Structures, Staffing & Systems for Young Adult Ministries:
We recently had this question come in from a Lead Pastor who was wondering what the best way to structure and staff the young adult ministry for his congregation. Naturally, every church and community have different needs, but here’s a few things we think are places to start:
1. Pray the right team in to support the dream.
As a passionate Christ follower who believes in the next generation, when God is burdening your heart, trust that He is speaking to other people as well. Ministry is a team thing. Prayer presents us with the opportunity to talk with God about others before talking with others about God.
We see this in Matthew 9:37-38 Jesus literally teaches us that we need to pray for teammates in the ministry. “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”
You are not alone! God knows where your volunteers, staff, and young adults are. He might just be waiting for you to ask Him. They might just be waiting for Him to ask you: “what about this person?”
2. Volunteer key leader.
Somebody needs to lead the charge. Now, the Senior Pastor/Lead Pastor is going to be the visionary for the church ultimately. Most successful ministries have a point person. Who could that be for your church’s young adult ministry?
A lot of times, ministry begins with volunteers. You might have the budget and the board’s approval to hire someone for this position – and if that’s the case we’ll talk more about that soon, but for now, look at Ephesians 4:11-12 “So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up.”
This passage outlines our role as church leaders to equip the saints to do the work of the ministry. Who are 1-2 key people you could ask to serve in this area?
3. Part Time Staff
When I started in 2013 in young adult ministry at my local church – they asked me to come on as one of the pastoral staff. I had just finished a 2-year internship program with the church. Funny story, I was a paid part time intern, but I went to part-time volunteer pastoral staff.
There were a lot of reasons, we were in the middle of a calendar year for the church budget. Our church was also in the midst of a capital campaign building project, so a lot of resources were allocated that way.
For me personally, this meant I had another marketplace job for that season. We see this bi-vocational ministry model even with Paul in the New Testament was a tentmaker for a season. If you’d like to start somewhere with staff, both for the church and for a young leader, part time roles can provide a great entry point.
A crazy thought might be to hire two people whose gifts complement one another both part time for a season. For example, you might hire a part-time worship leader and a part-time young adult pastor to lead the preaching, facilitate small groups, and connect with volunteers. Or you may need administrative help and pastoral oversight.
4. Full Time Staff
A lot of staffing is going to depend on the structure and size of your young adult ministry. How many young adults is your church currently ministering to? Do you have a small group? A network of small groups? Quarterly events? Monthly outreaches? A weekly service? Is your church a single campus or do you have a multi-site model?
Let’s say you have the vision and see young adult ministry really grow and expand. The need to have pastoral oversight for a generation that is over-researched and under-reached will serve your community quite well.
Creating a job description and outlining some goals and expectations for that pastor or full-time staff member is really going to set this individual up for success!
They might be expected to attend weekend services, give announcements, follow up with visitors, participate in staff meetings, pray before and after gatherings, build a team of young adult ministry volunteers, lead small groups, preach occasionally, partner with local campus ministries, be available for office hours, coffees and lunches, hospital visits, weddings and funerals for example.
5. Multi Staff
We work with micro-churches, megachurches, and multisite churches all with starting and strengthening young adult ministries whether they may be in an urban, suburban, or more rural environment.
Getting the first staff member is usually where most churches and pastors are! In fact, I recently talked with one pastor whose church has 9 youth department staff, and only one part-time young adult ministry leader.
You may need to think outside the box. Here’s a couple suggestions:
· Volunteers: small group leaders, worship team, welcome team, event coordinators, sound/tech, even social media can be lead by individuals and teams that are volunteer.
· Interns: this can be a great way to develop young leaders, build a future staff pipeline, and give away ministry to hungry young leaders in the process.
· YTH + YA Pastors: this role shared between youth and young adult ministry leaders or “next gen pastors” is becoming increasingly more common. I will caution anyone thinking this way because many times one ministry takes the most time and energy and the other becomes an afterthought on the back burner.
· Campus Leaders: one question we get from a lot of multi-site churches is can they have a central offices leader/director for young adult ministry who equips a point person for every campus. That certainly can be effective
Pray and see what is right for you, your city, your church!
The Porch at Watermark Church in Dallas, Texas is a great case study for a multi-staff young adult ministry. Now, they run 3,500 weekly on Tuesday nights; they may have close to a dozen full-time/part-time staff… but they will tell you their secret sauce is their volunteers.
6. Equipping the Saints to do the work of the ministry
The bottom line for structures, systems, and staffing within young adult ministry is like every ministry. The role of any paid staff, and arguably even for volunteers – is to become multipliers.
We see this in Ephesians 4: 11-12 like I mentioned before. We also see this in 2 Timothy 2:2 “And the things you have heard me say in the presence of many witnesses entrust to reliable people who will also be qualified to teach others.”
What else have you seen or experienced that can build healthy systems, structures, and staff teams within young adult ministry?
What does your church look like currently in each of these areas?
What could it look like ideally in the future?
What is your training and development process for volunteers and staff? So often we’re quick to make one time moves and forget the need for leadership development!