Why Gen Z Youth Ministers Plan to Leave in 5 Years | Charlotte McCorquodale, Ep 078

  • 69 min

Why Gen Z Youth Ministers Plan to Leave in 5 Years | Charlotte McCorquodale, Ep 078

The Church Podcast

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"It's not ministry leaders who created this maybe unsustainable stack of responsibilities. It was the whole church."

Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale returns to The Church Podcast as our first three-time guest. After 25 years of research on the people who walk with young people and young adults in the Church, she has written a follow-up to Illuminating Trends called The Stack We Carry, and she and Christopher talk about what to do with what the research found.

Charlotte uses the image of stacked stones to describe what ministry leaders carry. They talk through three pressure points: the "more, more, more" of ever-growing responsibilities, the fact that 72% of Gen Z leaders expect to stay five years or less, and the push to reinvent ministry. Then they turn to what leaders, pastors and dioceses can do: job descriptions, defining success beyond attendance, pay, transitions, and the conversations to start first.

In This Episode

• 0:00 Cold open: joyful, committed, and still leaving
• 1:26 Welcome and announcements
• 4:47 Meet Charlotte McCorquodale
• 7:19 Why a follow-up to Illuminating Trends
• 10:54 The stack of stones: what ministry leaders carry
• 15:57 Why Gen Z leaders plan to leave within five years
• 22:04 Pressure point: more, more, more
• 29:31 Pressure point: shifting realities and reinventing ministry
• 35:32 Starting the conversation: questions for leaders and pastors
• 39:00 Job descriptions and defining success
• 43:56 What dioceses can do
• 46:17 Retention, pay and the pay gap
• 53:17 Turnover, transitions and healthy teams
• 56:59 Why Charlotte wrote this for diocesan leaders
• 59:10 One next step: start with your peers
• 1:03:02 Where to find the report
• 1:05:28 Closing thoughts

Key Takeaways

• Joy and commitment are not the problem. 86% of leaders report a high level of joy, and Charlotte is clear that these pressures are not a sign that leaders care less.
• Short stays are the pattern for the youngest leaders. 72% of Gen Z leaders expect to stay five years or less, and only 17% expect ten years or more. Charlotte sees a generation that is practical and wants security, and asks where the Church's next experienced pastoral leaders will come from, since many start in youth ministry.
• The whole church built the stack. 61% say time commitment is significant or very significant, 33% often have to justify their role, and 44% say too many audiences or focuses is a significant challenge. "We created it."
• Ministry is shifting, and leaders carry both loads. 60% say it is time to reinvent ministry and 47% say their ministry has shifted toward accompaniment, while programs keep running.
• Start with one conversation and one priority. Pastors can ask what leaders are being asked to accomplish, whether they agree on what matters most, and what meaningful effectiveness looks like beyond attendance and numbers.
• Write the job description and define success in it. Even a one-page job description brings clarity, and Christopher's advice is not to take a job without one. Christopher asks clients what story they want to tell a year from now.
• Pay and transitions affect sustainability. Women are 71% of the field, and Charlotte puts the pay gap at about $11,800 a year at the same education and experience. Dioceses can help with job descriptions, compensation guidance and transitions, because constant turnover is "a ministry killer."
• Start with your peers, and bring compassion. Take the report to peers first, practice the conversation, then bring one question to your pastor, who is carrying a stack too.

About Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale

Dr. Charlotte McCorquodale is from Lake Charles, Louisiana, lives in New Orleans, and has been in ministry since 1981, from parish, school and campus youth ministry to diocesan and national work. She earned her doctorate in human resource education and workforce development at LSU, and her 2001 dissertation on the emergence of lay ecclesial youth ministry leaders as a profession in the Catholic Church in the United States began the research she has continued with Ministry Training Source for 25 years.

Resources Mentioned

• Ministry Training Source
• The Stack We Carry
• The Stack We Carry Conversation Series: From Pressure Points to Balancing Actions, Where Do We Begin? A three- or five-session resource series to help pastors or supervisors, ministry leaders and teams understand the pressure points, discuss their local realities, choose a balancing action and identify practical next steps. Each session includes adaptable presentations, speaker notes and handouts.
• Illuminating Trends and other research reports
• Episode 055: Illuminating Trends with Charlotte McCorquodale
• Episode 014: The Importance of Forming Pastoral Ministry Leaders with Charlotte McCorquodale
• National Catholic Youth Conference (NCYC)
• NFCYM Podcast Network

Connect with Charlotte

• Website: ministrytrainingsource.org
• Email: charlotte@ministrytrainingsource.org. Charlotte offers bulk pricing for dioceses and parishes that want multiple copies.

Ask Jenny a Question

Have a question you'd like Jenny O'Neill to ask Christopher on a future episode? Submit it at thechurchpodcast.org. Leave your name if you'd like a shout-out, or so we can let you know when your question airs.

Keep Growing with Marathon Youth Ministry

• Ministry Coach: support for the leader behind the ministry, for the seasons when the stack feels too heavy.
• M2GO: teaching videos, practical articles, team exercises and a Discord community to help you plan, invite and evaluate.
• The MYM Store: Church Podcast gear, mugs, hats, sweatshirts and shirts.

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Recorded on Riverside (affiliate link).

The Church Podcast is produced by Marathon Youth Ministry and Stephen Herrera of Be Well Creative.