Despite all the challenges that come with being a youth ministry rookie, the results and rewards are ultimately worth every single headache.
“I have the best job in the world,” said Christopher Dinnell, who just completed his first year as youth minister at Urbana United Methodist Church in Urbana, Ohio.
We reached out to newbie youth workers through YouthWorker Journal‘s Facebook page and conducted follow-up interviews with some of them. Like Dinnell, they’re excited to be serving God by serving young people; but they also cite common problems that make the work more difficult than they expected.
Problem 1: Kids Don’t Care
David Hausknecht, a Baptist youth minister at Vanguard Church of Colorado Springs since May of this year, has grown accustomed to hearing the same question from his middle school students: “Why?”
“Middle school students are at a pivotal time of questioning the things conventional Christians believe, an issue that (Methodist theologian) James Fowler has talked about extensively with his faith development theory,” said Hausknecht. “Many of them — especially the incoming sixth-graders — do not have a history of worship experience, so they passively wait for the worship music to finish so they can move on to the next thing.”
That’s why his church launched a teaching series this fall designed to explain the purpose of worship and prayer, as well as the reason music is used in their services.
“We’re also being more intentional with the way we introduce worship on Sundays, explaining the broader definition of worship beyond music,” he said.
Justin Joiner, a Pentecostal youth minister at The Refuge in Gautier, Miss., was shocked at how directionless his church’s youth group was when he joined his church in August 2009.
“Our students weren’t connected, to God or to each other,” he said.
After praying about what to do, Joiner brought the Refuge’s youngsters to services, rallies and other youth-oriented events in the area so they could get to know each other and develop relationships with Christians from other churches. This brought criticisms from church members who feel big events and scheduled activities work against the Holy Spirit.
“I have seen my students connect with God during those events,” he explained. “Sometimes they need to get out of their normal environment and church surroundings to find that secret place in God.”
Christopher Dinnell, who began in Urbana, Ohio, in September 2009, said he immediately realized the need for spiritual direction among the congregation’s youngsters.
“We took them on a retreat where they all had an encounter with God, which made my job easier,” he explained.
Brandon Pachey, a Pentecostal volunteer at Celebration Fellowship Foursquare Church in Wichita Falls, Kan., said he tries to challenge ‘church kids’ to go deeper in their faith experience.
“While they are excited about their faith, the challenge is to have them live out their faith beyond avoiding sinful behaviors,” he explained. “Don’t be afraid to ask your kids bluntly what they want to know more about and where the struggles are.”
Francisco Saucedo, youth minister at Iglesia Cristiana Ebenezer Pentecostes in Buena Park, Calif., said most of the youth in his congregation come from low-income families and broken homes and are hesitant to speak about their feelings and doubts.
“I always push them to respond to questions honestly, but I am still struggling to get them to open up,” he said. “I feel once they get into a habit of speaking their mind and actually being listened to, their hearts will open up to the Lord a lot more.”
Problem 2: Ecclesiastical Politics
The New Testament may refer to believers as “saints,’ but youth workers see their bosses and coworkers in a more mundane light.
Understandably, the youth workers quoted in this section wanted us to keep their names out of the article. They wanted to speak openly about their frustrations with church politics, but they didn’t want to lose their jobs for saying what’s on their minds.
Since becoming his church’s first-ever youth minister, one newbie has been getting accustomed to a sea of red tape.
“When we need anything, I have to crawl through all the channels to buy an eraser,” he said. “We are starting at ground zero.” He is upset with the church’s refusal to provide an independent budget for its youth ministry, though he understands why.
“Our leadership is made up of men who have not gotten past the seventh grade in their education,” he explained. “They are men of God, but when it comes to money and many bad deals in the past, they do not trust anyone with church funds.”
Another youth minister said the positive image one constantly must uphold in “playing church the right way” gets old fast. He says some coworkers hold him to unrealistically high expectations that make it difficult to maintain a Christ-centered attitude toward his work.
“(They) think you should be in your office all day, when there are no youth in my office,” he explained.
A third newbie suggested that youth leaders should expect some congregants to tell them how to do their job.
“I think they need to be reminded in love that God has placed the youth worker in a position to shepherd the youth ministry, although their suggestions may be for a time to come,” he explained, referring to bossy congregants.
A fourth youth minister is thankful he volunteered for four years before being hired.
“I learned so much about ministry while still being protected from the real messy side,” he explained. “I also got to see ministry from the volunteer perspective and understand how my volunteers feel in my own ministry now.”
This youth leader suggested that rookie youth ministers try to impress “the voices that matter” in the church. For example, volunteering for causes important to the church’s senior pastor resulted in strong financial support for youth programs from the congregation.
“The senior pastor specifically noted, ‘I will not be the one to stand in the way of our church’s ministry to this city’s teens,'” he said. “If the youth ministry has no exposure to the larger church, it probably won’t get much budgetary support either.”
A fifth youth minister admitted that addressing red tape lessens his passion for working with children, who require love and patience.
“They’re going to do things their way and not by the book,” he explained. “That may mean making mistakes during those baby Christian years.”
Still, Ministry Is Worth It!
Youth worker David Hausknecht said newbies should prepare to work within a perpetually, relentlessly tight schedule.
“Schedule in advance so you don’t get caught with last-minute details,” he said.
Pachey agrees. “There is no such thing as part-time ministry,” he said.
Time is just one of the challenges newbie youth workers face. During church renovation projects, the youth group may wind up without a home. Budget debates can lead to the cancellation of activities youth workers consider important.
Still, the new youth workers we talked to are not planning on changing careers.
“I was bragging to my young people about how much I’m spoiled to have a great group of kids who are going after God,” Joiner said.
“I’d love to continue as long as I can,” Saucedo said. “Although I face much adversity in my church, I believe that is where the Lord flourishes more.”
Recommended Resources for Rookies
Dinnell and Pachey identified Mike King’s Presence-Centered Youth Ministry: Guiding Students into Spiritual Formation as a very helpful resource for newbies. Hausknecht highly recommends Middle School Ministry: A Comprehensive Guide to Working with Early Adolescents by Mark Oestreicher and Scott Rubin.
“As a new middle school pastor, I find that I always can go back to that book as a reference for anything that comes up,” he explained. “I refer to it frequently in conversation.”
He also learned volumes from serving as an intern to another youth pastor, as well as a class called “Discipleship in Youth Ministry.”
“It forever has shaped how I approach ministry,” he said. “Every first-year youth minister needs older, wiser mentors who will walk with them on this brand-new journey.”
Joiner said he benefits immensely from consulting veteran leaders who have faced challenges similar to the ones he presently is experiencing. Jeanne Mayo, a reputable youth leader’s coach, mentored one such acquaintance of Joiner’s.
“Learn from the youth pastors in your denomination if you are a part of one; and if not, find some youth pastors you trust to mentor you,” he said.
Pachey praises books such as Max Lucado’s Fearless: Imagine Your Life Without Fear; Francis Chan’s Forgotten God: Reversing Our Tragic Neglect of the Holy Spirit; Anne Jackson’s Mad Church Disease: Overcoming the Burnout Epidemic; Jonathan Acuff’s Stuff Christians Like and Reggie Joiner’s Think Orange: Imagine the Impact When Church and Family Collide, as well as events such as Youth Specialties’ annual conventions and the Orange Conference.
“YS and Orange offer great workshops and seminars,” he said.
