The UMC just released results of a survey on youth ministry salaries (click here for the article), with comparisons to the 2010 Group Publishing Salary Survey.
As I reflect on that article, let me first recognize that the bulk of people reading this blog and using the resources are volunteers, most of whom don’t even have a budget for the ministry they offer for young people in their churches. In many ways salary is a small part of what should be a wider conversation about the spending of local church resources and what they reflect about how we value ministry with youth.
We’re not it in for the money, and that is as it should be. Yet my heart breaks when I hear excellent youth ministry staff share the decision to leave youth ministry, or ministry altogether, simply because they can’t support their families on the pay. The only way this changes is to begin conversations in our local churches about youth ministry, its value and fruitfulness, and how we allocate resources. With that in mind, here are 4 ideas for starting a conversation about youth ministry and allocated resources in your church setting.
1. Start conversations about money when you don’t need more money. When you can honestly say that you love the ministry God has called you to and the money doesn’t matter, you are in a great place to have an honest conversation with church leadership, with a focus on educating leadership with no hidden agenda.
2. Share the details of salary surveys or budgets with leadership, not just generalities. To say to a church leader that the average youth worker makes $44,000 or that the large church down the street has a budget of $30000 tells little. Telling what youth workers make in this area of the country, what the budgets are of similar size churches in the area, or even how the youth ministry spending compares to other areas in the current local church budget will be more helpful. Anticipate and answer questions that help deal with specifics for your church.
3. Invite a church leader supportive of youth ministry to present with you, or a group of supporters, to help you educate other church leaders. By engaging others in the education, you minimize the risk of people perceiving you are asking for more money personally or that the conversation is about you instead of about the ministry.
4. Log the details of your hours in ministry for a couple of weeks or a month. Seldom do I meet a youth ministry volunteer or staff who, if they logged all of their time in ministry in a week, from texting to Facebook to Sunday school to youth gathering times, doesn’t spend way more hours than what are asked for or paid. This detailed account will help leadership understand the needs of the ministry and what the ministry entails.
Often our churches, with the economy today, aren’t in a position to offer more money immediately for salary or budget, even if they perceive discrepancy between the stated priority of youth ministry and the resources allocated. But if we desire change, we are often in a position to begin the conversation to help our local churches look to the future and assess the priority of youth ministry.
We are so excited to welcome Helene Foust to the CONNECT Team this week. Helene started work yesterday as the new Associate Director of Student Ministries, and those of you serving in ministry with youth around the state of Indiana will be blessed by her heart for supporting, resourcing, empowering, and caring for you and your ministries.
