Description

Sooner or later, every youth pastor learns that their youth ministry is only as strong as their volunteers. If that’s true then how do we identify, recruit, train, and support faithful volunteer leaders to serve our students? 

Discussion 

• Why are volunteers so important? 
• What should we look for in volunteers, and what are some flags that should give us pause in potential volunteers? 
• What’s your take on parents serving as youth leaders? 
• How do you go about “making the ask” to recruit new volunteers?
• What does onboarding and training for new volunteers look like for you? 
• Do you have different roles or job descriptions for volunteers? How do you ensure they aren’t just warm bodies at youth group? 
• How do you address differences of opinion and disagreements with volunteers? To what degree is that healthy, and when does that mean that it might not be a good ministry fit? 

Alex Tufano is the Youth Pastor at Heritage Bible Chapel in Princeton, MA. He’s served in youth ministry for 13 years… he’s also responsible for curating YPT’s Friday Review every week, so he’s a treasured contributor to YPT’s ministry. 

Resources

• Podcast ep.8 “Protection Policies and Ministry to Abuse Survivors” with Chelsea Erickson
• MinistrySafe or Protect My Ministry
• YPT New Youth Leader Application Packet & Application
• YPT Guide for New Youth Ministers 
• YPT Teaching Workshop
• Lead Them to Jesus, Mike McGarry
• Trellis and Vine, by Colin Marshall and Tony Payne 
• With, by Skye Jethani
• Parenting Ahead, by Kristen Hatton
• CPYU and Rooted podcasts

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YPT's ebook, Youth Ministry is Theological Ministry, is a free download for subscribers. This book presents ten articles from the YPT archives to help new readers catch YPT's vision for theologically rich and pastorally wise youth ministry.