What I Have Learned From Building A Youth Ministry

I recently shared my transition from the church I serve at currently to a new opened door of ministry the Lord has given me. When I came on board with Emmanuel Baptist Church, my task was to build a Youth Ministry from the ground up which I can say was no easy task. I thought it would be a benefit to share what I have learned from my experience in building a Youth Ministry.

1. It is hard. Our city is a unique place because we have more churches than restaurants and established churches with massive budgets. Not to mention, I am also bi-vocational so you can imagine trying to work a full-time job and leading a ministry was not easy. Also finding that right balance to work on ministry and spending time with family was not easy either. When it came to work on lessons, I always waited till the kids went to bed so they can have my attention.

2. You will not always be successful. We had three youth rallies where the first two we had over 50 students come hear the Word of God. The last one we had did not measure up. We had less than 20 students show and only one of those 20 were from my church. When it came to contacting schools, I had no success. Charles Spuregon once said that "success is not the minister's true reward," and he was right.

3. There will be some teenagers that do not like you. If you have been around Youth Ministry for a while, this should be no surprise but when you are trying to excite students about your new Youth Ministry, they really will give you the cold shoulder especially those who attend another church.

4. Not everyone in the church will be understanding if the numbers are not great. Back again to success. Many may consider my ministry a failure because we did not have the excellent numbers of other churches. There will be some people in the church that will not understand why we do not have more youth if you are putting enough effort.

5. Your fellowship with God is more important than your ministry. It has been said that ministers only pray at minimum 2 minutes per week. I am not even sure how much time is taken for reading the Bible outside sermon/lesson preparation. In building a Youth Ministry, or planting a church, do not neglect your fellowship with God.

6. Do not neglect your family. As I mentioned earlier, finding balance is hard especially if you work a full time job and working in a church. Do not neglect time with your wife and kids. You can also change churches but your family is something that you cannot change. Love your kids and disciple them. Let your wife know she more important to you than having 300 students every week.

I hope this will help those who are building a Youth Ministry whether it is in an established church or in a church plant. I pray that the Lord will use what I have learned to encourage and minister to all Youth Pastors in a very tough ministry.