Youth work is a profession - I am a professional youth worker
Youth work is a calling - I am called by God to be a youth worker
Youth work is a service - I am here to serve
Youth work is about building relationships - I am paid to be a friend type figure
Youth work is about trust - I am paid to trust the sometimes untrustable and to be trustworthy
Youth work is a ministry - I am part of a ministry, despite being outside the church
I believe all the statements above which is why I studied my degree which gave me the right to call myself a professional. But this naturally leads to some problematic questions.
How can it be a profession and a calling when a profession is traditionally about the money and a calling is not - surely they are at very opposite ends of the line.
Are relationships false if you are paid to make them? does this make youth work prostitution without the sex?
Is it fair to build relationships and become trusted when at some point you will move on to another job?
What makes a profession a ministry?
There's obviously answers to all these questions, but for now I'm not going to give them as Id like to know your thoughts on them, and maybe even make you think a bit more for yourselves.
The reason I ask these is because recently Ive had a spark of interest in one or two jobs which I have seen advertised and I have sent of for information.
no big deal you may think, and certainly the none christian's i have spoken to have asked me a few times when i'm aiming to move onto bigger and better things, the common question youth workers are asked by christian's is "when are you going to move up to ministry".
so people expect you to move on
BUT what about the relationships, the trust, the ministry, the calling which i'm involved in now. I owe the people who employ me a lot for what they've done to me over the past 2 years but that's just one thing to consider.
Is it fair in general for you to build a relationship with a young person (who may never have trusted anyone before) only to say, sorry I've been offered more money elsewhere?
do youth workers actually cause more harm than good by giving the false hope that they will always be there and then run off to a new job etc?
What I don't want to really get into is my future, I will discuss this with people who I trust in person and pray and decide if its right to apply etc or not.
I want this to spark an open discussion about paid professional youth work. the questions Ive asked are just some of them, and again id say I know what I believe the answers are but what about you?
Youth work - whats your views?
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3 comments:
People move on.. its life and I truly believe as I have found with my x youth leaders who have moved on to bigger and better things you still have a closeness to them. My x youth leader Kev now lives in Scottland and when he left and he's been gone several years now..We are still extremely close... maybe just through msn and the occassional once a year visit but the connection with your youthleader never leaves you.. nor the leader in my opinion. Plus the youth want you to have whats best for you!!
Whats the best ship of all.... Friendship :P x
He chose a great plae to live stace :P, Matt, remember that everything you say and do and plan is all from God, so the fact that you are starting to look elsewhere is Gods doing, not yours, maybe he is telling you its time to move on , with regards to your youth work u have probably , without even realising it played a big part in alot of ppls lives, whether to laugh with them talk with them, be a shoulder to them ?, the list is endless, so i think if you want to move on then they will be very happy for you x
On a slight digression, I wonder if the nature of the debate and the questions you are asking are affected by the nature of your youth work - is it a parachurch organisation? If so, that brings a whole different dynamic to youth work in a church, for example...
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