I’ve been hired as a young preacher twice, at ages 23 and 29. I made tons of young preacher mistakes and the churches I worked with had to put up with a lot from me. I’ve given advice to young preachers in the past and I’ll do it again in a future post. In this post, I’ll offer some advice to churches who have been entrusted with the proper care and feeding of young preachers.
1. Please don’t continually remind him of how young he is. He knows this and is sensitive about it. He’s probably trying his hardest to get older every day. Look! It’s working. Starting every compliment with the phrase “For a young preacher” negates the compliment.
2. Please don’t use his age as an excuse to dismiss his ideas. Debate his ideas based on their merit, not his age. Old people have bad ideas too and their age has nothing to do with it.
3. Please don’t hold his age against him. It’s not his fault he’s young. Sometimes older people resent younger people because their energetic idealism reminds them of who they once were. They regret the kind of person they’ve become and they turn their pain on the youngster, taking it upon themselves to break him down. He’s not cynical yet. He’s not broken. He’s not yet been humiliated. Don’t worry, life will take care of this. I don’t think Jesus intended for the church to be the hammer used to beat down young ministers. (By the way, there is a difference between beating down someone and giving them loving feedback that can help him grow. See next point.)
4. Sometimes churches are willing to take a risk on a young preacher because he is a gifted communicator and they’re willing to put up with his youth because they’re mesmerized by his gift. If your young preacher is a gifted communicator, don’t cut him any slack because of his gift. Encourage him to develop the rest of his ministry skill set. The better speaker he is, the more likely he is to think he’ll be able to get by with his silver-tongue alone. He may be right. But trust me on this one, he’ll find long-term ministry more fulfilling if he learns to show love for others in ways beyond preparing and preaching great sermons.
5. It’s unlikely that a young preacher is going to spend his entire career with his first church. He’ll probably only be there for three to five years. Accept this fact without using it as an excuse to resist his ideas. Churches are sometimes hesitant to let a young preacher lead them anywhere because they assume he’s only going to be around for a few years. If that’s the case, then why bother hiring him in the first place? Let him start developing his leadership skills. Give him a chance to make a difference without giving him carte blanche. What if more churches saw working with a young preacher as an opportunity to help develop a future leader for the good of the Kingdom, rather than just being determined to keep him from doing too much damage while he’s there?
6. Treat him the way you would want someone to treat your son or daughter in a similar situation. He’s got parents too and if you are too mean to him you run the risk of having his mom come and beat you up. (It might do a few churches some good if they had to answer to the parents of the young preachers they’ve mistreated.)
What would you add to this list?
Telling Stories, Asking Questions, Learning Lessons
yep, great thoughts
Great blog, Wade! I couldn’t have said it better.
7. Give the young man permission to change his mind. I listened to a group of elders criticize a young preacher because he changed his position on a subject from that which he had espoused in a previous sermon. They felt it indicated instability and immaturity. I suggested it was evidence of his intellectual honesty. It is not easy to ‘fess up to misunderstandings publically – just ask any politician. Granted, there is no excuse for Book-Of-The-Month theology: we’ve all endured the expert whose certainty on any subject is limited to the last book he read. On the other hand, do you really want a preacher who has learned all he will ever know by the age of 25?
“You’ll make a good preacher someday, son.”
These are some great thoughts. I just graduated undergrad early to take a job at the church I came to faith in. I came back because I knew it would be a great place to learn ministry, and it is.
Next to Wes’s comment, my least favorite thing to hear is “I remember you when you were this tall.”
I think #4 & 5 are important, less than obvious ones.
How about that advice for younger preachers? 🙂
Wow! Great stuff for a guy your age! Sorry Wade, couldn’t resist. I’m an older guy (64) at Central in Amarillo. I appreciate very much your candor in this piece. Dan Bouchelle (our former senior minister) wrote in his blog recently how he didn’t maximize some of what he saw as his strengths, while at Central, because he felt obligated to be more involved in other activites that he felt were expected of him. (That’s my interpretation of what Dan wrote. If I got that wrong I hope Dan will correct me.) Quite simply, sometimes we (members of congregations) are not observant or thoughtful enough to recognize the damage we are doing in situations like this with young ministers. That is the main reason I am glad to see things like this surface on your’s and other’s blogs on Facebook. Thank you for enlightening us. I will be very careful in choosing my words with all of our young ministers in the future so as to build them up and not, even without intent, tear them down . Blessings.
Thanks for all these great comments. I’ve been without Internet access for the past few days so I haven’t been able to respond. I love Kim’s #7.
Otter Creek Church hired me when I was 29. They have been exemplary in their expectations of me and (more importantly) their lack of overburdening expectations upon Kara (my wife). Thanks for reflecting upon your experiences, Wade. Great post.
You are blessed man Josh.
I think this probably touches on your number four, or at least extends it a bit. I think churches should insist on continuing education, whether graduate school or conferences. Furthermore, make sure that your young preacher is doing more than just going to preaching conferences. Encourage him or her to explore leadership, history, the arts, and cultural analysis. Our contemporary culture is so complex that it is tempting to simply do church maintenance with those who already have the church language memorized.
Jeff–thanks for stopping by the blog. Great insights.
Great post. I especially appreciate number 4. It reminds me of something a mentor told me a few years ago: “You can preach the best sermons in the world and still have an unhealthy, dying church.” He then encouraged me to read Pete Scazzero’s book, The Emotionally Healthy Church. A must read for all preachers in my book.
Josh–I love that book.