Youth Ministry Associate

Cornerstone Church; Ames (IA); On-site; USD 42,000 - 54,000; Full time

Job summary

Cornerstone Church in Ames, IA is seeking a full-time Middle School Associate to run the day-to-day of the church's middle school ministry. The role focuses on executing events, managing logistics, and mentoring student leaders to foster ownership and growth, under supervision of the ministry leader.

The position emphasizes hands-on ministry, event planning, and community engagement, with a pathway to increased responsibility as you demonstrate vision and initiative within the youth ministry.

Qualifications

• Experience coordinating youth programs and events.
• Ability to supervise student leaders and volunteers.
• Willingness to perform physical setup and teardown for events.

Responsibilities

• Middle school programming execution — Run Sixth Grade Madness, manage the Fifth Grade Parent Preview, and manage Middle School Conference. Own the details, the parent experience, and the many moving parts that make a middle school event land.
• Student leader discipleship — Help disciple a core group of student leaders through consistent one-on-ones, regular presence on Wednesday nights, and steady investment in their growth.
• Hands-on ministry execution — A significant portion of this job is hands-on work, and we want you to know that going in. Setting up and tearing down tables and chairs, loading and unloading trailers, running errands and supply runs, hauling bins out of storage, cleaning up after youth, and fixing what breaks. This is a doing job more than a delegating job.

Skills

Hands-on ministry

Discipleship

Event planning

Leadership development

Job description

Youth Ministry Associate: Middle School

Job Description

One Sentence: Run the day-to-day of Cornerstone's middle school ministry — its events, its logistics, and its student leaders — and grow into greater ownership over time.

Direct Supervisor: Noah DeRoos, Ministry Leader

Job Title: MIDDLE SCHOOL ASSOCIATE — This is a FULL-TIME staff position.

Job Responsibilities

• Middle school programming execution — Run Sixth Grade Madness, manage the Fifth Grade Parent Preview, and manage Middle School Conference. Own the details, the parent experience, and the many moving parts that make a middle school event land. Beyond what already exists, help dream up and create new middle school initiatives that make the experience better for our students.
• Student leader discipleship — Help disciple a core group of student leaders through consistent one-on-ones, regular presence on Wednesday nights, and steady investment in their growth.
• Hands-on ministry execution — A significant portion of this job is hands-on work, and we want you to know that going in. Setting up and tearing down tables and chairs, loading and unloading trailers, running errands and supply runs, hauling bins out of storage, cleaning up after youth, and fixing what breaks. This is a doing job more than a delegating job.

Other Responsibilities

• Verify and screen student leader applicants; assist with screening adult volunteers for the ministry.
• Help manage youth materials and merchandise across our various storage areas — keeping them organized, inventoried, and findable.
• Get out into the community where our students already are — visiting schools, showing up at sporting events, and building relationships outside our building.
• Support the events lane in planning and executing ministry-wide events.
• Support the groups lane in managing group logistics, leader placement, and follow-up.
• Represent middle school at weekly staff and planning rhythms.

A note on scope

You will be the person making middle school events happen. You will not initially carry primary speaking or platform roles — the voice of middle school programming stays with the director and the ministry leader. Your first year is about executing what we hand you, doing it well, and beginning to take ownership of pieces as you prove you can carry them.

Noah will coordinate with the groups lane and the events lane to make sure your time is used well.

Expected Weekly Rhythm

Your week is anchored by a handful of standing commitments: a churchwide meeting on Monday, a staff meeting and a tactical staff meeting on Tuesday, and regular event review meetings. Wednesday is the long day — youth programming runs through the afternoon and evening.

Candidates that will be successful in this role will be able to effectively manage the ministry cycle and calendar. Ministry work often has significant changes in demands from week to week, so flexibility and forward thinking will be helpful

Retreat weeks, conference weeks, and camp weeks will exceed forty hours. Ordinary weeks should not.

Development Trajectory

This role grows with the person in it. How quickly it expands, and how far, depends on how you work and how you show yourself over time.

You will be given a long leash — room to work hard, try things, and make mistakes while you are learning. In exchange, we need you to be self-driven. Nobody will stand over your shoulder assigning you every task, and the people who do well here are the ones who see what needs doing and do it. As you handle well what is given to you, more will come your way.

Cornerstone Staff Values & Qualities

We want all of our employees at Cornerstone to reflect the cultural values of holy ambition, rooted conviction, strategic generosity, and fun. This is the way we behave and live.

Every one of these has a ditch on both sides. We are asking you to walk the ridge.

Holy Ambition

— We work hard, because what we are doing is worth working hard for.

• Too much: proud overwork. You get selfish with your ambition and it quietly becomes about you.
• Too little: laziness. You coast, and someone else carries what you set down.

Rooted Conviction

— We know what we believe and why we believe it.

• Too much: you get hard on people — right, but unkind. A Bible butthead.
• Too little: you are a flag in the wind, with no real position to stand on.

Strategic Generosity

— We give our time and our money away, and we are thoughtful about where it goes.

• Too much strategy: stinginess. You optimize until you have stopped actually giving.
• Too little strategy: you throw time and money in every direction and none of it accomplishes anything.

Fun

— We take Jesus seriously and ourselves lightly.

• Too much: the job does not get done.
• Too little: everything turns corporate and machine-like, and students can feel it.

Additionally, we want you to embody the following qualities.

• Calling: You know you are adopted, loved, and called by Jesus. You behave like an owner, not an employee.
• Character: You are who you say you are. Parents will entrust their students to you, and students will tell you things they have not told others. We have to be able to trust that what you say is true.
• Convictions: You are willing to do what is right in every situation — and when you are not sure what is right, you have the honest conversation instead of guessing quietly.
• Competency: This job has a lot of moving parts. Event planning, key parents in the church, logistics, group organization. You get into the details and work diligently toward excellence.
• Capacity: Your horsepower meets or exceeds your level of leadership. You are willing to work hard, and there will be seasons that ask more than forty hours to get the job done well and to grow.
• Chemistry: Our staff team is more healthy because you are in the room.

Cornerstone Church Membership

By joining the Cornerstone Staff team, you and your spouse (if applicable) are automatically approved as members of Cornerstone Church. As members you are under the leadership of our elders, and we will expect and inspect your faithfulness in attending, serving, giving, and living.

Job Evaluation

Your Job Description will be the basis of regular evaluation and coaching. Your direct supervisor will inspect what we expect from you as an employee.

• Months 1–6 — Learning. Expect trial and error. We will give you a lot of grace as you learn our ministry, our people, and our rhythms. You will not be expected to have it figured out.
• Six-month evaluation. Honest, direct feedback on where you are growing and where you need to grow. Assuming that conversation goes well, we take off some of the training wheels and hand you more room to work on your own.
• One-year review. A fuller conversation that sets direction for what year two looks like, based on your performance, your growth, and what we are seeing in you.