Youth leaders treated to informal dinner

Wanted: Innovative worker, available day and night. Works well under pressure and with high expectations. Benefits include isolation, lack of appreciation, and opportunities for risk-taking. Entrepreneurial qualities an asset.

This may not be the actual job description for a youth worker, but it’s pretty close.

John Neufeld, coach for emerging leaders for the Canadian conference, and Ron Friesen, faculty at Columbia Bible College, hosted an informal encouragement dinner for 55 Mennonite Brethren youth ministry workers Nov. 30 as part of the Canadian Youth Workers Conference in Vancouver.

Neufeld, a former youth pastor, says he knows the youth worker role, and the unrecognized demands involved. “When they struggle alone, it can result in the abandonment of ministry,” he says. “When that happens, we have no one to blame but ourselves. We must invest in people in their most formative phase of ministry.”

“There was no fear of stale conversation,” laughs Neufeld. “Pastors talk. Starting the conversation is never a problem. Getting them to stop is!” The evening’s lack of agenda, says Neufeld, allowed for sharing and created space for relationships to develop, uncovering the best resources: stories.

—Canadian Conference release