When did the Youth Minister become a paid position?

But aren't we seeing some regression as homeschooling is booming around the country?

 

Im sorry, Im confused.....how did my post refer to a failure of the church? I referred to a failure of parents which the church has had to make up for somehow.

As for the youth group "driving" the church, I couldn't agree with you more. I see no reason for a youth group to be the driving force of the church. Perhaps Im not real clear on what you mean by "driving the church" though.

Could you clarify that a bit?

 

I had been a small group Bible study leader at our church and I always told the youth that they were the future leaders of the church. Some of them said that they had never thought of that and some said no one had ever told them that!

 

I know from being in school with 200+ kids that strong youth ministry is great these kids are smart when it comes to the word of God. I'm all for paid youth pastors.

 

Hardsheller,

Is part of what you're saying that sometimes the youth group in churches is more like just a social club?

I definitely see that its better if the youth group is a group of kids who minister together. We keep ours workin' hard. But they're being taught how to grow spiritually, how to lead others, how to teach, how to minister to people.

 

Hardsheller, the need IS greater today. The world has gotten worse, sin has increased, there are many more distractions in kids' way these days than ever before. I believe it takes someone trained in youth ministry to work with them and believe me, they earn every penny they make.

Besides, wouldn't they be doing the good conservative thing...helping others WHILE making a buck?

 

I would suspect sometime in the 50's or 60's when more and more churches became larger and larger.
Except for the last 80 years ours was an agrarian society and the churches in the country were generally small just like most country churches are today.
It is the larger urban churches which have youth ministries and part and full time youth ministers.Many of the youth ministers in the midsize churches are also the second man for the pastor and work full time and they need to eat and pay thier bills just like anyone else.Most youth ministers work and put in as many hours as the pastor maybe in some cases more.This has also become a training ground for young men who want to become pastors someday. They provide a very useful service for the church while being mentored by an experienced pastor.While many youth pastors prepare as many messages as the pastor they also are usually heavily invoved in the bus ministries many of these churches have as well as planning outings,get togethers,and classes for youth groups.In addition to this they are genearally given extra tasks to help them prepare for thier future duties as pastor(part of thier mentoring). These extra tasks also remove some of the burden from the senior pastor.Of course in the large and mega churches some of these duties are handled by others but the general thing is most youth pastors are very busy and hardworking people,even more so if the must be bi-vocational.

 

PS: I think you will have a hard time finding and exact date in history that the first youth pastor was hired.They probably started out with a title something like assistant or associate pastor whose duty it was to minister to the youth and later evolved into the title of youth pastor.

 

The Youth Ministry today is a full time job in many churches. It certainly is at my church.

Also, the simple fact is, like it or not, youth always have and always will be different from non-youth, and unless you have someone who understands the young people in your church and can interact with them in a manner that understands the challenges the youth are dealing with and the changes they are going through - you're going to lose your youth to other churches or, if they haven't come to Christ yet, to the world.

I am told that I'm a very "young thinker" and that I stay in tune with what young people are going through, but there isn't a single day of my life I'm not amazed by something a young person tells me. They need someone that can focus on those issues and those needs and how to face them in a biblical manner, and often senior pastors just don't have the time.

 

As to "dates it happened" I agree with Plain Old Bill. I think it just happens.

The first paid staff position I ever held in a church came up as a surprise blessing, and was more or less a way of the church saying thank you. I had been doing a lot of children's work for free because God called me there. I started having financial problems and realized I was going to have to take a job somewhere, and I asked the church to help me find someone to cover for those events that would conflict with work schedules. Instead the church called a meeting and voted, and asked me to continue what I was doing and let them pay me, rather than my cutting back on my church work and being paid by the world.

 

I'm glad you added "leaders", because one of the biggest lies that we tell our students is that they are the "future" of the church. The reality is that they are the "present" of the church. If you are a believer, then you are part of God's Church. When students begin to understand this, they don't wait to share their faith, to serve others, etc. They understand that God has called them to work just as He's called the adults. As student ministers, we should do everything possible to create an environment where they can go and reach out to others.

 

Oh! I wouldn't have thought of it in the aspect of growth.

Though I don't see why any church who has teens wouldn't have some sort of youth ministry anyway. If the church budget isn't big enough to pay someone, than why not have volunteers? I know there's a dearth of those in many places too.

 

It may solve the problem though. If the youth grew spiritually there's no telling what could happen in the church. I hear what you're saying but I think you have to look at this stuff from a different perspective Hardsheller.

 

True,

if you grow your young people right, aren't you growing your church's next generation of leadership?