5 Simple Ways To Prevent Youth Pastor Burnout and Turnover

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Years ago I wrote a book called Ministry Mutiny that tells the fictional story of a young youth leader named Ty who’s about to quit. He wakes up one day to the sad reality that most of his teenagers are spiritually apathetic and that his youth ministry, though attended, is failing drastically when it comes to making, let alone multiplying, disciples.

Before he hands in his resignation, he decides to go to one last youth leader network meeting. There he engages with Tony, an older youth leader who has youth ministry success in all the right ways. Over the course of several weeks, Tony mentors Ty with a new vision and philosophy of youth ministry. He gives him the keys to truly making a difference in the lives of the next generation.

What does Ty do with this information? Get the free e-book here, and find out for yourself!

My point is this: Many youth leaders get discouraged and quit because they don’t have a vision worth staying for or, if they do have a vision, a strategy for accomplishing it.

Our proposed vision is this:

Every teen, everywhere (in your community), hearing the Gospel from a friend.

This vision requires you to activate your teenagers and disciple them to the point of spiritual multiplication. For more on this, check out our Gospel Advancing vision and strategy page on the Dare 2 Share website.

4. Pay Them Enough to Make a Career of It.

For the Scripture says, “You shall not muzzle an ox when it treads out the grain,” and, “The laborer deserves his wages.” (1 Timothy 5:18)

Sometimes youth leaders have to quit because they aren’t getting paid enough to support their families. In many churches, youth pastors are at the bottom of the pay scale because, compared with other jobs, youth ministry may not seem as important.

But it is.

In the words of my friend Kathy Branzell, president of the National Day of Prayer Task Force: “Teenagers are not just the next generation. They are the now generation!” Every major spiritual awakening in the history of the United States has had teenagers on the leading edge. Jesus Himself chose mostly teenagers to be His disciples!

We must pay youth leaders as if they’ve been given charge of the most precious commodity in your church (because they have)—young people! God can use these young people to trigger a Gospel Advancing movement that starts in the youth room and spreads to the church auditorium. These young people also form a farm club for our future church-wide leaders.

Stop and think about what that’s worth to you and your church—and pay accordingly.

5. Pray for Them, and Get Others To Join You.

He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and He will deliver us again. On Him we have set our hope that He will continue to deliver us, as you help us by your prayers. Then many will give thanks on our behalf for the gracious favor granted us in answer to the prayers of many. (2 Corinthians 1:10-11)

If we want youth leaders to stay and thrive, we must kneel and pray. We must intercede on their behalf and on behalf of the youth they oversee. We must ask God to strengthen them in their personal lives, their family lives, and their ministry impact.

The prayers of the Corinthian church supported Paul as he spread the Gospel across the province of Asia by training the believers in Ephesus to multiply disciples across their region (Acts 19:8-10). These prayers were crucial and, in his own words, helped Paul and his team.

To prevent youth pastor burnout this kind of “air support” for our ground troops in ministry is super-important. Our youth pastors are facing a whole new generation of teenagers with a whole new set of challenges (gender issues, LGBTQ+ struggles, being part of the first post-Christian generation in the history of the United States, etc.). They need our fervent prayers and support.

I challenge you to implement these 5 steps to preventing youth pastor burnout and turnover. We need Gospel Advancing, disciple-multiplying youth leaders now more than ever!

 

This article on youth pastor burnout originally appeared hereand is used by permission.

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Greg Stierhttp://gregstier.dare2share.org/
Hi, I'm Greg Stier, CEO and Founder of Dare 2 Share Ministries. On this blog I share personal experiences about life, ministry, and how we are mobilizing teenagers across America to share their faith. I would love to connect with you. Follow me on TwitterFacebook or join a move of God at Dare 2 Share.

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