It is getting more difficult to staff Children, Youth, and Family Ministry positions with full-time professionals, but there are other creative ways to make sure this important ministry continues to thrive.

A Downward Trend

I have served as a Director of Children, Youth, and Family (CYF) Ministry for 40 years in over 25 churches. It sounds like I’m unable to keep a job, doesn’t it? But for 20 of those years, I have been an intentional interim CYF director, working in a new congregation every six to twelve months. My role has been to help congregations intentionally process and move forward during times of CYF staffing transition—and post-COVID, there is more staff transition than ever. And the solution is getting more and more challenging every year.

You see, there are fewer and fewer people going into ministry as a profession. We are seeing this downward trend in both CYF ministry and clergy. Why?

• This has never been a career that you go into for the money, but the pay scale certainly has not kept up with the cost of living.
• Churches are facing ever-increasing financial challenges. As they are forced to trim their budgets, it is common to move from a full-time CYF person to a part-time hire or to eliminate the position entirely.
• We are not seeing families return to the church after the pandemic (Barna research has several helpful articles    on this trend. It’s not just your church.) This is leading to less giving (see prior point) as well as fewer kids and families. The CYF staff person becomes the lightning rod in this situation. Churches don’t have returning families, so it must be the fault of the CYF director, so they fire the CYF director, and then wonder why families aren’t returning to church. 
• Culturally, we have fewer people being raised in the faith (see Barna again). This leads to fewer people who feel called to a life of professional ministry.

The lack of staffing situation could sound dire—and for congregations without creativity, it might be. But for others, there are creative ways around this challenge.

Collaborative Ministry

Smaller congregations are discovering that they can partner with another church for their CYF ministries. This has been common for Vacation Bible School programs for years, but it has been challenging for confirmation and Sunday school programs. Which church will host the program? How will the staff person’s salary be paid? Where will they have an office? 

But churches who can overcome these challenges by thinking creatively discover a wealth of resources in cooperative and collaborative programming: young people who see friends from their schools, an increase in the number of available volunteers, and creative programming that help them to break out of traditions that have kept them bound in the “We’ve always done it this way” paradigm.

Empowering Volunteers

Yes, CYF ministry can be run by volunteers if you celebrate and recognize individual gifts. Don’t expect your finance person to teach confirmation (unless they really want to), or your band leader to want to run fundraisers. Implementing a ministry with volunteers takes an army of leaders in key areas: people to implement programs, run publicity, lead fundraising, serve on mission teams and trips, and teach theology. This approach also needs one person to coordinate those volunteers. By recognizing and utilizing the gifts of individuals, you can create a team approach to ministry. If it is within the church budget, consider paying a small stipend to key leaders. The hidden benefit of this approach? More adults interact and build relationships with more kids, creating a win for everyone.

Hire from Outside The Field Of Ministry

Don’t be afraid to think outside of the traditional ministry box. One of the congregations where I served already had a collaborative confirmation program, but they wanted to hire someone to run it and provide the social/service/fellowship opportunities that go into a vibrant youth ministry program. Even though we are in the Minneapolis/St Paul area (where there are more ministry staff people available than in many other places), we were unable to find someone willing to serve in this rural program. After posting to Indeed, we found a secondary education teacher who was tired of working within the school system and had been raised in our faith tradition. With a little coaching and mentorship, she is excelling in the role. 

Bi-Vocational Hires

Many churches have cut full-time positions to part-time. While this may be more financially sustainable for the church budget, it is not realistic or sustainable for a staff person. We need to honor the needs of the families of our staff people with realistic hours that allow them to hold another job to supplement their income. Expecting a part-time staff person to fulfill the same role as a full-time person is unrealistic and will lead to burnout, placing the church back in the cycle of hiring again.

Times change. Ministry looks different. We may clutch our pearls and wring our hands about the lack of families in our churches and the need for someone to lead those families to relationships with Jesus, but until we think creatively about leadership models, we will continue to struggle with staffing. Think outside the hiring box. Look toward the gifts of those in your congregation. Be willing to train and mentor someone who is new to ministry. 

Times change. Ministry looks different. And isn’t that exciting?

 ‘Cuz of Christ,

Kari Osmek

About the Writer

Kari has been serving in congregations as a professional Children, Youth, and Family Ministry Director since 1984.  She has worked with over 20 congregations through InterServe Ministries as an intentional interim ministry consultant, as well as serving in long-term calls in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, St. Louis Park, Minnesota, and Rogers, Minnesota. Kari has worked with Spirit and Truth Publishing as a writer and editor since 2015, She also serves as an editor for Faith+Lead Academy through Luther Seminary. Kari did her undergraduate work in Family Life Education and has a master’s degree in Organizational Leadership and Management.

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