The link isn’t important. There is one of these stories all too frequently. A youth pastor. An underage teen. You know the ones.
Is it time to re-think the role of Youth Pastor? It wouldn’t stop everything that’s happening in some churches from happening, but it also wouldn’t stop the church from having a decent youth program anyway with an associate pastor and some lay-leaders and not some fresh-faced Bible college graduate whose ability to measure the consequences of actions still hasn’t caught up to his academic youth ministry credentials.
Look at it this way, if current Youth Ministry training includes some lectures on appropriate boundaries, then it’s not always working. A more seasoned ministry staff member would be better equipped to avoid temptation and understand what’s entailed in crossing the line.
The kids in the group would also benefit from inter-generational ministry.
The guy in charge of youth at my church was a semi-retired insurance salesman. On staff half-time. Really connected with teens. Today it would be called a megachurch. It was a great, diverse youth program. There were music nights. Sports nights. Pizza nights. Serious Bible study nights.
It works. And it avoids putting young men (usually) and women (sometimes) into situations they all apparently can’t handle.