The Best of Times

Something I said more than a few times in my youth ministry career was that if all that the job entailed was actively ministering to and with youth…it would be the best job in the world. I can honestly say that for the first year and 3ish months…the job I moved out to the Midwest for WAS that. More so than any other full time ministry job I’d ever had. I had a newfound joy for doing what I was doing. It was the most fulfilled I ever felt working in ministry and I was the happiest I’d ever been.

That’s not to say that everything was perfect…the stuff that had made working at churches difficult before were here too. But it was nothing that I either a) hadn’t dealt with before or b) wasn’t willing to get in a little bit of trouble for because I was doing what I believed was right. You can’t ever make everyone happy in life let alone in ministry and I felt content in that.

It was easy to feel that way because so many things were going so well. I had been hired to be the director of high school ministries. The middle school youth group had a director as well…he was a great person to work with as I transitioned into the job. He showed me around town a few times, introduced me to other youth workers in the area, and clued me in on the relational dynamics of our church. He was set to retire just a couple months after I got there…he could have easily coasted to the end of his tenure and not helped as much as he did…but that’s not the kind of guy he was.

The high school youth were a great group to spend time with. They were kind, caring, fun, and had a relentless attitude of being up for anything. I started my time there in March which was just enough time to end out the school year, experience the end of a midwestern winter, and get a feel for their existing community.

They had a solid team of adult leaders that I genuinely loved working with and getting to know. They were made up mostly of people who had grown up in the church…and where I’d experienced resistance in previous places…they were open to trying new things. It was a team mostly built of people who were passionate about the youth and building them up into lifelong followers of Jesus. It was imperfect…and perfectly beautiful.

I have so many memories from that first year that still bring a smile to my face. When I got started at the church there was no summer mission trip planned for the high schoolers and it was made clear that needed to change. So, we went with one of those “mission trip in a box” organizations I was familiar with, and it ended up being my favorite version of one of those trips. All of that was due to the kids. We went to Houston, TX in July. As our church bus crossed the Texas border, I looked worriedly at my lone adult volunteer with me on the trip and muttered, “I don’t think this thing (the AC) is blowing cold air anymore.” A few moments later one of the kids from the back of the bus yelled out, “Hey Matt, can you turn up the AC a bit?” I took a beat to pass along the bad news, “Guys I don’t think the AC’s working.” I felt what I can only describe as a collective deep breath at the news that they’d be spending a week in Texas, at the end of July, with no working AC on the bus…and the youth replied… “ok.” Outside of some well-timed jokes…they never complained about it for the rest of the trip. Their positivity remained unshaken. When we were driving back and drove over the Texas state line…one of the youth yelled from the back of the bus, “Suddenly everything seems smaller!” and I’m not sure I ever laughed harder at a one liner than I did in that moment.

I changed the format of their youth group when fall started. I added more structure and dedicated small group time. I had a goal for at least the first year or two to really build up a firm foundation of community in the youth group. I wanted our group to truly be one that welcomed all. I wanted our content to encourage our students to love like Jesus, to challenge them to think outside the boxes that existed in their lives, and to know above all that God loved them and was for them. I don’t think every week was perfect…but I do think we accomplished that goal week in and week out.

The church also offered to pay for me to enter a youth ministry learning cohort program that offered youth ministry specific training, mentorship, and would also do consulting work with the church geared towards our youth ministry. It was a program I had dreamed of being a part of. The church asked me to sign an agreement that I would stay with the church for a minimum of 5 years in exchange for this. After some discussion…I happily signed. I was ready to invest in the church and this place long term.

When it comes to youth ministry attendance numbers…I tried not to get too attached. I tried to use them for what they were…a tool that could help communicate how the ministry was doing…but was not the end all be all. That being said it became clear after I started that numbers were something our pastor cared about GREATLY. The first thing out of his mouth every week in our program staff meetings would be to ask each of us how the night went. If our attendance numbers weren’t the first thing said in our response, he’d ask for it quickly. If the number reported wasn’t to his liking…his disappointment and frustration was palpable. When I started working at the church the high school ministry averaged about 17-19 a week. When we started meeting again in the fall, we averaged 30 for the first month…and every month after that for the entire school year. My first full year there.

That was encouraging but what invigorated me was that these youth seemed to genuinely love being there. They seemed to be responding to what we were trying. At the end of that year, we got ready to embark on the biggest event/trip I had ever attempted as a youth director. It was the culmination of everything I had been working for in that year. I was anxious for sure…but I was so very much excited. It truly felt like the best of times.