me with Fr. Paul and Wendy), or trying to do good ministry while abiding by the safe environment policies being implemented for our own good.  Those are all hard parts of ministry, but I wouldn't call them the worst.  By far the worst part of being a youth minister is watching a young person walk away from or give up on their faith.  Think about it: you spend hour upon hour of your life trying to create opportunities for a young person to encounter Jesus, and for a while they do really well.  Sometimes they even help out with retreats or serve as leaders.  But at some point, a temptation comes up that begins to draw them away from the faith, and they compromise bit by bit, and in some cases give up on their faith entirely.  Sometimes they come back around a few years later, (hopefully) a little wiser for the experience.  But others I've seen backslide or fall away are still away from their faith, and my heart aches for them. On the plus side, I consider youth ministry to be one of the best careers in the world.  I get to help young people with the ups and downs of being a teenager.  Sometimes it's seeing them put on a fantastic play or put their all into a basketball game, other times it's crying with them through a painful breakup.  It is a privilege to get to stand by them through both.  As a youth minister, I