I just read through The (un)Offical Church Staff Manual: Youth Pastor Edition by Mark Riddle. While there is enough humorous material to make any youth worker smile — even after a the 10th reprimanding by the church custodian, there is a deep and heavy truth laced between the quips and jokes.
Here’s a brief example:
How to Crash and Burn as a Youth Pastor in Less Than Five Years
- Believe that you’re a rock star — THE youth ministry expert in the church.
- Take responsibility for everything that happens to, with, and for the kids in your church.
- Completely ignore theology and its role in what you do week in and week out.
- Spend time regularly in relationship-building adn one-on-one prayer with someone of the opposite gender.
- Exclude, alienate, talk against, and look down on your students’ parents. Never to anything that actually supports parents in their ministry to their children.
- Send anonymous hate mail to your pastor from your church computer.
- Believe you ahve all the resources you need to lead a youth ministry at the age of 25. Its also helpful to believe that 20-somethings hold the most important and effective gifts for youth ministry.
- Believe that you’re a wiser and more gifted leader than your pastor.
- Never take a vacation or days off.
- Feel surprised every time something goes wrong, because you believe there will actually be a time when everything always goes smoothly.
This is just a list from one page. The book is well worth the $5 bucks it costs. Great buy.
