Empowering Youth by Hiring a Teenager

During the pandemic, many churches wrestled with technology as they were thrust into online ministry, ready or not. Because of this struggle, I started noticing a common phrase appearing in blogs and podcasts from well-known church leaders: “Hire a teenager!” Start placing these digital natives in church ministry.

Digital Native: “a person born or brought up during the age of digital technology and therefore familiar with computers and the internet from an early age.”

Oxford Dictionary

Discovering Untapped Talent

At first, I ignored this advice because I’m fairly tech-savvy and wasn’t struggling as badly as other pastors. Then, Emma changed everything. Emma was a 15-year-old raised in our church who was quiet and mild-mannered. She liked gaming and Pokémon but loved Jesus.

She had started serving occasionally on our tech team, running slides. I sensed there was an untapped resource waiting to be discovered in this young gal. I had already decided that I wanted to hire her, but I thought I would ask her dad what he thought.

It turned out that very week she had started her first part-time job at a clothing store and quit during her second shift because it just wasn’t her thing.

Emma’s Impact and Growth

Emma was thrilled when I offered her 10 hours per week at $16/hour to run media for our pre-recorded digital gathering on Wednesdays and our physical gatherings on Sundays. Soon enough, due to COVID restrictions, physical gatherings became sporadic.

With the extra time, Emma started taking on podcast and radio ministry audio, then video uploading. The more we gave her, the more she thrived!

She processed everything differently, with the greatest visible benefit of being completely calm in the face of software glitches and troubleshooting. She would quietly say, “Well, that’s not good,” then fix it or contact a help resource to get it fixed.

Hiring a digital native was arguably the best decision we made during the pandemic. Now she’s 19 years old and oversees our entire digital ministry. We record the footage, and Emma takes it from there. It’s not professional level, but it’s quite good for our small church in Whitehorse.

Breaking Traditions and Setting New Standards

Since that moment, because of her, we’ve had to shift many of the ‘norms’ of traditional church life.

• According to our policies, she wasn’t supposed to enter our Mentorship program until she was 18. We bent the rules for Emma because she had displayed such incredible growth and maturity.
• According to Yukon Societies, she couldn’t be an official church member until she was 19. Emma would have to wait, but she had been leading an entire ministry for a couple of years and was responsible for one of the largest budgets compared to all other ministries.
• According to tradition, our national conference is designed for adult staff, ministry leaders, and board members from local churches across Canada. Emma officially became the youngest staff member to attend the Fellowship National Conference in Ontario, with a 70+ year history.

Truth be told, I was beaming when I introduced her to our President, seeing his reaction looking at a teenage Yukoner in white sneakers and a hoodie at the National Conference. He loved her story and was thrilled to have her!

Embracing the Digital Generation

This is a long story, I understand, but it highlights the gift we have in teenage ministry workers, which we need to start acknowledging and utilizing. Local churches need to hire digital natives in church ministry, who love Jesus and have a heart to serve before they walk away.

Take a chance, let them lead, and maybe even pay them to lead and oversee projects. Sure, there will be older generations waiting to give you all the reasons why it’s a bad idea, why it’s a risky decision, and why it opens the church up to liability. Hold the line and have faith!

Jesus has been calling teenagers and young adults to serve and lead for two thousand years. He’s got a pretty amazing track record!

“Let no one despise you for your youth, but set the believers an example in speech, in conduct, in love, in faith, in purity.”

1 Timothy 4:12 (ESV)

Emma and Jude: A New Chapter

For the past three years, my son Jude has been serving alongside Emma. (Loads of proud dad moments, seeing him learn and grow in this ministry.) This summer, he was hired as an intern, to continue his learning from Emma but in a more formal sense.

Emma is almost finished with a one-year Bible college certificate focused on Media Ministry and plans to start film school in September. When Emma goes off to school, she’ll continue to oversee digital aspects of production (editing, uploading, social posts, etc.).

Jude will transition to oversee filming, lighting, and on-site production. This transition ensures continuity and growth in our digital ministry, leveraging the strengths of both Emma and Jude and continuing to invest in the next generation.

If you haven’t started, it’s time to start placing digital natives in church ministry.

Join the Conversation; Share Your Thoughts

1. How have you seen the impact of digital natives in your local church?
2. What challenges have you faced when integrating young people into ministry roles?
3. How can churches better support and mentor young leaders in digital ministries?