Been thinking recently about some of the processes of hiring a new team member. Here are some of the thoughts I’ve been tracking on to help our high school ministry make the right hire. 4 Red Flags to look out for:
RED FLAG 1 – bouncing all over the place. This is a big warning sign to me – consistency is a huge issue in youth ministry. If you’ve made it more than 5 years at a place, it means you’ve seen the good, bad and ugly of church work. Youth workers that bounce from church to church too often miss out on the pains and the rewards of long-term ministry. A person with multiple positions over the course of the past few years doesn’t automatically disqualify them, but it concerns me right off the bat.
RED FLAG 2 – glowing references from everyone. If the person is perfect, we don’t want them here because we’ll ruin them! While I appreciate good references, being able to hear about a candidates weaknesses or tendencies is a big deal. References that love you but also know you all around are more helpful than the ones that say nothing less then stellar things.
RED FLAG 3 – lack of personality. This is a tough one to see in a resume, but easy to spot in person. Not everyone has to be like me – people-crazy to a fault – you don’t have to even be a people person for that matter, but please show me a pulse. Show me that you’ve got some passion. Show me that there are some things you get excited about, you get angry about and that you dream about.
RED FLAG 4 – little evidence of their relationship with God. You don’t have to use Jesus in every other sentence, but your walk with God should be clearly evident. If a walk with God isn’t showing up somewhere day one, move along to someone else.
JG
Josh Griffin has been in youth ministry for 15+ years and serves as the High School Pastor at Saddleback Church. [
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Geoff Stewart serves the Jr / Sr High School Pastor at Peace Portal Alliance Church in Surrey B.C.
If I were hiring, I’d want to see competence in laying out biblical truths without jargon too. It’s so big a part of my job as a youthworker, that I can’t imagine anyone being effective if they aren’t able to do that.
ED…
Speaking of Red Flag 1. bouncing all over the place.
I was asked -by the senior pastor – to leave a church after 3 years of struggling with him over family time vs. ministry time (I was told I didn’t put the church 1st when I left), and relationships vs. tasks. needless to say my wife and I were extremely hurt and still are trying to work through the pain and confusion.
I took a job as a State Trooper (I guess I still get to work with teens just in a little bit different aspect) , but I miss full time youth ministry, in fact when I deal with some delinquent teens, it brings me to tears.
I miss building relationships with people and investing my life in devoping leaders, if I were to try and get back into full time ministry, how does this “jumping around” appear, when I was asked to leave… I stuck it out for 3 years – 2 of which were the hard times, bad times, struggling times?
(on a side note, my wife and I have decided that we will not go back into ministry full time unless we are sought out or God makes it undeniably clear that he wants us to.)
any thoughts?
Great to have the steak dinner with you at NYMC.
Good article.
@anon – some changes and church positions are beyond your control. I know great youth workers with a scattered job history that God is using to this day in great positions. As I said in the article, this one isn’t a total dealbreaker, but is a concern. If God wants you back in youth ministry, rise above the strike against you and ask God to guide you to the right ministry. I hope you’ll return to the greatest calling in the world – youth ministry – very soon!
JG
@Drew – dude, that was delicious! JG
To go a bit further with comment 2, I have actually been unceremoniously asked to leave twice in very similar fashion. I’ve struggled with wondering if I’m actually called to youth ministry in the first place, even after thirteen years in. And after examining my heart, I guess I’m a glutton for punishment because I want to come back for another try. With the apparent view of myself being the common denominator, how do I combat Red Flag number 1?
O, and I also had to deal with Matt McGill getting me banned from the Podcast by my Pastor… j/k, hahaha!