An Add-on: Empowering Young People

As an add-on to my previous post, I have to share an example of empowering young people and young leaders that I heard just the other day. I was at an area clergy gathering, and one of the pastors who was there for the first time told us about a unique model of ministry at one of his previous churches.

A young woman came to the church where he was a pastor looking for work as a youth pastor. She wanted to be hired full time, and the church really couldn't afford it. So the pastor thought about what was best and what he hoped for for his congregation, and presented a plan: Hire the youth pastor full time, and reduce his position to part time. That's what they did, and because they really invested in their young people, their ministry with young people grew. Today, that youth pastor is the pastor of the entire congregation.

His story really struck me - we know what we say is important. Doing what we need to do to make those things happen is harder, especially when it means giving up something ourselves - our own status, power, positions. What a gift he gave to his congregation! What do you need to do to really support what you think is important?