youth ministers in the UK than ever before and we have tended to recruit from a younger age group, often as young as postgraduates. What we expect of these 22-year-olds is an ability to teach and pastor a youth group and also lead a team of people, most of whom will be senior to them. There will be people in youth teams who have many years’ experience and they will be led by someone who, only three years earlier, was a member of a youth group.
Scarce on experience
Now it is certainly true that people of postgraduate age have a great deal to offer youth ministry, but should they be put into paid employment by churches to lead established or even pioneer youth ministry? I have heard of a few churches who started their experience with a young appointment and their appointee had little idea of the principles of youth ministry and that appointment came to an unhappy end.
Coupled with the fact that there appears to be a drift of experienced youth ministers away from the job into either the secular world or the ordained ministry, the world of youth ministry is looking a bit scarce on experience. I look back on my own pathway, where I worked as a teacher up to a senior level before joining a church staff team at the age of 40 to lead youth and children’s ministry. I had worked in the professional world, led a team in that world and handled children and young people in the ‘non-church’ world.
Finance
At this point finance becomes an issue. I did not expect a similar salary to the one I earned as a teacher, but I needed to survive, in an affluent parish, with a wife and three school age children to support. 21-year-olds are cheap and can appear to be an attractive solution, but too many of these people are coming to grief. The tenure of youth ministry appointments remains under two years. The other factor was that I entered paid youth ministry from the church in which I was already a volunteer.
Appoint from within?
This would all seem to suggest that churches seeking to appoint a youth leader should at least consider someone in their mid to late 30s with some professional experience. This will cost the church more money, but could be more ‘cost-effective’. I have received several calls recently asking whether I know of any youth workers who are mature Bible teachers with families and who are capable of motivating and leading a team. There are not too many about and perhaps churches should look to their own memberships and ask themselves if there is someone they already know who could lead their ministry. In the current economic situation, it could be that someone commits to a half-time role. If such people do take up church positions, they must be paid properly, supported by both local people and national training, if we are to see the maturity level of youth ministers rise and, with it, the maturity of young people which should be the aim of all of us.
