About the Youth Ministry Institute
Steve Schneeberger accepted a part-time job as a youth minister in 1985 so that he could pay his way through law school. What began as a means to an end became the end itself. Following graduation, Steve became a youth minister and not a lawyer. He quickly realized that he was ill prepared for the profession that chose him. He sought out educational opportunities that allowed him to continue working in his first full-time job. He attended an annual one-week school of youth ministry in Dallas. The education was excellent, but not often enough. He sought mentors. There weren’t many. Most youth ministers were like him. After the excitement of his new job wore off, people in the church had increasing expectations of Steve’s performance. He relied mostly on intuition, his own experience as a youth in a youth group, perseverance and stubbornness – a recipe for survival, not necessarily excellence.
Time became the most effective teacher. He learned that the longer he stayed at a church, the greater the trust. And the greater the trust, the more teenagers were able to clearly articulate their values and beliefs before they moved into adulthood. Steve stayed for six years and, has been at his current church in Orlando since 1994.
Along the way, Steve observed colleagues that weren’t quite as stubborn. Many were skilled yet untrained, loved young people yet failed to be appreciated. They burned out or were burned by the people in their church for not meeting the expectations of church members. As a result, churches that kept their youth minister for longer than three years were seen as unique. In the 1990s one church in Orlando had five youth ministers in seven years. Another had four in five years. Young people were the innocent victims of the high turnover rate. Something needed to change.
The Youth Ministry Institute, begun in 2005 by the First United Methodist Church of Orlando, has successfully trained over 20 youth ministers and has provided consulting services to an additional 25 churches all over the state of Florida, from Miami to Tallahassee, Jacksonville to Ft. Myers, St. Petersburg to Orlando and many communities in between. A diverse board of directors from a number of Christian traditions governs the Youth Ministry Institute in areas of finance, program direction and funding.
|
