Around the time I started my current job as a faith formation director, I attended The Gathering, an event for youth ministers hosted by NET Ministries. I heard a sobering statistic: the average tenure for a youth minister is eighteen months.

That month, I also met a group of a half dozen fellow children’s ministers. They’re a fine group of people.

I beat the average. I’ve been in my position for about thirty months. But today I was at The Gathering again, and they repeated the statistic, and I realized something: of that group of six children’s ministers, only I and one other person are still in our jobs. To be sure, one of them is still in children’s ministry at another church. Another stayed at her church but moved to a new position. But still…eighteen months. I was surprised the first time I heard that statistic. But there might be something to it.