Contrasting Youth Ministry With Education

My wife is a teacher.  Specifically, she teaches Physical Education which for the most part means coaching sports as well. So, for years she was a coach of volleyball, Cross Country, and Track. When we compare our fields and the expectations that go with them, we discover some serious differences.

First, Youth Ministers are expected to be young.  There are plenty of old teachers and coaches who people view as more effective. They tend to be highly respected. Yet, older Youth Ministers are not common.  People don’t think we can work with teens once we pass 35 years of age.  Parents appreciate the experience of a 50+ coach or teacher but not the 40+ youth minister. For some reason an older youth pastor is seen as having missed the boat.  He should have become a pastor or something.

Second, youth ministry is not expected to teach much.  Schools expect students to learn Algebra and trigonometry but parents don’t expect their kids to learn the basic doctrine of the church. Parents want their students to do Advance Placement classes but not dig into real theology or deeper Bible study.

Third, parents want small classrooms with a high level of student to teacher interaction. Yet they want large youth groups and in those often students get lost in the crowd, something parents don’t want in schools, but it seems to be okay in church.  Few large youth ministries have an abundance of leaders who devote a lot of time and attention to students. I know of exceptions, but that is the nature of large program churches.

Fourth, parents often expect youth groups to be entertaining and fun but expect schools to be strictly educational.  Yes, they want their kids to enjoy school but if their kids come home and tell mom or dad that they just played all day at middle or high school, parents would be unimpressed. The same is not the case if they come home from youth group raving about the games they played.

I might be sounding cynical in all this, so I will stop there.  You may think of other contrasts between education and ministry.  If so, add them in the comments below.