Youth leaders are human.

I know that sometimes their knowledge of Scripture and of silly large-group games may seem superhuman, and I know they can show up every week with a smile and a great message, but they’re still human.

Youth leaders get tired, overloaded, and overwhelmed. They deal with complaining students, concerned parents, and tight budgets. And they sometimes get discouraged.

That’s because they work with people. It’s always an up-and-down rollercoaster when you work with people—even if you’re a student leader, you’ve probably realized this. One week it seems everyone is on fire for God, 20 students show up for the prayer meeting, a number of friends come to know to Christ at an outreach, and everyone asks great questions about the message. The next week, the same leader gets a phone call at 2am from a crying student considering suicide, finds out three of their students attended a drinking party, receives a nasty email from a parent about something that went on at youth group, and can’t get anyone to sign up for the winter retreat.

With any luck, that will be the week their kid is sick or their spouse needs them at home more or they have a big test at school. No wonder youth ministry has such a high turnover rate—of staff and volunteers!

But there is a big role YOU can play—and get others to join you in—to reverse the trend toward discouragement and burnout. No, you may not be able to do anything about the troubled students or time crunches they’re facing, but honestly—they knew they were getting that when they signed up for youth ministry. Most youth leaders can work through all of the tough parts of ministry when they have enough people surrounding them with support and encouragement.

October is ministry appreciation month. At Cadre, we believe every month should be a month for encouraging your pastors, youth pastors, and volunteer leaders. But October is a great reminder to be intentional about it.

Do your leaders know how much you appreciate them? Do you regularly thank them for the little, often unnoticed things they do every week? Do you volunteer to help as much as you can? Do you pray for them regularly?

I encourage you to find some ways before this month is over to give an extra dose of encouragement to the people who lead you. Here are a few ideas to get you going:

1. •Send them a hand-written note in the mail expressing all of the things you appreciate about them.
   

2. •Surprise them at youth group with a big cake or pan of brownies.
   

3. •Pool together resources with your friends and buy a gift card to send your youth leader and their spouse on a date night somewhere nice.
   

4. •Get everyone to stick around late and have an open-mic time of thanking your youth leaders for what they do.
   

5. •Make a “memories” book with some photos of trips and events together, and include things you’ve learned from them along the way.
   

6. •Organize a rotation where each week each leader receives a thank-you card from one student.
   

Get creative! There are thousands of things you can do to appreciate those who lead you. Be sure to include all of the volunteers who invest in your life regularly, without even getting paid to do it.

And don’t forget to let this attitude of appreciation continue long past October! Your youth workers will lead better when they are encouraged, and that benefits all of us.

want more? click here for your second shot of spiritual caffeine:

7 biblical ways to encourage those who lead you