Youth Pastor Interview
By
Brian Weathers

It takes a special kind of person to want to lead the young people in today’s society/ I have a close friend that is serving as a youth pastor at a local church in our small town in Woodruff South Carolina. He has been serving as a youth pastor for over ten years now and still has the desire to teach and fellowship with the youth at his church. Tony tells me that the age group that he has on a weekly basis range from thirteen years of age to seventeen years of age. He also tells me that he really enjoys this range of ages because he can really relate to what they deal with on a daily basis because he has a son that fits into this range of ages that he teaches on a weekly basis at his church. In interviewing Tony for this paper he describe his teaching opportunities that he has is both formal and informal. He has the typical Sunday morning and evening services that would be considered as formal teaching opportunities and then there are Wednesday night services that would also be considered as a formal teaching opportunity that he does every week. As far as the informal opportunities would be when they have gatherings that is not included in the normal service times and this is a great way to reach the ones that come just for fun and fellowship not inside the church building. The way that he breaks down his youth group is by what current grade the student is actually in. This way he can keep the same ages together so they can be all on the same level as far as maturity goes. He also tells me that in certain circumstances he might allow brothers and sisters to be in the same group so they feel comfortable being around other people that they might not know from school or church. In my opinion I think this is a great way to break down a youth group because this way they can fellowship with their own ages and will not feel pressured to act certain away around their friends. Also from my experience when I was growing up in a youth group my teacher broke down our group the same way as Tony does and I really enjoyed all the fun times I had with my friends from church and school as well. As far as the gender specific groups he tells me that he does not do any this in his youth ministry and he feels like the youth not matter the gender needs to be mixed when they are in classes on Sunday’s or Wednesday’s. The teaching material that Tony uses comes from the Bible and sometimes he might get a workbook or two from Christian supply store to teach but most of his lessons come the Word of God the Bible. He tells me that he prays before he even prepares his lesson for the week and this way he will teach the young people exactly what God wants them to hear that week. I think this is a great way to teach because nothing gives the truth more than the Bible. The next thing I talked to Tony about was his strengths and weakness of his material that he taught on a weekly basis. He told me that if teaches what God wants him to say then this is his strength in teaching but as far as the weakness goes he describes not always concentrating on what God tells him and teaching what his own flesh wants him and the young people will not learn anything if it is not coming from God. I do not know how I feel about his teaching but it has been working for him for ten years now and the young people that he teaches their lives are being changed so something he is doing is right so why change something if it is working for him in his ministry. The most talked about subject that his youth like to talk about on a weekly basis is peer pressure and what they have to deal with on a daily basis at school and home as well. The teaching context that tony uses on a weekly basis for his youth ministry are the church has a fellowship building and it has a gym and classrooms that we can use for anything. Usually fifteen minutes before we start our lessons I setup a table to the side with drinks and snacks. This gives them a relaxed atmosphere where they can eat and fellowship with their friends before I start teaching the lesson that I have planned for them that week. The fellowship is a great place to have my youth ministry because I have a lot of room for growth and I have room to play games or whatever I want to do it and being in the fellowship building will not interfere with the other church services going on at the same time as well. I would not change where we meet for nothing because I feel we are right where God wants us to be and there is nothing better to do than follow what God has in store for me and my youth ministry. I have had several opportunities to reach out to the youth in our community and the best way that I found is hang out with them in their own community to get the feel of what they go through and when I see where they are needing help then I sit down with them to offer advice and to let them know that I am their for them anytime that they need someone to talk to or just hang out with with no pressure to talk about what is really going own in their lives on a daily basis. In today’s world young people need a youth pastor to take interest in them and lead them in the right direction and keep them follow what God has in store for them but if not then that is why we are seeing all kinds of trouble from our teenagers today. It is not totally up to the youth minister to take interest in the young people but it is the parent’s responsibility to lead them down the right path as well. As a youth minister I will do whatever it takes to lead the young people to Christ and I enjoy being a youth minister and will continue doing this as long as it is God’s plan for me to be in this position. In conclusion the best method for teaching the youth in today’s environment is to be honest and teach God’s word and show the young people that you love them just like God does. When we do this then everything that we do will not matter but trusting in God is the only thing we should be doing on daily basis and this goes for the youth and adults as well.