Full Circle
As I write this, I am attending the Western Pennsylvania Annual Conference at the Bayfront Convention Center in Erie, PA. While I am here as the laity delegate from Dutilh Church, I am here early as a volunteer with the Youth Ministry Team (YMT). Tuesday, as we gathered and started the conference work, we reminisced about how long we had been a part of the youth delegation. I realized that I have been attending the Annual Conference on and off since I was 14 years old.
When I attended as a youth, I fell in love with the community the youth caucus and Youth Ministry Team provided. You see, I was an outsider in my home community. Being a Christian was not something that was accepted. I was not part of the “in-crowd.” However, when I was at events with the WPAUMC, I was accepted as a Christian and a leader. I blossomed not only as a person but also in my faith. My most precious memories are from my five years as a page at the Annual Conference. In those five years, I was a page, the Worship Leader, and then the YMT Secretary. It’s where my call to the ministry began.
When my son Grant was eligible to be a page at the Annual Conference, I knew I wanted to expose him to this part of the Church. After the first year that he attended, he was hooked. He saw that the youth were not only the “worker bees” of the conference but were also empowered to be part of the decision-making. Grant quickly became part of the youth delegation as a voting member of the UMC. Over his seven years with the YMT, he served as a page, delegate, and ultimately as President.
Kendra was next. She wanted to be part of the action since she had seen and heard of our adventures over the years. In her time with the YMT, she was a page, delegate, and President for two years. During that time, she learned valuable leadership and organizational skills that have helped her start a Delight Chapter (a young women’s Bible Study group) on Seton Hill’s campus. Full Circle…
Pastor Jim was one of my advisors when I was on the YMT and now is one of my volunteers at DSM. Full Circle…
Sitting in the back of our Bible study room, I am surrounded by students who were part of my youth ministry in Somerset and Bethel Park and adult advisors who were youth in YMT at one time and are now some of my best friends. Full Circle…
The community I found in high school is still one I am a part of. It is a community where we have laughed and cried, played games, sang karaoke, worshiped, served, traveled, and loved each other with the love of Christ. It is my “why” of youth ministry. I want to empower and equip our youth to be the church now, not the church of the future.
1 Timothy 4:12: “Don’t let anyone think less of you because you are young. Be an example to all believers in what you say believers in what you say, in the way you live, in your love, your faith and your purity.”
When we empower and equip our youth to serve and love the church, they take ownership of it. They want to connect with and stay connected to the community, to continue the circle, and to breathe more life into the community. If we're going to give them more “full circle” moments, we need them to be part of today's conversations, not just tomorrow. Are you ready to guide them on their journey? Are you ready to mentor them into the roles that need to be filled in the church? I would not be in ministry today without adults and mentors who empowered me to lead and showed me Christ’s love. These full-circle moments make me realize that we can never stop showing Christ’s love to all we meet, but especially to the youth of today. They are the community that I am proud to be a part of. The community that I will continue to nurture and love. Who wants to join me in our community?