Student Leadership Team Basics: 6 things to look for in student leaders

During my first year in youth ministry, the thing I looked for most in student leaders was spiritual maturity.

Unfortunately, I had a hard time finding teens who you could call spiritually mature.

This makes sense when you realize high school teens are still developing in every way – including by growing in their faith.

Having realized that, I no longer think spiritual maturity is the most important thing to look for in student leaders. Instead, I now look for these 6 things:

A growing relationship with Jesus. Rather than look for teens who are spiritually mature, I want student leaders who are actively growing in their relationship with Jesus. This is, in part, because of where teens are developmentally. It's also because teens consistently tell me that being on our leadership team is the thing that had the most impact on their faith during high school. As a result, a teen's desire to grow in their faith is now far more important to me than how “spiritually mature” they are when they apply.

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