Before you plan your first event or write your first talk, Doug Fields wants you to settle a different question: who do you want to be as a youth worker? His book Your First Two Years in Youth Ministry (Zondervan, 2002) opens with ten personal commitments that he challenges every new youth pastor and key volunteer to make. Each one is tied to a Bible passage, from Proverbs to Philippians.
They aren’t techniques. They’re about pace, motives and character: not rushing into changes, not measuring yourself by attendance or by other ministries, setting priorities, serving instead of waiting to be served, staying teachable and learning to be content. These principles matter in every ministry of the church, not only with teenagers.
It’s worth taking time again and again to reflect on what you’ve done and what lies ahead, and to put these principles into practice in your life.
Pulse first shared Doug Fields’ ten commitments in German.
English version: October 2026
