Many churches throughout Aotearoa are wrestling with the challenge of connecting with young people in our society. Fewer young people and young adults are linked with the church community than in previous generations, yet many of the pressures they face are greater.

An absolute necessity, if we hope to reach this generation, is longevity of our leaders. Quite simply, it takes time to invest in the lives of young people to build the trust that leads to effective ministry.

By creating the Sustainable Practices resource, help has been offered to churches in thinking through the key issues of managing a key volunteer youth leader and employing youth workers. This resource contains seven sustainable practices churches should adopt about these issues.

The seven practices resonate with the very real experiences of volunteer youth leaders up and down the country: they reflect situations where youth leaders and their churches can often find frustration, conflict or simply unmet needs.

While these sustainable practices may be new to some churches, others will already be embracing several or all of them at some level. However, all churches will find the process beneficial of identifying areas of improvement.

This resource is meant to help churches take a significant step towards sustainable youth ministry. Longevity for youth leaders means better serving and loving young people in the name of Christ.