Church Budget

"I wish there were a way to do youth ministry without money." I can't even begin to count the number of times that I have made that statement to myself and to others. It seems like so often, the things that we want to do in ministry are often handicapped by the all-mighty dollar.

What happens in a lot of church all over the world is that the church leadership feels the pressure to higher a student ministry pastor but they are not ready financially to take on the responsibility.

I read an interesting thought on this by Mark DeVries in "Susatinable Youth Ministry." DeVries suggested that a church should be prepared to spend roughly $1,000 per student that is involved in the student ministry. Now, that number may sound high (or low depending on the # of students who are involved in your student ministry) but part of that number also includes the actual salary that the youth pastor is being paid.

That can be a daunting task for any church to take on, however, it is so important that a church be prepared financially to take on a growing, thriving student ministry. Not being prepared is often what causes a lot of youth pastors to become frustrated and often leave their ministry setting.