Tuffy posted a list of perks for serving in youth ministry. Not all of them apply to me personally, but they made me smile anyway, so I thought I’d share his list with you guys. :)

all the free food you can eat
ok, so we may not get paid squat, but man, i sure gain weight when i am doing youth ministry. people invite you for food, give you food, you go to more church potlucks. i am certainly not starving…

activities you would do anyway somehow become work
how great is it that part of my job includes things like, playing cards, eating lunch, spending time with friends, Bible studies, and worshipping? sometimes i have to take a step back and go, “this is a job, right?”

activties you wouldn’t normally do, you get to do
i’ve only been skiing on time that wasn’t a youth group trip. i love to ski, but it rarely happens. and yet, this is now work! i go to concerts i wouldn’t otherwise go to. i hear speakers i wouldn’t otherwise hear. i simply do stuff that i wouldn’t normally do. and i love it.

i get to still be a kid
i keep one foot in the world of teens, and one foot out. which means i get all the perks of an adult, but i also get to do all the fun stuff of a teen. why would i want anything less?

watching students grow into adults
i have former students who do youth ministry, missions, and have gone on to other places in life. i have a couple who are getting married this summer (not to each other). and most importantly, i have many who are living out incredible faith, and i’m privilaged to have been a small part of that.

dress like yourself
not only do i dress my age, i am expected to do so! nobody has any expectations of the youth guy. he’s supposed to look like a slob to the older people. sure they get upset when your shirt is untucked for the Christmas program (i still say i looked pretty darn good that day… it was a metro looking day) but ultimately they expect it from you

you get the cool office
again, a result of low expectations. my office is walpapered with posters. not all of them appropriate according to some people. i have a flying superman who hangs from the cieling. i have kiss, star wars, batman, and other action figures. its a stinkin cool office. senior pastors everywhere are jealous.

endless jokes about poop and farting
need i say more?

getting to pretend to be the senior pastor while he’s away
ok, sure, you only preach on holidays when no one else is actually there, but its fun to play grown-up once in awhile.

Posted on November 16, 2005