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THIS from a youth pastor


FJismyheadship

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We have screen caps and she emailed the head pastor. The head pastor's name is Larry Burton and posts on his wall all the time about how he is a wonderful minister to the youth.

I personally do not like the head pastor. My own discernment makes me very leery of him, and I googled him once, and he had left his old church due to a "minor sin" a year before he got on with this church. Before googling his name, I had no reason to NOT like him, but my gut said he wasn't a good man. I don't know what this "minor sin" was, but as soon as I read it I was reminded of DPIAT.

I don't know if anythiing will be done. My friend said if nothing is done, she will leave the church and make sure everyone she knows hears about this.

You have good instincts and I have had similar experiences before. I have encountered people who seem ok, but my gut tells me that they aren't ok people. Later I find out that some people that seem ok, really aren't.

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What an ignorant prick, especially his Pearl Harbor remark. I think he's misunderstood the meaning of Youth Pastor. Dude, it means you set an example to kids/teens, not acting like them yourself!

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He removed the one about "real men" and "real women" and the one about Pearl Harbor, and then deleted me. Probably because I was the one who took the screenshots for her and accidentally left our mutual friends in one of them (although really... he probably has the same nine friends with other people too). His profile is still wide open though, and the remark about the homeless woman is still there. The one about fried kitty is gone, and I'm not sure how back the one about Allah was, but I can't find it right now either (but we didn't screencap that one, I didn't see it)

I still have the screenshots though! Should I post them here so they are saved?

I feel like maybe the teenagers would be more mature than that and might know better than to make jokes about Pearl Harbor.

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(1) I still have the screenshots! Should I post them here so they are saved?

(2) I feel like maybe the teenagers would be more mature than that and might know better than to make jokes about Pearl Harbor.

(1) Yeah, do it!

(2) Most of my classmates in primary school were more mature than that, frankly.

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{L_MESSAGE_HIDDEN}:
Oh wow. You have to see this status someone just posted. I can't help but think its related to this...

Often when we hear the word "leadership" we think of something positive. Just keep in mind that Jim Jones and Adolf Hitler were also leaders: leaders of countless people who blindly followed because of promises that sounded good. Very few of their closest advisors knew the true depravity of these leaders' character
Don't blindly follow someone because it is convenient or it might cost something to find godly leadership. Listen to the Holy Spirit and consider the witness of those who have refused to drink the koolaid.


I love the part about considering the witness of those who have refused to drink the koolaid. Anyone else think that was related to this situation?
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This church is stupid if he is allowed to remain a youth pastor. He is a scandal waiting to happen.

Generally, what is requierd to become a YP? Do you have to become an actual pastor with proper pastor schooling?

Edited becuase it's pastor not paster

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This church is stupid if he is allowed to remain a youth pastor. He is a scandal waiting to happen.

Generally, what is requierd to become a YP? Do you have to become an actual pastor with proper pastor schooling?

Edited becuase it's pastor not paster

It depends on the church, honestly. I know youth pastors who only have a high school diploma, others who have a degree in youth ministry, and some who have advanced theology/divinity degrees.

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It depends on the church. In seventh day adventism you at least have To go through all the same training as any other pastor. I'm not sure Adventist youth pastors get any training otherwise, though. We actually don't reLly have "youth" pastors... They might be called that but it wasn't an official thing...

Adventist pastors move around a lot, so it's a gossip as to whether a pastor will even have youth in his congregation. The pastor at the Ann Arbor church is sometimes referred to as a youth pastor because he does a lot of stuff with campus, but he is still the regular church pastor.

This might be different in other states, and also in larger churches like the one in berrien springs, but that is generally how I've seen it work.

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It is good that some type of pressure forced his hand and he had to take those gross "jokes" down. But the problem remains he was forced by outside circumstances, not by an examination of his own conscience or by truly asking himself, "Am I demonstrating what Christian values are supposed to be about?" He'll just be more careful or sneakier in the future. Unless he is removed, that youth group is terribly compromised. The lead pastor is compromised. This is not a church worth attending.

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Ew.

In my experience with a lot of evangelical churches, "youth pastors" are often some of the most immature young men imaginable. It's almost like they pick them *because* they're immature, believing that this will make them more "relevant" to the youth. :/

I agree. Youth ministry in itself is a relatively new phenomenon, and I think it draws young men with ego/narcissism issues and zero accountability. I mean, high school teachers have extensive background checks and are required to keep their interaction professional. Whereas the whole point of a youth pastor's job is to get in with the kids socially. So I think you often find weird boundary issues - like men a few years older from the youth group kids hanging out with them and socializing but also leading them and being above it.

I remember back in the day going to a National Youth Worker's Convention and feeling the weird dynamic of energy and immaturity and leadership motivational talks.

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There was one status (not sure if its still up) where he grabbed a random 12 year old he didn't know and started wrestling with him... in the foyer of the church before service.

If it had been MY kid, I would have had words with him, and they would not have been kind. I might have even been kicked out. I wonder if that kid came with his friends, or if his parents were there. And if his parents were there, what did they think?

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It depends on the church. In seventh day adventism you at least have To go through all the same training as any other pastor. I'm not sure Adventist youth pastors get any training otherwise, though. We actually don't reLly have "youth" pastors... They might be called that but it wasn't an official thing...

Adventist pastors move around a lot, so it's a gossip as to whether a pastor will even have youth in his congregation. The pastor at the Ann Arbor church is sometimes referred to as a youth pastor because he does a lot of stuff with campus, but he is still the regular church pastor.

This might be different in other states, and also in larger churches like the one in berrien springs, but that is generally how I've seen it work.

Yep, it depends on the church. I had a co-worker whose son attended Duke Divinity School and he was a youth pastor at a Baptist church during that time. He had to train/intern under the head pastor. I once stumbled onto the blog of a youth pastor who used to work at Rick Warren's church and he was attending a seminary too.

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