Jacob Roth
English ¾
Shepherd, Teacher, Pastor
There are hundreds of thousands of companies, hundreds of jobs within those
companies, and thousands of tasks within those jobs. How can we begin to
comprehend what career to choose? A career path I believe I would be interested in is
youth ministry. The specific job within that is youth pastor, meaning pastoring kids ages
13-18. An effective youth pastor and ministry can manage to truly save an
incomprehensible amount of lives.
Youth pastoring covers a massive variety of tasks and challenges. The main role
is to guide teens through their spiritual walks by shepherding and preaching truth
through the Bible. Not only is it their responsibility to deliver a message, but also
engage in community and fellowship with the teens. Youth pastoring falls under the field
of ministry. I believe having a youth pastor is vital in developing teens' spiritual walk with
God.
This job promotes some amazing qualities in the lives of students, leaders, and
the youth pastor. An effective leader and ministry can make a massive mark on
someone's life for eternity(literally). A youth pastor can save more lives than any police
officer could ever manage, not only saving them once, but saving them for an eternity.
This job invests in students in ways only a youth ministry can. The students learn to own
their faith, spiritually mature, invest in community, serve faithfully, and so much more.
Not only are the students impacted, but also the adult leaders. They learn how to
faithfully shepherd, organize difficult situations, and mature in their own faith through the
questions asked by students. The youth pastor invests so much into the leaders and
students, but also into himself. Every week they are preparing a message, learning,
growing in leadership, and meeting with leaders. While some jobs only promote and
invest in oneself or others, youth pastoring manages to do both very effectively.
Many jobs require either an internship or an extremely close contact with
someone on the inside to get. Youth pastoring does not necessarily require any form of
internship, however it is a massive help. I am currently interning at my church as a
pastoral intern with my youth pastor. He is mentoring and teaching me how to effectively
shepherd, preach, and grow a youth group. However it is not only about numbers, but
also our own spiritual health. I am learning even more about my walk with God than the
practical side of it. It would not matter how large of a youth group we had if the entire
thing hinged on having a fun game. All that goes to say, I personally believe interning
has been a massive step into my walk to ministry. Interning has shown me aspects of
the church I could never learn by just going to Bible college or seminary.
Oftentimes we will hear stories about some lowly receptionist working their way
up to become a CEO of some massive corporation. In somewhat of the same manner
there is some room to grow in “status” as a youth pastor. However, this “status” is not
something that should be strived for in the field of ministry. Having a calling to ministry
could mean being a youth pastor until age 90 and never working your way up. The end
goal as a pastor is not to achieve a higher status, rather it is to achieve a higher level of
spiritual maturity in their lives and their congregation’s lives. There are definitely some
cases where youth pastors are called to move up in their “status”. If that is the case,
there are roles such as teaching pastor, executive pastor, lead pastor, elder, and many
more titles. In reality this upgrade is moving the youth pastor into an adult pastor. In
youth ministry there is definitely room to move up the ladder, however this should not be
viewed as a requirement unless God truly calls you to it.
There is a massive skill set needed to be an effective leader and pastor. An
extremely important skill to have is public speaking. Without knowing how to speak
publicly you won’t be able to actually walk on the platform and speak what God put on
your heart. Personally I love to speak to a big group, however for some reason I still
struggle with speaking to a group of 15 or less. Another skill to curate is creative
thinking. Although the purpose of a youth group is to deepen your relationship with the
Lord, no one wants to go to a youth group where the same exact boring game is played
every single week. An imperative capability that is rarely thought of when pastoring, is
problem solving. I don’t believe there will ever be a youth group that has 0 conflict
between teenagers. The youth pastor needs to learn how to manage the conflicts that
arise. A capable youth pastor will curate a necessary skill set in order to further the
depth of his students.
Now the topic everyone has been waiting for: how much money does a youth
pastor actually make? According to the churchsalary.com website and video, the
average youth pastor salary in 2020 was $48,938. This number does not include
benefits, only the base salary. This same video also lists that pastors who changed
churches within 3-5 years make more money than one who stayed past that 3-5 year
mark. This is not a good trend as it will promote job hopping and searching. Education
plays a major factor in the salary as well. Churchsalary.com also lists that the high
school level education median is $40,000, Bachelor’s is $44,000, and Master’s is
$50,400. These are massive jumps in salary, meaning education can make a massive
difference on pay scale. Fool.com lists that the median salary for males in 2021 was
$50,391, meaning youth pastoring is nearly $2,000 under the average. Although slightly
under the national average salary, I believe youth pastoring provides a much better and
more satisfying reward in the long run.
Becoming a youth pastor can be a long process, but well worth it. You will get to
invest in the lives of students and volunteers and make an eternal impact. Getting an
internship has made my path much clearer, and made a massive difference on my
perception of ministry. Growing in position is definitely possible and achievable,
however should not be strived for unless you are truly called to it. Speaking is not the
only skill required to effectively pastor a student body. The median salary is slightly
under the average, however it provides so much more impact than most other
professions. I am excited to continue my journey into the role of youth pastor, and pray I
will be an effective shepherd, teacher, and pastor.
Work Cited
No Author, ChurchSalary, February 01, 2021,
https://www.churchsalary.com/content/articles/how-much-do-youth-pastors-make.
html
Jack Caporal, the ascent, November 2, 2022,
https://www.fool.com/the-ascent/research/average-us-income/