Wednesday Word: Changes and Sameness

Some things change, and some things remain the same

Toward the end of July I made the decision to terminate the Youth and Young Adult Minister position primarily due to budget issues. I never like it when things come down to money and the budget, but sometimes they do and decisions need to be made.

For a short period after that many of us were wondering where we would go from here with the parish youth program. While Joelene and Paul have done great things with the teens and J2A, there is more to our overall youth program than just that, and there was a period of uncertainty as we pondered our future.

Right about in the middle of that pondering I received a message from Heidi Becker (soon to be Heidi McCusker) wanting to talk with me about this very thing. We set up a meeting, along with Susan Sunnarborg (current Chair of the Christian Formation Commission), and talked about what we would like to see happen.

In the time that Heidi has been “on staff,” she has done some very good things with Children's Chapel and Sunday school. She will be taking over the acolyte program in October (following her wedding and honeymoon), and she is making plans for coordinating some youth group activities.

Some changes she has made have been good and necessary. Other changes have been simply minor tweaks to things here and there. What has remained the same is that we continue to have an active and engaging Children's Chapel program, and our Sunday school classes continue to be staffed by dedicated and loving volunteers who enjoy working with our children.

In her time at this position, Heidi has also been actively recruiting people to help with Children's Chapel and as classroom aides. I would expect that once October rolls around, she will be actively looking to recruit acolytes and people to help with the youth group.

If you would like to help, or if you would like to contact her to offer encouragement, you can do so via the Youth Minister e-mail. What has changed with that is who it goes to and who will respond (Heidi). What remains the same is the address: youthmin.stjohns@myactv.net

St. John's is blessed to have many people of many talents who volunteer their time and energy to the many ministries we provide, including Heidi. At this particular time, I am very thankful to have her step up and into a ministry she clearly enjoys, and I am looking forward to working with her in this role.

Again, feel free to contact her at youthmin.stjohns@myactv.net if you would like to participate in the youth program, or just to say, “Thank you.” And feel free to say that in person the next time you see her.

Blessings,

Todd+