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Introduction
An honest account.
If you’re reading this, here’s what you should know about Youth Ministry Futures.
This an honest account of a problem that matters, a model we believe in, and an organisation that is in its early stages of doing something that hasn’t been tried before in Australia. If you’re considering joining the Fellowship, working with our team or partnering with us in some way (or if you’re already involved!) this is the clearest picture we can give you of YMF.
The problem
Youth ministry in Australia is in systemic crisis.
0%
of Australian churches have no youth minister0%
of Australian churches have a full-time youth minister0%
of churches have no young people aged 12 to 18 involved at all0
median number of young people in a youth ministry, where any existThese aren’t just sector statistics. They’re numbers about young people growing up without leaders who know them, who stay, and who are equipped to accompany them through the complexity of their world. Behind each number is a teenager, far too many of whom have never heard the gospel from someone who had earned their trust — because that leader burned out, moved on, or was never adequately supported to do otherwise.
The pattern is self-reinforcing. Most youth ministry roles are part-time, so leaders can’t stay in them long-term if they aspire to things like a living wage, home ownership or retirement. Churches watch the revolving door and stop investing in the role. Fewer churches invest, so fewer leaders are well-formed and supported. Fewer well-formed leaders mean youth ministry roles remain part-time and unsustainable. And the cycle continues.
Youth ministry is widely treated as a stepping stone to “proper ministry.” It is not. And the cost of that assumption is being borne by the young people who never get the sustained, faithful presence they need.
Not every youth leader will be called to a life-long vocation. God has and will continue to call youth ministers into different areas of service; into senior pastoral roles, other ministry contexts, or out of church work entirely. YMF is committed to ensuring that long-term youth ministry never needs to be abandoned simply because it is an unviable option.
When good youth leaders leave prematurely, they take with them years of hard-won knowledge about what actually works with young people. That knowledge rarely gets passed on. The result is a brain drain that compounds the structural problem: not only are there fewer experienced leaders in the field, but there are also fewer mentors available to the people coming up behind them. Each generation of emerging youth ministers starts closer to zero than they should have to.
Source: Graham D. Stanton and Miriam Pepper, “The State of Play in Australian Youth Ministry”, Journal of Empirical Theology (2025).
Why individual churches can’t fix this
A fellowship can solve what a single church cannot.
A church can call, train, and support a good youth minister. But a single church cannot address a structural problem that spans the whole Australian church. The profession needs infrastructure it currently doesn’t have — formation pathways, business and financial nous, peer networks, and sustained institutional commitment that goes beyond what any one congregation can provide.
This is the insight behind Youth Ministry Futures. Organisations like CMS and Pioneers have been applying the mission-agency model to overseas mission for generations; mobilising a fellowship of supporters and providing an infrastructure to recruit, equip, place and sustain long-term workers in fields that need them. YMF sees the possibility of that same proven model working to overcome the systemic challenges in domestic youth ministry.
Our Vision
A compelling vision for youth ministry
A future where every young Australian has access to a youth minister who stays.
Well-formed, full-time, long-term youth ministry across Australia — not one or two, but hundreds. Across denominations. In cities and towns, wherever a high school exists and young people are. Youth ministry as a vocation, not a stepping stone.
Our Mission
Five mission priorities, each addressing a different part of the problem.
Intercede
We mobilise a national fellowship of people committed to pray for young people across Australia and the leaders who serve them. It is the simplest and most foundational expression of what YMF believes: this work is spiritual, and it requires more than strategy.
Discern
We walk alongside students and trainees who may be called to youth ministry. Before a role begins, we are there to help them identify that call, count the cost, and step into formation with clarity and support.
Form
We gather youth ministers and those preparing for ministry in ways that provide rigorous theological formation, peer connection, and expert-led training. This means pursuing moments of deep connection, spiritual formation, and peer networks with ideas and people that reshape how youth ministry is understood and practised in Australia.
Sustain
We invest in practitioners who are already in the field; through professional supervision, ongoing support, honest conversation, and financial investment that keeps good leaders healthy, hopeful, and in ministry, rather than burning out or moving on.
Send
We place well-formed, full-time and (God willing), long-term youth ministers in churches that want to invest in young people but cannot yet sustain the role on their own. We strive to see long-term vocational youth ministry become a funded, concrete reality — one church at a time.
What we do
Four commitments in practice.
The Project
A future with youth ministers who stay.
Picture not one or two full-time youth ministers, but hundreds: across denominations, wherever there is a high school and a church that wants to reach it. Youth ministry held as a vocation, not a stepping stone; a role a person can give their working life to.
This is a thirty-year picture, not a campaign. The Project is YMF’s “Send” work: the concrete, one-church-at-a-time expression of that vision. Its shape is borrowed from the mission-agency model that has sustained long-term workers overseas for generations. The Project tests whether it holds for youth ministry here at home.
We strive to see long-term vocational youth ministry become a funded, concrete reality — one church at a time.
The fellowship model
Pray. Promote. Provide.
YMF is not just an organisation — it’s a fellowship. The mission-agency model only works when there is a community around it. That fellowship engages in three ways.
YMF is a cross-denominational organisation and operates under the doctrinal commitments of Ridley College, which uphold the fundamental truths of the Christian faith and share the commitments expressed in the Lausanne Cape Town Confession of Faith and Call to Action.
Pray
Interceding for young people across Australia, for the churches that serve them, and for the leaders who carry that responsibility.
Promote
Advocating within your networks for youth ministry as a vocation worth choosing and sustaining. Connecting YMF with people, churches, and resources that can help.
Provide
Supporting the financial base that makes the model work — funding roles, programs, and the operational capacity to grow.
Who’s involved
The team and those who hold us accountable.
Graham Stanton
Director and Founder
Graham has been the animating force behind YMF from the beginning. He leads the organisation, directs the Residential, and carries the primary vision.
Dave Chiswell
Co-founder and Trainer
Dave leads Pipeline and co-leads the Residential’s foundations track. He brings a practitioner’s depth to formation work.
Bryan Hickey
Operations
Bryan manages communications, campaigns, and operational infrastructure.
Oversight Committee
An advisory group of three to six members focused on organisational health. Members bring expertise in finance, governance, and operations — advising on organisational accountability, financial strategy, and mission direction to ensure YMF is run well, operates effectively and pursues its vision.
Reference Panel
An advisory group of four to eight members focused on ministry practice. Members are experienced practitioners from across the youth ministry sector who offer field perspective, practitioner credibility, and occasional network support. They help YMF stay honest, think well, and remain accountable to the churches and leaders it serves.
Where things stand
We are a startup. We treat that honestly, not apologetically.
YMF was founded by Graham Stanton and Dave Chiswell. It is housed within Ridley College, which provides the institutional home, legal structures and financial support that makes early-stage operation possible.
We are operating at approximately 1.2 FTE. That is below sustainable capacity, and we know it. Building toward a more sustainable operational base is one of our immediate priorities.
The first Project partnership launched in 2026. It is the first test of the model we believe can be replicated across the country.
The problems we’re addressing are real. The mission-agency model we’re applying is proven but its scalability within youth ministry is not, yet. The work ahead is significant — and that’s precisely why we’re looking for people who want to see young people and those who work with them supported, trained and flourishing.
If you’ve read this far
You likely see what we see.
Youth ministry in Australia needs more than encouragement. It needs infrastructure, investment, and people willing to commit to the long-term work of building it. If you’d like to know more, get involved, or explore how you might work with us, we’d love to hear from you.