When I was a junior in high school I knew I was going to Bible College and did not need to know anything about Chemistry or Pre-Calc so I blew off those classes and only got B's and C's in them. I knew that where I was going, calculus was useless. The magical land of youth ministry needs no math that cannot be taken care of with simple calculator usage.
Looking back, I suppose my introduction to "youth ministry" was at Pibel Bible Camp. I helped with at least one extra week of camp every year starting when I was in junior high so by the time I got to college I had been on staff at no fewer than 7 weeks. In my sophomore year of college I co-taught high school Sunday school and in my last two years of school I worked with a nearby Methodist church doing ministry for all ages of students. Each summer during college I chose to skip out of making more money to take on different ministry jobs. I worked a summer at a Salvation Army youth camp, spent a summer as a member of a camp team for the college, and then worked as a youth intern at a church in Bellevue, NE for my final summer.
By graduation time, I had tons of knowledge and experience and decided that I didn't want to pursue another internship but wanted to get out and do "real ministry" on my own.
I can't list all the mistakes I made as a green youth minister. I imagine that the judgment of the senior minister I worked with saved me from making as many as I would have. The first series of lessons I taught for high school youth group came from the book of James.
Poor James.
I looked back at those lessons today. I can recognize myself in those lessons - my intentions and ideas and a bit of my style - but boy was that stuff rough. I taught from James again last year and looking back that that isn't quite as painful. Between 2005 and 2009 I got a little more purposeful and a lot less clumsy. Experience taught me how to more clearly communicate messages from scripture. Evaluating that experience taught me how to improve myself and progress the ministry I am a part of.
Had someone notified me of my insufficiency back then, I would probably have blown them off. I can't say that everyone in my first ministry was patient. Not at all. Fortunately, I had many people who were patient enough to help me grow in my time there.
In the time since I was a new youth minister, I have worked with a few new youth ministers. If any of them are reading this I feel like I can say this now - you were intolerable! Fortunately for everyone, my experience has taught me something - to lay off the new guy. I don't mean to fire him - quite the opposite.
No amount of schooling and interning and part-timing can prepare us for what we encounter in full-time ministry. It is a challenge. New ministers are going to do stupid things... lay off of them. New ministers are going to struggle to produce excellent teaching at times... lay off them. New ministers are going to do things their own way in spite of logic, and oftentimes it is going to flop... lay off them. New ministers are going to drive you crazy sometimes... lay off them.
I don't mean to condescending to new ministers - it really hasn't been that long since I was one. I want to garner support for those poor little guys. I guess that may have been a bit patronizing...
If a church wants to hire a person who is new to ministry, they need to do so with the understanding that it isn't going to work out that well. It is an investment that will not pay off in the short run. All too often church leadership sees their "employee" making mistakes and under performing and decides it is time to cut their losses. Nothing could be more foolish and damaging - both to the church and the young minister.
What is left is a church with a string of short-term ministers without any continuity and students who struggle to even want to connect with the new guy.
What is left is a mob of disillusioned young ministers who often leave ministry outright.
What is left is another young minister who is ready for "real ministry." Lay off the new guy.
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