Mosaic Minister pointed me to Coffeeless Talk where’s they’ve written a nice article on the 10 Things Every Youth Worker Should Have. It’s from a couple of years ago, but new to me so thought I would toss out a link.

2. A sense of Humor. If you can’t laugh at teenagers then you are missing out on half the fun of being a youth pastor.

3. Bluntness. Kids don’t get subtlety. Maybe this is the hardest part. Part of it is that kids don’t get subtlety, but I think that most of it is that they want you to be straight forward with them. “Don’t beat around the bush, just tell me what you think.”

4. A love for the students. If you don’t love ’em; worry about ’em; pray for ’em; and long to see ’em growI don’t know how you can make a difference in their lives.

5. Discernment. With something off just enough in the discernment category to allow you to do crazy things. Students always want to do crazy things. You have to decide very quickly what is just good fun, and what is inappropriate.

JG

PS: If you’re a female youth worker, #1 might take a bit of translating.