Josh Griffin, High School Pastor at Saddleback Church, has just written a great article applying his business degree to the youth ministry world. Good stuff! Read the intro and follow the link at the end to find the rest …
Youth Ministry and a Business Degree
“You don’t have a Bible degree?” people ask me incredulously.
No, I don’t. And I’m sort of okay with that.
Let me be clear-I’ve taken a ton of Bible classes and fully appreciate youth ministry degree programs. Some of the very best youth workers I’ve ever known have Bible degrees. And while I’m writing this, I am in graduate school to pick up a Masters in Biblical Studies.
But I don’t feel like I am at a disadvantage because I have a business degree. In fact, I’ve noticed a number of valuable uses from my degree during my 12 years of youth work that I don’t think exist in a typical youth ministry degree. Here are a few business skills I’ve utilized in student ministry:
- Management: Who knew that a team of staff and volunteers would be such a significant part of youth ministry? I thought I was going to pastor students, not adults who work with students. The art of people management is critical to the long-term health of both the ministry and the minister, and it’s a skill taught over and over again in a business degree.
- Budget and Finances: Budgets, fiscal year, approval from the board-you thought the business world was tough? Try getting funding for a youth ministry! Stretching every dollar and making sure an event breaks even are fundamental skills of the youth worker, and one for which a lot of us find ourselves unprepared. My business program in college made it a priority that I understood these principles from day one.
Find the rest of the article here!
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