Expectations To Hold For Any Youth Worker Volunteer

(Again, inspiration from Tim over at Life in Student Ministry for the idea on this post.)

I’ve had this on file for quite some time and I know that I have handed it out to many of our youth staff but it bears repeating…

• Commit 3 hours per week to the youth group – mostly at Impact and weekends
• Arrive 15 minutes early to all scheduled events and stay until the end.
• Call or email me as soon as you know of a conflict that will prevent you from attending any event.
• Attend a bi-monthly leader training event
• For your small group – Learn every teens name and an interest that they have.
• Interact with every member of your small group, being careful to spend equal time with all of them.
• Participate enthusiastically in scheduled events.
• Receive a weekly update from me – with prayer points and areas of need to recruit in the small groups.
• Come to me any time with concerns or suggestions.
• Experience successful and not so successful gatherings.
• Feel energized after youth events.
• Feel tired after youth events.
• Communicate regularly with the parents of the students in your small groups.
• Celebrate students victories with them & share these victories with their parents.  (parents love to hear the good stuff that their students are caught doing!)
• Communicate with me (PK) if there are any behavioral issue that need discipline. (don’t go this alone.)
• Communicate with students outside of Impact and GCC (but clear it with their parents first)  Use a variety of communication methods – MySpace, Facbook, IM, email, text & cell, face time is always best but many times a simple connection can make all the difference in the world to a student.
• Never allow yourself to be alone with a student of the opposite gender. (Protect yourself and the students that we minister to.)
• We are not licensed counselors.  (and that is o.k.!)  Understand your limitations and look to others who are better trained for professional help.
• Passion!  We are not looking for warm bodies at Impact.  We want people who are passionate about connecting with students and helping them connect with Jesus.
• Criminal Background checks will be run on all youth staff.
• No adult youth worker is to date a youth or be romantically involved with a youth.  (Any adult with prior incident of sexual misconduct in this regard will not be a youth worker or serve in any capacity of youth ministry at Impact.  There are no exceptions.)
• To serve on the youth staff at Impact you must be a member of Grace Capital Church.

The bottom line is Youth ministry is not the easiest ministry in which to serve, but it can be one of the most rewarding.  It is o.k. to feel inadequate about your skills.  Your confidence will grow the more you are around the students and experience how God can use inadequate people (like us) to do great things.