Uploaded June 2015 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
Last week, Maina Mwaura hosted longtime youth worker Kurt Johnston to pick his brain about things that work in his youth ministry at Saddleback. There were a lot of great ideas shared but I wanted to focus on a handful of my favorites:
- Longevity in ministry comes from learning to share the load.
Kurt mentioned that he’s not perfect with things like time-management, so it’s crucial for him to share those kinds of responsibilities with others on his team. By doing that, it helps him embrace the way he’s wired and to find a balance of responsibilities and overall health.
- A well-defined purpose and strategy make up a good youth ministry program.
Better ministry happens when you have a well-defined purpose and strategy in place and that you operate within each week. These two things help you define a “win” in your ministry so that you can stay focused on creating them for your students.
- Stick around long enough to see the fruit.
Kurt mentioned that a bit of advice he would share with a new youth worker is to work toward longevity in 1 church because the fruit of youth ministry takes a long time to ripen. That means you should take your time finding the right church to work in. Don’t take the first offer that comes if it’s not a great fit. Also, Kurt reminds us that you can’t let the difficult parts of ministry take you by surprise. He described youth ministry as “life threatening” and doesn’t fit neatly into a 9am-5pm job. It’s important to know those things going in.
- Do less stupid things for a longer period of time.
A question came in about how you can earn trust with parents. Kurt mentioned without hesitation that longevity is key to building trust because it builds a track record with the parents of students in your ministry. Parents don’t giveaway their trust very easily. You earn a parent’s trust simply by sticking around and doing positive things with their students. There’s no short cut to it.
Check out more great resources for youth ministry at: youthspecialties.com
Last week, Maina Mwaura hosted longtime youth worker Kurt Johnston to pick his brain about things that work in his youth ministry at Saddleback. There were a lot of great ideas shared but I wanted to focus on a handful of my favorites:
- Longevity in ministry comes from learning to share the load.
Kurt mentioned that he’s not perfect with things like time-management, so it’s crucial for him to share those kinds of responsibilities with others on his team. By doing that, it helps him embrace the way he’s wired and to find a balance of responsibilities and overall health.
- A well-defined purpose and strategy make up a good youth ministry program.
Better ministry happens when you have a well-defined purpose and strategy in place and that you operate within each week. These two things help you define a “win” in your ministry so that you can stay focused on creating them for your students.
- Stick around long enough to see the fruit.
Kurt mentioned that a bit of advice he would share with a new youth worker is to work toward longevity in 1 church because the fruit of youth ministry takes a long time to ripen. That means you should take your time finding the right church to work in. Don’t take the first offer that comes if it’s not a great fit. Also, Kurt reminds us that you can’t let the difficult parts of ministry take you by surprise. He described youth ministry as “life threatening” and doesn’t fit neatly into a 9am-5pm job. It’s important to know those things going in.
- Do less stupid things for a longer period of time.
A question came in about how you can earn trust with parents. Kurt mentioned without hesitation that longevity is key to building trust because it builds a track record with the parents of students in your ministry. Parents don’t giveaway their trust very easily. You earn a parent’s trust simply by sticking around and doing positive things with their students. There’s no short cut to it.
Check out more great resources for youth ministry at: youthspecialties.com
