Let’s take a little departure from small groups today so we can try to give a fellow youth worker a little help. So what do you think, do you have any suggestions or encouragement for this youth worker?
I am struggling in my youth ministry. I have been involved in youth ministry for over 10 years off and on but always as the assistant, not the “youth pastor.” Well, now I am the youth pastor but I also have a “real job” which is important because my son gets rather grumpy when I can’t feed him. My youth ministry is struggling due to my lack of time and I am frustrated beyond belief.
I think that someday God might lead me to a senior pastor position but right now I can’t see anything that fulfills my life more than my wife, my son and my youth ministry.
Do you have any suggestions for helping bi-vocational youth ministers to still have a thriving youth ministry?
As always, feel free to send in your own questions via the contact page!
[Photo by: KaroliK]
No related posts.
{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
A couple of things come to mind but first of all, I have to say that I'm always humbled by people who juggle family, jobs and ministry. You guys are amazing!!
Here are a couple of things I would suggest…
Do you have other volunteers working with you? If you have a team or can recruit one, it'll be easier to stay on top of ministry stuff. Divide up the responsibilities so that you're not trying to do everything yourself.
Also, are there any other healthy youth ministries in your community? Could you partner with another youth pastor on some things? The great thing about doing that is that your students get to hang out with another group and you're able to do more activities/events without doing all the work.
The most important thing (and, by far, the most difficult thing) is to create boundaries so that you don't burn out. It's easy to let youth ministry become a 24/7 thing but you can't keep that up forever. You won't be effective in ministry if you're totally exhausted, frustrated and overwhelmed. That's a lesson I learned the hard way.
I'll be praying for you. Keep us posted!!