" As another leaver guess the factors will be quite complex... There are questions about why start in youth work to begin with, and questions about training. Lots of questions about the way jobs are set up - what does it mean to have a professional trained youth worker in what is often a very unprofessional setting. Questions of good and bad experience and questions about age - do lots of people 'grow out of youth work at 35ish'? Wages are also in there somewhere as people get older and might have families to support and about career structure/lack, short term contacts and how other people see youth workers. Then there is something about personal development and the way faith grows...I'd argue most churches still have a very basic - join our club - outlook and as the youth worker becomes more reflective that outlook often feels too narrow to stick with.
Anonymous writes:
As for me...I'm probably heading into formal education for at least five reasons:
1) On the whole the church wants activist youth workers and I'm more reflective
2) .Yes I have had some bad experiences of church based work that made me wonder what i was doing/achieving and if it was worth it.
3) My sense is that education (of a more formal kind) can do more for the life chances of young people than the hour or so a week we get with them - sorry guys, don't get mad with me!!
4) I can see more of a place for my leadership gifts in education than in church based work.
5) I don't want to work for a church that thinks bums on seats is it, and thinks that despite me having fifteen years of ministry, when something seriously pastoral pops up, it is time for the vicar to take over that relationship "
Thank you so much for writing this.... I am mid forties and I think that my time is running out in youth work especially in church environments..... So I have decided to go back to study and hopefully start a social work qualification so that when my time in youth work ends or I find myself competing with a young charismatic worker...I can move to social care in the community.I have a reflective spiritual nature which again doesn't seem to shine in church settings. Many churchgoers have a model ideal youth worker/minister...and any one taking up the post is compared to their model, so it can be difficult.
Another thought.... some young people from deprived backgrounds lack good parental role models and in my past experience these young people appreciate and value mature workers... perhaps because they need parental role models?
Good luck in education, 'reflective' is considered a gift in education because it shows intelligence and maturity.
You shouldn't feel threatened, or even worried about reflective elements to your work, all those new youthworkers coming out of CYM have all had to do reflection as an integral part of their degree and masters, and hey, even the mighty, the awesome, the wonder that is youthblogger, has had to do some reflection as well. reflectiveness is now beeing seen as integral, if not neceessary as part of youthwork, might jsut take churches a while to grasp that element though!!!!!! boh yeh, and maybe need to throw in call, anointing, gifting on top of other elements.