Do Youth Pastors Need Seminary?
On the Facebook groups I’m a part of, this seems to be a fairly regular question: “People keep encouraging me to go to seminary. Is it worth it for youth pastors?” As someone who has studied to complete two seminary degrees (M.Div. & D.Min., both at Gordon Conwell Theological Seminary), and I think this is an important question to address on a site like this. What I’ve written below is largely based off my M.Div. since that’s far more common, but much of this would apply to the D.Min as well.
I want to address three common hurdles youth workers face when considering seminary. These can be challenging to clear, but I hope my arguments for why seminary is worth pursuing encourage you to prayerfully consider ways to clear those hurdles… even if it’s one class at a time.
Hurdle 1: Money
I get it. We don’t make much money, and education is expensive. This is a totally legitimate objection. The pay raise you receive for your education may not financially “pay off” for quite a few years. If you can afford to start taking even one class at a time, do it. Start small, start slow… but start when you’re able.
Hurdle 2: Bad Youth Pastors Who Have Gone to Seminary But Remained Mediocre
I hear this one all the time and I get it. We all know people who are educated beyond their actual intelligence. Degrees don’t always confer competence. Going to seminary won’t give you pastoral super powers, transforming you into an incredible youth pastor once you get your degree.
Seminary trains you to think deeply and academically about the Bible, theology, history, counseling, and even pastoral ministry. It may take a while (a few months for some, a few years for others) to get the seminary mentality replaced with a pastoral approach.
There are some people who complete seminary will simply never be very “good” youth pastors. At the same time, some of the best pastors I know have never attended seminary. So, why bother?
Taking decisions because of negative examples is usually a bad way to make decisions. Some people who live a healthy lifestyle still get cancer, and some Christians are still jerks and hypocrites - does this mean the gym and following Jesus are bad decisions? In the same way, seminary is a helpful training-ground for those who are called to a lifetime of pastoral ministry, even if there are some seminary grads whose lives are poor advertising.
Hurdle 3: I’m Too Busy
We’re all busy. For many, talking about our busyness is a favorite conversation topic. I know that many youth pastors need to work multiple jobs, so I want to keep that in mind. The time crunch is another legitimate objection, but I repeat my counsel from the first section above. Start small, start slow, but start when you can.
Take an honest evaluation of your time and consider what could be cut back in order to make room for education. There are many online programs available if there are no seminary campuses near you. Remember, seminary should be more about your preparation and development than about attaining an impressive degree - so if it takes a long time, that’s ok!
Argument 1: Youth Ministry is Real Ministry
If you want to be viewed as a “real pastor,” then view yourself as one first. Don’t look down on your role and expect others to treat you with high regard if you aren’t willing to study and learn. Do you want your Senior Pastor to have a seminary degree? What about the Associate Pastor? Why should the Youth Pastor’s education be less important?
We all say that youth ministry is one of the most important ministries of the church, but will we back that up by how we prepare for that responsibility and calling?
Argument 2: Youth Ministry is Difficult
Some of the hardest papers I have ever had to write were one-page research papers where I had to cite at least four reference sources. If I went onto a second paper the professor would rip it off and throw it away before she began reading. That meant every word needed to be thoughtfully crafted and the research needed to be crisp and concisely presented. That’s a little bit how youth ministry often works itself out. It may not look like a ton of research and effort went into it, but we know differently.
As youth pastors we deal with ethical issues while counseling students and their families (and trying to mediate between the two!), we teach/preach, do Bible Study and theological study in preparation for our teaching (if you don’t do this and receive a paycheck from the church… either go to seminary or get out of ministry. Seriously.). On top of that, we try to build a team of youth leaders and equip them to do the work of ministry as well, all while integrating the youth ministry into the overall life of the church. And there’s administration to go along with all of those tasks. I don’t want to make it sound more complex than it really is, but I want to point out that being prepared will serve you well… because we’re doing all that for the sake of teenagers whose bodies are filled with raging hormones, body odor, and social pressure to both “stand out” and “fit in” at all times. It’s not easy work.
Education will give you the raw materials for this type of deep ministry to students, but experience is what will sharpen your skill to know how and when to use that knowledge to help them know and love Jesus Christ.
Argument 3: We Don’t Know What We Don’t Know (but professors do)
We need teachers to show us what we don’t know we don’t know. One of my favorite seminary professors said, “The larger the island of knowledge, the longer the shoreline of ignorance.” The more we know, the more questions we discover. The less we know, the more answers we think we have. If you are relying on yourself to do your own self-study (“Who needs seminary, I can just read the books and learn it on my own!”), you’ll probably find yourself reading books by people you mostly agree with written about topics that are interesting to you.
I can’t tell you how many times I’ve called upon information that I was forced to learn (because it would be on the test). One of the classes I hated the most (seriously, the review I left that class on the end-of-semester evaluation was scathing, I really should email him and apologize) has turned out to be the most ministry-shaping class I took in seminary.
Argument 4: Other Students’ Perspectives
The other students will teach you as much as the professors. I have learned so much more than expected from my friends with different experiences, cultural backgrounds, and theological persuasions. We still disagree over certain issues, but I understand the strengths and weaknesses of my own views better because of these conversations.
I’ve also had to wrestle with scholars and peers with whom I greatly disagree. These conversations are not always fun, but they are beneficial. Some of my convictions today are the result of these types of conversations with classmates.
Argument 5: Depth & Breadth
Simply put, the depth of study which seminary provides cannot be easily matched on your own. I routinely call upon my seminary training without even realizing it. We aren’t trying to be know-it-alls, but we do want to have a depth and breadth of knowledge that will equip us to respond to students’ questions and doubts.
Obviously you won’t be able to become a master of Greek, Hebrew, Church History, Psychology, Educational Theory, Homiletics/Preaching, Old Testament, New Testament, Theology, Ethics and Global Christianity. But when else will you have an opportunity to study such a wide array of topics by men and women who have given their professional lives to be experts in their field so they can raise up the next generation of leaders in the Church?
Argument 6: The Habits You Form
I hinted at this in the intro at top of this post, but I am particularly thankful for my D.Min. because of the study habits I needed to cultivate. When we train ourselves to read often, to think deeply, and to write well then we will simply become better communicators when it’s time to open our mouths. The pile of books in my office and in my Kindle library continues to grow, and they grow in a wide array of topics. Maybe this is just me, but I tend to be a goal-oriented person who needs to know what he’s working towards - this is why I need a degree program or book deadline to motivate me. Without that goal or structure, it’s easy to become lazy and binge Netflix instead of reading or writing. For that reason, the structure of a seminary education has taught me ongoing habits that continue to bless me and my ministry today.
