State of Ministry · Grow Research
Imagine every kids and youth ministry leader who answered our survey in one room.
There are of them. Each dot is one person: a pastor, a staff member, a volunteer who teaches on Sunday and works Monday through Friday. Scroll, and we'll ask them some questions.
Stand up if…
…you do this without a paycheck.
stood up
Volunteers are the rule here, not the exception. Their share appears in every pay figure on this page as its own number. We never count them as $0.
Stand up if…
…fewer than 100 people show up to your church on a typical weekend.
stood up
Small churches carry a big share of kids and youth ministry. Much of what follows looks different depending on where you're standing.
Stand up if…
…you've been doing this for more than twenty years.
stood up
Stand up if…
…you wrote a volunteer a handwritten note this year.
stood up
Stand up if…
…you've asked ChatGPT or another AI tool for a ministry idea.
stood up
Stand up if…
…you've felt burned out in the last six months.
stood up
Stand up if…
…you've felt discouraged.
stood up
Look at who is standing next to you.
Stand up if…
…honestly, you've been doing okay.
stood up
That's worth saying too. Whatever you answered, someone in this room answered it with you.
Chapter two
Find your seat.
Tell the room a little about yourself and the leaders who share your situation will light up. Then see how their answers compare with everyone else's.
Chapter three
Ask the room anything.
Build a question out of the sentence below. The room will split into groups and show you who raises a hand.
Chapter four
Where the money goes.
Everyone lines up by what they're paid, from volunteers on the left to $100,000+ on the right. Choose a way to split the line and see how each group's pay compares with everyone else's.
Pay figures are estimates based on each salary band's midpoint, averaged across paid leaders only.
Chapter five
Now everyone goes home.
Each leader walks back to their own state. Tap a state to compare it with the whole country, then tap it again to return to all states.
Your seat is saved
Take the room with you.
Everything you chose on this page (your seat, your question, your split) is saved in the link. Send it to your pastor or print it as a one-page report.
Want to take our survey?
The room gets clearer with every seat that's filled. It takes about ten minutes, and your answers stay anonymous.