Lonely in Santa Cruz

I was lonely! Yes, this last Sunday was a good day of worship, but as a leader I felt lonely. Kyle (youth pastor)  was no longer with us and Bobby (worship/connections) was taking some vacation time. I had this strange feeling of being all alone. We had a guest worship leader and she was awesome. My wife was there, other people were there, but I felt that a piece was missing from the puzzle. Thinking about that missing piece, "What should I be looking for in a new youth pastor?"  I have given that a lot of thought and prayer and have come up with a few things that I am looking for as we enter the process of looking for a new youth pastor...

Everything rises and falls on character. Character means that the person is intentional in developing his/her faith. Intentionality means being honest with Christ, with self and with others. It is admitting failure while forgiving others who have failed. It means being the same person in public that he/she is in private.

Alignment with the common vision. Jesus said that anything that is divided will fall apart (Matthew 12:25). A team that is divided has very little hope of impacting the world When a team is united around a common set of values (John 17:20-23) then I think that can be seen as success. A new person on the team will need to bring his/her unique ideas and giftedness to the table, but be aligned with the vision of CLC.

Strategically driven rather that program driven.  A high priority is a youth pastor who strategically place him or herself in the culture of the student. An example of strategic means volunteering at the high school or hanging out with students in there cultural venue. It means being where the students are rather than asking them to come to us. The person should be more concerned with the discipling of youth than promoting a traditional program.

Chemistry with the team. Working together, understanding each other’s differences and strengths. Able to work in an environment that facilitates idealistic questioning. Not easily offended by people and the culture. With youth ministry in mind, the person should know how to intentionally connect with youth and lead a team.

Servants heart. One of the attributes of our ministry team is a heart to serve each other. If a person comes on the team with "selfish motives" it just won't work.

Fun to hang out with.  I think everybody needs to have some fun in life.

OK, there it is. There might be some things to add, but that is what has been in my thinking.