What is your church's vision?

I recently heard of a church that hired a youth pastor for 5-month period.  Now I’m not sure of the details as to why only 5 months but I have also heard of churches hiring youth pastors for a year at a time.  I’m not sure of the thinking or reasoning behinds such decisions.  What I do know is that it screams “No vision!”  What is the vision of a church if it is only looking months ahead and not thinking long range?  What would you do as a parent of a teen in this situation?

How does a youth minister function in that setting?  I know, because I’m a family man, I wouldn’t take on a position in a church with no vision.  I need to know I have a job longer than 5 months or a year.  I also want to be part of a church with vision, huge vision.

Some steps a youth pastor in this type of situation can take:

1. Find out the leadership’s expectations for that small time period.
2. Pray for God’s vision for both the youth ministry and the church.
3. Plan out a year’s calendar even if you won’t be there when some of those events or activities are scheduled to happen.  Don’t just fill the calendar for the sake of activities but plan on purpose with the goal of building a healthy youth ministry.
4. Map out Bible studies for youth worship gatherings.
5. Keep church leadership informed on what is going on in the youth ministry.
6. Build and equip a youth ministry team because one person can’t effectively minister to all the students.  This will also equip a team to carry on the ministry should your position truly only last 5 months or a year.