The Ideal Youth Worker

Generally, wherever we go as a youth team we hear the same thing. “We wish we could do more but we don’t have enough volunteers.” If it comes to the flower rota it can be often filled. Tea and coffee gets a little harder. Children’s work is often run by the same two faithful mothers that have their own toddlers there but then it gets to the one that is scary, crazy and clearly unachievable… Youth Work!!!

We all know that youth work needs to be done by a young and hip guy or girl, ideally with a cool tattoo and a car that’s crammed full with a quick-inflate bouncy castle, a tennis ball launcher, various footballs and enough sweets and fizzy drinks to make an Oompa Loompa jealous.

On the other hand the media sometimes displays ‘Youths’ as these horrible young monsters that run around in their hoodies and mistreat little cats and old ladies and are just out to stab someone.

But is that really what young people want and what we need?

To me, as someone who has done youth work for over 20 years and knows many other youth workers with similar time spans under their belt it seems that looking at it from these points of view is like trying to learn what love is by watching Disney movies or Rom-Coms and then being confused and disappointed.

In all my work with many 1000s of young people over the years I can think of 2 times I have felt slightly endangered and both times there was no problem because safe procedures were in place so let’s park this weird picture of the ‘dangerous youth’.

We also know that the secret to lasting commitment and deep learning are good relationships, authenticity and ideally sound understanding of who God is, the gospel and how it works itself out in our lives. So when we logically think about it we can see that an unmarried guy in his early 20s who has no children, few commitments and not the deepest well of experience might not actually be the best person to provide all this.  (On a side note, that does not mean that all young youth leaders are bad or should be kicked out). To top it most churches now only employ one person, part -time to do this and ideally do this together with children’s work, mums and toddlers and maybe some community stuff thrown in for good measure.

So enough of my frustrations and back to my earlier question… What do young people want?

If you go deeper than just giving them pre-set yes and no questions you find out quickly (I work with nearly 900 youth every week) that they want someone who accepts them as they are, someone who makes them feel safe and loved and someone who will challenge them gently and talk truth. They like some basic boundaries and to know where they stand with a person and they like to be able to just vent and be listened to. Age doesn’t matter, gender doesn’t necessarily matter (for boys a little more), education doesn’t matter. What matters is someone wanting to engage. The people a lot of these young people wish they had and many do not have are grandparents.

What I am saying here is that anyone who has a caring bone in their body can be a great youth worker. Now obviously basic things such as safeguarding training and checks, health and safety and registering who engages with whom and when need to be done. But past that I don’t think there are set rules for what needs to be done. Young people like board games and chess, they like balls, they like just chatting, they like sweets and food, they like going deeper and talking about God, relationships and life. They like to do gardening, camping and hiking. They in general are all different and like all the same things as most people.

As a “Christian” youth group or individuals we would obviously like to see them grow to know God, grow in their walk with God and grow in their inclusion in church.

There are dozens if not hundreds of programs out there to help you do that with them.

In the end what I am saying is that it’s very likely that YOU would be a great youth worker. Don’t let the sensational pictures by certain parts of the media or your own misconceptions stand between fulfilling relationships and many joyous moments in your future.

If you are now wondering what the next step is why not talk to your church leader or one of the diocesan youth team?

Let me finish with the story of Sally, one of the best youth workers I have ever met.

Sally was this lovely 75 year old lady that was at a church I used to work for. She had been there long before me or most other people at the church and she was always there, bustling about in the background. She couldn’t walk fast anymore or play ball games but she could talk and pray and give out sweets. That she did, every church meeting, every youth meeting and at the many times she invited me or some of the young people over to her house. She would chat and listen and make people feel loved. Many a young person kept coming to the youth meetings and even to church, not because of my or someone else’s amazing messages or the cool video games we had. They liked those but they LOVED her. I learned so much from Sally and I think I influenced a good number of people in that church youth. But I am convinced that most people there have long forgotten my name but they remember Sally. I am also convinced that when I get to see Jesus and ask Him he will tell me that a few people grew through my teaching but that Sally was one of the best evangelists, encouragers and youth workers ever.

I have seen many effective low-profile youth workers like her and many of similar age. I dare say a lot of them are better than the young, hip crazy-energy ones I have seen. I dare say many of them are or were better than me.

God bless you

Opa

He called a little child to him, and placed the child among them. And he said: “Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, whoever takes the lowly position of this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.” — Matthew 18:1-5