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4 Things Youth Pastors Must Learn To Do Well

With every job comes the demand to learn how to do certain things well. When it comes to being a student pastor, there are a few things I believe you must learn to do well. I’m still pretty new to full-time student ministry myself, but I’m learning a ton of stuff along the way. Here are four things I am learning that I believe I and other student pastors must learn to do well.

Teach well. I believe the most important thing student pastors must be good at is teaching God’s Word. Student pastors can build a program, plan great events and build great relationships with students, but if they cannot teach the Bible effectively to students, they will struggle. I’m not suggesting that they must be able to stand on stage and give the perfect expostional sermon, but they must know how to take the truths of God’s Word and teach them in a way that applies to the current culture of today’s teenagers. Student pastors must learn to teach the Bible well on stage to a large group of students, as well as within one-on-one relationships with students. Student pastors must always be striving to be better teachers of God’s Word.

Work with people well. Ministry is about people, and student ministry isn’t any different. Student pastors must learn to work well with all types of people. First, they must work well with the church staff. Nothing is worse than a young student pastor who thinks he knows how to run the church better than the rest of the staff. Student pastors must learn how to work well within the whole church staff. Second, they must work well with parents. Student pastors not only minister to and serve students, but their parents as well. Third, they must work well with volunteers. A student ministry cannot be effectively run by just the student pastor, it takes a team of volunteers. The student pastor must learn how to work well with these volunteers. Learning how to work well with people is very important in student ministry.