Tough Love

I used to be a Kindergarten teacher. Really. I managed to take 25 four and five year olds, many of whom had never had any structured school experience, and turn them into students. They learnt taking turns, speaking respectfully, listening and general associated behaviours that are acceptable in the classroom environment.

Now I am a youth pastor, and I have older children, who have been in structured environments for years and know what is expected of them. So being very new to this game this is what I insisted on from the start, polite, respectful behaviour, in all circumstances.

A Youth Ministry Gem

Another gem I gathered from this year’s Youth Pastor Retreat is the art of regular reporting to the Church Senior Pastor. A guy who had been a youth pastor for many years said he wrote a weekly overview of what had gone on in their ministry for the last week, describing it in detail, pros, cons, people, ideas, growth, mistakes and all reflections possible. I write my reports to PastorG every Tuesday, (well… most Tuesdays) the same day each week, and sent it via email, as well as keeping a copy for myself.

First one

Ive been a youth pastor for just over 2 years now, serving in a tiny country town in NSW Australia called Blayney, with a population of about 3000. We have 50-60 kids each week at this stage, and I'm praying for 100. I know numbers don't mean much to God but for me its a sign of growth which is a sign of health. But my main aim as a youth pastor is to have an effective pastorship, not just a growing one.

I keep wanting someone to talk about ideas, to see if my version of youth pastoring is a normal one (normal... I know) or some days just to celebrate the good moments and have someone mourn with me over the bad moments.