From time to time we get questions into our community and we have one of DYM’s Ambassadors answer the question via email. They work hard on the reply, so we thought it would be cool to share some of the answers and thoughts via the DYM blog. So here we go – tensions with the Senior Pastor!

I have been in a difficult place with my senior pastor before! My first church was his last before retiring. We had completely different personalities and not a single thing except Jesus and ministry in common.

Fitting in with a church can be challenging. I ministered at a very rural church after coming from a pretty big city. It took me a lot of time to get used to the culture of the church. My suggestion for this is to spend some time talking with the people who have been at your church the longest. Ask them what it’s been like watching the church grow over the years. Ask them how you can minister better to the people there. Talk to parents and get their feelings as on this as well. Take lots of notes! See if there are some things you’ve not considered taking into account.

You also mentioned that you don’t feel like the pastor supports you in your ministry. That can be really rough and discouraging. But, there are some steps you can take to try to get his support. Have you taken the time to lay our your vision for the youth ministry to him? Have you shown him how it goes along with the vision HE has for the church at large? If he doesn’t support you, it may be because he needs to understand how your vision fits within the greater vision of the church. He may not feel supported himself!

If that fails, sitting down with your pastor and asking what you can do to gain his support would be huge as well. You making an effort to show him that you support HIM will show him that he has your loyalty.

Also, listen to the last little bit of this podcast from 15 Minutes with Frank. The rest is great, but Andrew Larsen’s senior pastor tip will be great things for you to think about.
https://podcast.downloadyouthministry.com/episode-78-pastor-appreciation-month-senior-pastor-tips-w-andrew-larson/

If after making those efforts and meeting with your pastor you still feel like it’s time to leave, make sure you leave well. I’d love to follow up with your if you have any questions.