Youth Minister Description

Why a Youth Minister?

I have wanted to go into the ministry since I was in middle school. Some of my major influences are people like my father, who is a pastor, Jeff Henry, and Scott Mathews (both men at the end are youth ministers). When I first felt truly called to the ministry, these strong influences were following their paths in this valet field of youth ministry.

When first looking into the ministry, I was surrounded by youth and felt that this was a good path for me. Although I do not feel it is in my future to be a youth minister for my entire career, I feel it would be an amazing way to enter into the life of the church and learn about how the inner-workings of the church work before becoming the leader of one.

Description

At the surface of a youth minister job the goal is to help bring people to Christ, specifically youth. Folcraft Union church defines the job description of a youth minister as follows:

"The primary purpose of the Youth Minister is to introduce young people to Christ; to disciple them in spiritual growth; to train them in serving Christ with their life. Of equal importance is to assist parents or guardians in raising their teenagers to a wholesome maturity. Finally, to oversee and support the activity entrusted to senior leadership of each Christian Education/Youth program."

Although this description technically only applies for one church's job, I like it very much because it seems to highlight every important aspect of the job. Although it does capture the important parts, there is a lot that goes on behind the scenes. The same website dictates three major categories within being a youth minister.

1. Program oversight
• This includes overseeing everything in the youth group and making sure all youth operations run as they should. 
2. Leadership training
• Appoint leaders under you, typically volunteers, to oversee task within the youth group and provide them with adequate training.
3. Administrative
• Behind the scenes things within the church (such as budgeting and planning for events with the leaders of the church).

Salary

The salary for a job such as this one is very difficult to calculate. Typically, a job in the youth ministry field is intended to launch them into the opportunity for a larger job. Because of this, as experience level goes up, salary is sure to follow. The salary largely depends on the location and size of the church. It also depends of the size of a given churches youth group.

 According to payscale.com, the median salary for a youth pastor is $33,249. This is a misleading number because it includes many young ministers that just came out of college. There is an obvious trend in the graph to the left that shows that as skill increases, so does wages. This is encouraging because if I ultimately decide to make this into my career, I will make much more than $33,000.

Sources

1. "Youth Minister Job Description." Youth Minister Job Description. Folcraft Union Church. Web. 20 Mar. 2015. <http://www.folcroft.org/policies/youthmjd.htm>. 
2. Smith, Dave. "Youth Minister Salary (United States)." Youth Minister Salary (United States). PayScale, 2015. Web. 23 Mar. 2015. <http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Youth_Minister/Salary>.