How To Become A Youth Pastor

Here are a few things that may help you know how you might become a youth pastor or if God is calling you to be one..

Are you Called?

I believe that to be a youth pastor, one may need a calling of God first. A good way to find out if you are called to be a youth pastor is to first volunteer as a youth worker to see if you enjoy it. God typically gifts us, equips us, and calls us into something that we thoroughly enjoy doing. It’s like you would be miserable doing anything but what God has called you into. Like the runner in Chariots of Fire, you will feel God’s holy pleasure in doing what you do. You will know with an absolute certainty that this is what you were called to do and would be unhappy doing anything else. It closely resembles that of a pastoral calling. It is an overwhelming sense that this is what you were created for. Being a youth pastor is sometimes the first step into becoming a church pastor. This gives the man good experience in working with youth in teaching biblical principles that will later be useful if you are called into a part-time or full-time ministry. Some churches require a background in education like an associates or bachelor degree but this is not necessary always the case.

Required Skills of a Youth Pastor

Since God equips every believer with at least one or more gifts of the Spirit, we also need certain physical skills that are required for certain functions within the body of Christ and for a youth pastor particular skills are essential. These include public speaking experience, decision making, active listening, instructional skills, leadership tendencies, creativity, enthusiasm, and most importantly, a public and private demonstration of faith in God. Part of your responsibility is to equip and encourage young people to learn more about their own faith and show them how to use that in their everyday lives like in witness to their friends and family, in doing community service and in providing young people with activities that broaden their faith and utilize their own skills so that they too can learn what God is calling them to do in their lives. This means that you must be a positive and influential role model because this can help them keep the Word of God going from their own generation to the next.

The Need for Youth Pastors

Did you know that America’s teenagers are the largest unreached group of people in America today? There are hundreds of churches today looking for youth pastors who can lead and guide the next generation into faith and it might be in your own church! They are not the future of the church; they are the here and now of the church. Churches today, as I write this, are all looking for heroes and role models and maybe that’s you. Sadly, during the adolescent years in which this God-ordained “window of opportunity” is open, they rarely meet up with a real live disciple of Christ who can introduce them to Jesus! Many of these young men and women are currently waiting for someone to come and help build a Christ-centered community where they can grow in their faith and that someone could be you. It is possible that you are one of those people that God is calling to ministry at this moment and you feel like crying out, “Here I am, Lord, send me!”

Seek Godly Counsel

I strongly urge you to speak with your own pastor about this or other church leaders who are involved in the ministry, including youth ministry. Maybe you can sit in as a substitute, volunteer, or full-time Sunday school teacher to see if it’s right for you. Surround yourself with those who have been or are presently in the situation that you desire to be. The indication that you might be called is that you have this passionate desire to make a difference in the lives of young men and women and to mentor them, to disciple them, and to train and equip them into become disciples for Christ. It is true that great rewards only come to those who take great risks. The worst thing that could happen is that you can try it and see that it’s not right for you but even worse is to not try at all and then you’ll never know if this is what God was calling you into. The very fact that you are reading this might suggest that God has put a burden for the youth on your heart because if it wasn’t there, I believe that you wouldn’t even be reading this right now. My inclination is that if you are still interested and haven’t changed your mind by the time you’ve reached this point, God may indeed be calling you for this great purpose. He may want to use this experience as a youth pastor to launch you into something else down the road but it must always be for His glory for nothing else matters.

Conclusion

The church has never had a greater need for youth pastors or youth ministers. If this is your calling, you will know it. Maybe you’ll hear the confirmation of others in the church or from the youth themselves but most importantly, maybe you’re feeling this calling from an inward sense. The call of God is usually expressed outwardly by others and inwardly in yourself and upwardly from God. You have nothing to lose except an opportunity to make a difference in the kingdom. You won’t regret trying it…you will regret at least not trying to see if this is what God is calling you to do.

Article by Jack Wellman

Jack Wellman is Pastor of the Mulvane Brethren church in Mulvane Kansas. Jack is also the Senior Writer at What Christians Want To Know whose mission is to equip, encourage, and energize Christians and to address questions about the believer’s daily walk with God and the Bible. You can follow Jack on Google Plus or check out his book Blind Chance or Intelligent Design available on Amazon.