Site
Contents
 |
Imagine Indiana Transition Team Information
General Information about the Area Office
North Indiana Conference Office
South Indiana Conference Office
Area United Methodist
Foundation
Prayer Guides
(Courtesy of the NIC Prayer Team)
For resources to assist your congregation in welcoming guests,
click here
Seashore District Volunteer Center VIM project -- Completed
Hoosier United Methodist News Archives
| Hoosier United Methodist News |
October 2001 |
Training, financial resources =
big hurdles for youth workers
"We are in a new place. Kids are spiritually hungry. And youth ministry is about giving kids space to know God." -- Tammy Clark
By Patti Splitgerber
Hoosier UM News Correspondent
At a time when youth, more than ever before, are searching for meaning, The United Methodist Church finds itself struggling to find individuals willing to work in the field.
Churches all over the nation are desperately searching for the best and brightest to lead their youth programs.
No hard statistics exist to define the typical youth worker. And that may be the problem. How can churches know what fair expectations are when, church-by-church, each youth program and youth worker looks so different?
Youth workers can be laity or ordained clergy. They are often seasoned veterans holding degrees, certification, or are young adults who suddenly find themselves charged with leading a program which they only recently graduated. With proper funding, the job of youth worker is a paid position, but more often than not, it falls on the shoulders of volunteers.
In speaking with some top youth ministry leaders, many common themes and concerns were expressed. Top among them was the realization that churches must put their money where their mouths are.
Certification, mentoring
|
"Clergy involvement has to be primary in youth ministry or we're doing a disservice." |
"We say a lot with our words, but very little with our church budgets," said Kent Lundy, associate pastor at Aldersgate UMC in Fort Wayne.
Lundy is the only ordained clergy person in the North Indiana Conference who has also been certified in youth ministry. To be certified, one must first hold an undergraduate degree or already have several years of experience in the field. A series of graduate-level course work must then be completed with an intense focus on, in this case, youth ministry.
Tammy Clark is the youth director at First UMC in Valparaiso. The church has been defined as a teaching church in youth ministry. In addition to Clark, who holds a degree in religious studies, two part-time paid interns are on staff. These interns are each compensated for eight hours of work per week. Senior pastor, David Byrum, provides clergy support as well. Eighteen volunteers round out the list of people committed to the youth ministry program there.
Clark and Byrum agreed to Valparaiso becoming a teaching church because they believe persons considering youth work as a career need training and mentoring. Clark is concerned with the idea in many churches that they can hire a young person to "do" youth ministry. They are put in place and much is expected of them. And within a short period of time, they are sucked dry. But, according to Clark, there is a big difference between "doing" ministry and "being in" ministry. Are churches equipping today's new youth leaders to baby-sit on Sunday nights or to make disciples, Clark wonders?
Lundy echoes this concern. "We're doing a mediocre job of training up the next generation of leaders," he said. Lundy believes that youth workers do not have to be ordained, but they need to have the support and oversight of someone who is ordained for word, order and sacraments. "Clergy involvement has to be primary in youth ministry or we're doing a disservice," said Lundy.
Financial hurdles
Another hurdle for those who feel called to youth ministry is financial. Most youth pastors and especially non-ordained youth directors do not make enough of a salary for youth work to be their only source of income, many relying on second jobs which only accelerate that feeling of being sucked dry to which Clark referred.
Mesia Fisilau spends her days as a medical records transcriptionist at a local health facility in Salt Lake City, Utah. After long days at her "real" job, Fisilau drives over to her church, a large United Methodist church, and puts in several more hours at the job she really loves. Fisilau is a volunteer youth director in a church that offers no paid hours in youth ministry.
On her own, Fisilau recognized the fact that she needed training. As answer to her prayer, a certification studies brochure from Garrett Evangelical Theological Seminary in Evanston, Ill., appeared in Fisilau's mail.
Certification is not inexpensive. But Fisilau's commitment to youth ministry and to training prompted her to sign-up for her first course, paying, not only all of her tuition, housing, meals and books, but also her plane fare to and from Garrett.
Clark believes that churches must make both a financial and time commitment, not only to youth ministry, but also to youth ministers and directors as well. "It is the church's responsibility to give (youth workers) opportunities and finances for training."
As for the future, Lundy and Clark remain hopeful. "I am optimistic about the future of youth ministry because of the certification process that is in place. Somebody national has realized this is a new day."
Clark agrees. "Youth ministry is all about hope," she said. "We are in a new place. Kids are spiritually hungry. And youth ministry is about giving kids space to know God." But first, she believes, we must make sure that the youth workers know Him.
Last updated on 01/14/2004