I’m not going to pretend that I know the age of my student ministers; however, it’s safe to say we have adults who are as young as 25 all the way up to over 65…again I’m not going to guess who. But, knowing how old my ministers are is actually irrelevant, some might say, “Not true, a teen is going to connect better with a younger adult.” And there will be teens who believe that but I have to say in the end I’ve seen that age doesn’t really matter. But there is one thing that does matter:
Integrity of a leader. Not saying our ministers have to be perfect Christians, but they do need to be honest and authentic. After all part of our vision for the student ministry is to form authentic relationships that lead to Christ. If a leader lacks integrity then authenticity seeks to exist. All of this comes from an article a coworker sent me “No More Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell: What we expect from leaders, why we name specific sins, and how that’s working out.” By Kevin Miller. It’s a long article but it shares the story of a church that asked it’s volunteers and staff to sign a document that would hold them accountable to living a moral lifestyle. I can see this being a controversial subject, should ministers, people who volunteer in the church sign a document pledging to living a moral life and then be held accountable to it? What do you all think?