Issues about youth ministry and how we do it in the local church are still up for discussion.
An recent article in Christianity Today described youth ministers as the ‘least valued and least recognised members of any staff team’. Youth ministers are not dissimilar to other ministry personnel in the church except in one major area. It would be rare these days if those entering adult ministry were not trained and ordained in some way first.
Training
Thankfully there are some colleges (though not all) offering training for those entering youth ministry. Most post-college ministry trainees enter their first church as assistants (curates in the Anglican set-up). These posts are regarded as training appointments and should include extensive mentoring and support. Youth ministers start as the senior person in the youth and/or children’s department and can be woefully short of both mentoring and support.
