Developing Student Leaders

Saturday was a great training day. We talked about leadership teams and developing student leaders. I think it was interesting, but when Becca started falling asleep, I started to question if it was or not (he, he...love you Becca!). I'm always happy to see the Happening staff participate in what we are doing. It's great that other ministries can be blessed by our Timothy trainings. Looking forward to the training on running meetings and giving talks in March! It should be loads of fun!

Training on Saturday

I'm really excited about Saturday's Developing Student Leaders training. Materials look good and turn out looks good. My next challenge is figuring out how to make trainings available to more people. I hope to start working on this in the next month.

I look forward to seeing everyone who signed up on Saturday. It's good stuff!

Student Leadership Story

A version of this article will appear in a Rock the World publication this spring. I thought I would share it with all my blog subscribers.

This is a picture of Becca with one of her friends. Becca is on the left.

“Don’t let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith, and in purity (I Timothy 4:12).” The Apostle Paul calls a young leader, Timothy, to a life of following Jesus and leading others in that journey. Our world is becoming increasingly younger and we are charged with what I like to call a “Timothy Mission.” It is time for the church to equip young leaders to call others into becoming followers of Jesus Christ. At age 32, it is becoming harder and harder for me to lead teenagers into a meaningful relationship with Jesus, but there are many young people I know who are called to serve the Lord now who are more equipped to reach their peers for Christ than I am.

As I started the ministry, St. Timothy’s Co-op (St. Tim’s) for the Episcopal Diocese of Pittsburgh in 2006, it became very clear that one of my churches would not be able to fully staff the youth ministry with adults. St. Tim’s was started to help 5 small churches in the eastern end of the city of Pittsburgh develop lay lead, volunteer based youth ministry. Each church individually could not afford a youth minister, so with the support of the Diocese, they collectively hired me to train and develop their youth ministry teams.

At St. Martin’s in Monroeville, there was just no one available to lead…no adult, that is. After several planning meetings and months of prayer and anxiety about getting a youth ministry started, the Lord laid it on my heart to ask a 12 year old girl in 7th grade if she felt called to be THE youth leader at the church. She thought for a minute and indicated that she had been thinking that anyway. Becca L. follows Jesus and she desires to share Jesus with others. With the right support, Becca is now a youth minister. The youth ministry was named “Party @ Church” and kicked off in February of 2007. Becca loves drama and she has many friends involved in the theatre. She decided for her first event to lead a murder mystery dinner party. There were 3 jr. high youth at the church and their first event brought in 33, most of which were not Christians.

Since that time, Party @ Church has maintained 12 – 20 kids at their monthly meetings. Becca and her family have daily contact with the group members who are asking questions about faith, the reality of God, the Trinity, Jesus, suffering, love, and many other things. The students come back each month because they feel safe at church and they know that they are taken seriously. Becca is the minister to this community of young people and the Lord is using her powerfully as a missionary to her peers.

On November 1, 2007, St. Timothy’s Co-op merged with Rock the World and is now seeking to fulfill a Timothy mission by equipping churches to reach a young world through leadership development and community building. Becca is one of many young leaders who are being developed in their gifts through this ministry. It is my prayer that this ministry will continue to grow and more young people will be equipped to advance the Kingdom of God.

By Kim Keller Louis

My Priorities

I love doing ministry. I'm so thankful that God has called me to lead others into His Kingdom and equip others for ministry! Until recently, my life was all about ministry. 4 years ago, when I started dating Dave, life changed slightly. Dave and I were doing ministry together. Then, after 2 years of marriage, we were both doing our own ministries alongside each other. This was a slight adjustment, but I could still devote 3/4's of my energy to ministry.

On October 10, 2007, life completely changed! That was the day our 2 year old son, Evan moved into our house. Now, my family is my primary ministry. Don't get me wrong, I still work a full work week and provide ministry support at my job...but in my brain it is all different. Nothing else matters to me when it comes to raising Evan in a place where he can know and love the Lord. Evan is teaching me about my dependance on God and how caring God is toward me. It is my hope and prayer that Evan will choose to follow Jesus with all his heart, soul, mind, and strength. I know that if I can't provide and environment for Evan at home to know the Lord, I have no business helping other people figure out how to disciple the youth in their church.

So, when it comes to priorities, Dave and Evan come first...and we are hopefully able to bless many others in ministry because of that fact!

Following Him,

Kim

Quote of the Day

"Remember: The ark was builty by amateurs; the Titanic was built by professionals." -Leonard Sweet; Aqua Church

This quote really makes me think! In all the madness of developing lay-led non-professional youth ministry, I think it's important to remember how God was always faithful to give the amateurs everything they needed to accomplish amazing things for Him! When Noah was building the ark, he had never seen rain before. When we're talking about youth ministries developing into something transformational, in many churches, there is no example of what this will look like. God equips the amateurs to do things they've never done before. Trust Him!

Who thought spaghetti could be so much fun!

Tonight at St. Alban's several kids showed up...more than we thought would come...and one even brought a friend. When you are faithful to walk in the way God is leading, He always shows himself to you.

St. Alban's started SAY club in October and it has been a slow start. Once a month a team of adults open up the church to the teenagers. There was really low attendance at the first couple meetings...but God was leading and the team has been following.

Tonight, 14 of us sat around children's tables in the fellowship hall eating spaghetti that we prepared together. We shared our lives, we worshiped God by singing and praying, we listened to each other and ate football salad. We talked about how God is always with us, just as he was with the Israelites every step of the way as they left Egypt.

May God continue to develop community among these amazing teenagers and the leadership team!

The first week of 2008

Vacation ended excitedly as I got stuck in a blizzard in Columbus, OH picking my brother and his family up after they flew in from England. So, my year got started late, on Friday, January 4. St. Alban's is set up to have a dynamic confirmation program this year as it kicked off this morning.

While I was on vacation, St. Martin's had an incredible end to their year with a Christmas pageant like none you've ever seen. Becca, the 13 year old youth leader creatively interpreted the coming of Christ into modern times. The students rehearsed the pageant and performed it that night.

All Saints continues their confirmation process with confirmation happening on February 17, 2008.

St. Thomas is currently on break until their youth leaders return from vacation.

Fufilling a Timothy mission

This blog is an account of fulfilling a Timothy Mission. I Timothy 4:12 says, "Don't let anyone look down on you because you are young, but set an example for the believers in speech, in life, in love, in faith and in purity."

There are many things that need to be done to reach young people in today's world. A Timothy mission equips young people to follow Jesus with their lives and churches to foster this spiritual development. It is not an easy task!

This blog is an account of that mission.