Neighborhood Ministries

Many churches are building huge children’s programs and many also are seeking young pastors to lead youth programs as their second pastor, but that is a big mistake. Youth are at a critical time in their life and are making decisions about the rest of their life so it is important to reach them, however, many young people leave their local church after graduating to go to college or pursue a career and do not return, because the youth programs are not helping them deal with the problems they face. In addition, it is hard to combat the influence of the world in only a couple hours a week, so if the church doesn’t also reach the parents, they fight a very difficult battle. They make up a small part of the congregation and require large amounts of resources, yet contribute very little to the church financially. The same goes for children’s programs. It is important to maximize resources to get the most out of them and to pour large amounts of resources on a small segment of the congregation while neglecting the rest of the congregation is not a wise use of resources. While young pastors may understand what it means to be a student, they don’t understand what it means to be a parent, and they don’t have the experience to minister to parents, middle aged empty nesters, and the elderly. Far better to get an older pastor capable of ministering to all ages and have him recruit and train young adults in the congregation to lead the children’s and youth programs under his guidance.