I entered Gordon-Conwell excited to pursue seminary training and to prepare for a life of pastoral ministry. Although I wasn’t sure where I’d land in pastoral ministry, I knew that I loved preaching. When interviewing for the youth pastor role I eventually accepted, I told them that I respected youth ministry too much to treat it as a stepping-stone, but that I loved preaching too much to remain in youth ministry for life.

My other youth pastor friends teased me, assuming that I’d jump into a more prestigious pastoral role as soon as I could. Today, nearly all of those friends who teased me are serving as senior pastors while I’m still in youth ministry. What changed? Why have I continued to stay in youth ministry? Why do I encourage seminary students today to serve in youth ministry? A few principles have captured my mind and heart.

Youth Ministry is as Old as Adam and Eve
People commonly make the statement that “youth ministry didn’t exist until the Industrial Revolution.” It’s true that Young Life pioneered what’s become typical in modern youth ministry – youth groups meeting to play games, eat food, and hear an age-targeted Bible message from an adult. But youth ministry itself is as old as Adam and Eve. God’s people have always been called to pass the faith from generation to generation. In this sense, youth ministry finds its roots in the creation mandate.

Long before the post-Industrial Revolution focus on youth, Joshua, Paul, Martin Luther, and Jonathan Edwards all wrote and expressed concern about wayward youth who were abandoning the virtues and faith of their ancestors. Despite their anxieties about the waywardness of youth, the Church remains. The gates of hell still have not prevailed.

Take Your Vows Seriously
Something holy and sacred is happening when parents dedicate or baptize their children unto the Lord surrounded by their church family. Parents make a vow before God and so does the church community. It’s more than a cute moment to admire or a photo-op for social media. It’s a holy commitment between the parents and their local congregation to collaborate for that child’s spiritual maturity.

As I’ve written elsewhere, “Youth ministry is for adolescence. The family is for life. The church is for eternity.”[1] If this is true, then youth ministry serves as a bridge to link the church and home. This is where parents and the church community co-evangelize and co-disciple teenagers. Youth ministry is an expression of churches taking their dedication/baptismal vows seriously.

Youth Ministry is Pastoral Ministry
One of the core convictions of my ministry, Youth Pastor Theologian, is that youth ministry is pastoral ministry. It is theological work. Youth ministers teach God’s Word, evangelize the lost, disciple new believers, support parents in family discipleship, offer biblical counseling to teenagers and parents during crises, visit youth in school and in the hospital, train teams of adults for the work of ministry, plan and coordinate times for students to worship, serve in the community, and enjoy times for fellowship. The mission of youth ministry is to make adult disciples whose faith took root during their teen years. It’s time to lay aside the notion that youth ministry is a mere stepping stone to a higher call. It is fundamental pastoral work.

If we believe that youth ministry is pastoral ministry then let’s elevate our youth workers with generosity and encouragement. Let’s seek opportunities to train them for biblically rich and pastorally accessible ministry. Let’s commit ourselves to speak well of and render honor to those who minister to our children and teenagers. Over time, I believe this may turn the tide and restore the appropriate dignity and empowering mission of youth ministry.

The mission of youth ministry isn’t to make teenage disciples, but adult disciples whose faith took root during their teen years. Those in youth ministry are shaping the next generation of pastors and missionaries and elders and deacons and Sunday School teachers. If we want to see good leaders in the church twenty-five years from now, then we need to disciple them today.

[1] Michael McGarry, A Biblical Theology of Youth Ministry: Teenagers in the Life of the Church (Randall House Academic, 2019), 79.

Mike McGarry is the founder and director of Youth Pastor Theologian. He served as a full-time youth pastor for nearly two decades and earned his MDiv in 2005 and DMin in 2014 from Gordon-Conwell. His latest book Iconic: Being God’s Image in Your World is forthcoming in 2025 with New Growth Press.