Building sustainable Youth Ministries... One church at a time.
YMA For Senior / Executive Pastors
The fact that you have gotten this far suggests that you are a pastor who has more than just a passing interest in the next generation.
- Maybe you’re tired of the perpetual churn that has surrounded your youth ministry for years.
- Maybe you’ve just lost your beloved youth pastor, and you’re facing the anxious faces of parents, volunteers and youth who look to you for the answer to “what’s next?”
- Maybe you’ve got a consistently under-performing youth ministry, and you’re looking for an objective perspective about what is reasonable.
- Maybe you did youth ministry in the past, quite successfully; maybe you know how it should be done but you simply don’t have the time for the daily management of your youth staff.
In a survey of 10,000 Christian teenagers, kids rated only two qualities of church as more important than “a senior pastor who understands and loves teenagers.”(“The Cool Church,” Group, 05-06/01, p. 37). In other words, students said that the senior pastor has more influence on their choice of church than even their youth directors might. In one sense, there is no one we would rather have on our website than you.
You are uniquely positioned to help your church see a perspective about building a youth ministry that few youth directors will ever get their churches to see. You can instill patience in your church as they slowly, deliberately build a youth ministry that lasts. And you can support your youth pastor when he or she is overwhelmed with criticism and broken on the sharp rocks of expectations that simply can’t be met, at least this year anyway.
There are an extraordinary number of resources today to help youth workers. But in spite of the growing number of excellent resources, in our work with churches and youth workers, we’re finding an obvious gap between concept and reality, between theory and results.
With a dizzying array of statistics from experts about how “different kids today are” or how “the ways we’ve been doing ministry just don’t work anymore,” senior pastors need a resource that can give them a realistic picture of what is reasonable to expect from professional youth staff.
Thanks for caring deeply about the next generation of the Church. You probably know more about building a successful youth ministry than you think you do. But if you find yourself in need of some support, we would be honored to give you more information about how the YMA process works.
Click here for information about the YMA Youth Ministry Assessment.
“The YMA process and the recommendations left me feeling like a HUGE weight had been lifted off my shoulders. I’ve been breathing again the last few days (always a good thing!). THAT you can put on your website!!!"
~Mary Lynn Tobin, Senior Pastor
Davis Community Church, Davis, CA
"I have been waiting for this book all my ministry. It not only speaks to a meaningful and viable Youth Ministry, but it gives you direction for every area of the life of a church. He does not give any quick fixes, but helps you build your ministry on lasting principles. This is a must book for every church staff – but I speak from bias. We have been working with Mark Devries for 2 years and we have seen our Youth group grow from 4 to 24 in average attendance and our Children’s Ministry do likewise. This is in a church which does not reduce itself to the lowest common denominator and encourages our people to think, question, and search for their own answers. I am excited about what a difference this is making in the life of our church and community."
