Looking for a Job?

Thoughts from one who has been there... more than once

Whether you are looking for your first youth ministry job or you are looking to switch churches, there are a few things you want to do in order to help ensure the right fit.

Talk to some youth pastors who have switched youth ministry jobs. Why you ask? Because they, better than most, have probably learned the hard way what questions to ask and what to look for in church work.

Have a few (more than just one) prayer warriors praying for you. You know, the type you can rely on to pray for you on a daily basis.

Make sure you have a disciplined daily prayer life. Working in the church is no substitute for intimacy with God, and a new youth job is not to work as a spiritual-life kick start either. Develop a disciplined one right now. You need to be moving toward living out what you are going to passionately call your students to live out. (Need help with this? Upper Room Books has a great church leaders devotional guide called "A Guide To Prayer For Ministers And Other Servants". You can find it on the Christian Book Distributors web site.)

Find out, as best you can, what your vision and values are by looking at your past, yourself and talking to those who know you. For many, this is a daunting task...especially if you have never worked in a church before. Here are a few questions to help you figure out what your own vision and values are:

What gives you energy? Is it teaching? Hanging out with kids? What?
What drains your energy?
If you had an unlimited youth budget where would you put most of the money?
Why do you want to work in youth ministry?
What do you believe theologically? What are core beliefs and what are beliefs you are willing to negotiate?
Is God calling you to youth ministry? How certain are you? (Let's not be too light on this point folks. I once got a newsletter from a denomination that asked all its veteran pastors for some wisdom to share with emerging leaders and almost to a man they said "make sure that you are called".)

Find out, as best you can, what the church you are interviewing at has as vision and values. They may tell you what their vision and values are but that may not be reality (often times it is not). Not that they are lying, but I have seen this happen time and time again for whatever reason... Here is what you need to find out:

As a church....

Where do they put most of their money?
Where do they put their best people?
Where do they put most of their time?

When a church answers me those three things I usually have a pretty good idea what that churches vision and values are. Oh...and don't just ask this of the pastor or staff...try and ask this of the people in the congregation as best you can...But the easiest place to begin to answer this question is to simply look at the salary package they are offering. Is the pay above, at or below $50,000? This, of course, depends on the size of the church.

Here are some suggested interview questions to consider in preparation.

Bring your wife and/or your trusted spiritual advisors into the decision making process at every step. Trust us, youth ministry is hard...late hours...long weekends...if your wife is not on board then you could be headed for disaster.

Who was the last youth pastor who worked at the church? Talk to them and talk to others who knew the ministry. What was it like? Positives and negatives... Is the church in reaction mode and looking for the opposite type of person? Why did the last youth worker leave? Is he able to really tell you? Ask him if he is allowed to say (Sadly, I have met more than one youth worker who was given a severance package under the condition that they say nothing negative about the church to anyone...).

What are they expectations of the church on the youth pastor? Stated and unstated...this is very important to know. Are they reasonable? Are they Biblical expectations? Who would you report to? Are you seen as a junior staffer? Are you expected to save the church? Are you seen as a glorified baby sitter? This is good to get from both the pastoral staff and the adult leaders in the youth ministry.

Related:
Take a look at our Jobs Postings.

Involved in Youth Ministry for over 10 years, Rev Chris Zoephel has worked with junior highers, senior highers and those who act like these folks both as a paid staff member and as a volunteer in churches and para church organizations. These days most of his time is spent chasing his son around, keeping his office somewhat organized and trying to point others toward Christ. Currently Chris is on staff at Immanuel Anglican Church in Destin, FL as the Pastor of Discipleship (which includes being a youth pastor). Chris also serves as Director of YAMIA for the Anglican Mission in the Americas.