A Revolving Door In and Out of Ministry; But in a Good Way

I have a peculiar job.  I’m a paid professional youth minister.  Even now (after many years), saying it out loud feels unnatural.  Don’t get me wrong.  I love what I do.  I love TSCOC.  Most of all, I love my teens and their families.  But, I can never embrace the whole “youth minister” stereotype subculture.  I don’t play video games, make fart jokes, throw water balloons, or wear Rob Bell style spectacles.  OK, so I occasionally wisecrack about gestational gasses.  I have very few close friends within the profession and do not have a formal ministry education.

I never had a “career” youth minister as a teenager.  In high school we had men and women in the church that offered their time and attention.  They loved us and the really good ones challenged us and spoke to us like maturing Christians, not immature children.  I’ve never bought into the trope that I have to act like a teenager to relate to a teenager.  Because even when I was a teenager, I was atypical, so trying to act like a “typical” teenager in my 30’s would be insincere at best and cringe inducingly awkward at worse.

Some time ago I was proffered for my advice to an aspiring youth minister at LCU for an assignment.  I won’t reconstruct the advice in its entirety, but I will give you a brief outline of the advice I would give a YFM student. 

1)      Double Major (why spend 4 years of your life to get a degree with such limited employment opportunities at private school rates?  The world always needs engineers, programmers, teachers, and accountants.  In other words, learn to make tents a la the apostle Paul.

2)      Work your other (non-church) “tent-making” job first.  Jesus didn’t begin his public ministry until he was 30.  It’s not a rule, but it is a worthwhile principle to consider. 

3)      While you are “making tents,” volunteer to help at your local church.  Use your vacation time for youth trips, teach classes, etc…  Ease into the role of working with other ministers, parents, teenagers, and elders.  Learn to prepare a class series, back a trailer, and order pizza for a group; the really practical things you may not learn in the classroom.

4)      After 3-5 years of volunteering, maybe you have decided that you want to focus 100% of your professional attention on ministry.  Likely, you will be “drafted” by your congregation or some other congregation.  Either way, you are likely to have better options than a fresh grad sending out resumes to churches.

5)      Maintain your contacts and training as a “tent-maker.”  You never know when you may need them again.  I never want to be a 50 year old youth minister and I can’t preach a lick, so my clock is ticking as a professional youth minister.  However, I always want to be an asset to my local church, particularly the youth ministry. 

I don’t recommend full-time professional ministry for many people.  It’s harder than one may think.  John Knox, a wise mentor of mine, once made the comment, “If you can do anything else: do it.”  This wasn’t a statement of ability, but of passion.  I have known a small handful of people with the temperament and disposition for a full 40 year career in ministry.  These people are exceedingly rare.  It breaks my heart, but I am not one of them.  I can strongly recommend full-time ministry for a “season of life.”  There are far fewer people that I can foresee enjoying a healthy spiritual life after 40 years in full-time ministry.

If my observations are correct (that only a few ministers are built for the long haul), then this has many implications for the church.  Here are a few suggestions.

1)      Create a “tent-maker friendly” culture.  Sometimes staff can be territorial with their duties.  Be willing to consider dedicated tent-makers as “part and parcel” of your ministry other than when you need chairs moved or hot dogs served.  Have a culture that allows these individuals to sit in on staff meetings and have influence beyond that of less involved members.

2)      Be willing to hire less formally trained Christians that have an abundance of experience and ministry skills.  Today, we use academia to train ministry leaders.   The New Testament church used the local church and mentors as the training ground for up and coming young ministers.   As one with very little formal education in the area of ministry, I may be biased on this point.  I’m sure that I would have enhanced ministry skills by receiving a formal Christian education.  However, that lack of a completed formal education does not make me immediately less qualified to serve in my current position than every 22 year old-old clutching a freshly inked YFM degree from a Christian university.  At a summer camp this year of all the evening worship speakers, one had a ministry degree.  Every other speaker had formal training in other areas.  I found this to be both surprising and exciting. 

3)      Be willing to allow your ministers to gracefully exit out of full-time ministry.  As many likely are aware, I’m about one-third of the way through a master’s program that will eventually lead me out of full-time paid youth ministry.  We don’t intend to leave Hobbs or Taylor Street any time soon.  I attend classes very part time and do everything possible to not allow my future career to interfere with my present ministry.  More importantly, I look forward to the days when I can serve without any of the pressure that comes with being a “paid” employee.  I am very desirous of being a servant to another minister. 

In my dream world congregations would be populated with many ex-ministers or full-time ministers in training that are productively contributing to the work of the body.  Unfortunately, the stereotype of ex-ministers is that of being damaged, burned out, bitter, and angry.  Sadly, ministry careers almost always end badly and leave a once productive minister on the sidelines and a less-trusting and less-loving church in the wake.  Everyone loses. 

It’s nothing new to say this, but I have a strong desire to continue to erode the distinction between sacred and secular professions, both inside and outside the church walls.  I see it as an absolute economic anomaly that I actually get paid to do what I do.  My prayer is for a vibrant church culture with revolving doors in and out of full time ministry without the pain we typically associate with such career transitions.  Maybe, I’m naiveté.  Maybe I’m just projecting my personal ambitions onto the culture at large.  But, one way or another I’ll be an ex-minister someday (hopefully not too soon).  I intend to be a productive, happy, and encouraging church member.  We always need more of those.