Settling Into Your New Youth Ministry Position

Leaving a youth ministry position is hard. No one will ever disagree with that.  Starting a new position, is just as hard.  No matter how the interview goes.  No matter how much time is spent between the applicant and hiring committee.  There will always be some pain to the transition.  This isn't a bad thing.  Actually it can be a good thing.  New starts allow you to take a fresh look at what has been going on.  Depending on the size of your church/group, you might be able to make change right way or you may need to take some time.


Now, first off, this is all based on a normal transition.  If there has been any major negative issues with the group, things will be completely different.

When you start a new position, there are many things to consider.  You have to look at number of students, number of adult leaders, prior history of the group, budget and much more.  All of these will play a factor into what type of start you will have.  You need to figure out the best way to start strong.  Some of the ideas below will help you do that.


Get to Know Your Adults: I had a very short time between when I accepted my new position and when we moved, so I didn't do as much as this as I wanted.  If you have the opportunity, try to contact your adult leaders or whoever has been leading the group before you actually get there.  This will give you some time to begin thinking about what you want to do and allow you time to process through some of that.  This will also let them get to know you a little before you come.  This pre-knowledge makes the first meetings go a little bit smoother.


Get to Know the History:  Unless you are starting from scratch, your new ministry will have some history.  I would bet that some is good and some is bad.  There are probably some trips that have been done every year.  There are probably adults who need some special attention that you need to know of.  Learning the history of the ministry will help you begin to merge your vision with what has been done in the past and expectations of the future.  You can learn this history by talking to your adult leaders, church staff, students, parents and various congregation members.  You will hear a lot of stories.  People love to talk.  You goal is just to listen and learn.


Evaluate Everything: This one is something to do in any ministry.  Once you have learned what has happened in the past, begin to evaluate it.  You need to find out what events have taken place in the past, who has been in charge of various areas, what type of space do the youth have & how is it used and what has worked and not worked.  When I came to my new church, there were a couple events that the group has always done.  They are not bad events but we will be evaluating them for value and purpose.  You need to evaluate WITH your team, this is key.  You can do some evaluation on your own but make sure they are involved before you start killing programs.


Make some changes: This one is the tricky part.  You will begin to see the need for changes as you learned about the ministry.  Resist the urge to make any majors changes within the first 6 months.  If there are giant holes in the program, then work with your adult leaders to start filling them, otherwise look for little changes that will make a big impact.  If you go in changing everything, you risk alienating your adult leaders and the students.  Remember, you are the new person.


When you being a new ministry, a great start is important.  Remember, that this is someone else's ministry that you are working in.  No matter the circumstances of their departure, the students will still have feelings for them.  Each church is different and each ministry is different.  I believe that most good sustainable ministries will take you between 3-5 years to build, so don't be in a rush.