Back in April, I started writing a little three part series for en looking at the role of the traditional youth and children's worker.
We started by establishing that there was a role to be played by the church in teaching youth and children and that it wasn't all the parents' job. Then we looked at some reasons why I believe it is a very legitimate thing to do to appoint someone to do that role in a church. As we finish, I've got just three thoughts for churches as they think about employing and supporting someone in this role, based on everything we've looked at so far.
- Back who you employ
First of all it is really important to back whoever it is you end up employing in this position. There are some really obvious ways you can do this - for example, give them a decent wage (I'll leave the exact figures to others to argue about, but it is worth considering what lifestyle and life stage the salary you offer could support). Another important thing is to invest in training, either theological training or continuous professional development including things like conferences. It won't be cheap, but if the role is as significant, as we've argued, they are worth the investment.
One part of backing your Youth and Children's Worker is to consider the profile you give to the person doing this role. We've argued that it is a legitimate and important teaching role and should be held up as such. A couple of ways you can do this is to give them good levels of recognition from the front of church and make sure they are given the appropriate levels of prominence in places like the church website. It is important that any Youth and Children's Worker you employ feels recognised and valued. - Let them teach
Secondly, as well as backing your Youth and Children's Worker, I think a big implication of what we have looked at is that you unleash them to teach. Yes, when looking to employ a youth and children's worker you need someone who is good with their admin, can lead people well and establish good relationships with parents (more on that below) but, fundamentally, they are in their role to teach young people.
Sometimes it is said that a successful Youth and Children's Worker will do themselves out of a job by organising the team so well that they won't have to do any teaching - but I think you should be employing someone who is gifted to teach youth and children and then let them do it (alongside training and raising others up). Imagine employing a vicar who never preached because they trained up other preachers - so, too, with our Youth and Children's Workers. For what it's worth, some much larger churches employ youth and children's ministers and youth and children's admin staff members. I appreciate this would put a big strain on budgets, but I love the idea behind that! - Help them as they partner with parents
Finally, churches should consider what they expect from their Youth and Children's Workers in terms of partnering with parents. This is a crucial relationship, and if someone in this position is unable to develop good working relationships with the parents at the church, it is going to have a massively detrimental impact on their work. But there can be a big emphasis today in evangelical churches on the Youth and Children's Worker being responsible for training parents to disciple their children and I think this is worth thinking through a bit.
First of all, I think parents should be discipling their children and the church should be equipping and training them to do that. But should that responsibility be on the Youth and Children's Worker? Maybe, but I'm not convinced. I think mainly because it is really tough to do this as a single person in their early 20s which many Youth and Children's Workers are (trust me I've tried!) without any experience of what it is like to parent day in day out. I could share some ideas and resource recommendations but serious training and equipping is probably going to be outside my expertise.
I think it is worth taking seriously and it should be a key part of someone on ministry staff's role. But when hiring a Youth and Children's Worker, it is worth thinking through if expectations in this area are really appropriate.
There you go - my arguments for the traditional Youth and Children's Worker! You can decide if you agree or disagree…
