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
Sadly, the “metoo” movement has scared men from student ministries. I have seen and heard from many that tell me they don’t want to risk a false accusation against them. All it takes is one false accusation from a minor to ruin a man’s career and family life. I have personally seen this happen to a young man. Yes, we can strive to protect ourselves with having others with us, but you cannot stop a minor from making a false accusation. Currently there is no strong repercussion for such actions. Even if the individual is innocent the damage is so great that it is hard to restore one’s ministry after an event like this. This is why several young men avoid going into student ministry; they are afraid of the risk factors of false accusations.
As a veteran in YM of 24 years (20 years FT). Currently seeking a position. I m seeing people like myself seeking longevity and professionalism in thier calling. It is hard to find with lower pay then other staff members (trying to support a family) and short stays as church seek young faces, “magic bullets” , quick fixes in response to the Gen Z decline.
Good, qualified, well educated people are out there but they are leaving Ministry for the sake of thier own children/families/ marriages….and so are the youth of thier churches that so desperately need them.
After observing this from a church and denominational perspective I think that there is a decrease in the number of student pastors for a number of reasons.
1. Young men and women are not attracted to the ministry because they observe unreasonable behaviour from church members towards the church leaders. eg. Pastors to students are expected to “fix” the congregation’s kids – especially the leaders kids!!
2. Compliance with the many justified restrictions placed upon pastors today is becoming very onerous and many question when they will ever get the opportunity to do ministry as opposed administrating. In other words they just want to get on with ministry without the other hassles.
3. Many churches no longer challenge young people to serve in full time ministry. Therefore there is very little room for young men and women to sense the call of God on their life.
4. Churches often want the student pastor as a cheap financial option – and don’t provide an income that would sustain them and their family if they accept the position.
If I were to summarise this I would say that “fear” is a big deterrent. Fear of people and fear of not being able to serve God with freedom.
I normally don’t comment but I will this time. I just became a bi-vo pastor after 10 years in bi-vo student ministry. I think there are a few issues at hand that contribute: 1. Instant gratification: this is a cultural issue, and I wonder if it’s an issue in the church. Why do student ministry and learn when I can plant a church and be the boss? I’m not saying most or even a lot of people do this. But I’d be willing to bet some do.
2. Qualifications: much like a four year degree is the new high school diploma, an MDiv or equivalent is the new standard for many churches of size or resource. I was disqualified from many stumin jobs because of my lack of degree.
3. Toxic culture: I’ve never been treated as badly in the secular world as I have been treated by church leadership. I think guys get tired of being treated like crap so they walk. I was tempted to do the same many times.
Fortunately God has placed me and my family in a loving church and I’m able to serve as the pastor and hopefully maintain and increase an emotionally healthy culture. But I can see why we don’t have many student pastors running around. It’s a hard job. I loved it and was good at it. But now I get to be the one seeking these staff. : /
I think one of the factors is many younger pastors don’t want to move to a rural area. I know many rural churches looking for youth ministers that have struggled because many candidates want to stay in city or suburban environment.
Money is another factor. We had a part time youth pastor but had to let him go for moral reasons. We decided not to rehire because when we looked at our budget we didn’t have the money to afford a full time youth pastor and doubted a part time guy would come to a rural area. We decide to fill the position with volunteers. Now I’m doing both roles as pastor and youth pastor.
I think those are two factors in it as well.
We are seeing a different response. We live in NJ.
~ There are a ton of Christian colleges from PA up into Maine that are turning out great youth pastors. Young, eager, completely green. Typically after their first engagement is a summer internship at a larger church helping to see how others are doing, what they have only been learning about.
~ When we hired the last couple of Youth Pastors we had tons of resumes, narrowed down to a few candidates and were able to pick from several strong choices.
~ We have a very strong Youth program from babies through High School – so that makes a difference. Some churches might find it harder to hire if they have a work in progress and the new hire essentially has to start a Youth program.
~ We pay our Youth Pastor. It is a full time position with decent salary, a housing allowance and healthcare. The livable wage in NJ is over $40,000.00. You can’t in good conscience ask someone to work for you full time, and think you can pay them less than that.
~ When we were active in a Christian School we learned the concept of a feeder program. If you have three classrooms of kids in every grade, and one year the 1st grade or second grade only has 2 classrooms of kids. That gap stays with you through graduation. We see the same thing in our church. If we only have a few babies in our nursery, it also means we only have a few young parents attending (a gap). A strong middle School and High School program also means we have a strong group of parents actively engaging in small groups, SS, and outreach ministries.
~ Every church has their strengths and their focus. Our is multi-cultural and multi-generational. Why – because that is our community! According to BARNA Research, over 65% of Christians accepted Christ between Middle School and the end of College. we can quibble of the specifics but the number is staggering.
~ If this is the age when kids are coming to a saving knowledge – how can you not build a ministry to reach them?
~ We are not done. God never called us to be saved and sit back till we get to heaven. What better time to help build their faith, the spiritual disciples, BEFORE we send off to a college? It is part of growing up in their faith.
~ In my opinion – yes it takes time, money, resources, creativity and a ton of grace to have a successful Youth Ministry. But the rewards are amazing.
I have to say this cuts to the quick for me. I have had many years of Youth Ministry that were incredible – exceptional ministries and great relationships. I have also run into petty jealousy, blatant misuse of power, threats, back-stabbing and so much more. I have actually had one pastor who said these words to me: “You cannot have an invitation on Wednesday nights anymore because you are attracting too many undesirable teenagers to our church.” I’ve had another say “I am sick of the entire church having to step aside so the Youth Ministry can flourish.” Never once did any of these pastor’s talk to me or make any effort to figure things out, they just got angry because the Youth Ministry was successful, and it drove a wedge between us. I have been lied about, lied to, stabbed in the back, kicked when I am down, and shot when I was wounded. These things are real issues Youth Pastors face and it sucks, to say the least. If you don’t grow enough, you’re ineffective; if you grow too fast, you’re trying to make the rest of the ministries look bad. If you help out in other areas, you’re obligated to help from now on, even though others seldom help in your ministry; if you say no, you’re not a team player. The Youth Pastor is a dying breed because they are being exterminated. They will become extinct if these trends do not reverse. I have been working in the public school system for two years now, and I have to say there are great opportunities for ministry, but they are extremely limited and there is little freedom to really accomplish what needs to be done. The local church must do several things:
1. Pay a decent wage. When the Pastor makes more than double (sometimes triple) what the youth pastor makes, there is a problem, yet this is very common.
2. Protect the family time of the youth pastor. Allow him to take time off and actually BE with his family. Give him the ability to GO somewhere from time to time without being responsible for a thousand youth – Youth Camp or Mission Trip is NOT a vacation!
3. Value his leadership. Allow him to have a voice and give him freedom to exercise his gifts as God intends – take away the BOX you have built for him and let him go.
4. Accept that sometimes, the most genuine source of excitement in a church body is THE YOUTH MINISTRY. That should be a good thing! Where the kids are happy, the parents will definitely settle in!
5. Stop expecting the Youth Pastor to be the JACK OF EVERYTHING in the church. Just because he is a youth pastor doesn’t mean he wants to be the IT guy, the set builder, the costume person and everything else within the church. Most of us are very talented people, and we think differently from anyone else you know. We also usually have a very tough time saying NO to anyone for anything. That doesn’t make us evil when we fail – it means we are spread too thin.
6. INVOLVE the youth in the rest of the church – DON’T ISOLATE THEM in the Youth Room! Teach them to be servants WITH the rest of the body. If you do not take an active roll in teaching them to serve, don’t be upset when they don’t hold the door for the old ladies or when they don’t volunteer for VBS. If the only time they see you is when you need them for something, they will know you are not truly interested in them (in fact, you are using them), and they will not be interested in YOU.
7. I could write on this topic for days and barely scratch the surface. I would welcome conversation and discussion about these topics with anyone who would like to talk.
Given everything I have faced and all I have felt in my 40 years of Youth Ministry, I would DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN A THOUSAND TIMES. I was never called to be a “Senior Pastor” (whatever that really means). I was called to serve God in working with teenagers. Now that I am old, I find it difficult to find a church that wants my gifts and talents, but I still am called to this ministry, and if I cannot do it in a local church, I will do it wherever else I can.
You have to decide what student pastor means. It could be high school students, undergrads, graduate/med/law students, or post-grad/young professionals. There is a huge difference in each of the groups. Also, you need more than just men. Women in these groups will want to talk to other women in ministry. In some churches, the top or top two groups have associate clergy tasked with ministering to them. This makes more sense as they want full-fledged (ordained) clergy to talk to if they have questions or actually attend the service.
Also, I wish seminary students would fill some of these roles in their training.
Hey Thom,
I’ve seen a lot of great insight from others on this thread already.
My background: I have been serving vocationally in youth ministry for 12 years. I am a graduate of Howard Payne University in Brownwood, TX as well as Southern Seminary in Louisville, KY.
Here are some things I’m seeing right now:
It’s getting harder and harder to find young men that possess the emotional intelligence with which to lead youth ministries. Across all industries, it is increasingly recognized that college graduates are currently lacking in soft-skills. Youth ministry, though administratively challenging at times, primarily requires soft-skills that many young men don’t have. In hiring and working with young youth ministers, I’ve found myself more concerned about what they’ll say compared to what they’ll do. I would guess that any industry that skews young in its hiring will find itself lacking qualified (if EQ is needed) candidates right now.
The refinement of family ministry philosophies is driving educational and hiring focuses. Even the name “youth ministry” has a connotation of being dated and irrelevant to today’s increased focus on familial discipleship. Family Ministry degrees are gaining the attention of students who want to minister to teens. As you stated, many churches are now looking for family pastors rather than student pastors. When done well, the youth ministries in these churches take a jump to the next level, continuing to offer a great ministry to teens while increasing the impact in the home. Done poorly, hiring bodies merely get to say that now their church has a “family ministry,” a goal in many churches today. A holistic family ministry will include a healthy ministry to students. A secondary issue in this area is the plurality of churches that see youth ministry and family ministry at odds with one another. In turn, candidates for positions are being forced to articulate a choice in favor of either youth or family ministry. As I’ve developed my philosophy of family ministry, I’ve had to answer the question, “where can I serve on staff as a youth pastor that runs a family ministry playbook?”
This is probably just a restatement of what I just said, but I’ll say it anyway… The youth pastor position is in flux. Churches are reacting to years of data pointing out that youth are graduating high school and then leaving the church in droves. Well-meaning churches are looking for solutions. The expectations, goals, and deliverables from youth pastors are changing. With changing expectations comes the challenge of really nailing down what you’re looking for.
The compensation issue is real. It costs the same to get an M.Div. for future senior pastors and future student pastors. I have many friends who have walked away from youth (and children’s) ministries due to the financial burden it has placed on their families. I am very grateful for the schools I’ve attended and their attempts to make education affordable. Additionally, the churches I’ve served have been a considerable asset in this area. Churches need to have a better plan for facilitating bi-vocational employees. If the job pays like it’s part-time, then it needs to be structured that way.
In my Southern Baptist tradition, there seems to be premium placed on the preaching of the Word in a pulpit ministry. I’m currently a beneficiary of this emphasis in our congregation. However, many students in school, deliberating on where they’ll spend their first years of ministry, will find themselves drawn toward this focus. Accordingly, youth ministry may be seen as a temporary stop along the way to the ultimate goal of filling a pulpit faithfully.
Many potential candidates have not experienced the joy of being shepherded by a loving pastor. Pastoral care has never been experienced and therefore cannot be readily administered. I sense a shift back toward people away from programs in the church. As we’re making this shift, a generation of young leaders who are products of programs will have to learn how to exhibit pastoral care.
A comment on your final point: cultural Christianity is in decline. As this trend continues, students without parents in the church are going to frequent our doors less often. I feel like this will keep pushing churches toward the goal of equipping parents to lead spiritually as opposed to reaching as many teenagers for Christ as possible. Quite simply, all leaders want a scorecard that looks good. It’s going to become increasingly easier to motivate parents who are committed to the church than attract the teenagers that are far from it. Please hear me when I say, I don’t believe churches will do this intentionally in an underhanded way. But, success and failure tend to drive our aspirations and focus. This will most likely continue the increase in “family pastors” with the decline of “student pastors.”
Finally, I think most search committees and teams could use some training prior to beginning and facilitating a search. I’ve sat in many, and heard of many more, interviews where the people doing the hiring have openly admitted to “not knowing what they’re doing.” When the process is poor, it leaves too many opportunities for qualified and right-fit candidates to be missed. Qualified candidates will move on to the churches that do the hiring process well.
Thom, thank you for asking the question “where have all the student pastors gone?” Student ministry is a field full of people who have made the conscious decision to stay amid adversity. You’ve added value to our efforts merely by asking the question.
If I would have let the first youth pastor job I had leave a lasting impression, I would have chosen not do do youth ministry again. After doing other ministry jobs over the past 25 years, I was blessed to be offered a Middle School Minister position. So I tell everyone that I got my dream job at 49. A lot of people think what are you doing, I tell them I am doing what I am called to do, work with middle school students. I have been on staff for 5 years now starting my 6th year.
Part of the problem that I see is that the cost of education along with what they think they are worth does not pan out. I do agree that they need the education and then that they should be paid well, but because of the debt they start out with they are not able to keep up. So then they feel cheated because of they are not living a lifestyle they want. This is when they will go and work in the secular world instead that pays more and I think in the long run they will feel miserable because of them not living out God’s call on their life.
I believe God still calls young men into the student ministry, but there needs to be the mentoring in their lives as well as the education. The new youth pastor is usually dropped in the middle of the youth group and say OK , lock the door when you are done, given no advice, just keep them out of trouble. When a young person accepts the call, start the mentoring process. Let them intern, this is not just do the dirty work, but teach them, love and encourage them along the way. This I believe will help develop strong youth leaders.
I have read many youth pastors and former youth pastor’s comments who point out the short comings of the churches: low pay, unrealistic expectations, too many hours, low view of the position, poor senior pastoral leadership, etc. I was a youth minister for 17 years before becoming a senior pastor where I have served for the past 23 years. I agree with some of those statements (and lived through them.) However, all of the problem is not in the churches, seminaries, or senior pastors. We have had 3 different youth ministers over the past 16 years in the church where I now serve. Each was in their mid-20s. We experienced the same problems with all 3. They all loved the kids and wanted to spend time with them – and that seemed to be the extent of youth ministry. I have observed a diminishing work ethic (20 -24 hours is NOT full time.) I have also observed a refusal to do the “dull” work: budgeting, scheduling, enlisting, recruiting and training workers, reviewing curriculum, etc. It seems that each of the 3 wanted to be a 1-man show. None wanted to work with a committee or ministry team. Hanging out with the kids is part of the job but only part of it – there is much more. The 1-man show adds to the burn out and frustration some have talked about. It never builds longevity or creates a healthy, stable environment in the youth group. Thus, they move on, leaving the church wondering where to find someone who will build a healthy program.
I think it’s an undervalued position and so often viewed as a stepping stone into Sr. Pastor. Leadership models that seek out Godly Qualified youth pastors and also include them in executive level leadership positions add value to this role. For me, I feel like an effective member of the staff who has a voice. Really, we need to adjust our view on the hierarchy of pastors. Of course the lead pastor is in charge, but should be a 1st among equals. Give youth pastors a seat at table and I think you’ll have less attrition.