A major tension in most marriages is finances. Add an often overworked and underpaid youth worker to the mix and money can become a real source of friction in relationships. Ask most youth workers about recruiting new volunteers, ministry vision or time with teens and they will talk your ear off with excitement and passion. Ask a youth worker to talk about their salary and conversations get awkward real fast. Sadly, in many churches youth ministers are low on the totem pole as far as value and funding are concerned. This has had a huge impact on marriages and families who strain to make ends meet while often working long hours to meet never-ending ministry demands.
Youth workers don’t get into ministry for the money, we do it because we love teens and want to share Christ with them. Every time Jake has interviewed for a ministry position it has been the money conversation we dread the most. It’s just uncomfortable. Something inside screams that it’s selfish to ask for health benefits or a raise. This is especially true in the midst of our struggling economy. Indeed, most ministers and pastors are expected to sacrifice to work in a church, but this expectation can too easily lead to unhealthy situations and pastor burnout. Unfortunately, the conversation about money can’t be avoided and for the sake of family health, good marriages and longevity within ministry, it is one that many youth workers need to get better at.
When it comes to identifying a fair salary package for a youth ministry position, there are three things we would recommend researching before you meet with your potential employer:
1) National church compensation books or surveys can be a great resource to start with. Christianity Today publishes a very thorough Compensation Handbook for Church Staff which provides statistical breakdowns for different types of church positions that also accounts for church size and geography. Specific to youth ministry is Group’s 2012 survey of youth workers that can be found here:
When researching national stats it is good to remember that sometimes the areas surveyed can be too broad to provide a clear picture about living costs for a specific town or county. For example, we live in the Northeast but living costs vary widely here. Taking a position in rural Maine is worlds different from taking a job in Fairfield County, CT (where we live), which is one of the most expensive counties in the country. Just realize that you may have to dig a bit deeper to find a healthy comparison for your situation.
2) Call local churches in the area you plan to work and find out what their youth workers are paid. Make sure to understand their job responsibilities as well as the church and youth ministry size. We also recommend you try to talk to the youth workers themselves and find out how they feel about their compensation packages.
The National Network of Youth Ministries (NNYM) is a great tool to help youth workers find churches in the areas they intend to work or already work. When Jake sought a new position four years ago, being part of NNYM immensely helped him connect with other churches and youth pastors. It was a great way to easily find other youth workers, get the scoop on the area and to also hear about the churches we were interviewing at from an outsider’s perspective.
The one downside to be aware of when comparing your compensation to others in your area is what we call “The Lemming Effect.” The basic premise is this: if churches in a particular area are all underpaying youth workers and there is an area-wide high turnover rate, then you can’t get an accurate picture of what a healthy salary would be. Churches who keep the same youth worker long term are usually good at setting a good compensation package, as well as providing regular increases based on inflation and performance reviews. These are the kinds of churches and positions that you want to compare your position to.
3) The last thing we’d recommend is to look up a public-school teacher pay scale for the district where you will be working. These numbers are regularly updated every year based on the economy and compare well to the job description and training of a youth worker. The pay scale also provides a great way to factor in your experience and education and it effectively translates these into a dollar amount. Simply Google “pay scale for [enter town or district here] teachers.” Generally they are easy to find. If for some reason you strike out online you can call the school district’s office and get information there.
The one thing to keep in mind is that because of summers and school breaks a teacher generally has about 2 months of vacation time factored into their pay. An easy fix though is some simple math. Just take the salary that a teacher with your experience and education would make, divide it by 10 months and then multiply it by 11 or 11 ½ depending on the vacation time the church is offering. This will give you a very clear foundation to compare your compensation to.
The money conversation definitely isn’t easy, but ultimately what we youth workers need to understand is that this conversation really isn’t about selfishness and greed. Instead, it is an important way of thinking about everyone involved in ministry as we seek to serve as long as we can in once place. When we can do this, our churches, the students we get to serve and our own families all win.