YPT Podcast Episode 40: Mike on the Hot Seat (Hartman & Bradley)
To close out our season, Mike is on the hot seat and answers questions from two of YPT's regular contributors, Nick Hartman and Joseph Bradley. The conversation included the following questions:
What do you look back at as your biggest failure in student ministry, and what's something you're really proud of?
How have you navigated relationships with other youth workers who aren't theologically-minded and don't share that value for student ministry?
How have you advocated for theologically-deep youth ministry in the churches where you've served?
How can youth workers help their church view youth pastors as real pastors?
How would you encouraged younger youth workers to pursue longevity in youth ministry?
For those who might need some encouragement, what would you say to them as they pursue faithfulness in student ministry?
If you're trying to recruit someone to serve in vocational youth ministry, what's your pitch?
Excerpt From the Conversation
For those who might need some encouragement, what would you say to them as they pursue faithfulness in student ministry?
Yeah, I don't think I have anything super profound or brilliant on that. I think it's really just, don't do ministry alone. As much as you're able to share fellowship within your church and within a network of other youth workers in your community — whether or not you're in a church in a community with lots of youth pastors around, or if you have to drive a little bit to get there, or if you have to find an online community of youth pastors — just don't do youth ministry alone.
A number of years ago, my friend, Dan, made the observation in March that every winter I feel like quitting. And he was right. There was just this routine every March, when was like, “I don't think I can do this anymore.” He's like, “Mike, like you get discouraged every February. And then we get together and March rolls around and you're stuck in the winter blues. Then, March and April come around and all of a sudden youth group’s at half the attendance that it was during full swing and the calendar just gets weird, and you get super funky.”
We had this conversation the last three years. and if I didn't have someone like him who could tell me things like that I don't know if how long I would have lasted or endured. Or maybe I would’ve said something brash in a meeting at some point. You need people who know you well enough, who get your context and they get you.
And that takes a certain measure of commitment from you to pursue and to find those people, whether they're people in your town or in your broader community or whether or not they're digital people who you meet with kind of like we have, right? Just like I think we're real friends, but we've only been together in person once. But thanks to the way that social media and FaceTime and Zoom and everything is nowadays, you can actually have real friendships. But it takes more work and it takes some vulnerability of you being willing to be honest and open with people. So I don’t think that's not a super profound answer, Nick. But yeah, that's been the game changer for me.
About This Episode
Joseph Bradley is the student pastor at Second Baptist Church of Arkadelphia in Arkadelphia, Arkansas
Nick Hartman is the associate pastor of students and discipleship at Mt Carmel Baptist Church in Cross Plains, TN
Nick & Joseph's two recommended YPT resources:
Robin Barfield, The Posture of the Youth Pastor
Visit Youth Pastor Theologian's website
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