I received yet another inquiry today: “Do you have any recommendations for a student minister? We just can’t seem to find one. We’ve been looking for over six months.”
For several years, I would get similar inquiries about worship leaders or worship pastors. Today, there seems to be a dearth of both worship pastors and student pastors. So, where have all the student pastors gone? I asked some key leaders I trust on this issue. Here are their and my perspectives:
- A number of young leaders decided to plant a church rather than enter into or continue in youth ministry. Youth ministry traditionally has been a field dominated by young males. Many of these young males began narrowing their vocational choices to student ministry or church planting. A large number decided to plant churches. On the one hand, that’s a really good development. We definitely need more church planters. On the other hand, many churches are now pleading for student pastors.
- Fewer schools are offering training in student ministry. It’s a chicken or egg question. Are fewer schools offering this training and, as a consequence, fewer young people are becoming student pastors? Or, are fewer young people seeking the training and, thus, the schools are closing the programs because of diminished demand? Either way, there are fewer trained youth ministers.
- It is becoming increasingly common for many churches to call a student pastor from their own congregations. These youth ministers then do not always seek training from a college or seminary and, thus, the schools often close their programs. Smaller churches typically do not have the pool of internal candidates the larger churches do. And these churches are among the most frustrated in their search for student pastors.
- Some churches have eliminated the position of student pastor and replaced it with a family pastor position. Family pastors often have much broader roles than ministering to middle school and/or high school students. Thus, these churches have lost a specific focus on student ministry for adolescents.
- Fewer middle school and high school students attend church. The Gen Z generation has fewer in church than previous generations. This development is not new. It began with both Gen X and the Millennials. But the trend continues unabated. Fewer students means a diminished need for student pastors.
A number of churches that contact me believe a good student pastor is the magic bullet solution to help grow their churches and make them younger. If a church is in decline and growing older, it is unlikely that one person can reverse those trends. The church as a whole must change first and follow in greater obedience to the Great Commission.
I am curious. Are you seeing this same dearth of student pastors? Have you been looking for one for your church unsuccessfully? I would love to hear your story on this topic. Let me hear from you.
Posted on March 4, 2019
With nearly 40 years of ministry experience, Thom Rainer has spent a lifetime committed to the growth and health of local churches across North America.
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118 Comments
Student ministry has been a source of much grief in my experience as a parent compared to that of my own as a teen who benefited from a thriving church youth group with committed adult lay leaders and a full time middle-aged youth pastor who lived his calling with gusto and Christ-likeness.
We landed at our current church years ago because we were told the youth ministry was incredibly effective – the teens graduating were seeking to follow God and many entered full time ministry. We loved the preaching and yearned for an excellent program for our (future) teens, and so we made it our church home.
Now 7 years later, we have had two youth pastors – one left after just a couple years to- wait for it – plant his own church. The second /current has preaching gifts but little skill or zeal to grow the teens’ faith or Bible literacy or even grow the youth group numerically. (Our youth group has plummeted from about 40 when we arrived to now about 8 teens, and this is kids from 6th grade to 12 grade combined!)
Unique to our church perhaps and what makes this even sadder and more maddening is that our youth pastor is paid very well with excellent benefits and housing/car allowance, too. The compensation and hours is not the problem. Further, our leadership gives no oversight to this youth program nor holds it to any standard, leaving it to beleaguer. Our prediction is that this younger pastor is biding time until there is an open door for him to pastor his own church. We are close to the quitting line as a family, but it breaks our heart; moreover, it’s confusing to watch our leadership sit back and do nothing while this vital segment of our church body wastes away. Other ministries in our church are more or less thriving (kids, women, men) and so this further astounds and disappoints.
All that to say, yes, we experience on a personal level the lack of vision and availability of excellent youth ministry in an average-sized church; it’s heart-breaking.
Beth-
I just typed a LOOOOOOOOONG response to your comment, and accidentally typed in the wrong email address (misspelled my own name!) and it emptied it out instead of saving my response. I had some ideas that may (or may not?) help your situation.
1) Pray- it changes hearts, not just circumstances. One of those hearts may be your own though, and how you see the Youth Pastor. (not implying that you need a change of heart, but prayer for people I am frustrated with, usually leaves me less frustrated)
2) Talk to him directly, privately and respectfully. Don’t go have a talk with the pastor complaining about the youth pastor, give him the respect you would hope someone would give you and speak with him about your concerns. They’re valid, but you will almost 100% guaranteed find out there is more going on behind the scenes than you realized, and maybe see more of his heart that you weren’t aware of. He’s in ministry, God has placed a calling on his life than nobody else has to answer for but him. If he’s legit, he’ll respond accordingly.
3) Offer to help! You may already be, but if not, you may be part of the solution. Rather than sitting back and complaining (not saying you, I just mean all of us in general), we should only raise concerns or complaints when we can offer a solution, and that solution may be your involvement. You obviously have a passion and a heart for students and where they are in life already, and that makes you a likely candidate to be a positive force within that ministry.
4) Speak positively about him in public. I don’t mean to be dishonest or to not be genuine, but tell people how great a student minister your church has. If you want them to know how bad he is, tell them that, and see how damaging it can be. You’d be surprised how people will buy in, and it sounds like you have a sphere of influence already, we just have to make sure to use it for good. I don’t mean to feed his ego, but find the good things to comment on, encourage him personally and publicly, and watch him grow. It’s the same as with your kids, you don’t berate them in public, you praise them and tell others how proud you are of them. THEN….when you get home, you probably correct them or whatever, but his confidence in his own ministry will grow if he’s given feedback as to the things he does well. He’ll get even better at those, and probably be more bold in trying other things he’s not so good at (like the concerns you raised in certain areas) because he believes in himself, or he feels the love and support of a church family behind him on a common mission.
This was an abbreviated response, believe it or not, but it deleted my first attempt. Hope it’s helpful, and if not, I apologize, and just notify me if he ever DOES move on and you have an opening for Student Pastor there! 🙂
Beth-
I’ve tried replying twice now to your comment. Thought I had some practical ideas that may help, but maybe this website disagrees.
Hi, Beth!
I should preface my comments by saying that I have been serving as a youth pastor for almost 10 years. Further, my only intent is to encourage! I am sincerely sorry that your experience with youth ministry has been less than stellar.
Numerical growth is an understandable concern for parents. If numbers are dropping, the natural inclination is to assume that there is a problem and that it originates at the top. In your situation, perhaps it does. Of course, I cannot say for sure.
The student ministry numbers at my church have decreased by approximately 30% since I began serving here four years ago. However, the reason for our decline has primarily been a drastic offset in the ratio of graduating students to incoming middle schoolers. For example, three years ago, we had 22 seniors, two years ago we had 20, and this year we have 17. But in those three years, we have had (will have) less than 15 middle schoolers—combined—move up into student ministry. There are two who will move up this year. But our children’s ministry consists of about 160 kids (infant to 6th grade). The reality is that there are seasons like this.
Our leadership (student ministry specifically, as well as our staff as a whole) have had not a few discussions about what to do. But, we are not focused on numbers. There was a time in ministry when I lamented those who were absent more so than I celebrated those who were present. And I did it in front of the students in attendance. Thankfully, the Lord led me to repent of that attitude, and I apologized to my students
Our focus is on the spiritual maturity of our students, whether that is 8 or 108 teenagers. While our numbers have declined, spiritual growth has been exponential! Why? I believe it is because we are unapologetically gospel-centered as we challenge our students. We have incredible adult volunteer buy-in, which is vital. Our students are sharing their faith, inviting friends to our services and events, serving on mission trips, etc. But none of that has equated numerical growth. However, all of that has contributed to spiritual growth.
I am unsure how involved you are with student ministry at your church, but I would encourage you in a couple of ways:
1. Seek to discover how you can contribute to the spiritual growth of the students who remain at your church.
2. Pray for your current youth pastor.
3. Talk with your current youth pastor in love and compassion. You mention that he seems to have “little skill or zeal to grow the teens’ faith or Bible literacy.” Is there a way your could encourage him in this? Maybe he has simply found himself going through the motions and needs that encouragement. Or perhaps he could offer an explanation.
Quite frankly, student ministry needs parents like you who care! Too often, parents are more concerned about who their kids’ athletic coaches are than who is teaching them spiritual things. I am thankful for your heart, and I pray that God uses you in an awesome way at your church, as I am certain He already has!
As a youth pastor who has navigated those waters before let me encourage you. Instead of being negative and blaming, offer to help the youth pastor. There is probably no one who feels the weight of the currently situation more than he does. Offer him a lifeline and support not more fuel for the fire of feeling like a failure. Have him and his family over for dinner and share your concerns along with the pledge that you’re on his team and have his back and are willing to help him have a successful ministry. (Btw success is not higher attendance)
I’ve had been in youth/student ministry for nearly 15 years. I had a call on my life specifically for students so I don’t take this topic lightly.
Is it possible that youth ministry has seen its demise? There has been historically a bait and switch feeling that students have spoken to me about. Event/entertainment driven, giveaways, high energy, smoke and lights that students wisely rejected. They want genuine talk and action. But parents and upper leadership want their kids to “like” church so that means fun. Yes, it is a crime to bore somebody with the gospel. Yet, there is intrinsically a lack of pastoral balance that is impossible due to unrealistic expectations.
Students get taught at higher levels with higher expectations in school than they ever have in church.
Give me a lead pastor ok with slow genuine growth, not flashpan quickness, that pays and respects the position as equally eldership/co-leader and then you will see the return of a roll defined loosely as Student pastor.
I resonate with this so much.
I agree. In my years as a student pastor I saw steady growth in discipleship with my students but we never became the “it” youth group in town, which is what the leadership wanted. Eventually I was replaced. When one of the girls asked why she was told that the youth group wasn’t growing. She replied, “But I’ve grown a lot!”
Most church’s idea of youth ministry is pizza parties and gaga ball.
Some of the youth pastors that I’ve served with have hit some roadblocks or ceilings as they’ve served over the years. As we all know leading from the middle can be challenging.
1. Many of them saw needs for changes that were not shared by their lead pastors.
2. Attractional approaches have dominated approved approaches for student ministry when the generation they were serving was hungry for missional leadership.
3. Others have started families and found it challenging to balance meeting the needs of their family while meeting the time and financial commitments necessary to be effective in student ministry.
4. Others still, have grown weary because their efforts don’t seem to translate to the life change and revival they hope to achieve.
5. Many of us did not take engage in effective succession planning and were stuck when we knew we were running out of steam but did not have passionate and equipped individuals to pass the baton to.
6. Some of the lead pastor’s they served under were intimidated by their success. Sometimes that translated to a lack of support by the lead pastor (in front of the congregation or behind closed doors).
7. Finally, some are still pastoring students without their titles. For some of the students who have left the four walls, these student pastors have left the 99 for the ones who have fallen away or are cast and in need of a shepherd’s care.
Perhaps the problem is that student ministers are often not paid a living wage. The one’s I’ve seen don’t generally pay enough to support a new family.
I recently stepped out of student ministry after 15 years and moved into a pastorate role. In my tenure as a student pastor I was able to only see one group of students go from JH to HS graduation. Out of those students, several are active in missions, ministries, and even in student ministry. I think one of the contributing factors is that the current generation values genuine relationship in its leaders. If a student pastor is not able to have longevity, for whatever reason, and demonstrate genuine relationships, its difficult to communicate that God is relationally calling people into ministry service.
Very good point!
Hello Thom,
A very appropriate article. This comment is from a second career person who’s been looking for months for a church to serve in.
I watched a Q and A of notable pastors who were discussing that universities and seminaries cannot fill their seats any longer due to high costs and very low pay after graduation.
Most churches l see flying positions want a masters degree candidate for 1/2 of what someone would make elsewhere with the same education.
There are denimations who assist or pay for seminary but division between conservative churches and their liberal seminaries are preventing the next generation of pastors to be sponsored.
As church population shrinks, there are less financial assets to assist.
Is it prudent for seminaries to revamp programs for effective ministry to small churches? Yes, but it lowers income for them.
Do small and rural churches need candidates with a masters? Probably not. The district person with an post grad degree could adequately back up those rare theological concerns that come up.
These churches could then get staffed with those who want to be there instead of a frustrated youngster who is just resume building.
I have 30 years of lay ministry in all aspects of the church with school of ministry education, 2 masters, and a great work history. I like small churches and older congregations and feel called. However, at 60, l cannot afford another MS/MA for the poverty level pay. So, the church needs to reassess whether a masters is really necessary.
Many rural places now have one doctor with nurse practitioners and physicians assistants covering many clinics withMD oversight, telemedicine and referral as necessary. Maybe we need a new paradigm in church to coincide with the new reality.
It is interesting that in the pioneering days of our country, many churches started without pastors and sent back east or to the old country for pastors only when they thought they could afford it. In colonial days one pastor rode a circuit and might visit a congregation only a few times a year. The lesson in this is that laity can plant churches and might even be good at it. Today we invest tons of dollars in securing the position of a pastor before anything can happen. So do we need a new paradigm? You bet!
I think that new paradigm must be based on a bi-vocational model in tandem with a seminary or bible college. Students receive training in both theology and in a skilled trade. This qualifies a candidate to provide for he and his family while simultaneously working in ministry… youth, worship, foreign missions, etc. How does this work? What does this cost? How do we get it accredited?
Smarter people have to answer that question…
DC
I have been saying this thing for years!!!!! God is moving us in this way – just what skill or trade should be taught along side Theology?
I know your question above was not seeking solutions, but taking a look at your second bullet point (It is becoming increasingly common for many churches to call a student pastor from their own congregations) why can’t local churches do a better job of helping other local churches? In other words, if there is a need in a sister church help then help each other out. Let’s say there is more than one qualified student pastor in a local church that maybe more younger and possibly larger in its membership. And then let’s say there is a church that is older who recognizes the need for a student pastor who is more than just a magic bullet. These churches could connect together to train up student pastors or potentially a whole new generation of senior pastors. Please, don’t mistake that statement to mean that I am advocating that student pastors just use the student ministry as a stepping stone to another ministry. I say all this to ask do you see any kind of moves toward churches letting down there guard to connect with and help other churches grow in a ministerial need areas like this one?
@Trevor “why can’t local churches do a better job of helping other local churches?”
I’ve struggled to understand and answer this question for several years.
@Thom As a response to small congregations, under 200 lets say, most positions are not full-time or even volunteer filled.
Our small congregation committed several years ago to provide a safe and positive environment for a quality young man to examine God’s call in his life and gain practical experience on the ministry field. All have gone on to full time ministry roles. We are currently without a student pastor as we have not been able to find anyone who meets our criteria.
Your story is too common, Mark.
Unfortunately my experience was that I was shot, burned, and stabbed in the back as a student pastor, and saw so many students getting treated the same way by the established churches across the country that that is when my wife and I decided we had to come up with an alternative solution (a new church in the community). Student Ministry has been treated as an afterthought and a nuisance more often than not anymore and so we no longer feel that we can trust the established American Church.
I am sorry, Andrew.
This is 100% true.
Teen/student ministry is a neglected ministry, and youth pastors are viewed as :
scapegoats
unimportant
stupid
immature (does things to engage youth, thus immature)
uneducated (regardless of level of education)
a dime a dozen
Just to name a few.
I’ve been a studnet pastor now go coming up on 18 years. The Lord has been gracious during this time to allow me to stick around this long and be fruitful.
I agree with your sentiments and would add a few things…
1- These very churches that cannot find a studnet pastor are often the same churches that believe that students pastors can “age out” of their calling. Which is interesting because when studnet ministers are younger they are deemed immature, when older too mature. It’s a vicious cycle.
2- Many, many, many student minsters I talk to often feel like second rate ministers in their churches. Whether its from a leadership structure that tiers positions (executive leadership, family team leadership, directors, etc…) or hearing their pastor, when they finally get a chance to preach, say – “aren’t our youth blessed.” These comments and tiers cause the student minster to be perceived and truthfully feel as if they are less important ministers that others on staff.
3- It’s a grind… yet with less personal resources… how many studnet ministers can actually afford a night out, a week long vacation at the beach or even gym membership? We see and hear of so many pastors recommending time off, sabbaths, etc.. and most studnet ministers can’t afford it these things. Then seeing “famous pastors/church planters” post on social media of their elaborate time away it makes many student ministers feel insecure and inadequate. And then there’s raising a family…
4- I would also argue many studnet ministers move into church planting (this is nothing new) because they serve in churches/under pastors they believe they can minsister better than. They grow frustrated with the lack of fruit/growth/leadership/mentorship/etc… leaving less student minsters available.
I have many more thoughts but that’s it for now.
Thanks, Josh.
As a Youth Pastor, I agree so much with these comments.
Thank you so much Josh. In regard to your second point, I’ve served under a pastor that really respected and supported me and under one that did not. It makes a huge difference to have a pastor who makes you feel important.
YES!! Our church is currently looking and it is very difficult. I was a youth minister for many years before becoming a pastor and great youth ministers seemed to be everywhere. Now, it’s very difficult to fill that position with a quality candidate. Same thing with children’s ministers.
True.
There are a few things at play. I believe there is some shifting of ministry mindset amongst the millennial generation leaders. I have seen that the thought of student pastor is not as strong as it was in older generations. One reason is the rise in focus on discipleship, specifically Deut. 6, the family unit is seen as responsible for biblical discipleship which I believe most people would agree. As a result, the focus is shifting away from targeting directluy the students but parents instead. As a minister, it becomes more diffuclt to minister as that has traditionally been the Senior/ Lead pastor’s role. Thus, churches have turned to family pastor positions to unify the ministries of Children, Students, and Young Families (parents) so that they can have the flexibility to cast one vision and have one person leading the charge with directors (lay persons) aiding in accomplishing those goals of being a more Bible focused discipleship engine.
Also, I think it is important to talk about the financial issues facing those in student ministry. Many churches are not paying realistic salaries. The churches struggling the most to find student pastors seem to be those that are in the salary range of $30-40,000. When all things considered the average hours worked for a student minister is somewhere around 50-60 hours with some weeks being (closer to 80 hours).
Total time: 54 hours
Total Package: $35k
Self Employment Tax is 15.3%: $5,355
Housing allowance: $12,000 (that is a house note of around $800 a month plus expenses).
Low End Health Insurance for a family of 4 through Guidstone is around: $400 a month ($4,800/yr)
Taxable income: 18,200
Tithe: $3,500/yr
Monthly income for groceries, gas, entertainment, clothes, cars, upkeep, dates, and medical expenses ($10,500 family deductible), etc: $1,225.
This is without paying in anything for taxes outside of the social security tax. The unfortunate truth is that churches, many churches, can’t afford or chose not to pay a married man with children what is necessary to bring in a student pastor. For an unmarried person or a married person who has a spouse that can work it might be feasible. But you aren’t going to have experienced people readily accepting these positions. Thus, the pool shrinks and the difficulty of finding a minister increases.
Really, it is a lot of factors at play, there isn’t a magic solution. But here are some thoughts as to ways to help reverse the trends.
– Churches need to change their pay expectations to be realistic for the work at hand. Student ministry has its difficulties and long hours that makes family life difficult for the minister. They need to be compensated fairly for it. Also, most of the time, the spouse is expected to be an intricate part of the ministry as a result working a job is difficult for them if they are to be present for the same kinds of events the minister is expected to attend.
– Alter the student ministry position. Yes, the traditional student ministry position is not in line with the discipleship models we have been teaching in seminary. We explain how the parents are the first line of disciplers but do not expect the students pastor to conduct the ministry as such. If the church is blessed with a children’s ministry position, then they need to be working with or under the student minister to help push a unified discipleship model with the parents.
– Better aid student pastors to see their position as an opportunity to be discipled and equipped for all the future holds. Pastors need to take these student pastors and mentor them more than most pastors do. As a result, they will be better equipped for when the Lord calls them into a new ministry in the future.
– We need to place a better focus on evangelism again. We have focused heavily on discipleship but failed to maintain the same vigor for evangelism. It is both/and not either/or. It will aid in church growth and having more workers for the field.
– Most importantly, we absolutely must pray for God to raise up his ministers for the work, to call new people to the ministry. We need faithful servants to raise up and step up.
I had no intention on writing this much, especially since I am no expert but it’s what I see before me.
It is hard in small churches no matter what position. My salary is 26,000 and I work at least 35 days a month, some months every day of the week. After taxes and health insurance (which comes out of my paycheck) I bring home about 800 a month and work anywhere from 40 to 80 hours a week. The congregation is doing the best that they can, but it is hard.
Thanks, Ben.
It is tiring to see churches expect a young adult with a wife and possibly children to work for $35 k per week – total.
And to expect his wife to work so they can live and put in another 20 hours per week in the church (two for one salary) is absolutely absurd.
Too many blue collar workers don’t see the value of a 6-7 year undergrad/grad education. They don’t mind paying a CPA $120-200 per hour (he/she usually has a 4-year degree in accounting and passed the CPA exam) or a lawyer $250-380 per hour (he/she has 7 years of education), but a religious professional – duh; they ain’t worth that much, some say.
After not having received a pay raise for 7 years, at a time when the church went from 140 members to 270, when I finally asked for a raise, I was told I could have 1.77% increase because “thata is all social security was paying”.
Two years later, I left the church. Through; done; finished.
It is little wonder anyone will go into the ministry now.
I agree with you! I am been serving at this church for over two years, and it is getting hard for me right now financially, with my house payement and medical insuracne. I am trying to figure waht my next move is. I love youth minstry I have been in ministry now for 10 years and most of that time has been in youth ministry.
I think there are 4 main reason why there is a shortage of youth pastors.
1. As said before, many churches are not willing to pay a livable salary for a youth pastor. I see midsize churches all of the time looking for a full-time youth pastor with a masters degree from seminary for under 45k/yr. A majority of the time those churches do not offer health insurance, so a salary under 45k with no health insurance is difficult.
Also, remember, many churches do not look favorably on youth pastor’s wives working a full-time job (They fear the wife won’t be involved enough in the ministry).
2. Too many churches want youth pastors with Master’s degree. I see midsize churches requiring a Master’s degree for their potential youth pastor all of the time. A seminary degree is a awesome thing but it does not make you a good youth pastor. (this is coming from a guy with a M.Div and working on a Th.M, so I am not anti-education)
3. Many churches do not view youth pastors as “real pastors.” This one has been around for a while, but still is relevant.
4. I think many millennial ministers are fed up with traditional-style churches so they avoid most churches that are not a certain size or not in a urban area. (I am a millennial btw)
First it was Ministers of Education; now, youth pastors and maybe children’s pastors.
In the SBC during the late-90’s, youth pastors’ desire to see parents lead their own teens/children in biblical discipleship resulted in major changes to Sunday School curriculum, with that desire stated specifically. Probably, those youth pastors did not envision themselves being replaced by family pastors years later.
Congregations wanting to impact their communities as they can simply should practice again the tried-n-true 5-Step Realville Ministry Model whose Step 3 addresses staffing–after Steps 1 and 2 prayerfully address discovering potential and developing related plans.
I am currently a student pastor and have friends who are looking to serve at a new church. On e in particular has at least 2 -3 years experienced and Graduates this spring (online) and married. If anyone is looking let me know I have at least 2 more who are well grounded and have been successful in their past ministries.
I’d love to have his resume
Email me at [email protected]
Shoot me an email [email protected]
Thanks, Dan.
We are looking. We are a Fl. Church of 2000 + attendance. Contact at [email protected]
Check out Salem church of Christ. We’re looking for a family life minister. http://www.churchofchristsalem.org/job-openings/
That is really interesting. I have been a Youth Pastor for over 40 years, and these days, because of my age, I cannot get a call back at all. I have been told that churches are looking for someone young and hip or whatever, and us old guys are no longer the desirable age. I am an exceptional Youth Pastor and have the track record to prove it. I still work with youth but I teach Middle School and have a lot of opportunities to provide ministry there. I am an active soul-winner, an intense preacher and a strong disciple-maker, but no one wants an old guy any more!
You are right, churches have a very narrow idea of what a youth pastor is suppose to be, even more so than senior pastor.
It’s been 44 years, for me, Gary, and I can sooooo relate to you. Churches just don’t seem to understand how much of an advantage experience is in the challenging, often flat-out difficult arena of student ministry. They also assume that we can’t relate to teenagers, anymore, simply because THEY can’t relate to them, anymore. I sure wish I was wise enough to come up with a solution.
I think no one wants to even talk about the experience you bring to the table and just assume they couldn’t afford you and don’t even try.
I don’t think age would be an issue with us. In fact our elders might prefer it. We’re currently a small church looking for a family life minister and we’re going on about 6 months now. I’m the childrens director so it would be awesome to have one more person to help with moving the church forward to where God wants it to be. Check out: http://www.churchofchristsalem.org/job-openings/ if you’re still looking
Send me your resume…
We are looking and would love to hear from you. Let’s talk:)
Perhaps the problem is framed in your response itself. Many people look at Student Ministry as a stepping stone to something bigger. In your post, it goes from being a student minister to being a pastor. Pastoring is a calling and gift. Nowhere in scripture does God put an age (nor size for that matter) on the flock he calls you to.
I was a Student Ministries Pastor for over 25 years at a couple of large churches. I grew weary of feeling like I was less of a pastor because I didn’t work with “big” people. As I grew older it was troublesome to me that I was consistently having people wonder why I hadn’t become a “real” pastor (yes, this was said to me more than once). I loved working with students in the development of their spiritual lives, but I did get tired of being the party planner. I do not think students wanted the party planner for that matter, but their parents (and the senior pastor) expected it. The overnighters, Super Bowl parties, Lock-in’s, etc. are all fun, but is that what my ministry would be measured by…. how many came to such events. It was frustrating. I measure my ministry impact now by the students who are involved in ministry, in healthy marriages, pouring into others, etc. Not by how many I tried to entertain.
I have my baggage, I was fired 2 different times by Senior Pastor’s who (in my opinion) felt threatened by me. It is a tough job and I have at times thought about trying to get back in but don’t think many churches will take a chance on a 53-year-old former Student Ministries Pastor who has been fired twice (without cause). I am now in public education and get to invest in kids on a daily basis without having to plan on Spaghetti feed.
A tough profession that is getting tougher. I always try and invest in future student pastors by telling them to be a student of the culture they are called to. The problem is the expectations by the people who pay the salary… because that group is different than the group you are ministering to.
The last student pastor we had was on the job maybe a month. It was discovered that he was having a homosexual relationship with a young adult (not student or youth) who ocassionally attended our church.
He was confronted, he admitted and stepped down. His school was contacted.
We haven’t had another one in the ten years or so since.
To understand your post… you decided not to hire a youth pastor because you do not need one or are you shell shocked because of the sinful actions of one individual and therefore all youth ministers/pastors participate in this sinful act?