Youth Pastor Voice

About

Youth Pastor Voice refers to a series of jokes that mimic a youth-oriented Christian spiritual leader trying to shoehorn in lessons about Jesus or God with contrived references to pop culture or cringeworthy uses of slang. Typically such memes or jokes will use the setup *youth pastor voice* to denote the following text is said from the stereotypical perspective of a youth pastor.

Origin

In some Christian communities, churches will organize a youth-focused program that sees teenagers convene, do Bible study, and participate in faith-based activities, such as forming a "worship" rock band that plays during church services. Oftentimes, these programs will be run by a "youth pastor," who is typically a younger person that attempts to relate to their teen congregation.

On August 25th, 2015, Tumblr user Bidoof^[1] (coincidentally the same user that inspired Bidoof's Law) posted, "(youth pastor voice): here’s something that’s “on fleek” lord," gaining over 256,000 notes in six years.

Spread

Over the following years, people regularly craft the joke to fit various pop culture trends or current events. For example, on December 14th, 2017, Twitter user @LeftAtLondon^[2] posted a variation using the "Miss Keisha" Vine, gaining over 250 retweets and 1,200 likes (shown below, left). On July 22nd, 2020, user @Kristen_Arnett^[3] posted a variation using a pun on Himbo, gaining over 380 retweets and 1,800 likes (shown below, right).

The "youth pastor" character has also inspired skits elsewhere online. On June 20th, 2019, YouTuber JohnBCrist posted a sketch imagining a youth pastor running a Bible study meeting with his phone screen-sharing his presentation, gaining over 1.7 million views (shown below, left). On August 21st, 2020, YouTuber Trey Kennedy posted a sketch imagining a youth pastor running a Zoom meeting, gaining over 391,000 views (shown below, right).

Various Examples

Search Interest

External References