Cheer them on as they navigate the weird, happy, and hurtful moments in their lives. Earn their trust by spending time with them, having fun with them, and keeping your promises to them. And that means that you have to start with relationships. You have to start there, with those students and their questions. When you first show up at your church, students are asking a few questions in their heads (some might even ask these questions out loud): Can we trust you? What are you going to do here? How long will you stay here? People want to be seen, heard, and cared about. Here they are…ĥ Priorities for Your First Year in Youth Ministry

You pull out your phone and start typing a note of the things that come to mind. What were the key things that you did to set yourself and your ministry up for success and sustainability? What were the things that you prioritized that others didn’t? Then you think back over your first year in youth ministry, those first twelve months. Half of those people have already quit their first ministry job (or been fired from it). But things didn’t work out like they thought they would. Your next thought is about the other people from your classes who started with such promise and enthusiasm. You’ve seen students surrender their lives to Christ, discover their spiritual gifts, and form amazing friendships with each other. However, your actual ministry is also more rewarding than you thought it would be. The textbooks explained things so seamlessly.īut in your actual ministry, you have to deal with unreasonable demands and imperfect people. In your classes, every theory worked out perfectly. Your next thought is about how ministry in the local church is different than you thought it would be. But you appreciate how they all tried to prepare you in their own ways.

Some of your professors were lively and engaging. Your first thought takes you back to your ministry classes in college (or seminary). You sit down at the table and start to reflect a little bit about your first two years in youth ministry. You wake up, go to the kitchen, and make a cup of coffee.

What if you could wake up two years from now and feel good about yourself, your church, and your ministry?Ĭonsidering the statistics about short youth pastor tenures and high youth minister burnout rates, that would be quite an accomplishment!

Andy stanley guardrails youtube